Isaac Asimov, RIP: The Starlog Project, Starlog #181, August 1992

According to Wikipedia, the exact date of legendary writer Isaac Asimov's birth is unknown; he chose to celebrate his birthday on January 2. What is known is the exact day he died: April 6, 1992. At least that's what it says in Wikipedia and in the feature article in this issue of Starlog, where his life is appreciated. Though Asimov's longtime pal Kerry O'Quinn, the magazine's former publisher, mistakenly writes in his column that the good doctor died on April 7.

Actually, I think O'Quinn was making a point about the media coverage on the day after Asimov passed away, but it's confusingly worded. That is all of little matter. Another, more fascinating, misrepresentation about Asimov is repeated in this issue: He died of "heart and kidney failure."

Years later, his widow Janet revealed in an edition of his autobiography that the heart and kidney problems weren't from out of nowhere. As Asimovonline.com notes: "Asimov died on April 6, 1992 of heart and kidney failure, which were complications of the HIV infection he contracted from a transfusion of tainted blood during his December 1983 triple-bypass operation. (The revelation that AIDS was the cause of his death was not made until It's Been a Good Life was published in 2002). His body was cremated and his ashes were not interred." The HIV aspect was apparently (if you believe Wikipedia's report) so explosive at the time that the family and doctors kept the secret for 10 years.

Starlog #181
84 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $4.95

Asimov's death reminds us that it has been a season of losing giants of the genre. Gene Roddenberry and Irwin Allen both passed away in late 1991, and a few months later we lost the most prolific writer the genre has ever known (Asimov wrote or edited more than 500 books). Starlog highlighted all of these (and other) deaths, focusing of course on the lives of the people lost.

The rundown: To go from the sublime to the ridiculous, for the first time in four issues, Batman Returns is not on the cover of Starlog; instead, the cover is given over to Honey, I Blew Up the Kid, the sequel to the surprise hit Honey, I Shrunk the Kids (the screenplay for which was co-written by former Starlog editorial staffer Ed Naha, who does not appear to be involved in the sequel). The contents page features a costume sketch from Land of the Giants (I guess they were sticking to the theme of size-shifting people). David McDonnell's Medialog column reports that the new Sci Fi Channel has purchased a bevy of episodes to air from old shows, ranging from the original Battlestar Galactica to Kolchak the Night Stalker to The Incredible Hulk; and in his Gamelog column, Michael McAvennie highlights Nintendo's Star Trek, GURPS Robin Hood, Acclaim's Super Smash TV, and others.

The Communications pages include – surprise, surprise – letters about Star Trek (including this sentence out of context: "Best of all, it showed Wesley does have the potential to be used effectively as a recurring character"), Hook, Young Indiana Jones, and others, plus Mike Fisher's Creature Profile features the Amazing Colossal Man; the Fan Network pages include the convention listings and Lia Pelosi's compendium of fan clubs and publications; David Hutchison's Videolog column announces Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country and other genre releases; a shortened Booklog section reviews Reality Is What You Can Get Away With, Shadows of Dawn, and Art Liberty; the obituaries continue, with Bill Warren's two-page Tribute to director Jack Arnold (The Incredible Shrinking Man, Creature from the Black Lagoon, and many others); and in "Farewell, Isaac," Kerry O'Quinn devotes his column to remembering his friend (including: "He was not known for his modesty, but his positive self-image was only honesty. Isaac Asimov knew more things about more things than any other human.").

Kyle Counts sits down with actress Deanna Lund in her living room to talk about her career, including the cult TV series Land of the Giants; David A. Kyle provides a long tribute to Isaac Asimov, full of neat insights into the man and his friends, such as the friendly rivalry he had with fellow legend Arthur C. Clarke, about whom he said: "[L]et us talk about science fiction, which, after all, is what we both do – I, because I'm a great writer, and Arthur, because he's a stubborn writer"; Kim Howard Johnson interviews actor Dolph Lundgren about his role in Universal Soldier, though they also talk about The Punisher; Bill Warren interviews Randal Kleiser, director of Honey, I Blew Up the Kid; Batman Returns producer Larry Franco is profiled by Marc Shapiro, to whom he explains his disinterest in the Batman character: "I was never a Batman fan. ... I never read the comics. Quite frankly, when Batman came out, I didn't care." As for Batman Returns, Franco says, "I co-produced it, and that's why I'm going to see it. I'm not going to see it because of Batman."

Pat Jankiewicz talks with filmmaker Stuart Gordon, who was one of the creators of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and who discusses that film as well as his Robot Jox, Re-Animator, From Beyond, and more; Ian Spelling profiles actor Michael Murphy about Batman Returns, Shocker, and other works; RoboCop 3 director Fred Dekker tells Kim Howard Johnson about his approach to doing that sequel, which he says isn't really a sequel for him because he's never done a RoboCop before; in part one of a multi-part article, Mark Phillips talks to the writers of Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea; Marc Shapiro previews the new film Stay Tuned, starring John Ritter; and editor David McDonnell wraps it all up in his Liner Notes column, in which he notes classic TV series revisited and classic actors interviewed.

