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DISAPPEARING INK
The "I-Maniacs Fan Club" Newsletter
Issue #14
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<*><*><*><*><*> TABLE OF CONTENTS <*><*><*><*><*>
1. A Word from the Publisher
2. A Word from the Club President
3. Comic-Con Update
4. Spotlight on: Yahoo Groups
5. Sound Off!
6. What Happens Next?
7. Important Addresses
<*><*><*><*><*> A WORD FROM THE PUBLISHER <*><*><*><*><*>
Hi Fellow I-Maniacs & welcome to all our new members!
Well, we're finally getting a batch of brand new episodes and boy did it start out with a bang… those silver eyes of Darien's are going to creep me out for a long while!
While I don't have an interview for you this issue (breaking a streak of four in a row!) I do have a new section called "Comic-Con Update". KatrynSedai will write this section for newsletter to keep us updated on plans and information for I-Maniac activities, housing, parties, and general mayhem during the convention (I can almost hear the hotel staff now murmuring about the squealing and thudding going on in the I-Maniac suite :)
On another note of members meeting members, Nebula30, one of the web site designers, thought it would be really cool to have photos of the fan club members on the I-Maniacs site. If you'd like to have yours included, please send the file to imanfanclub@yahoo.com. If you don't have a scanner and are willing to send a photo in the mail, please contact Neb at imaniac30@yahoo.com.
As our membership grows so does my list of missing or unreachable members :( I'd like to make you all aware of these poor unfortunate souls whose email addresses are not working for me. They are: Kento, LaRin, quicksilvr, Goldensun, Sinister1 (mailbox full), CanadianNational, Cat191, Wyld, invision, DeptofFishandGame, starsugar (mailbox full), Slave2chiana and LuvnVinVin. If you see any of them in the chat room or on the bboard, please do me a favor and send them my way at imannewsletter@yahoo.com so I can get things straightened out and make sure they don't miss out on anything!
Any and all feedback is welcome, not only for this newsletter, but for the fan club web site at http://www.geocities.com/imanfanclub as well. Please send your comments and suggestions to imannewsletter@yahoo.com.
Gina
<*><*><*><*><*> A WORD FROM THE CLUB PRESIDENT <*><*><*><*><*>
Agenda
Greetings & Welcome
Steve's Chat
Upcoming Plans
Vince's Birthday
*Greetings & Welcome*
Hello to all my half-crazed I-Man fans! Man, it sure is good to be watching all new
episodes again. I swear, I think I can recite FFH backwards, from the end go back. What?
Why are you all looking at me like
that?
Anyway, we're off an running with all new adventures of the Underfunded Five featuring the
Dynamic Duo. Season Two is right around the corner and the future looks bright indeed.
Man, it's good to be alive! Okay, as always I want to start off by telling all of you that
as the show gains in popularity, our numbers continue to grow. Right now we are up to 234
members!! Isn't that frelling *GREAT*? I'm aiming for 500, I would love to see this club
gain 500 members. I could die a happy woman then!
Before I go off on a tangent, I want to pause to welcome all of our newest newbies, they
are : Kento, MorgaineLeFay85, Liz_Z (it's about time! *g*), Krpm1, AnaKerie, Pipsqueak119,
LozonSkippy, Gracie, CeruleanLobster, NekoSama (again, about time! *g*), Silverenzyme and
TriniGirl (that's my sister!!). I just want to take a brief moment here to say that I am
so happy to see all of you here, I love it when our family's numbers increase like this.
I'm also glad that two members of my family are part of this club; my cousin, Kaat, and
now my sister, TriniGirl. Now, if I could reach the rest of my family, I'd be in
business!! *R2 dons her party cap and does a Darien dance of joy* Greetings and welcome to
all of you! This is the most fun insanity could ever be!
*Steve's Chat*
I want to thank all the fans who showed up for Steve Binder's chat on Saturday, it was
a raging success. It was a very cozy Fireside Chat and all those who attended were able to
get in more than one question (R2 glances at Pensive). Steve was a gracious guest, very
charming and extremely sweet. We did not find out until the end of the chat that he was
actually at a friend's Birthday party and had taken an hour out of his time to hang with
us. What an unbelievable gesture. For those of you who were unable to attend, or forgot
(it happens!), I do have a log of the chat. I will send it to you so you can see all the
fun we had. There is a particularly hysterical story that Steve told us regarding a
viewing of a daily and some beans. He had the whole lot of us crying into our Imans we
were laughing so hard. So, to Steve Binder I want to extend my heartfelt thanks. It was a
great time!
