Another Century: The Starlog Project, Starlog 200, March 1994

Even though publishing 200 editions of a magazine is a huge achievement, it just doesn’t have the same celebratory sense of accomplishment as publishing the first 100. It’s not rational, really; magazine publishing has always been a risky business, so the longer you can keep going, the bigger the achievement.

Nonetheless, Starlog probably didn’t help itself with this special 100-page issue by basically repeating the formula of issue 100: The core of the magazine is made up of short profiles of the “200 most important people” in science fiction and fantasy. Not a bad idea, but after issue 100, not an original one, either. (It's a formula the magazine would repeat in issue #300.) The 200 referenced in that name actually refers to brief recaps of those first 100 people, then longer (though still short) profiles of VIPs 101-200.

Starlog #200
100 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $6.95

So what happened in the years since the company published Starlog 100? Quite a lot, really. The United States went from having basically three commercial broadcast networks plus public television and a smattering of cable to having four commercial networks plus public, lots of cable (including a science-fiction channel all to itself), burgeoning numbers of independent stations, and an expanding international market. All of that means there was greater demand for content, or, in the words of Hollywood money people, “product.” As a result, Starlog and other SF mags had a lot more genre programs (and movies) to write about.

Starlog itself had changed quite a bit over those 100 issues, though not as much as it had from issue 1 through 100. By March 1994, Starlog was still the core of a multi-title magazine publishing company, but many of those sister titles had changed. The page count of Starlog was higher, the cover price higher, the paper quality better, and many of the names on the masthead different – most significantly, arguably, was the departure from the company of co-founder Kerry O’Quinn, who had sold his share of the business and taken on a consultant's role.

The mid-1980s, when Starlog 100 was published, was a time when people weren’t sure where the economy was going. Things were still on an upswing from the brutal early 1980s recession, and that decade saw constant changes and uncertainty. But by the mid-1990s, when #200 was published, Starlog was in the middle of a solid decade of very low inflation (so no constant cover price increases every year or two) and apparently strong circulation and readership.

The rundown: The cover is a shiny standout that probably caught eyes on the newsstand, so in that sense, it might be a success. But as a well-designed cover, it just doesn’t make it; the Starlog logo is hard to see, the photos at the bottom of the cover aren’t the people listed right above the photos who are interviewed inside; and the background really serves no purpose other than to catch the eye – it’s not as if it’s a science-fictiony design. It’s just shiny. As for the contents page, it’s actually kind of cool: a large Frank Frazetta Barsoom painting sprawls over one full page and edges onto the next.

David McDonnell kicks off the celebratory section with an introduction to the 200 most etc., etc., etc. First we get the brief overviews of the first 100 folks; then begins the many, many pages devoted to the second 100 people, which fills up much of the remainder of the magazine, interspersed with a few normal articles (about which more in a moment).

There are some obvious choices on the 100 new additions to this list, of course, but the real pleasure of going through the profiles is finding people about whom you know nothing; never heard of them. For example, before you read the following name, August W. Derleth, had you ever heard of him? Before re-examining this issue, neither had I. But I was pleased to find that he came from my former home state of Wisconsin and was something of a pioneering editor, publisher, and writer. So I immediately began looking for his work and for information about him online. Philip Wylie, Arch Oboler, and John P. Fulton are other names on the list that might have sparked an interest among other readers. Taken together, this list can help enrich your appreciation of the history and breadth of science fiction and fantasy.

There can be an endless but sometimes fun game played with the list of the genre’s most important people. Who deserved to be on the list but was left off? I would add Starlog’s own former columnist David Gerrold, for one. Or you can go negative and ask who was on the list but shouldn’t be.

Such lists are inherently subjective, of course, but if they’re done well, they can burnish the publication’s authority. One of Starlog’s assets through much of its life was its assumed role as a standard-bearer of establishment SF; it helped define important topics, trends, and people. So, even with my basic skepticism about featuring a big list for a second time in Starlog’s every-100-issues tradition, the editors and writers have acquitted themselves well.

In other content this issue, Kerry O’Quinn uses his From the Bridge column to recount a speech he gave to a Mexican university, where he found a lot of Starlog readers. Stan Nicholls interviews longtime Starlog favorite Arthur C. Clarke, who discusses his latest novel, The Hammer of God, and some of his other works, including the Rama books. Bill Warren profiles filmmaker Joe Dante, who talks at length about the craze for remakes (and big-screen reinventions of old TV shows). And Kim Howard Johnson talks with director Terry Gilliam about films – live action and animated.

Marc Shapiro checks in with producer Gale Anne Hurd about Penal Colony, though she also discusses her work on Aliens and the Terminator series. James Mitchell contributes his first Starlog article, an interview with filmmaker Tim Burton; they discuss Batman, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Cabin Boy, and his upcoming Ed Wood, among other projects. Stan Nicholls talks with writer/editor/science-evangelist Ben Bova. And another first-time contributor, J. Stephen Bolhafner, interviews author William Gibson, who talks all things cyberpunk (including his experiences with and about Billy Idol).

“[L]ife was almost wiped out on our planet many times in the past, most recently 65 million years ago, give or take a week. The current thinking is that a large meteor or comet hit the Earth, causing an ecological catastrophe–the dinosaurs and three-quarters of all other species on land, sea and air were destroyed. Now, there are lots of craters on Mars, including one so big it’s not called a crater, it’s the Plain of helos. It’s 1,000 kilometers across. If something that large hit Mars, it might very well have destroyed any life there by blowing away the atmosphere. Whatever it was sent out a shock wave so powerful that it liquified the rock as it went through. Imagine sitting down to tea when THAT happened!”
–Ben Bova, interviewed by Stan Nicholls: “The Promise of Space”

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

Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Opens for Business: The Starlog Project, Starlog #187, February 1993

After the unprecedented success of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Paramount decided to keep the series going with another new series: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Awkwardly launching around the same time as Babylon 5, DS9 was thus the second syndicated science-fiction series set in a space station to be on the air in the early 1990s.

