Treks Ahoy! The Starlog Project, Starlog #189, April 1993

After writer Harlan Ellison was finished with putting out his An Edge in My Voice columns, which began in Future Life magazine and then migrated to other publications after FL folded, he put out a book with the collected columns and new introductions. The book, also called An Edge in My Voice (1985), was one of my favorites of that decade, and I gave it as a gift to several of my friends.

I always expected Ellison’s friend and fellow writer David Gerrold to one day collect his long-running Starlog columns in book form. Gerrold began writing for the magazine with its fourth issue in March 1977 and continued every month (later switching to bimonthly frequency) until issue #101, rejoining its pages a couple years later to chronicle the birth of Star Trek: The Next Generation, which he helped birth with Gene Roddenberry. Over the years, his columns ranged from controversial reviews of the first Star Trek movie and The Empire Strikes Back to computer insights to thoughts on life and encouragement for readers. I figured that was a no-brainer candidate to become a book, but none ever appeared. Gerrold seemed more intent on producing new novels and some television work, which is his right, of course. But still, a missed chance, no?

Then there’s been some talk in 2011 about a possible book collecting Kerry O’Quinn’s From the Bridge columns, literally hundreds of which were written over decades by the magazine’s co-founder and former publisher. In Starlog #189, O’Quinn begins his column noting that he had recently received a letter from a friend, who wrote, “I’ve seen a few of your most recent Bridge columns, and they’re fun to read because you wrote them – but I haven’t seen a ‘reach for the stars’-type column lately. I hope you still feel that they’re important.”

O’Quinn then goes on to offer up just such a column, about Jok Church, creator of the Beakman’s World TV series and the syndicated comic strip You Can with Beakman. Reading the story about how the young man struggled to get his ideas off the ground and then found success in print and on television, I found myself agreeing with O’Quinn’s friend about how much I enjoy the “reach for the stars” columns. It’s one of the ingredients that is missing from all current science-fiction media magazines, not to mention any other magazine I can think of with a young audience. It’s easy to throw together a magazine with all the ingredients that your focus groups tell you are important and that the MBA in the corner office insists are critical; it is much more difficult to engage readers on the level of their dreams, their souls. Seeing them as consumers is one thing; seeing them as humans is another.

Let’s hope O’Quinn publishes that book.

Starlog #189
84 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $4.95

There is some personnel-shifting at Starlog this month. Managing editor Michael McAvennie is heading off to greener pastures (actually, DC Comics; DC and Marvel seemed to hire away a lot of Starlog junior staffers over the years). He will continue to write the magazine's video-game review column, Gamelog. Taking his place as managing editor is Maureen McTigue, who would herself end up working at DC Comics and Harris. In a long interview with Sequential Tart in 2002, McTigue was asked about her Starlog tenure:

ST: What was the main difference between being an intern at Starlog and being an assistant editor there?
MMT: [grins] I got paid better.
ST: Between being an assistant editor and being a managing editor there?
MMT: [smiles] More responsibility.

For more on the joys and tribulations of working at Starlog, see my interview with former staffer Carr D’Angelo in my digital magazine-about-magazines, Magma.

The rundown: It’s Trek, Trek, and more Trek on the cover of this issue, where Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and even animated Trek get featured placement, with a note that inside there’s info on the oft-maligned Star Trek V movie; on the contents page, we get a Trek-breather and instead some comic-book aliens get the spotlight. David McDonnell’s Medialog column tells us that the little-talked-about CBS science-fiction series Space Ranger, noted briefly last issue, debuted months earlier than planned, in January rather than in spring, which seems to have wrong-footed Starlog’s coverage of the series. That coverage starts this issue. The series, though, only lasted six episodes, so the magazine was left dribbling out coverage of the show after it had died. Michael McAvennie’s Gamelog reviews a Star Trek: The Next Generation game called How to Host a Mystery, which McAvennie warns “can take as long as four hours to play.” And the Communications section is filled up with mostly kvetching about Alien3, though the magazine’s recent 20th-anniversary Blade Runner coverage gets some reader love, too; also, It (just It) is featured in Mike Fisher’s Creature Profile.

Booklog reviews Kingdoms of the Wall, Damia’s Children, Kalifornia, Dirty Work, The Red Magician, Demons Don’t Dream, and Assemblers of Infinity. Starship Invasions is out on home video, warns David Hutchison in his Videolog column. Maureen McTigue’s directory of fan clubs and publications and the convention listings fill up the Fan Network pages. In a two-page Tribute section, T.L. Johns remembers the late writer Fritz Leiber, while Tom Weaver does the honors for actor Robert Shayne. And, as noted at the top of this post, Kerry O’Quinn highlights Jok Church’s efforts to make science fun and understandable to young audiences.

Marc Shapiro kicks off Starlog’s feature coverage of Space Rangers with an interview of actor Jack McGee, who portrays the, um, zaftig cyborg in the series, and who comments on similarities with Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Terminator cyborg: “I guess you would say we’re quite the same. I know he would love to have a body like mine.” Animated Star Trek episode writer Larry Brody (“The Magicks of Megas-Tu”) is interviewed by Bill Florence; he also discusses his never-filmed script for Star Trek: The Next Generation, how Harlan Ellison got fired from a TV series over one of Brody’s scripts, and other interesting tidbits from his career. Craig W. Chrissinger profiles actor Dale Midkiff, star of Time Trax. And Marc Shapiro checks in with Time Trax’s creator, Harve Bennett, to discuss his views of William Shatner’s Star Trek V.

