Stygian Articles
$5 from
Jeremy E Johnson, Editor
3201 Sun Lake Drive
St Charles MO 63301

Roughly half of this magazine is pure fiction. The remaining half, in this order, more or less, falls into the following categories, reviews, art, poetry, commentary, ads. Now, being a non-fiction kind of guy, I often times move through such second half material first. In this case, at least in terms of the reviews, there are no punches held. A number of publications are reviewed and opinion is plain for all to read. You, of course, always make up your own mind as to how close the reviewer comes to your own scales. The art includes some beautiful Cathy Buburuz centerfold illustrations; all bubbles and beings, as well as a trio of pieces by Lee Seed, who is a new artist for me but one whom I hope to see more of. Her illustrations are evocative and enticing and almost snapshot in quality, making one wonder just what is going on behind the picture. Beautiful material and actually worth the price of the magazine to have. The commentary is exactly that, comments and opinion of the editors. Not particularly enlightening but then it does not really have to be. There is poetry but I really don't consider myself qualified to comment on such. Let me just say that it is short, interspersed, and interesting, at least to me.

But what of the fiction, which is, I would imagine, what would draw one to this magazine. The first fiction piece is by Charlee Jacob. I've read a few things of hers and liked them all immensely. She does the same thing to me this time and I can't help but feel that Charlee's voice is one worth following. Her prose is enriching and her pacing exquisite. Her words spin across the pages leaving one breathless. There is also a D. F. Lewis story here. God, is there a magazine that has not published one of his works? By now you should know if you like him or not and nothing I can say will move you. I find Lewis usually neither here nor there although occasionally near brilliant. I generally skim his work and only read in detail if I find shiny spots. This one needed a bit of polish as far as I was concerned. Heather Wells also has a piece here that reads very nicely, flows beautifully but ends in such obscurity that it hardly seems to have been worth the effort to get that far. And that's perhaps the watch word for much of the fiction here, apparently worth beginning but fading as we reach the end. Now, I've never been one to say I'm the expert and what I present is the truth--I just call them as I see and feel them.

The layout is nicely done, with white space, font and text all combining to make this an easy read on the eyes. Johnson also does a nice job of mixing fiction, non-fiction, art and poetry so there is an almost constant feel of motion to the magazine. I like the presentation a great deal and thought the reviews well worth reading. The fiction left me mostly disappointed and the art left me desiring more.

Copyright © 1996 by Steven Sawicki. All Rights Reserved.