I gathered with some friends at the home of a coworker (and Trek fan, the same person with whom I saw Patrick Stewart’s live stage show, if you’re keeping track) for dinner and to watch the DS9 premiere episode. I remember basically liking the show, but my friend said that the story threw us into too much of Commander Sisko’s personal angst and expected us to be invested in him, even though we’ve just met the man. I remember little else about any comments made by my fellow viewers at the time, but those remarks have stuck with me. I think they are a fair criticism of a program that’s trying too hard in its first episode to attach the audience to its characters. We don’t know them yet, so we can’t begin to understand Sisko’s grief and anger on a level commensurate with the amount of airtime devoted to recounting how he got there. It probably would have been better to hint at that past, and then explore it in later episodes, after we’ve gotten to see that he’s a great leader and a humane man and father.

An understandable mistake. After all, it must have been very difficult to come up with a follow-up to TNG, a series that set records for syndicated popularity and brought in an entire new audience to the franchise. TNG certainly had some episodes that were stinkers; that’s true. But more important is the remarkable general level of quality maintained (and, in my view, increased) as the series aged.

As TNG neared its seven-year termination date, the producers didn’t want to just do another series set on the Enterprise or another starship, so they chose a space station. That allowed them to get partly out from under the suffocating blanket proclamation that there couldn’t be conflict between Starfleet members. With half of the space station crew being Bajorans, and with an ever-changing cast of aliens visiting the station, the writers could easily come up with an interesting conflict or challenge each week, right?

Apparently not. The show eventually had to deal with the suffocating effect of being stuck on a space station, so the crew was made more mobile with the addition of their own sleek ship for long-distance travel. The crew itself was also changed up a bit, including the addition of the character of the Klingon Worf. If the show’s producers and writers didn’t change and freshen up the Star Trek story restrictions enough, they at least made an effort in that direction. By the time DS9 neared its own termination date (successful Trek series all have Logan's Run-ish set lifetimes of seven years), it had acquitted itself pretty well.

Starlog #187
84 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $4.95

An interesting classified ad this month: “STAR WARS: DID IT AFFECT YOUR LIFE? Writers/S.W. devotee seeks personal stories of its impact on people who were between ages 8-18 in 1977. Deadline 5/25/93. SASE for guidelines: S.W. Project Dept. S., …”

The rundown: The cast of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine poses together for its first cover of Starlog this month; but First Officer Kira Nerys is all alone on the contents page. In his Medialog column, David McDonnell reports that Kenneth Branagh has been slated to direct Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, the followup to Francis Ford Coppola’s smash hit Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Michael McAvennie’s Gamelog column reviews RoboCop 3, Dragon Quest, Bart’s Nightmare (a Simpson’s game), and other new releases. And the letters go long in the Communications section, in which three letters sprawl over three pages, covering Star Trek: The Next Generation commentary, and Mike Fisher’s Creature Profile features She-Creature.

Booklog reviews Geodesic Dreams, Fire and Ice, Mutagenesis, Wulfsyarn (which deserves a slap just for the spelling of its title), A Dark and Hungry God Arises, and Why Do Birds. David Hutchison’s Videolog column announces the releases of widescreen home video versions of the original Star Wars trilogy, plus a slew of Blake’s 7 episodes (and the page also includes the first ad for the Starlog retail store in New Jersey, announced a couple issues ago). The Fan Network has the usual listing of fan clubs and publications by Maureen McTigue, plus the conventions calendar. Classic-movies journalist Tom Weaver steps out of his routine this month to feature an article on a new comic mini-series based on the 1950s’ science-fiction program Space Patrol. And in his From the Bridge column, Kerry O’Quinn reports on a virulently anti-gay law proposed for Oregon (Measure Nine, which was eventually soundly defeated).

Bill Warren interviews actor Gordon Scott, a former lifeguard who became a 1950s screen Tarzan. Craig Chrissinger talks with producer Grant Rosenberg about his new science-fiction police show Time Trax, starring Dale Midkiff. Bil Warren profiles character actor Vincent Schiavelli, who discusses his roles in Batman Returns, Ghost, Buckaroo Banzai, and others, and he admits that he’s a big genre fan: “My fiancee and I watch Star Trek every night. Both series are pretty terrific, in their own ways. The older one created this magic with nothing; it was really kind of wonderful the way they relied on the imagination. The modern one lacks the original’s innocence, but I watch it every night.”

Ian Spelling will become Starlog’s go-to correspondent for all things Trek over the next decade, and at one point he will even pen a Trek-and-other-SF-themed newspaper column called "High Trek" syndicated by The New York Times. Here he gets to go behind the scenes of the new Star Trek: Deep Space Nine with a conversation with Rick Berman, the producer. Berman confirms my friend’s comments (see top of this post) about the focus on Sisko in the premiere episode: “The two-hour pilot, more than any Star Trek episode Berman can remember, is a journey for one man’s redemption. ‘Sisko is a man whose wife was killed a few years earlier, when the Borg attacked the fleet,’ [Berman] explains of a dramatic situation to be recalled in a series of flashbacks that enable Captain Picard to serve as the link between action past and present.” He also tells us that other candidates for the role of Commander Sisko, eventually won by Avery Brooks, included Tony Todd, James Earl Jones and Carl Weathers.

Bradley H. Sinor interviews fantasy novelist Glen Cook (Sweet Silver Blues, Shadow Games, Bitter Gold Hearts, and others). Joe Nazzaro continues his exploration of the British SF comedy series Red Dwarf, talking with the show’s star, Craig Charles. And Pat Jankiewicz chats with writer/producer Robert McCullough, who explains what it was like working on Star Trek: The Next Generation and shares his happiness to have known Gene Roddenberry.

Tom Weaver’s back in his home territory with an entertaining interview with cinematographer Jacques Marquette, who worked on a number of classic (or infamous) films, such as The Brain from Planet Arous, Teenage Monster, and Attack of the 50 Foot Woman. Mike Clark has a long article focusing on Paul Zastupnevich, costume designer for producer Irwin Allen, who must have been at least as interesting to work for as Roger Corman. And editor David McDonnell wraps it all up in his Liner Notes column with a roundup of new Star Trek publications from Starlog.