Kim Howard Johnson previews ALIENS: Colonial Marines, a new series from Dark Horse Comics. Ian Spelling visits the set of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Joe Nazzaro interviews Red Dwarf’s Hattie Hayridge, who plays the ship’s computer. Ian Spelling also talked to actor Robert Patrick this month, and Patrick discusses his roles in Terminator 2 and Fire in the Sky; meanwhile, Kim Howard Johnson provides a sidebar chat with that latter film’s director, Robert Lieberman, who claims it’s “much more science fact than science fiction.”

Craig W. Chrissinger checks in with Star Trek: The Next Generation story editor Rene Echevarria. Mark Phillips profiles actor Arthur Batanides, who discusses his roles in Star Trek (“That Which Survives”), Rod Brown of the Rocket Rangers, Land of the Giants, and others. Kim Howard Johnson talks with screenwriter Nicholas St. John about his new Body Snatchers interpretation. Bill Warren chats with writer George R.R. Martin about Doorways. And editor David McDonnell wraps it all up in his Liner Notes column by saying hello/good-bye to his managing editors, plugging the next issue of Comics Scene magazine, and announcing a giveaway of new Alien Nation novel The Day of Descent. Did you get one?

“I told Bill [Shatner] that he was doomed to disappointment at the film’s [Star Trek V] end. It’s not that the film couldn’t be great, but that he was going to be stuck with a philosophical unsolvable. In the end, he would end up saying, ‘Well, it isn’t really God, folks,’ and the audience would know that you were going to have to say that. I explained my feelings to Bill until I was blue in the face. But he was very persuasive in defending his idea. It was the way he wanted it and everybody over at Paramount was telling me to do what Bill wanted to do. And ultimately I did because I love Bill. … Ultimately, my fears about that storyline came to pass. But the funny thing is that, not too long after [Trek V] came out, Bill came up to me and said that the next one we do should be about the Fountain of Youth.”
–Harve Bennett, producer, interviewed by Marc Shapiro: “School’s Out”

For more, click on Starlog Internet Archive Project below or visit the Starlog Project's permanent site.

Ellison, Rogue, & Sleazy SF Paperbacks: How Are They Connected?

Those of you who are fans of Harlan Ellison's work over the decades might already know this, but in the very late 1950s and very early 1960s, author Harlan Ellison worked as an editor at Rogue magazine in Chicago. Rogue was a Playboy-wannabe whose only claim to fame was that it briefly had Harlan Ellison as a staff editor. That might be putting it a bit strongly, because it made its mark in other ways, including as the publisher of many short stories by leading science-fiction authors. Another editor was Frank M. Robinson, a writer whose works include a favorite book of mine, The Dark Beyond the Stars. (Just to overload you with trivia: Robinson, who is gay, later wrote the Playboy Advisor column in Playboy before moving to San Francisco, where he worked with Harvey Milk at one point.)

Where was I? Oh, yes.

Over at Germany's Nerdcore web site, I stumbled across a short note about a paperback line that was produced by Rogue's publisher and was apparently (according to that site's source, Earl Kemp) started by Harlan Ellison. Apparently, Rogue publisher William Hamling produced a series of books that evolved into a mix of science-fiction (and other fantastic genres) with sex.

Says Kemp:

[T]there was a constant attempt to insert some science fiction elements into some of the novels, or something at least a bit on the fantastic side. And, with each of these attempts, whenever Hamling would discover it, he would object and reinform us that our books were about real people doing real things and nothing fantastic or otherworldly could ever be allowed to interfere with that.

Did that stop us? No.

As time passed and things began to change, Hamling relaxed his hold on the covers and then, eventually, turned their production over exclusively to the art department. ... And sales took off.

So, consider this your R-rated (I assume; I've never seen any of these books) science-fiction story of the day. Kemp's own web site has a small gallery of some of the classic cheesy covers.

Harlan Ellison: "I'm dying"

I was very surprised to see this article in Isthmus, the weekly paper from my old homeland of Madison, Wisconsin. Harlan Ellison, a legendary writer of fantastic fiction, sharp-edged essays and criticism, and maker of more than a little controversy in his decades in the limelight, says his attendance at the MadCon science-fiction convention in Madison this weekend is his last convention – ever.

The reason is that he says he's known since at least January that he is dying. "The truth of what's going on here is that I'm dying," Ellison told journalist Josh Wimmer by phone. "I'm like the Wicked Witch of the West – I'm melting. I began to sense it back in January. ... This is gonna be the biggest fucking science-fiction convention ever, because no con has ever had a guest of honor drop dead while performing for the goddamn audience. The only comparison is the death of Patrick Troughton, at a Doctor Who convention. And I don't think he was even onstage."

Well, if you didn't know Ellison before you read this, that previous paragraph gives you a sense of what he's like.

I wish I had been in Madison this weekend.

Own Harlan Ellison's First Typewriter

Harlan Ellison is selling his first typewriter, a gift from his mother that he used to create some of his earliest works. This is the item you need to get, if you're the type who believes that some of Ellison's angst and spirit was poured into that machine as we worked on it.

I am a strong admirer of Ellison, though I admit I am not sentimental enough to want to own his typewriter.  That seems more fetishistic than realistic. But I did enjoy the explanation of why the typewriter is for sale, as well as the machine's history and Ellison's attachment to it. You can find all that and more on the broker's web site.

Harlan Ellison's Selling Some of His Book/Comics/Magazine Hoard!

Harlan Ellison is thinning his massive collection of printed materials, at the behest of his wife, reports the Los Angeles Times.

The publications list and directions are here. Some of the items are pricey, others look like a steal.

The Starlog Project: Starlog #101, December 1985: Ewoks and Harlan Ellison -- Eeyikes!

