Pre-Westercon, 2016 Breaking It All Down: The ‘Zine – is edited and written by Alexander Case. Letters of Comment can be sent to [email protected]. If you’ve never sent a LoC to me before, please put “LoC:” at the start of the subject line, so it gets filed in the right place. I also sporadically appear on the Bureau42 Greatest Science Fiction Film Tournament podcast, available through the Bureau42 Master Podcast Audio Feed, which can be found on iTunes and Stitcher. My YouTube Channel, where the web-series that this fanzine is spun off from. can be found at http://www. youtube.com/user/CountZeroOr About the Artist Jose Sanchez was born and raised in Miami, Florida on March 10,1968,where he still lives today with his wife Aliana. At the age of six, he was introduced to fingerpainting. By first grade, he had picked up his first pencil, but it was not until the summer of 1977 when Star Wars hit the movie screens across America, that his imaginative spark was truly ignited! Like so many other people that were influenced by the cult phenomenon, he was too. So much so, that this led him to seriously explore and develop his talent for creating art further. As time has gone by and he has honed his skills, he has been notably influenced by the works of Science Fiction and Fantasy artists such as: Stephen Youll, Donato Giancola, Chris Moore, Tim White, Jim Burns, David B. Mattingly and Michael Whelan, to name but a few. He attended Lindsey-Hopkins Technical Education Education Center in Miami, Florida where he received a certificate in Commercial Art Technology-majoring in illustration and minoring in Graphic Design. Jose would ideally like to see himself one day working professionally in the motion picture industry as a Concept Artist. He had previously worked on a low- budget SF/Super Hero Animation flick titled: "Shadow Runner", designing the individual character's spaceships. "They tend to depend more on technology than they do on their own superpowers". He is also interested in the publication and gaming markets. To one of his many credits, which have included several fanzine covers and one semi-prozine cover and interior artwork. Also appearing in the official LucasFilm Star Wars Insider magazines: "City Patrol", was chosen for publication in the March/April 2006/issue #86. “Oil Bath”, “Artoo”, “Pair of Jawas” and “Land of the Rising Suns” in April 2014/issue #148 now being published by Titan Publications and online at starwars.com on the Jan.15,2014 Blog article: Bantha Tracks: Best of the Year, Online edition: “AT-AT Driver” and in the Blog article: Bantha Tracks: Art Galaxy, March 2014 “ Djas Puhr-Settling The Score!” Much of his art can be currently seen at efanzines.com. Contents Letters of Comment 4 Notable Anime of 2015 6 Book Review: Legend of the Galactic Heroes: Book 1 – Dawn 11 Letters of Comment Our first letter comes from Dale Spiers in Calgary, Alberta (Canada – sorry, I’ve got a Lance Storm match on in the background while I’m writing this. Obligitory Joke Explanation - during Lance Storm’s wrestling career he would state the city from whense he hailed - which was Calgary, Alberta, in a very delibarate manner, making sure to mention include Canada, in case the audience didn’t get Calgary was in Canada.) From: Dale Speirs Calgary, Alberta I read your convention reports with interest as you went into detail about the conventions themselves. Unfotunately many so-called con reports are not. They are just a litany of complaints about the airline, the hotel, name checks of people that readers don’t care about, and who ate what in which restaurant. It’s nice to read and see photos of the actual event. It wasn’t just Spokane that got smoked out by the fires, as much of it drifted across the border into southwesternAlberta. I only managed to get a few hiking days in the Rockies adjacent to Calgary this summer because the smoke blotted out the views. The city was under an air alert for several weeks. I showed a before-and-after photo of Calgary in OPUNTIA #321 (available at efanzines.com or fanac.org) which looks much the same as yours of Spokane. I’m not into gaming or cosplaying but the latter are great favourites of the mass media everywhere because they make great visuals for the televsion camera. Calgary Comic Expo had 100,000 paid admissions in 2015 and hogged the lead stories on every channel, always with cute chicks in battle bikinis. Our annual readercon When Words Collide was ignored