“It was so cheap to make pictures in Puerto Rico that Roger [Corman] did decide to make a third picture there [after completing two others]. By this time, I was ready to go home; I told him, ‘If this third one takes over eight days, I’m gone. I can’t stay. I have commitments.’ He said, ‘OK, we’ll do it in eight days.’ Meanwhile, his secretary never paid the bill at the Caribe [Hilton, where Marquette was staying]. I told Roger, ‘Your girl hasn’t paid the bill. They won’t let me out until the bill’s paid.’ He said he would talk to her. Another couple of days go by, and still the bill is unpaid. I said, ‘Roger, if this bill isn’t paid, you’re not going to be able to release any of these pictures, because part of them is going to be missing.’ I had the negatives [laughs]! That's when Roger finally paid the bill and I went home!”
–Jacques Marquette, cinematographer, interviewed by Tom Weaver: “Killer Brains & Giant Women”

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

The Starlog Project: Starlog #64, November 1982: Now Let Me Tell You What I REALLY Think

In its past six and a half years, Starlog only rarely included movie reviews. The most famous, of course, was Harlan Ellison's extensive taking-apart of Star Trek -- The Motion Picture. But there were others, such as David Gerrold on The Empire Strikes Back or various editorials from editor Howard Zimmerman and publisher Kerry O'Quinn. But for issue #64, the magazine changed policy in a big way, putting out an extra-pages issue featuring many reviews of the past summer's science-fiction films, written by big names in the field as well as some of the magazine's senior staff. The magazine had always had -- and largely would continue to have -- a policy of reporting on SF media, having commentary on it, but not being a review magazine; in other words, let the readers decide on their own if they liked a movie or TV show or book. They explain their seasonal change of heart with this issue by noting that by mid-fall, people have already had lots of chances to see all of the films reviewed in this special issue, so they weren't likely to be affecting someone's enjoyment (or dismay) in the audience, but could offer additional thoughts that would enrich the reader's contemplation of the film. I've always thought that was a sensible approach, and I wish they had continued it after the three years in which they published these special review issues.

And for those of you minutiae-watchers, this is the first issue of the magazine that sports the little "Starlog Press" circular "S" logo that would adorn the covers of almost all (but not all) Starlog Group magazines for nearly the next three decades.

Starlog #64
100 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $3.95

This is also the issue in which Starlog does a long-form report on Ultimate Fantasy, an attempted spectacular science-fiction convention in Texas that featured lots of cast and crew members from the Star Trek franchise and even boasted Starlog publisher Kerry O'Quinn as MC. But the event was a bust, poorly organized and poorly attended, and Starlog includes three separate articles in this issue explaining what happened, how everyone involved dealt with it, and why things like this take place. One note: In some quick online research, I find that Jerry Wilhite, the gentleman who planned the event and expected to be made rich from it, is now a Christian minister.

The rundown: Kerry O'Quinn's From the Bridge column kicks off the issue with "The Con of Wrath," giving some background of what he was promised about the Ultimate Fantasy convention and how Starlog probably got snookered more than anyone; Communications letters include TV producer Alan Spencer on Star Trek, various readers on Blade Runner, E.T., Conan, and Trek, and more; Log Entries short news items include a preview of George Romero and Stephen King's Creepshow anthology movie, word of Airplane II, news from Kenneth Tobey, and more.

David Hutchison describes the creation of the "Genesis effect" SFX in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Bjo Trimble provides plans for convention mass letter-writing efforts to support the space program; Robert Greenberger interviews The Greatest American Hero producer Frank Lupo, writer Babs Greyhoskey, and story editor Patrick Hasburgh; Susan Adamo interviews Peter Barton, the young actor starring in The Powers of Matthew Star; David Hirsch compiles an episode guide to Doctor Who's 1982 season; and David Hirsch reviews the film scores to the summer SF lineup.

A one-page introduction leads off the summer film review section and introduces the reviewers; Alan Spencer pens a list of spurious secrets of Hollywood; David Gerrold reviews Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan; Robert Greenberger reviews Conan the Barbarian; cartoonist Phil Foglio contributes a page of SF cinema-themed comic strips; Alan Dean Foster gives us his thoughts on E.T.; Norman Spinrad reviews Blade Runner; Ed Naha tells us what he thinks of Tron; Ron Goulart grades Poltergeist; Alan Spencer (yes, his third appearance in this issue) reviews the new production of The Thing (with a sidebar written by Steve Swires, in which Kenneth Tobey, actor in the 1951 version of The Thing, gives his comments on the remake); another page by Phil Foglio continues his cartoon look at summer cinema; and Fangoria editor Bob Martin reviews The Road Warrior, and he writes one of my favorite lines of the issue: "And since I begged the editor of this magazine for the opportunity to say some nice things about the film (after all, it is the only film I know of that closes with a grateful acknowledgement to Mack Trucks), I am definitely going to take advantage of the opportunity."

Steve Swires interviews Tron and Time Bandits star David Warner; Martha Bonds writes a long article (sprawled over 10 pages), "Ultimate Fantasy Report," giving a behind-the-scenes look at the failed convention; Kerry O'Quinn pens his own report, "From My Eyes Only," about what it was like to be caught in the center of the hurricane; and Howard Zimmerman wraps up this great issue with yet more thoughts on E.T., plus some explanation for why "a magazine that never prints reviews is printing eight of them in one issue."

"Whether you love or hate E.T., it can't be denied that it works on its audience. Spielberg and Mathison have told the tale they intended to tell. Me, I loved it, because I've shared the same dream since I was a boy. There are times when adult cynicism needs to be put aside and we all need to feel like a kid again."

--Alan Dean Foster, reviewer, "E.T., The Extraterrestrial"

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

The Starlog Project: Starlog #48, July 1981: Celebrating Five Years

Starlog ends its fifth year of publication with another bumper-sized issue. It was a year of pretty big changes at the magazine and of growth at the company itself, and the coming year would bring even more changes (just wait for it). Meanwhile, Starlog releases its latest photo guidebook: TV Episode Guides, spinning off into the trade paperback series one of its most popular signature features from the magazine.

Starlog #48
100 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $3.50

A personal note: I originally purchased this issue at the Manitowoc, Wisconsin, grocery store where my family did its weekly shopping, and my mother was somewhat taken aback by the cover price of $3.50 (hey, that was a lot in those days). When we got home and I started digesting the magazine page by page, article by article, I absorbed Kerry O'Quinn's special anniversary editorial and thought it perfectly illustrated why I liked the magazine so much. I presented the editorial to her and asked her to read it to understand why I'd pay so much for a science fiction magazine.