So make it three-for-three: Of all of the controversies that have raged in Starlog's pages over the past decade, three of them involved a certain meek writer named Harlan Ellison. First, he got into a spat (a relatively silly one, admittedly) with Star Wars star Mark Hamill. Then he wrote one of the all-time great movie reviews in Starlog #33, in which he dissected Star Trek – The Motion Picture and set off a vociferous response from readers and industry professionals alike. Now, he is back with an interview in which he bites the hand that, um, interviews him.

Starlog #101
76 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $2.95

Ewoks. Why did it have to be Ewoks? The teddy bears take center stage on the cover this issue. Maybe Ellison's right.

The rundown: In his From the Bridge column, Kerry O'Quinn breaks the news that David Gerrold's column in Starlog is ending; letters in the Communications section include praise for Sting, reactions to Return to Oz and Back to the Future, comments on the Starlog Festival in Los Angeles, and more; poof! there's no more Log Entries, the short-news section that has appeared in Starlog since the very first issue, and it is replaced by Medialog, which this issue includes Patrick Daniel O'Neill with an update on Doctor Who, Eddie Berganza on the Hugo Award winners, Kerry O'Quinn on Star Trek IV, and more.

Julius Fabrini interviews actor and author George Takei; David Gerrold ends his long-running column with "Hail and Farewell"; Bertrand Borie and Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier interview Sting about his work in The Bride and Dune; Fan Network includes a photo report on the premiere of Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome, and queries from readers (including, "I love Godzilla and want to know more. When is the new movie due?"); Will Murray profiles Fred Ward (Remo: The First Adventure); Adam Pirani interviews Ewok portrayer Warwick Davis; Marc Weinberg profiles Misfits of Science actor Kevin Peter Hall; Lee Goldberg completes his two-part interview with writer Harlan Ellison ("My role in life is to be a burr under the saddle"); Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier explore The Jetsons; John Adcox interviews author Lloyd Alexander; Brian Lowry profiles screenwriter Hal Barwood (Warning Sign); Adam Pirani visits the set of Irwin Allen's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland; Jean Airey and Laurie Haldeman provide a one-page chat with Doctor Who producer John Nathan-Turner; Will Murray reports on Doc Savage's return to radio; Edward Gross interviews actor Roddy McDowall (Fright Night, Planet of the Apes); the Videolog column covers the Video Visions Space Archives, and more; Chris Henderson's Booklog column reviews a number of new books; the Future Life pages include David Hutchison on an Imax astronauts film, Max Shannon on biochips, Scott Zachek on Cassini's mission to Saturn, and David Hutchison on a NASA phone service that lets you listen in on space shuttle mission talk; Adam Pirani interviews Legend director Ridley Scott; David Caruba profiles actor Patrick Macnee about A View to a Kill and Avengers; and David McDonnell's Liner Notes column recounts a pretty bad day, which included the Starlog editor reading Harlan Ellison's critical comments about Starlog.

"I have known [publisher] Kerry O'Quinn for years and I wrote for Future Life, so I will give you a very candid answer. I am always suspicious of whores. Starlog, Fantastic Films, almost all the magazines with the exception of Cinefantastique are flacks for the industry. They live off the free hand-outs and they can't really say bad things. How honest can a magazine like that be? ... I respect some of the things that Kerry tries to do. I respect some of the writers. The magazine does what the magazine does. I don't revile it and I don't usually publicly put it down."

–Harlan Ellison, writer, interviewed by Lee Goldberg: "Harlan Ellison: 'Call Me a Science-Fiction Writers – I'll Tear out your Liver!"

To view previous Starlog issue descriptions, click on "Starlog Internet Archive Project" in the keywords below or visit the Starlog Project's permanent home.

The Starlog Project: Starlog #100, November 1985: The Importance of Being 100

Just think of all of the science-fiction media magazines that never published 100 issues: Fantastic Films (didn't even get halfway there), Questar, SF Movieland, Star Blasters, Science Fiction Illustrated, Sci Fi TV, Sci Fi Teen, The Monster Times, and more. How many can you name? The point is that it's difficult to keep a magazine afloat for a decade or more, so Starlog's 100th issue was quite an achievement.

Three big players in genre entertainment bought ads in this issue congratulating the magazine for its milestone issue: Lucasfilm, Warner Bros., and Amblin Entertainment.

Why am I listing all these things? Because this is a biggie list issue. The theme is "The 100 Most Important People in Science Fiction," who are featured in short writeups in a loooong article that sprawls throughout much of the issue. I won't reprint the list of names here, because, well, I'm too lazy. But suffice to say it includes many of the people you would expect to be on such a list of genre notables (Isaac Asimov, Frank Frazetta, Harlan Ellison, George Lucas, etc.), as well as some less well-known choices that might have surprised some readers (Olaf Stapledon, A. Merritt). This list would continue in the magazine's 200th and 300th issues, so pretty much anyone you though should have been on this 100 list gets onto the list sooner or later. I think my cat is number 293.

Starlog #100
100 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $3.95

In Starlog spinoff news, the sixth edition of The Best of Starlog is out, including new and previously published articles.

But back to issue #100. This special 100-page magazine includes extra color pages, as well as interviews with some of the biggest names in the field. And as much as it is a celebration, the magazine does not shy away from controversy, especially with publisher Kerry O'Quinn's interview with Gene Roddenberry, which includes quite a bit of religious criticism. They do something else that's not controversial but is rather cool: The issue includes separate short articles by each of McDonnell's predecessors as editor, David Houston (who gives some interesting background on the magazine's early years) and Howard Zimmerman.