because someone reading a book is not very exciting. I tried to avoid the Sad Puppy debacle but of course it was impossible not to be aware of it if you read online. Both sides displayed their worst behaviour. You mentioned a panel about SF print magazines for young adults. Were there actually any YAs present? Or was it like the stereotypical “Introduction to Fanzines” panel with four panelists and five audience members, all of whom are zine publishers over age 40. I watch the younger generation in my family who read only on tablets and smartphones, and have never bought a single print book or magazine. That is not just the future of YA fiction, it is the present. I thought it was hilarious regarding the quote of David Gerrold saying in his speech that SF builds empathy to fellow humans and the world. Setting aside his involvement in the Sad Puppies dispute, it must be noted that the widespread acceptance of SF since the 1960s doesn’t seem to have made much difference to world events. As the German philosopher Goethe remarked, “If everyone were to sweep their own doorstep, then the world would be clean.” There were some younger people present in the YA panel, though they were a little shy. One of the panelists also got a text from their kids regarding some of the suggestions made – and they found the ones they commented on were fairly favorable. When it comes to coverage of conventions, I agree that cosplay makes for better television, but considering that TV is a visual medium, it makes a little more sense than filming a panel or a dealer’s room. I’m not surprised that the Sad and Rabid Puppies made their presence known with this year’s Hugo Awards, though with the change of their tactics - with some legit contenders thrown in as what I presume are “Poison Pills” to counter-act “Noah Ward’s” chances – I think we’ll see how the counter-measures pan out more next year than this year. The other letter this issue comes from The Man, The Myth, The Legend, Lloyd Penney. (I think having wrestling on the background has provoked me to hyperbole). Dear Alexander: Many thanks for issue 8 of Breaking It All Down: The Zine, and this is part of a massive attempt to catch up with a huge pile of zines, paper or e- or otherwise. Time to start making some sense… José Sanchez’ artwork is interesting, with (as I write) the 7th Star Wars movie set to take the world by storm, he combines the design of the stormtroopers’ helmets with the rebel helmets. I saw Episode 4 in the theatres when they first came out, at the Totem Theatre in Victoria, BC. We do need to see a full biography of Forry, warts and all. As for my letter…(gotta spell my last name right, Alex…) I have read that those who tried to put a slate of authors and others on the Hugo ballot this year will try to do it again in 2016. Fandom is now warned, and I hope there will be sensible voting, and no No Awards. I think ConBravo is a very well-run convention, and the two major movers I know behind the committee, Mark and Natalie, well, they rock, and they are very professional about it all. I wish them all the luck in the world, and we might just go down and enjoy a Saturday there. Sasquan…I would love nothing better than to do a live radio show, especially a Girl Genius show. I’m on that website most days, keeping up with Agatha Heterodyne and crew. I’ve done voicework at other cons, like Ad Astra and a Corflu, and it is always great fun. Worldcons always have the biggest variety of things to do, and things to discover. Worldcon is where I found the fandom behind Lev Grossman’s Magicians Trilogy; it’s been turned into a mini-series, which will air on ShowCase. I saw the three parts of Childhood’s End, and it finished last night. Deadpools…I did see a great photo of a Stormtrooper tipping his helmet to reveal Deadpool underneath. Shhh…not even the Empire knows! Alex, I know you’ve got student loans to pay off, but think you’ll be an Anime North this year? We hope to once again take a table at that con, and sell more steampunk jewelry. Done for now, I think…Yvonne and I wish you a happy Christmas and New Year, and I hope you will continue with BIAD. I hope you’re enjoying putting this together as much as your podcast. Yours, Lloyd Penney. I would love to go to Canada for a convention. I’ve heard great things about Anime North and ConBravo, and while they are across the border, they might actually be easier for me to get to than, say, Otakon or Anime Next.