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| Cover art by Chris Scalf. |
Following on from its illustrious predecessors in the original
Star Trek and the then recently released
Star Wars,
Battlestar Galactica would swiftly and deservedly earn a worldwide fan phenomenon status, and over the years there have been many aficionados, conventions and websites that have keenly celebrated it. But I think many of you out there will agree that the saga's finest gathering of appreciation will have been via the UK's long-running and much-missed
The Thirteenth Tribe Fan Club, which debuted around 1980 (originally from a location in Dulwich, South London) and which was taken over in the 90's by the extremely dedicated, kind and hard working new club runner
Victoria Haslam and her partner,
Robin.
The Thirteenth Tribe had an excellent regular fan magazine full of fan correspondence, art, news, conventions/ events coverage, merchandise for sale and original fiction/observations, and I remember regularly enjoying its diversity of talented contributors for five years or so. It was a pleasure to a part of its community and to read its regular magazine, of which the whole club in itself was imbued with a lot of attention to detail and clear love for its subject matter and its characters/stars.
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| Art by Andy Walker. |
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| Art by Anthony Dry. |
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| Art by Andrew Dimeloe. |
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| Art by David Gray. |
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| Art by Anthony Dry. |
The Thirteenth Tribe seemed to have disappeared around the early to mid-noughties and I'm not sure what exactly happened with it in the end, though obviously the big time requirements needed in producing the quality magazine regularly was likely the primary suspect for its sad passing. The Thirteenth Tribe was importantly able to go past its Twentieth Anniversary, though, and that was a major achievement that should continue to be applauded. In many ways, it's because of The Thirteenth Tribe that this blog site exists, in tribute to the people that made it happen and kept me enthused about the series. I still have all my back issues and club items from back in the day, and look upon it all then and now as a terrific achievement for the Haslams'. I hope that they are going great guns out there, wherever they may be and whatever they are up to...
STARLOGGED - GEEK MEDIA AGAIN: THE THIRTEENTH TRIBE: BRITAIN'S BATTLESTAR GALACTICA FAN CLUB
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