"Your mission, should you choose to accept it...." And of course they did, Agent Rob and Adam J. Smith gamely heading through to Ice Station Zebra on 'Wodens'day' 'dafternoon' 'fer to visit' Agent Johnny ahead of the evening's Event Horizon and the much anticipated opportunity to finally launch Unearthly Science Fiction. The day didn't necessarily get off to the greatest of starts when Agent Rob reminded Adam of Agent Johnny's (as close a brush with actual fame and recognition as he was going to ever come) "lost interview" from a few years ago, a proposed piece by (Seattle's) Gavin Lees fer The Comic Journal that wiz nixed (well, 'nicked' actually) at the last minute by, um, your friendly neighbourhood baggage handlers at the airport who made off with the equipment containing the day's audio recordings and photographs. This kinda thing never happens to James Bond, y'know....
D'ye take sugar in yir nose?
Not that it took much time for the trio to warm up at Ice Station as the swill was quickly cranked open - tho Adam Smith, with one eye on his later performance, decided to abstain, preferring instead ter swig from his carefully prepared flask of tea - and the 'music box' wiz 'mugdocked' 'fer to amplify' the acoustic sounds of a certain Bobby Zimmerman. Contented chuntering ensued, the recent repeats of The Avengers, Mission Impossible and The Man From U.N.C.L.E. - all keeping Agent Johnny glued to the One-Eyed-God - and the usual topic of Philip K. Dick were covered in some detail. With the hours flown by it was soon time to board the bus and head fer Deadhead Comics to catch Agent Austin before the the Event Horizon finally loomed into view, swallowing our intrepid Agents whole....
Shoreline Of Infinity #7 - cover by Steve Pickering
With around 30 people gathered in the basement of The Banshee Labyrinth, the 'Two-minute warning' was announced. First up was the Glasgow rap duo Futurology - if Agent Johnny had a hard time getting his head around The Orb's Blue Room then who knows whit the hell he made of this! - before Jonathan Whiteside read Terry Jackman's short story 'Anyone Can ask About Enhancement' (from the newest Shoreline Of Infinity, #7) and finally Rachel Plummer's witty poetry rounded off 'Side One'....
'Side Two' got off to a flying start (in spite of S.H.I.E.L.D. Director Wilson Ret puzzling over his inclusion on the anthology during the break - Agent Johnny's (mental) filing being to blame there...?) as Shirley Muir read some 'exceedingly humourous' short tales, after which it was time for Adam Smith ter take to the stage and give a spirited rendition of Jed Hale, Arizona Sheriff fer the assembled crowd. Not only did this hilarious performance underline the sheer abstract genius of John Miller's scripting and creative abilities but, thanks to Adam's highly skilled manic utterances, won a generous round of applause from the audience....
Braw McConnaissance imminent...?
Of course, you cannot feed a comic artist on claps alone so it'll come as no surprise that in the later bustle to leave - following another intense set from Futurology - a solitary copy of Unearthly Science Fiction limped from the launch pad.... At this point Agent Rob really ought to be inserting a photo of Smith hard at work but thanks to a mixture of anticipation, excitement and just too many microphones no such record of the event exists. And so the lost nature of this endeavour brings us full circle, much like this shot of the miniature moon snapped back in Glasgog - Ice Station Lima is one of the tiny shining lights on the bottom right....
Sounds: Live 1966, "The Royal Albert Hall Concert" by Bob Dylan: Two From The Vault by Grateful Dead....
Grateful Dead - New Potato Caboose, 24/08/68
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