The rundown: For the first time ever, co-publisher Norman Jacobs pens an editorial. The From the Bridge column is broken into two parts, with O'Quinn writing part and then Jacobs writing part. Jacobs tells us what most of us suspected; he's the business person running the Starlog empire (somebody's got to negotiate with printers and distributors). Meanwhile, O'Quinn talks about the magazine's growth and shares a barrage of quotes from readers (including one that, I think, was mine: "If there is any magazine on the market that constantly offers inspiration and positive values, it is Starlog" -- which is attributed to "John" in "Wisconsin," both of which I was, and it sounds very much like something I'd have written back then; I know, I know – that, and a dollar, will get me a cup of coffee). There is no letters page this issue, and Future Life, Fan Network, and Videolog also take the month off. But Log Entries is here! So short news items include Chris Henderson on a number of new genre books from Charles Shffield, Richard A. Lupoff, and others, and David McDonnell's roundup of news bits includes word on a Heavy Metal movie sequel (to be called -- but never made -- Heavy Metal's Burning Chrome), a sequel to The Ewok Adventure, and much more.

In the Other Voices guest column, Starlog's founding editor, David Houston, relates the tale of Starlog's inspiration and creation (including this insight, from an explanation of when Houston joined the company: "Kerry and Norman ... enjoy, and succeed at, the process of publishing: define a market, discover how to answer a need, locate effective suppliers, find and hire the right personnel, keep costs low, give it a best effort; and it doesn't make much difference what the subject matter might be. Evidently. They've come out with everything from astrology to wrestling."); "The 100 Most Important People in Science Fiction/Fantasy" kicks off with John W. Campbell Jr., and ends many, many pages later with Willis H. O'Brien; Kerry O'Quinn interviews Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry about life, the universe, and everything -- but mostly about religion; Mike Clark interviews Lost in Space creator Irwin Allen; Steve Swires interviews stop-motion effects magician Ray Harryhausen; Lee Goldberg interviews George Lucas; it's time-travel time: back in issue #92, Steve Swires interviewed John Carpenter in the first part of a two-part profile, and this issue -- eight months later -- part two of that interview is published; Swires also interviews Leonard Nimoy about Star Trek IV; Lee Goldberg interviews writer Harlan Ellison (who gets even more biting in part two of this interview, published next issue); Robert Greenberger interviews actress Nichelle Nichols; Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier profile writer Richard Matheson; Steve Swires finishes his two-part interview with Peter Cushing (the first part ran in #96); Howard Zimmerman writes a guest Lastword column, in which he looks at the ways science fiction media have evolved in the past decade; and David McDonnell's Liner Notes column gives some background on this anniversary issue.

"I always liked the bizarre. I suppose that was part of my Germanic background. Fantasy films always attracted me. I can remember my parents taking me to see The Lost World and Metropolis when I was very young. My love for science fiction and fantasy led me to join the Science Fiction League in Los Angeles, where I first met Ray Bradbury and Forrest J. Ackerman. We all had similar interests. We dreamt about space platforms, and going to the Moon and Mars. That was in the 1930s, so most 'normal' people thought we were off our rockers."

–Ray Harryhausen, filmmaker, interviewed by Steve Swires: "Ray Harryhausen: The Man Who Can Work Miracles"

To view previous Starlog issue descriptions, click on "Starlog Internet Archive Project" in the keywords below or visit the Starlog Project's permanent home.

The Starlog Project: Starlog #89, December 1984: Harlan Ellison vs. James Cameron

Some of you might know the details of this better than I do, but this issue features what I think is the interview that played a role in a lawsuit between writer Harlan Ellison and director James Cameron over the origins of The Terminator. From what I've gathered over the years in comments here and there (mostly online), Ellison sued, claiming that the story was ripped off from his work; Cameron allegedly admitted (or bragged) as much in a Starlog interview (and in a conversation elsewhere); Cameron's associate demanded to see the interview before it was published; Starlog said, Nope; Cameron's pal threatened legal action, and it turned out Cameron had been offered the right to review the article (not standard practice at Starlog or most other magazines, and apparently it only happened here because of an oversight); Cameron's associate removed a potentially incriminating quote from the article, which Starlog then published. BUT, Starlog still had the original interview, which was provided to Ellison and was the "smoking gun" used to threaten legal action against Cameron's studio; so Ellison was paid off and given a credit in future releases of the film. Lesson learned: Don't piss off Harlan Ellison or Starlog's editors.

At least, that's what I gather from reading several online explications of the controversy, as well as a bit of input from one of Starlog's editors. If there's a story that gives Cameron's point of view better, please let me know. You can see Ellison explain the story here. You really have to appreciate Ellison's comment about Cameron's ego out-sizing even his own.

Starlog #89
70 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $2.95

Enjoy the two-page foldout posters while they last; their time is coming to an end. This issue, the Starlog Science Fiction Classic poster is renamed the Fantasy Classic so it can feature Gremlins. Also, a note (and a complaint): The non-color pages seem to be printed on even cheaper paper, so much so that some of the photos are unbelievably black and impossible to view.

Anyway, the rundown: Kerry O'Quinn's From the Bridge column relates more convention fun; Communications letters cover reaction to Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, Fangoria columnist Alex Gordon on Max von Sydow, a reader who hates the magazine covering Knight Rider, and more; Log Entries (now bylined) short news items include Lee Goldberg on the new Twilight Zone TV show, Will Murray on The Spider, Andrew Denning on the passing of Richard Basehart, David Hutchison on the re-release of The Empire Strikes Back, and more.