For the future, I want you all to know that I am working on getting the following people
set up for chats :
Michael Grossman
Shannon Kenny
John Connor
Joel Bissionette
and Vince, Paul & Mike have all expressed an interest in taking part in another chat
with the fans now that Season Two is almost here. They had such a great time at the last
one, that they want to partake of another. Congrats guys, you're a hit!
*Upcoming Plans*
Well, now that I've organized the Board of Directors, things are taking off at an
unbelievable pace! KatrynSedai is working with Smartypants to organize the BEST Comic Con
party you guys could ever hope for! I don't want to divulge any plans right now because I
don't know what's definite and what's not, so I'll leave that to Katryn & Smarty to
tell all of you. They are the ones working so diligently on this, and let me tell you; if
half of what they are planning comes to fruition, we are all going to have one helluva
good time! Also, Katryn & ShelBel are working to try and possibly organize some fan
club merchandise that's con related. In addition, ShelBel and Beth are also organizing
another round of merchandise. This idea was garnered from a post on the bboard awhile
back. The "All I Needed To Know" post that Lauren (my Ass! *smirk*) started.
Well, Beth & Shel took this idea and are working to see if we can get it printed up on
a T-Shirt for all the members. Again, right now this is all in the planning stages and
nothing has been determined as of yet.
As you all know, Gina is working very hard to make cast/crew interviews a main part of
Disappearing Ink. In that respect, I am also trying to gather up some more people for her
to send questions to. I want to keep this part a surprise since you'll never know what
interview will be waiting for you when you get the next edition. Stay tuned, the party's
only now getting started!
*Vince's Birthday*
Well, the Invisible Man is turning another year older. We won't be there to share in
the cake and festivities, but we can still let him know that we're thinking about him.
Thanks to Katryn for helping me out on this one. This is what we need to do; all of you
(that have not already done so) need to email Katryn at katryn7@nycap.rr.com and write out the birthday
greetings you want to send to Vince. It can be anything from a simply Happy Birthday to a
nice letter. I myself sent a letter.
Get your thoughts in order and email Katryn right away so she can start organizing the
whole thing. We're going to group fans in relation to the states or geographic area they
come from and get however many different, funny cards we can that will correspond to all
the fans. Katryn will then print out the letters and well wishes and paste them inside the
cards we're sending to him. This is going to be great and Vince will love it, I promise
you. You have until April 9th to get your greetings to Pam so she can organize the cards
and get everything sent off to San Diego. Pam may have a different cut-off date than the
one I just gave you, so if she gives you another deadline, go with what she tells you.
That's it guys! That's what we have going on now and in the future! Fun times loom ahead and it promises to be a great ride! I'm glad you're all here and I look forward to meeting some of you in July! Now, onto the rest of this great newsletter!
Stacey/R2
<*><*><*><*><*> COMIC-CON UPDATE <*><*><*><*><*>
Hello everyone!
Well, the I-Maniacs events during Comic Con in San Diego this July are shaping up! We
have 31 people confirmed, and another 17 who may be able to make it! Go I-Maniacs!!! I'll
be keeping those who have responded to me updated. If you would like more information, or
have not yet responded to the questionnaire that was sent out last week (even if you're
not coming or aren't sure yet), please email me at
katryn7@nycap.rr.com
Thx folks!
KatrynSedai
Special Events Director
<*><*><*><*><*> SPOTLIGHT ON: YAHOO GROUPS <*><*><*><*><*>
The Sci-fi bboard is an excellent place to talk about "The Invisible Man" and it's how most of us came together and joined this club. However, it can get a bit tedious if you're looking for discussions on a particular subject.
One great alternative to this is the "Yahoo Groups" site at http://groups.yahoo.com/. The site is set up so that people can get into groups and discuss any specific subject matter they choose and there are currently a whopping 43 groups devoted to "The Invisible Man" topics housed there!
While some groups are for general discussions of all things I-Man, such as "Invisible Addicts", "The_Invisible_Man", "TIMOS" (The Invisible Man Obsession Society), and "invisibleman", many are dedicated to specific aspects or activities relating to the show, the characters, or the people behind them.