So, the rundown: Kerry O'Quinn's From the Bridge, "Keeping the Kid Alive," explains the importance of keeping a youthful enthusiasm and drive in your life; the Communications section features three pages of readers offering their anniversary greetings to the magazine; short news items in Log Entries include an update on Futuropolis (a winner of the magazine's 1978 short film search that has been expanded into a 30-minute film), Vonda McIntyre's Trek novel The Entropy Effect -- in which Kirk dies -- is one of the most eagerly awaited books of the year, Terry Gilliam's Time Bandits is coming, The Shadow is coming back into action, the brouhaha following President Reagan's attempted assassination led to the renaming of the lead character in The Greatest American Hero, and more.

James H. Burns interviews Harrison Ford for his second chat with the magazine in 12 months (this time, he talks Indiana Jones); David Gerrold takes on drug abuse in his Rumblings column; in part one ("A New View") of Kerry O'Quinn's three-part interview with George Lucas, the humble producer/director/genius talks about his influences and how he handles the work; Howard Zimmerman's "Starlust" poem is reprinted from issue #29.

In the special 36-page anniversary section, a series of SF films from the past year are reviewed via photos (The Empire Strikes Back, Altered States, Flash Gordon, Galaxina, Outland, Scanners); the first part of a three-part anniversary contest begins, with a cartoon find-the-oddities quiz; Robert Greenberger examines science-fiction comics; Greenberger also compiles the past year's Starlog article index; Greenberger -- again -- provides a "Sneak Peek at the Heavy Metal Movie"; Susan Adamo interviews science-fiction artist Vincent DiFate; Joseph Veverka returns with an article on plans for the Halley Comet flyby; Greenberger is back (what, did this guy lose an office bet or something?) with yet another article, this time a preview of science-fiction television programs for the coming year; David Hirsch previews SF games and toys; Hirsch also examines "Shuttles in Space: A Visionary Concept in Fact and on Film"; and wrapping up the anniversary section is a reprint of Howard Zimmerman's poem "Return" from issue #41.

Steve Swires interviews John Carpenter about Escape from New York and gets some information on his forthcoming version of The Thing; Bill Cotter and Mike Clark interview Lost in Space actor Bill Mumy; Sam Maronie reveals the special effects work of John Stears; Alan Brennert, a former Buck Rogers story editor, relates some amusing behind-the-scenes anecdotes from his time on the show; it's another four-page collection of anniversary greetings from science-fiction celebrities (including Arthur C. Clarke, Christopher Reeve, David Prowse, Douglas Trumbull, Mike Minor, Jesco von Puttkamer, the Brothers Hildebrandt, Harlan Ellison, and many more); Quest features a short story by W. Keith Brenton and space art by Gerhard Mros and Bruce Wildish; and Howard Zimmerman's Lastword thanks all kinds of people who've made Starlog's five years a success.

"I don't want to upset your readers too much, but it's just a movie. It's no big deal. From a technical point of view -- my own point of view -- I don't think it's altogether that well-made a movie, because I was working under extremely difficult conditions."

--George Lucas, writer/director/producer, interviewed by Kerry O'Quinn: "The George Lucas Saga: Chapter One: A New View"

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

The Starlog Project: Starlog #24, July 1979: Third Anniversary Celebration

The magazine publishes its first 100-page issue, celebrating its three-year growth into a behemoth in the niche that is the science fiction magazine publishing world. It includes a rare two-page table of contents, a buxom (I'm running out of adjectives) two-page publisher's column, a bunch of extra color pages, and a look back at the previous year in science fiction. In short, it's a muscle-flexing issue that tells the SF world that Starlog's the new measure of success and quality. Of note: For the first time, we see that sister magazine Fantastica has been renamed Fangoria.

Starlog #24
100 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $2.95

The double-sized contents page includes a collage of science-fiction images, created by editor Howard Zimmerman (something he would continue for the next couple anniversary issues). The cover is also the blocked-photo design the magazine's annual birthday parties would retain for nearly a decade.

Kerry O'Quinn jump-starts the party by retelling "The Roots of Starlog," how it was born in a manger... wait, that's not it. Actually, two art directors start their own business, and after a number of publications, attempt to put out for another publisher a one-shot magazine devoted to Star Trek. That publisher was unable to get his distributor to agree to a Trek-themed magazine, so Norman Jacobs and O'Quinn rethought the entire concept, making it an ongoing science fiction magazine that would cover many topics. "We decided that what was needed was a beautiful magazine (to help pull SF out of the pulp ghetto) with full-color art and photos -- an authoritative magazine featuring expert columnists, writers, and researchers -- an informative magazine including speedy news and behind-the-scenes interviews and articles," O'Quinn remembers. They eventually convince their distributor to carry the magazine, which quickly became a collectors item. O'Quinn, of course, doesn't neglect the proliferation within the Starlog family: trade paperbacks, records, Future/Future Life, SF Color Poster Books, Cinemagic, and Fangoria. Unmentioned in this column are the other titles produced by their company, such as Daily TV Serials (a soap-opera publication that lasted quite a few years in the 1970s and was briefly revived in the mid-1980s) and specials such as Hollywood Musclemen, The Fab 50s, and licensed movie magazines and posterbooks (there's an ad on page 71 of this issue advertising "official movie posterbooks" for Moonraker and Rocky II. Licensed movie magazines would become a very lucrative business for the company in the 1980s, when the company would reign as the number-one publisher of licensed movie publications in the country.

Now, on with the issue! The letters in Communications range from arguments over socialism and capitalism to news about model kits to a follow-up for the "Statues of the Gods" spoof article, and more; short news in Log Entries includes an SF and fantasy art gallery in Los Angeles, an update on Superman II, SF-themed pinball games, David Gerrold wins the Skylark award, and more. David Gerrold's State of the Art column features a grab-bag of news and notes, including a literal note that George Lucas passed along explaining his use of "parsec" as a time measurement instead of a distance in Star Wars, and the column ends with Gerrold's announcement that this is "the last State of the Art column that I would write." William G. Fowler compiles a seven-page index to Starlog's first 22 issues; a one-page "Space-Age Spaceware" looks at SF toys and games; Susan Sackett's Star Trek Report presents a roundup of news, including the item that "Bill Shatner is also active on our softball team." Speak of the devil! Barbara Lewis interviews Shatner (his third talk with the magazine in its short life so far, by my count).