"[Isaac Asimov] wrote what he wanted to write, and his works were invariably published, all with varying degrees of success. One big regret that his longtime friends had was that he virtually abandoned SF for so much of his writing life. However, of all his many varied and serious works, some of his most delightful writings in the 1980s were for young people. In this, he truly enjoyed the collaboration of his wife Janet in a pleasant series of books concerning a robot named Norby."

–David A. Kyle, writer, "In Memories Yet Green"

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The Starlog Project: Starlog #65, December 1982: Jedi Fever

Change is afoot at Starlog. On the staffing side, Milburn Smith joins the company as assistant publisher, and this is managing editor Susan Adamo's last issue before she moves on to Video Games magazine. The latest photo guidebook is released: Fantastic 3-D. And 16 pages of this issue are converted to full color, apparently to accommodate three color Parker Brothers video game ads. It's also the time of year for publishing the annual postal statement of ownership and circulation: The total paid circulation for the issue closest to the statement's filing deadline is listed as 119,634 (up from last year's 108,970), including the number of paid subscriptions of 16,815 (down from 18,550 the previous year).

Starlog #65
68 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $2.50

It's the second time in a little more than two years that Mark Hamill graces the cover of Starlog from the set of Dagobah, Yoda's home planet. He first did it back in issue #40, and here again he does it, though the photo this time is frankly kind of dark and a bit grainy.

Kerry O'Quinn gets back in his usual mode (after a couple issues delving into dysfunctional SF conventions and uncooperative movie studios) with a description of his trip to the Johnson Space Center in Houston (in the company of Nichelle Nichols, Harve Bennett, and others); letters in the Communications pages include an Ohio teacher who suffered a religious right-wing backlash for some SF/fantasy-inspired moments in her classroom, lots of thoughts about various aspects of Star Trek, a Swedish fan explains how The Empire Strikes Back was censored and edited in his country, and more; Log Entries short items include news of Superman III, Walter M. Miller's A Canticle for Liebowitz heads to public radio, the 1982 Hugo winners are announced, and more.

Mark Hamill is interviewed by Susan Adamo in the radio studio where he recorded The Empire Strikes Back for public radio; Ed Naha -- former senior writer/associate editor/etc. at Starlog, former co-editor of Future Life, and founding editor (under a pseudonym) of Fangoria -- begins a regular column in Starlog called Hollywood Babylon, with a behind-the-scenes look at life and business in Tinseltown; David Gerrold's Soaring column examines some of the ways fans critique Trek films; Alfred Webre interviews Arthur C. Clarke (about UNISPACE '82, 2010: Odyssey Two, and more; the centerfold two-page poster is from Raiders of the Lost Ark; Ed Naha previews Dance of the Dwarfs; Bjo Trimble's Fan Scene covers "The 10-Foot Star Trek Poll," a survey of Trek fans; Joe Copeland writes the story of his experiences as Mark Hamill's stand-in during the Arizona desert shooting for Return (though then still called Revenge) of the Jedi -- complete with a photo of him wearing a t-shirt emblazoned with Blue Harvest, the fake name of the film given out to mislead fans and the press during shooting; David Hutchison explores "E.T. -- The Little FX Movie that Made Good"; John Dods profiles Tim Hildebrandt following his professional breakup with his brother Greg; an unbylined article describes in text and photos "The World of The Dark Crystal"; and Howard Zimmerman's Lastword revisits the Spielberg-Starlog spat over E.T. coverage and also says good-bye to Susan Adamo.

"A growing friction between the brothers had begun to show in their work. Then the titans clashed. What has happened? Everyone involved had a different answer. 'No comment!' says Tim's wife Rita, '-- but someday I'm going to write a book!' 'It was not a friendly thing' offers Tim. Were there artistic differences? 'No, not many,' says Time. Greg agrees."

--John Dods, writer, "An Artist Unleashed: The New Career of Tim Hildebrandt"

To view previous Starlog issue descriptions, click on "Starlog Internet Archive Project" in the keywords below.

Starlog Internet Archive Project: Starlog #7, August 1977: Star Wars Arrives

The arrival of Star Wars in theaters changed cinema forever, and it also changed the science fiction media magazine world forever. Numerous magazines (Fantastic Films, Questar, Star Warp, etc.) were launched in the wake of Star Wars mania in the late 1970s, and for Starlog, which had begun a year earlier and rode Star Trek fandom to success, a whole new fan base joined its readership. Starlog would never be the same, and it was for the better. Also coming aboard with this issue is Assistant Editor Ed Naha (who replaces James M. Elrod). Naha would be a big player in the Starlog world for many years, co-editing Future Life magazine, being the founding editor (under pseudonym Joe Bonham) of Fangoria, and writing many, many articles and columns.