Okay, so it turns out that Lenny Kaye's column hasn't reverted to its previous name, as suggested last issue – in his Space Age Games and Computers column, Kaye says a lot about Coleco; Lee Goldberg interviews Buckaroo Banzai director W.D. Richter; David Gerrold explains why writers say "no" to your requests; Dennis Fischer interviews V actress Jane Badler; Steve Swires interviews Irish McCalla, the original Sheena; Lee Goldberg interviews 2010 (and Altered States) actor Bob Balaban; Ben Landsman and Patrick Daniel O'Neill interview Doctor Who actor Patrick Troughton; Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier interview Dune star Kyle MacLachlan; Patrick Daniel O'Neill interviews Supergirl actress Helen Slater (with a sidebar on the Supergirl comics); Thomas McKelvey Cleaver delivers one of the most controversial interviews with James Cameron; Anthony Scott King goes behind the scenes of John Carpenter's Starman; Lee Goldberg earned quite a paycheck with this issue – he next previews the Star Wars TV special The Ewok Adventure, which was a big leap over The Star Wars Christmas Special, which isn't saying much; and editor Howard Zimmerman echoes O'Quinn's convention comments.

"I have written the screenplay for Alien II, ... It does exist. What will be done with it, no one really knows. I can't really say anything more about Alien II than that it does exist."

–James Cameron, writer/director, interviewed by Thomas McKelvey Cleaver: "James Cameron: How to Direct a Terminator"

To view previous Starlog issue descriptions, click on "Starlog Internet Archive Project" in the keywords below or visit the Starlog Project's permanent home.

Harlan Ellison Video Comments on The Terminator Legal Problems

While researching the next edition of my Starlog Project (an issue-by-issue compendium of the legendary magazine), I discovered this (at times odd) video telling writer Harlan Ellison's side of the story about the brouhaha over the story origins of James Cameron's The Terminator.

The Starlog Project: Starlog #70, May 1983: Can't Make up Our Minds

The cover of Starlog #70 features three different movies, even though I'm sure that what the editors and publishers would have liked to do is feature Return of the Jedi on the cover again. But, as noted in a previous post, the magazine rarely featured the same production on two consecutive covers (E.T.'s belated appearance on #63 and #64 being the sole exception so far, I think). So, if I am making the correct assumption, they had to give themselves a break from Jedi on the cover of #69. But don't worry; Jedi's back on the cover of #71. And #74, 76, and 80. So this really is the Year of the Jedi.

Starlog #70
68 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $2.50

What's a magazine to do when it has three small movies to hawk on the cover of an issue that you still need newsstand buyers to pick up? Split the cover between Space Hunter, Blue Thunder, and Something Wicked This Way Comes. That's one idea. And announce a new contest. That'll do it. And bring back Harlan Ellison!

In his From the Bridge column, Kerry O'Quinn answers a reader's letter critiquing the popularity of mindless SF films in the fan community (O'Quinn prescribes patience and a more tolerant attitude toward other fans); Communications letters include a lengthy response from Harlan Ellison to the recent interview with L.Q. Jones (who adapted Ellison's story into the film A Boy and His Dog), reader reactions to the two Bonds in Starlog #68, a pro-Nimoy letter from Japan, and more; Log Entries includes short items such as a calendar of 1983 genre movies, news of a delay in Star Trek III (which concludes with the line: "At present, the film's only official working title is Star Trek III, not In Search of Spock"), Harlan Ellison reports that he's handed in his draft of the script for Bug Jack Barron, Brainstorm resumes production more than a year after Natalie Wood's death, and more; a reader contest asks readers to predict who "the other" is in Return of the Jedi.

James Van Hise previews Spacehunter: Adventures in the Forbidden Zone, a 3-D movie starring Molly Ringwald; Ed Naha interviews the immortal Christopher Lee, who's starring in the bizarre Return of Captain Invincible; Lee Goldberg interviews Michael Sloan, the writer and producer of The Return of the Man from U.N.C.L.E.; Ed Naha looks at the special effects of the spoof Airplane II; Jeff Szalay previews Something Wicked This Way Comes, adapted by Ray Bradbury from his own story; Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier make their first of many appearances in the pages of Starlog with their report on Blue Thunder, speaking with director John Badham; Bob Martin's Space Age Games column presents "The Great Galactic Shoot-Out, Part Two"; Ed Naha's L.A. Offbeat column explains the business and hype of selling paperback books, such as his own The Suicide Plague); rock journalist Lisa Robinson (who would be a major contributor to future Starlog sister magazine Rock Video) interviews Blondie's Deborah Harry about her starring role in David Cronenberg's Videodrome; it's part three of David Hutchison's tour of EPCOT Center, in which he drinks a lot of beer and sings Bavarian song in the German portion of the park; David Gerrold serves up "GLOP," some leftover ideas of his (hey, that's by his admission); and Howard Zimmerman's Lastword column says good-bye to staffer David Hirsch.

"Having affection for L.Q. Jones is a lot like getting fond of a stammer you can't correct. No one stands in more delight at the film he made of my story 'A Boy and His Dog' than I (well, delight at about 97% of what he did). ...[T]he one aspect of the film version of 'A Boy and His Dog' that I have despised since I saw the rough cut long before the film was released is the last line. It is not the last line of the story, and corrupts the entire film, to my way of thinking. It is this last line, of L.Q. invention, that causes the justified backlash by women." 

--Harlan Ellison, writer, Communications

To view previous Starlog issue descriptions, click on "Starlog Internet Archive Project" in the keywords below or visit the Starlog Project's permanent home.

The Starlog Project: Starlog #33, April 1980: Harlan Ellison Smashes Star Trek

In many ways, this issue is what a great science fiction media magazine should be. Even covering some less-than-stellar SF productions (The Black Hole, Saturn 3, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea), Starlog does a good job of getting the goods and informing and entertaining its readers. Throw in some high-impact controversy, a little science, a new column by Bjo Trimble, and an episode guide, and you've got an issue so strong the reader doesn't mind the recent hike in cover and subscription prices.