A 32-page color anniversary section is fronted by a reprint of the Star Trek art from the cover of Starlog #1. Included inside is a photo-heavy recap of recent big SF events: Star Wars, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Superman, Invasion of the Body Snatchers, Buck Rogers, Starcrash, a roundup of other films, some classic films, a "Best of SFX" section, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Space: 1999, a roundup of other TV programs, three pages of space art, and Jonathan Eberhart on the photographic results of Jupiter probes.

Barbara Lewis also brings back Leonard Nimoy for another Starlog interview ("He Is Spock"); Allan Hendry gives advice for making photographs of things you think are UFOs; David Houston describes an SF-themed radio program called Hour 25; a four-page "Anniversary Salute to Starlog" prints birthday congratulations from the SF famous (such as this from Arthur C. Clarke: "I'm still in a daze this morning having just spent two hours on the phone with Carl Sagan, Ray Bradbury and the Voyager team, as the closeups of Jupiter arrive at J.P.L. in Pasadena. Now there's some spectacular artwork for you to publish and, I suspect, where the action is in the centuries to come. Best wishes to Starlog." Or this from Harlan Ellison: "Starlog deserves to flourish. ... You deserve praise and support because you fight the good fight, trapped between your own lofty ethics and your need to purvey cheap thrills to get [readers'] attention. It cannot be an easy task ... and I applaud you."). Bob Martin explains the Moonraker story; Fredrick King previews The Cry of Cthulhu; David Hutchison goes behind the scenes of the Major Mars film, which was to be part of the Intergalactic Picture Show, Starlog's never-realized feature film that was supposed to come out in the autumn of 1979; Bob Martin returns with an interview of Alien producer Walter Hill; David Houtson's Visions continues his look at Charles Darwin's influence on science fiction; and Howard Zimmerman's Lastword urges readers to be discerning in their appreciation of film and TV during this boom period in the genre.

"Starlog, with three years behind it, is a lusty young giant, symbolic of the new stature of science fiction in the visual media. May you and SF continue to grow and may humanity enter a good science-fictional world of space exploration for a growing and united world."

--Isaac Asimov, author, "An Anniversary Salute to Starlog"

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

Starlog Internet Project: Starlog #19, February 1979: Wookie Life Day!

Every year, each magazine published in the United States that is distributed through the U.S. Post Office (i.e., mail subscriptions) is required to print a statement of ownership and circulation. This is the first issue in which Starlog has published one, and its reported paid circulation is the highest the magazine would see for many years. The paid circulation for the issue closest to the statement's filing deadline is listed as 195,736, including the number of paid subscriptions of 23,446.

Also in this issue is one of the odder attempts to extend the Starlog brand: Starlog co-publisher Norman Jacobs purchased a racehorse and named it Starlog. Two decades later, when I visited the office and was with the two publishers, they joked about whatever happend to that horse: "He's probably glue," said one.

Starlog #19
80 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $1.95

Science-fiction fans generally regard the Star Wars Christmas Special, highlighted on this issue's cover, as one of the low points of the George Lucas saga -- right down there with Ewoks and Jar Jar Binks. But despite the Special's presence on its cover, Starlog #19 is a good, meaty issue with lots of articles and photos to keep the SF fan -- casual or committed -- happy and busy.

Kerry O'Quinn opens things up with his From the Bridge column, in which he relates the high points of 1978 (producing records, launching Starlog in Japan, getting compliments from Isaac Asimov, and much more -- it was a good year for O'Quinn); Communications letters include bets on Buster Crabbe's life, viewer attempts to save NBC's Quark, a call for reader help with a new Photo Guidebook on roller coasters, and more; short news in Log Entries includes the announcement of the Starlog/Future short film competition (soon to become the Starlog/Cinemagic Short Film Competition, once Starlog buys that DIY film magazine), Duck Dodgers, Close Encounters of the Third Kind updates, Battle of the Planets comes to American TV (ugh), Starlog the horse, and more.

David Houston covers the return of Buck Rogers in Buck Rogers in the 25th Century; Jonathan Eberhart's Interplanetary Excursions, Inc., visits Olympus Mons on Mars; Ed Naha interviews Maren Jenson, "Athena" on Battlestar Galactica; David Gerrold opens a can of worms with Star Wars fans by asking "A Parsec in a Pear Tree -- or -- What Makes a Kessel Run?"; Richard Meyers and Charles Bogle interview Phil Kaufman, director of the new Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Ed Naha interviews Ralph Bakshi about his animated Lord of the Rings; two color pages are used to announce a Getaway Special contest to put a reader's experiment aboard a space shuttle (at $10,000, still probably a better investment than the racehorse); Robin Snelson looks at NASA's new jetpacks; Joe Bonham (i.e., Ed Naha again) interviews famed B-movie king Roger Corman; Natalie Millar lost the office bet and had to write the Star Wars Christmas Special article. In Space Report, Gerry Anderson answers reader questions on Fireball XL-5, Space: 1999 spaceships, and more; Susan Sackett's Star Trek Report covers watching dailies, set security, and the Trek softball team; Kent Dorfman covers "Superman: Ready for Takeoff"; Paul Mandell writes the SFX section this issue, exploring the making of the mothership from Close Encounters; Al Flyn looks at the new book Faeiries, illustrated by Brian Froud and Alan Lee; David Houston's Visions column looks at the early days of science fiction in mainstream culture (illustrated by a Boris Vallejo painting); and editor Howard Zimmerman takes a wrecking ball to Battlestar Galactica.

"It's hard to decide whether my basic reaction to ABC's Battlestar Galactica is anger or incredulity. ... The sad truth is that the plot inconsistencies are only part of the problem. There is no science background in the show whatsoever. Why don't Viper pilots wear pressurized suits when they fly? What good are those stupid-looking Egyptian helmets? What powers the Battlestar and its Viper craft? (If they possess faster-than-light drive, it has never been mentioned.)"