For example, there are groups dedicated to specific characters, such as "darienfawkesfans", "Hobbes - The VisibleMan", "GEMS Society" (Get Eberts More Scenes), "KevinFawkesAngstAndMore", "DarienDroolBrigade", "HobbesHoneys", and "SSES" (devoted to discussing Arnaud). There are also groups dedicated to the actors who portray those characters, such as "Ventresca" and "VincentVentresca". There is even a group devoted to the crew for the show called "JoshProppies".
If you like activities involving "The Invisible Man", you will find role playing game groups such as "TheInvisibleManRPG", "InvisibleManRPG", and "TheInvisibleManRP". If you prefer to read and/or write fan fiction, you can join any number of the many groups dedicated to this activity such as "TheInvisibleManFic", "IMfanfic", and "Imanfanfic".
All messages posted to the groups appear online, but one of the cool, versatile features of these groups is that you can also choose to have them sent to your email address in either digest or individual format. This option makes the group both a bboard and a mailing list and satisfies everyone's preferences!
To give the groups more of a community feel, they include much more than just posts. You'll find a "Files" section where you can upload and download documents, pictures, sounds or any other type of file relating to the group's subject, a "Database" section where the group can keep track of related material (e.g. the "JoshProppies" group has a database of I-Man recipes), a "Polls" section where the group can vote on related questions (e.g. the "HobbesHoneys" group had a poll with the question "Would you like to see a new female agent added to 'The Invisible Man'?") and a "Bookmarks" section where you can post links to related web sites.
You will need to sign up for an account with Yahoo before you can start joining groups, but it isn't a lengthy process and it's well worth it!
Got a great Invisible Man web site or know of one? Tell us about it. Send an e-mail with the site's address to imannewsletter@yahoo.com
<*><*><*><*><*> SOUND OFF! <*><*><*><*><*>
In this section of the newsletter we offer all of you the opportunity to give us your opinion on various Invisible Man subjects.
Before we get into the new topic, let's check out the results of the last "Sound Off". If you remember, I asked you to choose your favorite I-Man residence: Darien's pad, Claire's abode, Hobbes' joint, or Arnaud's casa.
As I suspected, this was a difficult choice for many of you and the race was very close! Arnaud's Hacienda and Claire's place tied for second and beating them both by exactly one vote was Darien's apartment.
As Keeper of PBV put it, "It's very cozy! His apartment is just about perfect!"
New Topic:
What is your favorite I-Man headwear? Is it that black knit burglar cap that Darien wears
while… well… burgling? Or do you prefer the bandage Hobbes wore while in the
hospital? Perhaps you're partial to the limo driver cap that Arnaud sported as part of his
disguise? Do you favor the baseball type caps that Darien and Hobbes wore undercover as
Navy men in "Separation Anxiety"? Or do you dig that straw "hot tub
hat" of Hobbes'?
You can Sound Off by sending your choice (as difficult as it may be, please choose only one) to imannewsletter@yahoo.com by April 9th and be sure to put the words "Sound Off" in the subject of your email.
<*><*><*><*><*> WHAT HAPPENS NEXT? <*><*><*><*><*>
In this section of the newsletter you get the chance to get your creative juices flowing and write the next part of an ongoing story. Below, you'll find the story so far. Your mission, should you choose to accept it (unlike The Official, we give you the choice :), is to write the next part of the story in about 125 words or less. It'll be a tough choice, but I will pick one submission and post it in the next newsletter and continue from there. Ready? Here goes!
The teaser:
Darien was a happy guy. He had just gotten a shot of counteragent and wouldn't need a new
one for a while, things were quiet at the agency, and most importantly, he was going to
spend a nice relaxing evening at home with a home-made meal and his favorite book
"The Story of Philosophy: The Lives and Opinions of the World's Greatest
Philosophers". "It doesn't get any better than this", he thought as he
headed toward his apartment with a bag of groceries in one arm.
As he unlocked the door, the scene inside made him stop in his tracks. "Aw
crap!" he said as the smile disappeared from his face and was replaced by a look of
dismay. His apartment had been ransacked and very thoroughly at that. After taking a
moment to digest the situation, he walked cautiously into the apartment careful not to
step on anything breakable, which had not already been broken, and checked to make sure
that whoever made the mess wasn't still there.
Part 2 by R2:
Glass crunched under Darien's feet as he made his way through his destroyed apartment.