Starlog #33
76 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $2.25

Harlan! Ellison! Reviews! Star! Trek! Okay, Starlog didn't use the exclamation marks when it put that statement in the roof text on the cover, but it might as well have. This would prove to be arguably the most controversial article in Starlog's history, and deservedly so. After all, some of the other controversies (such as Ellison vs. Mark Hamill) simply really didn't matter beyond the spectacle of famous people arguing. But the multi-issue brouhaha that would ensue from Ellison's negative review of Star Trek -- The Motion Picture was important, because it got to the heart of whether SF fans (and Starlog) just placidly accepted whatever was handed to them by the movie studios, and whether they could handle criticism with which they didn't agree, and whether Gene Roddenberry could be called on the carpet in front of his most fervent fans. What's sometimes overlooked is that this issue also included negative Trek reviews from Howard Zimmerman and David Gerrold, but -- though there are plenty of Gerrold detractors out there -- Harlan Ellison is in a category all his own. A side note: Ellison's review in this issue would lead to him pitching a movie column to Starlog, but he was instead offered a regular slot in sister magazine Future Life, where beginning later this year (1980) he would begin an excellent column (his best nonfiction since The Glass Teat years, in my opinion) that would run until that magazine's untimely death a couple years later. It's worth searching for Ellison's collection of those columns in book form, An Edge in My Voice.

Kerry O'Quinn uses his From the Bridge column to talk about true success (and no, it's not about money); Communications letters include two full pages of positive and negative reader reviews of Star Trek -- The Motion Picture, plus some thoughts on The Black Hole and praise for the magazine's 1980 Space Art Calendar from greats Chesley Bonestell and Ludek Pesek (the latter writing from Switzerland); short Log Entries news items include more on The Empire Strikes Back, Captain Kangeroo's Robot B1, artist Wayne Barlowe's extraterrestrials guide, the premiere of the Star Trek movie, Galactica 1980, and more.

Alan Brender interviews producer and director Stanley Donen in his Saturn 3 preview; David Gerrold's Rumblings reviews Star Trek -- The Motion Picture ("When the film was over, there was half-hearted applause. And the professionals walked out without waiting for all the credits. A bad sign that."); scientist Jesco von Puttkamer shares his 1978 memorandum to Gene Roddenberry about how a wormhole functions; Samuel J. Maronie interviews Dr. William J. Kaufman, who -- in the wake of Disney's The Black Hole film -- talks about real black holes in space; fan extraordinaire Bjo Trimble (the woman who led the letter-writing campaign that saved the original Star Trek television series) launches her new column, Fan Scene, which takes the place of former columnist Susan Sackett's Star Trek Report; David Houston examines "The Kids from KAOS or The Not Ready for Reality Players"; Mike Clark and Bill Cotter make their first appearance in the magazine by researching and writing the complete episode guide to Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, printed on an eight-page yellow-pages insert; Samuel J. Maronie interviews veteran actor Maximilian Schell, who plays Dr. Hans Reinhardt in The Black Hole; Karen E. Willson talks with Bob Fletcher, costume designer for the Star Trek film; reader talents on view in the Quest pages include a poet and an SF model maker; Harlan Ellison reviews Star Trek -- The Motion Picture across three glorious black-and-white pages, and the world would never be the same; James H. Burns (aka Jim Burns) examines Star Trek comic books; Gerry Anderson's Space Report looks at Barry Gray's music; David Hutchison looks at Joe Hale's animation that makes special effects come to life in movies; David Houston re-assumes control of his Visions column by looking at "The Visual Art of Science Fiction Cinema"; and editor Howard Zimmerman wraps up a busy issue with his own intelligent reaction to the Star Trek movie.

"The mark of Gene Roddenberry's limits as a creator of stories is heavily, indelibly, inescapably on this production. ... The script has all the same dumb flaws that were perpetrated in the series ... with bigger, prettier pictures. ... The basic story, for all its 'latest state of the art' and its tricked-up trekkiness, is Gene's standard idea, done so often in the series: we go into space, we find God, and God is (pick one) malevolent, crazy, or a child."

--Harlan Ellison, writer, "Ellison Reviews Trek"

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

Starlog Internet Project: Starlog #23, June 1979: Alien Invasion

This issue has one of my favorite Starlog covers: A very moody, mysterious, dark shot from Alien. It perfectly captures the otherworldly thrills that Alien will deliver. It's funny that only this week did I look closely enough at the photo to realize that it's cut off and replaced by a solid band of black along the top (and, presumably, along the bottom, though I can't see an obvious clear cut). Look about half an inch beneath the "R" and the "L" in the magazine's logo, and you can see that the bluish alien tunnel doesn't just fade into darkness, it's sheared off where, presumably, the edge of the original photo ended.

Starlog #23
76 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $1.95

As the magazine completes its third year of publication and prepares for its large anniversary issue the following month, the focus is on aliens: the odd Doctor Who, Gort and Klaatu, Space: 1999's Maya, and the most alien of aliens -- the Alien alien. Some are good, some bad, some are peaceful, some want to plant a baby alien in your chest.

Kerry O'Quinn's From the Bridge chronicles his company's move into film production (which would not come to much); the Communications letters pages include a note about the delayed launch of Fantastica magazine, Harlan Ellison's reply to Mark Hamill's comments about him a couple issues ago, and more; short news items in Log Entries include an advance look at The Black Hole, info on Superman II, talking with the Flat Earth Society, celebrating Isaac Asimov's 200th book, and more; Gerry Anderson's Space Report features a photo essay on Space: 1999 character Maya.