--Howard Zimmerman, editor, Lastword

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

Starlog Internet Project: Starlog #18, December 1978: Scary Spice

From our distance in the future, we can look at this issue's 76-page-count as a bit of a harbinger of what would soon become the norm at the magazine within the next year: 76- and 68-page issues as inflation eats away at things. But the magazine is still a science-fiction aficionado's delight, and it continues to innovate/merchandise into broader realms. One of the most unexpected but kind of most innovative is the original Starlog/Future book advertised on page 43: The Boy Who Saved the Stars, a "space fable" children's book written by Doris Vallejo and illustrated by Boris Vallejo. And on page 75, we learn of the release of Space Art, the newest (and, at 200 pages, the largest) Starlog Photo Guidebook.

Starlog #18
76 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $1.95

It's Halloween time at Starlog, as the cover highlights various fright-related features in this issue. They've even pimped the staffbox, widening it enough to include a photo of the entire staff, a number of them wearing Halloween masks. (It's also a reminder of something pleasant a reader of Starlog pointed out long ago: Has there ever been a picture published of Kerry O'Quinn where he's not smiling?)

Speaking of O'Quinn, the publisher's From the Bridge column is something of an ode to joy; letters in the Communications pages include a follow-up to the Hungarian SF fan noted in a recent From the Bridge, plus Star Wars Visions, and reader thoughts on SF productions; Log Entries short news items include a call to save Forrest J. Ackerman's science-fiction memorabilia collection, a new NASA plane, a report on a new KISS telefilm (including comments from SF fan Gene Simmons), an attempt to import more Dr. Who into America, and more.

Joseph Kay interviews Empire Strikes Back producer Gary Kurtz; David Houston interviews (separately) the two stars of Battlestar Galactica, Dirk Benedict and Richard Hatch; David Gerrold's State of the Art continues his attempts to seek "Implications in CE3K"; Richard Meyers covers some new Dracula productions (including Love at First Bite); a special eight-page "yellow pages" insert features the second-annual "Science-Fiction Merchandise Guide"; David Hutchison puts together a portfolio of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde photos (getting scared yet?); Richard Meyers previews The Boys from Brazil; David Hutchison uses his SFX section to lift the lid on the scary happenings in local Hollywood legend Bob Burns' backyard; Jonathan Eberhart's Interplanetary Excursions, Inc., visits many moons (illustrated with a big painting by Ron Miller); Ed Naha previews Joe Dante's Piranha; Gerry Anderson's Space Report reflects on the first Space: 1999 convention, held in Columbus, Ohio; Susan Sackett's Star Trek Report describes the filming of the first scene on the new Enterprise's bridge; David Houston reports "The Adventures of Stella Star: An Actor in a Strange Land" (which stars David Hasselhoff, who is interviewed); David Houston's Visions column tackles things that would destroy the earth (in science-fiction films); and Howard Zimmerman wraps it all up in his Lastword column by summing up all the attention SF is getting in the media these days ("these days" being late 1978).

"On this very page, our austere, sophisticated office and editorial staff has taken a moment out of their hectic schedule to gather in the conference room for a family portrait. As you can see by looking beyond the hideous grins on our lovable faces, some of us have fangs, some horns, some only minor physical defects -- but basically we are just plain folks."

--Kerry O'Quinn, publisher, From the Bridge

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

Starlog Internet Archive Project: Starlog #6, June 1977: Counting Pages

More staffbox changes occur in the sixth issue of Starlog, including the appearance of underground cartoonist Howard Cruse as a contributor (Cruse would soon join the company as an art director, and he would contribute comic art to the Starlog family of magazines for years). Former editor David Houston is listed for the first time as West Coast editor, and Howard Zimmerman is now listed as sole editor (under editor-in-chief Kerry O'Quinn), with James M. Elrod moving to assistant editor from the co-editor position he had held the previous issue with Zimmerman. Musical chairs.

Starlog #6
76 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $1.50

For the first time, Starlog uses a photograph on its cover, and from here on, paintings would only be rare exceptions to the standard photo treatment. The magazine also boosted its page count with a special eight-page center section, printed on yellow paper (again, a practice the magazine would use occasionally for years when it included episode guides or other reference specials).

Kerry O'Quinn uses his From the Bridge column to take sides in the ever-pressing debate over whether science fiction should be abbreviated as sci fi or SF (and announces the editors' adoption of SF), and he makes the case for the higher calling of the SF field. Controversy rears its ugly head in the Communications letters, with a Virginia reader complaining about the nude man that illustrated (tastefully) issue #4's reprint of Fredric Brown classic short story, "Arena." The reader writes that he thought he had mistakenly picked up a copy of Playgirl. "I weep for today's science fiction ..." and he warns Starlog's publishers not to lure young SF fans, who "are subject to sexual problems (such as homosexuality)." The editors' response is a nice mix of pleasant disagreement and blunt talk. David Gerrold's first column also draws a number of complaints. Also in this issue: Log Entries includes some real-life science news, the announcement of Christopher Reeve's selection to play Superman in the forthcoming feature film, and two full-color Ralph McQuarrie paintings from the then-upcoming Star Wars movie, along with a short report on the movie's progress; the cover story is a reprint of an article by the great Robert A. Heinlein chronicling "The Making of Destination Moon," illustrated with many color and black-and-white photos from the classic film; William Irvine visits the set of The Fantastic Journey TV series; a special pullout section featuring "The Starlog Science Fiction Address Guide: Motion Pictures," compiled by Robert M. Hefley; Malcolm C. Klein explains how Star Trek was animated for Saturday morning TV; a complete episode guide to the animated Trek; columnist David Gerrold writes about writing; a one-page report on the cancellation of Space: 1999; Susan Sackett, the personal assistant to Gene Roddenberry, begins a column chronicling the making of Star Trek: The Motion Picture; David Hutchison launches his long-running special effects section with a lengthy article on the use of miniatures; and the Visions column explores solar eclipses.

"The artist, Boris Vallejo, is one of the best-known and most talented in the business. His knowledge of human anatomy and his ability to render figures of impressive stature and lifelike sensuality is, to most people, a source of pleasure ... not shame and embarrassment. Before a reader spends a great deal of time worrying about other people's sexual problems, he would do well to get his own house in order."

--The editors, response to reader letter, "Nudity in Starlog?"

