MESSAGE FROM ME

Welcome to issue thirty-eight of The Eye Shield. This issue, a new quest begins in Adventure Time, there are some more puzzling quotes for you to mull over in the Puzzle Pages, and we pay our final visit to the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum in Knightmare Locations. In addition to these tantalising treats, and all your other regular favourites, there are two reader contributions to enjoy as well.

As I so often say, I am always very grateful to receive any contributions for TES, which is why the time has now come to extend my thanks to Richard Temple for the continuation of his story Trade in the Old for the New, and also to Chris Stallard, who submits for your approval his tribute to John Woodnutt. The sad news of the first death amongst the Knightmare alumni was both a shock and a blow to my tender nature when it dominated the Knightmare forum in January, and so I was very pleased to agree to include Chris’s tribute in TES. Read it, and weep.

Now, during our e-mail correspondence, Chris Stallard wrote something that struck me as being one of the most perceptive things I’ve ever read, so I thought I would include it in this section. The comment relates to his decision to submit his John Woodnutt tribute to the fanzine:

As a reader of TES, I realise that the fanzine has folded once due to a lack of interest, so it is vital to maintain this interest rather than just read it every other month.

          I don’t mean to harp on, readers, but I am still disappointed by the lack of feedback that TES is getting nowadays. It’s great that you all keep coming back to read the fanzine, but, as well as letting you know what I think, I want to know what you think of Knightmare, The Eye Shield, life, the universe and everything. As Chris mentions above, Paul McIntosh abandoned The Eye Shield in December 1997 because of the distinct lack of reader interest. Of course, things are very different nowadays, as everyone airs their views about Knightmare on the forum, whereas in the past they would have written in to Paul and had their letters published in TES. This is inevitable, of course, and I am well aware that TES no longer needs to perform that role. However, if you read something within this fanzine that sparks any kind of a reaction, please let me know about it!

          I was reading some of the posts on the forum in January when I came across a thread that was specifically related to an article featured in the last issue of TES. It sparked off a thread about people’s favourite and least favourite advisors, but a lot of the initial post was specifically about The Eye Shield. Don’t misunderstand me here – I’m not asking you not to post on the forum about TES articles, but I would appreciate it if you could send me your feedback to include in the fanzine as well. The point of articles like Good Advice, Bad Advice is to make you want to send in your own lists in a similar vein. Remember, readers, I want your e-mails! I want opinions, observations, questions, countdowns - anything whatsoever to do with Knightmare. The e-mail address is, as always, at the foot of this section. Please get in touch.

Challenge Question: Which three Knightmare actors appeared in the 1981 TV version of The Hitchhikers’ Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams?

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