A large preview article on the new movie Alien is the Starlog article that future "Uncle Bob" Bob Martin was born to write, so it's good that they let him write it; Peter S. Perakos gives a sneak preview of the Philippines-lensed movie Monument (remember that movie? Of course you don't); Susan Sackett's Star Trek Report answers the most-asked question about Trek; David Gerrold's State of the Art column discusses the awards game; Ellen M. Mortimer profiles Britain's time-traveling low-budget classic/embarrassment (take your pick) Doctor Who, and she writes an episode guide to the 1974-1978 seasons of Who; Al Taylor provides a retrospective on the classic The Day the Earth Stood Still; David Hutchison gives a behind-the-scenes peek at the work of Joe Viskocil; David Hirsch interviews Darth Vader himself, David Prowse; Douglas L. Crepeau gives us an overview of "Blacks in Science Fiction Film"; David Hutchison's SFX section continues looking at careers in the special effects trade; David Houston's Visions column looks at Charles Darwin's effect on science fiction; the Next Month box bloats to two-thirds of a page to announce the 100-page anniversary issue (on sale Tuesday, June 5, 1979 -- be there!); and Howard Zimmerman eeks out a one-third-of-a-page Lastword column, where he remembers the late Al Hodge.

"Mr. Hamill's confusion about my attitude toward the little film in which he appeared is touching.... Equally touching is his understanding of the unimportance of his opinions; would that more of us had the sense and nobility to perceive our limitations. ....I take it as a gesture of magnanimity not to further ridicule him: As a functional illiterate, Mr. Hamill does a good enough job on himself."

--Harlan Ellison, letter writer, Communications

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

Starlog Internet Project: Starlog #21, April 1979: Mark Hamill vs. Harlan Ellison

There's a Fangoria angle to this issue of Starlog. First, we see the name "Bob Martin" pop up on the staffbox, listed as associate editor. Martin was marking time until his magazine, Fantastica, exited legal limbo and he could do his real job. Not explained until much later was that competitor Fantastic Films magazine was suing Starlog, claiming that the name Fantastica was too much like Fantastic Films. Eventually, the mag would be renamed Fangoria and a (publishing) star would be born.

Starlog #21
76 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $1.95

In an interview that set off a public spat between Star Wars star Mark Hamill and author Harlan Ellison, Hamill tells Starlog some not-necessarily complimentary things about Ellison, who had apparently not liked Hamill's movie that much. The back-and-forth would continue for a while, until the two patched things up. All reported in Starlog.

Publisher Kerry O'Quinn talks about science fiction's global mission in his From the Bridge column; Communications letters range from reader reactions to Superman, Battlestar Galactica, the reason Chewbacca didn't get a medal, Harry Harrison praises Galactica-bashing, and more; Log Entries short news items include an overview of NASA's 1979 plans, a 3-D illustrated Harlan Ellison project, first word on Futureworld, news of The Cry of Cthulu film, and more.

David Houston discovers two science-fiction convention-going fans who got their day in the sun; Steve Swires interviews Mark Hamill, who shares his thoughts on everything from the Battlestar Galactica rip-off idea to his love for science fiction to why Harlan Ellison doesn't like Star Wars; Susan Sackett's Star Trek Report covers the goings-on on the Trek set; Robin Snelsom reports on Pioneer-Venus exploration results; David Houston gives a behind-the-scenes look at how the bridge set of the Galactica was built; Michael Catron reports on the premiere of Superman in Washington, D.C., which President Jimmy Carter attended; Gerry Anderson's Space Report explores "The Birth of 'Starcruiser 1,'" complete with a sketch of the ship; Ted Michael Hruschak and Richard Meyers find that "Lost in Space Lives," writing an introduction to their complete episode guide to the series (a series whose fans sometimes complained that Starlog gave it short shrift compared to Star Trek); Steve Swires interviews George Romero on the making of Dawn of the Dead; Jonathan Eberhart's Interplanetary Excursions, Inc., visits Hektor, the oddball celestial body; David Houston writes about Buck Rogers' life as a motion picture; David Gerrold takes on Warren Beaty and Heaven Can Wait; Andrew P. Yanchus gives us a history of plastic model kits (complete with a two-page "SF Model Checklist"); Paul Mandell visits SFX legend David Allen; David Houston's Visions column looks at Brave New World and 1984; and, finally, Howard Zimmerman suggests science fiction fans take a look at real science now and then.

"[Harlan Ellison] wrote one article in which he said something like, 'Not only is Luke Skywalker a nerd, but Darth Vader sucks runny eggs.' Thats a wonderful effect, and he really should be a lounge act in Las Vegas. I don't think it's worthy of him, with the reputation he has as a wonderfully imaginative science-fiction writer, to lower himself that way. Why should I think his opinion is important, when I know my opinion isn't important?"

--Mark Hamill, actor, "An Interview with Mark Hamill

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

Starlog Internet Archive Project: Starlog #8, September 1977: A Taste of Harlan Ellison

Special effects geeks take center stage with Starlog #8. Mix that with science fiction's most outspoken author, and Starlog #8 tries valiantly to keep people's attention one month after the mind-blowing experience of the Star Wars issue.

Starlog #8
68 pages (including covers)

Cover price: $1.50

Actual behind-the-scenes special-effects photos rarely took the cover spot at Starlog, despite the large role played by SFX at the magazine. This cover is probably a good reason why. Despite giving you a neat idea of how the dinosaur scenes were shot on the Saturday morning fantasy series Land of the Lost, it's simply not a cover that jumps off the newsstands.