Starlog #7
76 pages (including covers and partially numbered blueprint insert)
Cover price: $1.50

Starlog isn't the only magazine to use the above photo on its cover of a TIE fighter shooting at an X-wing, but it's the only magazine that ended up with an iconic cover with it. Go back and look at all of the covers for Starlogs one through six. Nice and colorful, yes, but number seven had action, space opera, adventure; the same elements that made Star Wars such a refreshing jolt to the moviegoing public in 1977 also makes this cover leap out from other early Starlog covers.

Kerry O'Quinn's From the Bridge column praises SF fans who put some energy into achieving their goals; censorship, 3-D, holography, and praise from William F. Nolan light up the Communications letters pages; Log Entries has its usual wide variety of short news, including info on the new Logan's Run TV series, Ray Harryhausen's Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger, satellites and space probes, the space shuttle, giant SF conventions, and more. David Houston writes an excellent and lengthy cover feature on the making of Star Wars. Beautifully illustrated, filled with lots of good detail and background, the article strongly supported the idea that Star Wars was not just another new film but was a game-changer. Also in this issue, Susan Sackett's Star Trek Report gives some insight into the ongoing script games with the Star Trek movie; Bill Irvine interviews Allan Scott about the Trek film; Geoffrey Mandel has the center of the magazine, which is devoted to a Space: 1999 blueprint insert and article; a one-page article on the second Man from Atlantis TV film; David Houston explores the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.; David Gerrold chronicles his 1973 experience (with photos) as a chimp extra on Planet of the Apes; Ed Naha contributes a Rocketship X-M retrospective (illustrated by the great Kelly Freas); in part II of David Hutchison's SFX department, he gives the history of Robby the Robot; and the Visions column explores the outer planets of our solar system.

"The story is set in another galaxy and time and concerns a valiant struggle against a totalitarian empire that is spread among the stars. The characters herein have never heard of Earth. Their alien worlds and cultures, their dress and architecture, their technology, history and future (if any) are not of our world." 

--David Houston, writer, "Creating the Space-Fantasy Universe of Star Wars"

To view previous Starlog Archive issues, click on "Starlog Internet Archive Project" in the keywords below.

Flashback to Flash Gordon -- Aaaaarrrgh of the Universe

I went time-travelling this morning, reading an old copy of Future Life (#23 from December 1980 -- part of my project to read every page of that short-lived magazine). This morning I read an article about the then-upcoming Flash Gordon movie produced by none other than Dino De Laurentiis.

Writer (and former Future Life and Fangoria editor) Ed Naha noted, "... many of the fans of the [comic] strip and the science fiction genre are somewhat apprehensive about its quality; concerned by the fact that Dino De Laurentiis is producing it." Naha then quotes the production's art director, John Graysmark, who defends the film and says how much De Laurentiis "wanted it perfect."

If you've seen the film (the trailer is above), then you know it's perfect -- a perfect piece of schlock. In the Future Life article, Graysmark first takes the readers through the beginning of the story, including the ridiculous football-like action by Flash and the cheerleading by Dale Arden, and "erupts into soft laughter, 'Delightful.'"

I'm not picking on Graysmark. I think a certain amount of respect or at least understanding is due to people who spend months or years of their professional lives writing, directing, designing, acting, etc., on films, even turkeys. And the silliness of a film's story certainly isn't the art director's fault.

But this blog article also is something of a defense of film magazines (such as Starlog and Fangoria) which are sometimes accused of being cheerleaders (like Dale Arden) for films their editors haven't even seen yet, because their articles pass along the fluff statements of the interview subjects. Unless the editors have had a preview of a movie, there's no way they can tell if the interview subjects are delusional or lying, and anyone who's covered films for years knows that a film might look like a turkey or a masterpiece while it's being assembled, but it'll be bungled by a slash editing job or a studio's imposition of last-minute changes. Plus, anyone reading Graysmark's extensive preview of the movie's opening scenes got an accurate sense of what that film would be like. Let 'em make up their own minds about the film, right?

Flash simply was bad. It has its fans, and that's fine for them. I don't criticize them; I'm sure I like some films, TV programs, or books that they'd think were awful. But when I watched the trailer above, and I remembered sitting through the entire film with ever-increasing incredulity, I had to wonder why De Laurentiis, with his many millions of dollars to put into this film, couldn't make a film that was much better than the low-budget, soft-porn Flesh Gordon from the early 1970s. The Flesh trailer is below (don't worry, it's safe for work; though the film was rated X when it was released, it really would have difficulty getting an R these days, and the trailer is PG at most).

Both Flash and Flesh are bad movies, but the folks who put together the latter weren't laboring under the illusion that they were making the Next Big Thing.