Nothing had been spared and Darien felt violated. Unknown hands had rifled through his
possessions, going over his personal affects. The intruder, or intruders, had been quite
thorough. He could feel his heart pounding in his chest, his small abode abnormally quiet.
With a deep breath, Darien allowed the quicksilver to coat his body, neatly rendering him
invisible. If whoever had done this was still here, he saw no need to give them the
advantage. There was a small noise from inside the bathroom, Darien's head snapped around
at the sound as he began to make his way toward the closed door.
Part 3 by R2
Slowly, Darien reached out and grasped the cold handle in his equally cold hand. Fear and
anger were vying for attention, whoever had ransacked his home was still stupid enough to
be here. Big mistake.
He flung the door open and blindly launched himself inside, grabbing a stunned individual
around their waist. There was a startled shout as he and the intruder fell to the ground
in a tangle of arms and legs, Darien could feel them struggling to get out from under him
and he knew that he had the upper hand.
Darien gripped a flailing hand tightly as he glanced down at the person who had destroyed
his apartment. His breath left him in a horrified gasp as he recognized the man,
"Hobbes?"
Part 4 by Kathy Czechowski, a.k.a. Hei_Mao
Hobbes snorted, jerking from Darien's grip and standing. "Thanks for the hospitality.
Love what
you've done with the place," he said, brushing broken glass from his sleeves.
"What do you mean by that? I didn't do this." Darien's brow furrowed as he let
the quicksilver fall
away.
"What, and I did? You called me here."
"No, I didn't." His voice trailed off as he stared at the mess.
"Yeah, you did. You said you wanted to talk to me about something, the door would be
unlocked, I
should just walk in. I walked in, and POW! I woke up in here. Then you came barreling
in...."
Darien paused, shaking his head. "I didn't call you. This doesn't make sense."
"Right. If someone wanted to frame me for tossing your apartment, why call me
here?" Hobbes rubbed the back of his head. A large bruise was rapidly purpling
beneath a dozen small cuts. He winced, mumbling curses.
"Somebody wanted us here at the same time. The mess is just a distraction. Someone
wanted us out of the
way," Darien declared.
Hobbes nodded, his expression grim. "I was thinking the same thing."
Part 5 by FawkesFox
Hobbes' cell phone began to ring. He took it out of his pocket and answered it,
"Hobbes... What?... Where are you?... Stay there, we're on our way." He hung the
phone up and turned to Darien. "There's trouble partner." Hobbes started for the
door, Darien following closely behind him. Within minutes they arrived at the Agency. Once
they got there, they knocked on the door of Charlie's office. There was no answer so
Darien kicked the door in. Inside, Charlie was tied to the chair, a gag in his mouth.
"Hello, Darien." A familiar voice said from behind the door. Darien turned to
see the man who was responsible for his brother's death.
Part 6 by Allison Riley
Darien's couldn't speak. He never, in his wildest dreams, thought that Arnaud would come
back for a third time. Then, the memories of Kevin dying in his arms came back to him. His
speechlessness disappeared. Darien tried to punch Arnaud, but he wasn't quick enough.
Arnaud grabbed his fist and squeezed it tightly. Pain rushed through Darien's arm. Then he
let go. The pain vanished. Darien ran to the center of the room and quicksilvered. Arnaud
just laughed. Darien tried again to punch him, thinking that he couldn't stop his fist
this time. But he did. Hobbes had been standing there staring. Now he could see Arnaud
holding something in midair. Arnaud squeezed Darien's fist even harder than before.
Forcing him to become visible again. Arnaud laughed. "How did he do that?"
Darien, Hobbes, and Charlie all said quietly to themselves.
Part 8 by jakgirl
"Are you selling me out?" cried Darien.
Arnaud perched on the Official's desk. "I think we should tell him, don't you?
Otherwise he will waste his time and my patience trying to discover the answers." He
quirked an eyebrow at the Official and continued,
"The explanation is simple. Using nanotechnology, I've perfected special contact
lenses with tiny viewers, which enable me to see quicksilver: a superior version of the
Agency's viewers. I have proven to your employer that they work. Now he knows I can find
and kill you anywhere, at any time, and he has agreed to let me…borrow you for a
little job I have. Otherwise, I shoot you and harvest the gland. Don't think I won't do
it."