In From the Bridge, Kerry O'Quinn raves about how inspiring Star Wars is; Communications letters include a Californian who writes in with some background on Star Trek actor George Takei's run for local office in Los Angeles; Log Entries items include a preview of SF TV for the fall season and a report on the SFX controversy regarding claims that a robot was used in the King Kong movie. John Ciofli and John Warner contribute a retrospective of the original The Fly; Howard Zimmerman interviews Harlan Ellison, "Science Fiction's Last Angry Man." Ellison pal David Gerrold fantasizes about the new Star Trek movie; Susan Sackett's Star Trek Report answers the question of whether Trek will return as a feature film or a TV production; in "The First 1,000 Tickets to Space," science writer James Oberg suggests that "many readers of this article may be journeying into space themselves by the end of this century. This is not fantasy. ... This is hard, cold, quantifiable arithmetic." "Welcome Back to the Wars" offers two more pages of Star Wars photos; Jim Burns provides an overview of Saturday morning TV programs, including a complete listing of "kid-vid"; David Hutchison illuminates how model figures are animated in movies; and the Visions column examines solar sailing crafts for chasing comets.

"Harlan is not looking for any new fans. 'Fame is a lot more and a lot less than it's cracked up to be. I get 200 letters a day. People come from all over the world and sleep in my car if they think I'm not home, just so they can say they slept in his car.'"
--Howard Zimmerman, editor, "Harlan Ellison: Science Fiction's Last Angry Man"

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

Should Harlan Ellison Write the Next Star Trek Movie?

I'm intrigued, even if it's not likely to occur. The "it" in question is the possibility of veteran writer Harlan Ellison offering to write the next Star Trek movie. According to the web site Slice of Sci Fi, Ellison said he's ready, willing, and able to write the next Trek film if the powers that be (and they be spelled "J.J. Abrams") are interested.

It's not clear from the report where this offer was made (in an interview with Slice? elsewhere?), so the context isn't helpful. But for all of us Trek fans and Ellison readers, it is a fun idea to ponder.

Harlan Ellison, of course, wrote "City on the Edge of Forever," arguably (and it will get you an argument) the best episode of the original Trek. He's written a zillion other things -- books, articles, screenplays, short stories, etc. -- that also have given him the credibility to be a perceptive and oftentimes sharp-edged critic of media such as Star Trek. In one of his most memorable articles, he reviewed Star Trek: The Motion Picture for Starlog #33 in 1980. The review was very well done, but also very critical, and it brought a predictable landslide of feedback from readers.

Would Abrams be interested in working with Harlan Ellison? Would Ellison be interested in writing a Trek in its current hyper-action incarnation? Would viewers be interested in the new movie?

Oh, I hope to see more on this story.

UPDATE: The story's also reported at Sci Fi Squad. Not clear to me what part of the story is original, nor, again, where the comments were first made.
ANOTHER UPDATE: Okay, Trek Today has a more fleshed-out report, citing Ellison's blog. (Though the link at the end of the article goes to an Ellison bulletin board, and I can't find anything about this on that page.)

Harlan Ellison Wins "City on the Edge of Forever" Suit

The long-fought suit over merchandising and other rights to Harlan Ellison's great "City on the Edge of Forever" episode of Star Trek has been ruled in Ellison's favor, reports Slice of Sci Fi.

Ellison sued Paramount Pictures over the various spinoff merchandising to his story, which regularly ranks as one of the -- if not the -- best episode of the Trek series. He also sued the Writers Guild of America for not living up to its duties to defend his interests.

Ellison sued for the whopping price of ... wait for it ... $1, plus costs.

The Bane of Mailing Labels: Better off With Them?

In 1983, writer Harlan Ellison wrote a column for the LA Weekly in which he described his lifelong hatred of mailing labels affixed to the covers of the magazines to which he subscribes. Reprinted in his collection An Edge in My Voice (1985), the column included Ellison's complaint:

But when you try to peel the labels, you find they don't put them on with a light-application glue that frees the paper without damaging the magazine. You wail at discovering they use a hideous concoction I suspect is made of unequal portions of flour-and-water mucilage, Elmer's Glue, stucco epoxy and ... cassowary jizzum. What is left on the cover are (a) bits of attenuated label paper, (b) ripped slick cover stock and (c) at least two thick, sticky lines of blue- or pink-tinted glue.

He then details how he has learned to remove the labels and try to limit the damage of the glue. Find the book to learn how (really; it's a great book). But you get the point. Mailing labels deface magazines, and it's a royal pain to undo the damage.

I have a pet theory of my own that accounts for a change in this disrespect shown to the subscriber. Over the past few decades, even after accounting for inflation, many magazines have become more expensive, and -- especially for those magazines that aren't totally paying their bills with advertiser dollars but rely heavily on subscription funds -- subscription costs have increased to the point where many magazines are now mailed in protective sleeves or in paper or plastic envelopes, thereby eliminating the need to glue anything directly to the cover of the periodical itself. If you're shelling out $40 or $55 for a one-year subscription, it darn well better arrive in pristine condition.

However, now a different crime is being perpetrated on some subscribers. Many publishers who do not enclose their magazines in such nice protection have done away with gluing labels onto their covers and instead print a large white box directly on the cover, and the subscriber's address is printed in that box. It's a double crime: Not only is the white box a part of the cover and therefore unremoveable, but the white box is even larger than the old mailing labels, so you're losing more space than you did with that stupid old paper label. Buy the magazine at a store, and there's no white box; instead you get the full cover image unblemished by a publisher's bad decision.

Subscribers should get better treatment than newsstand buyers. (It used to be not uncommon for subscription copies to have no stupid UPC symbol on the cover, so subscribers could get a truly unruined cover image.) But now subscribers of those magazines that do the Mammoth White Box of Hell are worse off than newsstand purchasers.

Of the magazines that arrive in my mailbox, five are mailed in protective envelopes, and the other nine do not. Those nine either still affix rotten old mailing labels or print that Mammoth White Box of Hell for the mailing address. So the forces of good are still outnumbered.