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

Starlog Internet Archive Project: Starlog #5, May 1977: Start Reaching

Readers of Starlog for most of its first two and a half decades of life quickly came to recognize (and, I think, appreciate) a signature factor in the magazine's content and character: the "reach for the stars" philosophy and encouragement of co-publisher Kerry O'Quinn, and here we get the first of umpteenth number of editorials by O'Quinn in that spirit. This issue, O'Quinn also takes over as editor-in-chief in the wake of founding editor David Houston's departure (Houston would soon be named the West Coast editor of the magazine). Other staffbox changes include co-editorship by James M. Elrod and Howard Zimmerman. This issue sees the first ad for a Starlog Photo Guidebook, Spaceships; in the coming years, Starlog would publish dozens of these high-quality and lavishly illustrated trade paperback books on a variety of SF topics (Aliens, Special Effects, Space Art, etc.)

Starlog #5
68 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $1.50

The cover painting is by artist Don Dixon, who is also profiled in the issue. Space art would remain a strong love for the magazine (and its short-lived spinoff, Future Life).

Kerry O'Quinn kicks off things in his editorial by highlighting the success of people who made careers out of their love for space and science fiction. Communications is filled with interesting letters, including one from a "Richard A. Pini" in Taunton, Massachusetts. Is this the Richard Pini who, with wife Wendy, created the Elfquest comics? Log Entries has the usual previews and news, including some making-of info on the new King Kong and a report on William Shatner's college speaking tour; columnist David Gerrold writes about some religious pressure that resulted in the changing of a Star Trek animated episode to suit some Baptists' sensibilities; David Hutchison continues his extensive look at 3-D science-fiction movies; Robert M. Hefley puts together a "Science Fiction Address Guide" for television productions; David Houston interviews spacescape painter (and cover artist) Don Dixon, in an article illustrated with many of Dixon's beautiful SF paintings; in the magazine's first foray into controversial political topics, writer Frank Gilstrap looks at how an episode of the live-action Star Trek was censored by a Texas television station on religious grounds (a nice live-action complement to Gerrold's animated column this issue, eh?); Howard Zimmerman examines the Gerry and Sylvia Anderson UFO TV series; Tom Rogers contributes a complete episode guide for that UFO series; Starlog publishes an episode guide to the final six episodes of Space: 1999's second and (wait for it...) last season; a selection of reader letters on Space: 1999 are published in a special article; Star Teasers has some movie anagrams; and the Visions column looks at the search for extra-terrestrial life.

"This issue is dedicated to these people ... and to all of our readers who are equally demanding of their lives. Whether you have already done it or will demand it of yourself in the future, there is no greater success in life than turning your pleasure into your profession."

--Kerry O'Quinn, editor-in-chief (and co-publisher), From the Bridge

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

Starlog Internet Archive Project: Starlog #3, January 1977: Do It Again

In only its third issue, Starlog had achieved enough success to expand its printing frequency from quarterly to eight times a year. Though the indicia (the small text with the publishing info on the bottom of the contents page) still says the magazine is published quarterly, the subscription ad on page 55 exclaims "Now ... eight issues!" The eight-issue subscription cost a mere $9.98. This issue also sees the first appearance of Howard Zimmerman, the future editor-in-chief who is introduced here as an assistant editor. In a later issue, publisher Kerry O'Quinn described advertising for an editor and hiring Zimmerman -- a school teacher and comics aficionado. Within a year, following David Houston's move to the West Coast and a short interregnum in which O'Quinn serves as editor, Zimmerman would take the helm and run the ship until nearly issue #100. (Zimmerman currently runs his own book packaging studio.)

Starlog #3
68 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $1.50

The 1970s might have been the last (and only?) time when SF conventions would not only be a major story but would be a cover story, even in a genre publication. There's only a slight uptick in advertising in this issue, but ads were never a big part of the magazine, though they reached their zenith in the late 1990s before dropping off again.

Editor David Houston kicks off the issue with an editorial relating the feedback his team received from readers when they attended a big Star Trek convention. There's also the Log Entries short-news section (including a report with photos of the roll-out of the Enterprise shuttle by NASA). Howard Zimmerman contributes his first article, and the subject is a favorite of his: comics and movies; the article is co-written by Jim Burns. The Communications letters page includes lots of chatter about Space: 1999 (the cover subject of the previous issue), and the Sci-Fi Library contains books news (though not reviews). Tom Rogers writes about "Science Fiction Films Made for TV," and follows it up with a guide to 40 made-for-TV SF films; a special "Star Trek Bi-Centennial-10 Convention" section includes an overview, reports on convention speakers (Nichelle Nichols, Grace Lee Whitney, Jesco von Puttkamer, Kathryn Hays, James Doohan, Stanley Adams, George Takei, David Gerrold, DeForest Kelley, William Shatner, Susan Oliver, and Walter Koenig) and on-the-scene reporting (Star Trek's blooper reel, photos from the con floor, animated Trek). Writer Joan Winston explains the challenges of putting on a Trek convention; Jason Thomas and Kez Howard discuss "The Dream Machines: 75 Years of Movie and TV Spaceships," illustrated with photos of 2001's Discovery, This Island Earth's craft, the Forbidden Planet saucer, similar-looking ships from both Flash Gordon and the softcore parody Flesh Gordon, and more; six more episodes from Space: 1999's second season are described; Isobel Silden profiles Lee Majors, star of The Six Million Dollar Man; Star Teasers offers crosswords and word-hunts; and the issue wraps up with "The Search for Percival Lowell's Mysterious Trans-Neptunian Planet X" (i.e., Pluto) in the Visions column.

"Some of the [audience] questions led one to have grave doubts about the brain power of a few of the fans. For instance, the fan who asked to see Mr. Shatner's belly-button. Bill's reply was classic: 'Do you mean to tell me I traveled 9,000 miles to have someone ask to see my belly-button? I only answer serious questions. Next?'"

--Joan Winston, writer, "So You Want to Have a 'Star Trek' Convention ...?"

To view the rest of the Starlog compendium, click on "Starlog Internet Archive Project" in the keywords below.

Starlog Internet Archive Project: Starlog #2, November 1976: Spreading the Love

Three months after the first issue appeared to a grateful public, the second issue of Starlog showed up in the fall of 1976 and began building on the concept of the first issue. With double the number of full-color pages, the focus and love wasn't reserved for Star Trek; this time center stage was reserved for the Space: 1999 TV series -- though Star Trek was also well represented. There's also the first appearance of something the first issue lacked: outside advertising. There's not a lot of it -- a record ad and a book seller -- but it was a start. And we see the first sign of something that would be a Starlog (and Norman Jacobs/Kerry O'Quinn) hallmark: the merchandising of a popular property. So this issue, on page 8, we have an in-house ad for color prints of the Jack Thurston painting from the cover of the premiere issue, and t-shirts (only $3.99!).

