INTRODUCTION

In the mid seventies, a British science fiction TV show took the American market by storm. It was called Space: 1999, and it told the story of the men and women of Moonbase Alpha, struggling to survive in a hostile universe after a freak nuclear accident blasts the moon out of orbit and propels it into deep space. It was a difficult premise to swallow at first, but the sheer artistry of the production won me over and allowed me to suspend my disbelief enough to learn to love this show.

Inspired by my love of the show, and the efforts of a fellow fan from Mobile, Alabama who I met at my first science fiction convention, I created a “fanzine” dedicated to all things Space: 1999. I called it Alpha Chronicle. It included fan fiction, artwork and items of interest from the world of television science fiction at a time when it was just coming into its renaissance, largely as a result of the success of 1999 and other contemporary ventures such as Star Wars and Battlestar Galactica.

By issue #6, I had recruited a couple of accomplices to help me with the production. My “associate editors” were Stan Hjartberg and Sally Armstrong, two friends of mine from my days at Benjamin Franklin High School. That’s us in the picture on the left, which was taken on opening night of the school play “Visit to a Small Planet,” in which I played a visitor from space. (My costume is actually a replica of Martin Landau’s costume from Space: 1999.) Others who contributed regularly included Kathi Higley, an artist from Connecticut; Michael Gaines, a cartoonist from my school newspaper, and an occasional guest artist such as Robert Edralin, an old school chum.

Alpha Chronicle, like so much of my childhood, either fell overboard or got jettisoned in my journey across the sea of time.

Only recently, with the resurgence of Space: 1999 in my life, have I really begun to rediscover my Alpha Chronicle roots. At MainMission:2000, I got to meet many of the cast and crew of the show. I have connected over the Internet with many fellow fans of the show, and even found one or two of those friends I left behind over twenty years ago, one of whom provided me with the copies of A.C. I used to create this site. I wrote most of this stuff in high school, so show mercy in your critical judgments.

— Matt Butts

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