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<\/a>scissors and Scotch tape or glue, the first issue of WARP\u00a0was released in October of 1988 sporting the title banner \u201cWARP 10\u201d, the \u201c10\u201d referring not to the issue number, but to the month of publication. This month-of-publication numbering system proved confusing, however, when the January 1989 issue was published as \u201cWARP 1\u201d, seemingly the \u2019zine\u2019s first issue but, if one were to read the fine print, in fact, its fourth. With the 20th edition, boasting the \u2019zine\u2019s first full-colour cover, WARP discarded this approach and began designating issues according to their chronological publication number.<\/p>\nFrom its inception, the fanzine has and continues to provide, to this day, an avenue for the publication of MonSFFA club members\u2019 SF\/F writing\u2014fan fiction, book and movie reviews, feature articles and opinion pieces\u2014as well as their artwork and photography. Over its more than 25-year history, WARP has profited from the exceptional quality of these submissions and established a reputation as a first-rate, multiple-award-winning Canadian sci-fi clubzine.<\/p>\n
WARP was initially envisioned as a monthly in order that it might promote each immediately upcoming of MonSFFA\u2019s regular monthly meetings. Like most amateur press ventures\u2014labours of love, all of them\u2014the production of WARP relied on free, or at the very least, inexpensive photocopying, usually through the grace of one club member or another\u2019s access to his or her office photocopier! The \u2019zine struggled almost from the beginning to maintain this ambitious publication schedule. At times during the early going, it published only sporadically, these periods nearly always related to the scarce availability of discounted photocopying services. Eventually, WARP readjusted to roughly six issues annually before subsequently settling into a fairly stable quarterly release schedule. As with most amateur press projects, maintaining a regular publication schedule is an uphill battle. But Warp has persevered, and as desktop publishing software advanced, layout quality improved, and WARP is, today, a polished, full-colour, publication, a subscription for which is one of the principal benefits of membership in MonSFFA. The \u2019zine is now available, too, in PDF format and recently put out its 111th issue!<\/p>\n
Both of MonSFFA\u2019s publications, incidentally, are named after the starship Enterprise\u2019s propulsion systems, the full-sized fanzine for the FTL drive, the smaller, one-sheet newsletter for the sub-light engine. These monikers were chosen to honour MonSFFA\u2019s origins as a Star Trek fan club; before club members voted to expand the organization\u2019s scope to include the greater oeuvre of all science fiction and fantasy, MonSFFA was MonSTA, the Montreal Star Trek Association.<\/p>\n