To the Editor:

Autoduel Quarterly pointed out a few flaws with Driving Tigers first issue, saying that it was "plagued by technical and proofreading glitches endemic to young fanzines." I agree with this synopsis, but also agree with Chris McCubbin's remark that the quality if fiction is excellent. But the abundance of typos significantly decreased my appreciation of some of the stories. I thought your first issue was quite a success aside from that, and it was quite pleasing to see that somebody cares about the game of "Car Wars" enough to actually start a periodical like this. It was also pleasing to see good writers that cared about the game enough to compose stories for the publication. It was a nice touch that Robert Garitta should include a sequel to his "Repo Blues" piece from ADQ 5/4 and you should follow up on "Don't Kill the Messenger" from 6/4. "Messenger" and "Payback" both had strengths in their endings.

I opened DTM #2 not knowing what to expect. The very first thing I did was to skim through all the art, and I found it to be much improved. Garitta seems to be developing well as an artist, and his sketch on page 21 was my personal favorite. (It's nice to see some drawings that tie in with the stories.) I thought it was a nice touch that he put your signature on the "Pickup Artist".

The next thing I noticed was the destruction of your magazine's "glitches." While the first issue was riddled with them, they were pactically nonexistent here, and those that remained were practically unnoticeable, always overshadowed by the fine quality of the literature.

I read the stories in order of appearance. "Epilogue" was a nice choice to start things out with. The twist ending put me in a good mood for the rest of the issue. "Crash Test" was enjoyable, and the thing that really made it click for me was the characterization: I could imagine Tinker as the typical mad scientist, and Kent reminded me of someone I know. The ending here was unexpected and well-done, as tends to be on par with your stories. One thing puzzles me though: who was Sean crying for? I assumed they were for his dead sister, Katie. But when you find out that Katie is actually alive... very puzzling. "Jersey Devil" was written from a very unique perspective, and I've alwyas imagined autoduellists interacting just like that; there was a very good concept behind it, and the actual writing was also admirable. Part 2 of "The Year The Indy Died" was just exquisite. I liked seeing a story that was suspenseful, catchy, and good without having to resort to violence.

The real jewel of the bunch was Joel Mullins' piece, "The Horde." It was... unique. From the first sentence I was hooked. The background worked well, and the opening of the narration just cried out to be read. Roger Hall was a demented idea for a character! I enjoyed all the characters, especially Baron von Aaron. The plot was chaotic, filled with many sequences and details. So are Mullins' pictures, and I like that. He fits so many things into so little space, that it is just impressive. I look forward to more pieces from Mullins in the future. One question: is it the "Freedom Army" or "Freedon Army"?

Thanks for such a great magazine. Keep up the good work, all of you.

Daveed Gartenstein-Ross
Ashland, OR

It was the "Freedom Army" and we regret that the typo got by us. We have a "Zero Tolerance" rule for all "glitches" but accidents still happe

Letters to the editor are always welcome, good or bad. Letters may be edited for space reasons. Names and partial addresses will be included with all printed letters but will be withheld upon request. Send all correspondence to Chris Burke, 127 Bay 23 Street, Brooklyn, NY 11214.

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