"What's the job?" asked Darien warily.
Part 9 by FawkesFox
"My neice has been kidnapped by some very ruthless people." Arnaud said.
"More ruthless than you?" Darien quipped.
Arnaud ignored him and continued, "I can't stand seeing my sister so upset."
"Well, well... Never would have figured you for a softie." Darien said.
Part 10 by Sasscat
"Ordinarily no," Arnaud said smoothly, "but Jessica shows a lot of promise.
Her mother is right to worry."
Darien froze, barely hearing Arnaud's next words. He knew he was being stupid - it wasn't
exactly the most uncommon of names - but somehow he had a feeling, low in his gut, that he
was about to hear some unpleasant news. "Your niece is called Jessica?"
"Jessica Semplar. She's in grade three at Heatherfield Elementary. If you'll come
along I'll give you all the information you need."
"My god," Darien said softly. "Jess." He stumbled backwards until he
found the wall, and clung to it for support. Jess had been kidnapped. Jess was related to
*Arnaud*. And that was something even her
invisible best friend Ralph couldn't save her from.
But he could try. Darien lifted his eyes to Arnaud's, coldly determined. "I'll do
it."
Part 11 by Mandy, a.k.a. fawkesielady
"Good" Arnaud said with a slight smile. They walked out of the building, guards
on either side of Darien just incase he decided to change his mind, and got in Arnaud's
car.
"So, what do these people want with Jessica?" Darien asked as the car pulled out
on the street.
"That I am not sure of yet. She is a very bright girl, very bright for her age."
Darien thought he saw a tinge of hurt behind Arnaud's hard exterior. He would have felt
sorry for him if he wasn't Arnaud.
"Yeah, I know." He mumbled.
"What was that?"
"Nothing. Tell me what you want me to do. But understand one thing, I'm not doing any
of this for you."
Arnaud chuckled, "I'd hope not. After this is over, we can go back to hating and
wanting to kill each other. But for now, I'm afraid we have no choice, we must work
together."
Part 12 by The_Mad_Fangirl
"You hate me?" Darien asked. The guards flanked him in the limo's back seat.
"Why? I mean, I hate you because you killed Kevin, and," his voice hardened,
"I will kill you for that, but what did I ever do to you?"
"You're in my way," Arnaud replied, leaning over the limo's back seat, gun
sideways. "That's always been sufficient for me, but even if it weren't, there's the
small matter of nine or ten invisible grenades."
"Oh, yeah," Darien replied, smiling slightly. "Yeah, that was a good
one."
"Obviously not good enough. Story of your life, Fawkes, which is why you'll be dead
and I'll have the gland, but not until after Jessica is safe." Arnaud turned forward
again and looked out the front window. A few minutes later, "Ah. We're here."
Darien looked over a guard's shoulder. "Jessica's house."
Arnaud's head whipped around. "And you know that how?"
Part 13 by Maxdout
"Well, It's too small for a villain such as yourself," Darien remarked
cautiously but slyly. Arnaud seemed unimpressed so Darien added, "and your oversized
ego."
Arnaud still seemed unconvinced, "I suspect it was just a lucky guess."
The driver opened the door and Arnaud got out while staring at Darien probingly. Darien
glanced at Arnaud's thugs as he pointed to the door and said, "Ladies first."
They were not amused. They grabbed Darien, one on either side, and pushed him out the
door. It was apparent they were fighting the urge to throw him.
They all walked together up the drive to the door of Jessica's house and Arnaud rang the
doorbell. Just then Darien became very afraid that Jessica's parents might recognize him
from Jessica's painting of Ralph.
Your turn! Send your version of What Happens Next to imannewsletter@yahoo.com by April 9th and be sure to put the words "What Happens Next" in the subject of your email.
<*><*><*><*><*> IMPORTANT ADDRESSES <*><*><*><*><*>
To join the fan club:
invisible_mom@yahoo.com
Correspondence with the club president:
stacey_meyer@hotmail.com
For newsletter comments or suggestions:
imannewsletter@yahoo.com
Suggestions or comments about Sci-Fi's on-air programming:
program@www.scifi.com
Suggestions or comments about Sci-Fi's bboard:
bboard@www.scifi.com
Fan mail for the cast and crew:
Cast or Crew Member's Name
c/o Stu Segall Productions
4705 Ruffin Rd.
San Diego, CA 92123
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