Starlog #2
68 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $1.50

With the same staff as the first issue, the team produced a magazine that was a good preview of the content mix that would carry the title to untold heights of success in the science fiction publishing world in the next few years. Interviews with active SF luminaries, editorials and columns, articles on current SF TV shows, short news about various topics (first news about the Star Trek movie!), retrospectives of classic productions, and lots of good color and black-and-white photos. It's all there. Also added, on the contents page, is the magazine's slogan, which it would retain for many years: The magazine of the future.

Editor David Houston takes over the editorial writing duties this issue from the first issue's Kerry O'Quinn. An extended Log Entries (short news) section expands on the first issue's concept and blends reports on upcoming productions (first news on Steven Spielberg's Close Encounters and on the upcoming blockbuster called Star Wars featuring a young Mark Hamill in the starring role of "Luke Starkiller"!) with short interviews (Space: 1999's Nick Tate) and other tidbits. Kez Howard contributes the first of what will become many (from different writers) profiles of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry; Jim Burns provides a newsflash about the new Star Trek movie; famous Trekkies such as David Gerrold, Rod Serling, and Arthur C. Clarke are quoted on the Trek phenomenon; the first appearance of the Communications letters page; Bill Irvin explores the Logan's Run movie; two pages are devoted to books news and a convention calendar; Managing Editor James M. Elron provides a preview of "The New Television Season" -- including the then-new Wonder Woman TV series; Tom Rogers contributes a retrospective of the classic George Pal movie The War of the Worlds; David Houston goes behind the scenes of the second season of Space: 1999, which is followed by an episode guide to the first season-and-a-half of the show; Gary Gerani explains the history of Flash Gordon, followed by an episode guide to the 1936 Flash serial; Gerani also writes an article called "Bringing the Comics to Life," which looks at how Hollywood adapts comic books; Frank Squires and David Houston pay tribute to the composers who provide the music for SF movies; there are some word games and quizzes; and finally there's the first appearance of the long-running "Visions" column, which this issue looks at how Mars is portrayed in SF and at fictional sources of inspiration for real space heroics.

"The [Star Trek] film's largest problem at this point is that Paramount still has not approved any of the screen plays or outlines that have been written. Both Robert Silverberg and Chris Knopf have written full screen plays; and Harlan Ellison, Dick Simmons, and Theodore Sturgeon have written outlines. All of them have been rejected by Paramount."

--Jim Burns, writer, "The Star Trek Movie"

Starlog Internet Archive: # 1

Starlog Internet Archive Project: Starlog #1, August 1976: It All Begins

In 1976, Norman Jacobs and Kerry O'Quinn -- owners of a small periodicals publishing firm in Manhattan (Daily TV Serials, Beatles Forever, Screen Greats) -- put together a one-shot magazine devoted to the long-dead science fiction TV series Star Trek. As O'Quinn explained in later issues, their distributor didn't think there was a big enough audience to make the one-shot a success, so Jacobs and O'Quinn went back to the drawing board and added non-Trek articles to make it a general (though still Trek-heavy) science fiction media magazine. There were no ads in this first issue; the pages were a mix of full-color coated (glossy) stock and mostly black-and-white uncoated pages. The August 1976 issue was an immediate success, and within a year the quarterly magazine doubled its annual frequency to eight issues. Issue #1, along with the other first nine or 10 issues, would eventually be reprinted for sale by Starlog as back issues; in the 1990s, around the time of the magazine's 20th anniversary, the company produced 10,000 numbered copies in a special reprint, all on heavy glossy stock.

Starlog #1
68 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $1.50

From the front cover Star Trek painting by Jack Thurston to the back cover photo from The Bionic Woman, the premiere issue of Starlog magazine truly reflects the era in which it was born. Trek, Space: 1999, Dino DeLaurentiis' King Kong remake, bionic people, etc.

It kicks off with with a first-issue welcome editorial, short news (the David Bowie-starring The Man Who Fell to Earth, and other upcoming productions). Then the feature articles: Isobel Silden explores The Bionic Woman; editor David Houston writes about the changes in the second (and, as it turned out, final) season of Space: 1999; Gary Girani unveils two separate attempts to remake the classic King Kong (Girani's article would be publicly cited by Peter Jackson more than three decades later as an inspiration for his own big-budget Kong remake); publisher Kerry O'Quinn contributes a short preview of Squirm, a wormy horror film; Houston provides background for the cover features on Star Trek; then there's the full-color "Special Collectors Section" featuring lots of classic Trek photos from the original live-action series and the animated series; the great Isaac Asimov on the phenomenon of science fiction conventions; William Shatner is interviewed by Kirsten Russell (in the first of many, many Starlog interviews over the next several decades); costar Leonard Nimoy is interviewed by J.K. Lindquist; a complete episode guide to the original Trek; and it ends with some puzzles and word games.

"[Dino] DiLaurentiis stirred up a racial hornet's nest when he asked black males to try out for the role of Kong by jumping around in a bent-over position while wearing a monkey suit. De Laurentiis apparently hopes to supplement the robot's performance with the suits and black actors, provided he survives the lambasting from angered racial groups."

--Gary Girani, writer, "Battle of the Titans!"

Stay tuned for the rest of Starlog's nearly 400 issues, here on the Starlog Internet Archive Project.

Imitation Is the Best Flattery: A Tale of Starlog, Famous Monsters, Playboy, & Esquire

Learn from your elders. That's not a bad idea, and it's an idea I heard long ago from a magazine and newspaper editor to whom I may or may not be closely related.

What it means in practice in the publishing arena is to not be afraid to see what works in other publications and adapt those ideas to your publication.

This did not become clear to me until I visited a little bookstore in San Francisco called Kayo Books, which focuses on (and sort of fetishizes) the 1950s and '60s. I saw some inexpensive copies of '50s-era Playboy magazines, and I bought some.

It was fascinating to see the early years of a magazine that became a behemoth of the periodicals industry (and several other industries). Reading the editorials and subscription ads and the text that referenced its readership made it very clear that the magazine had pretensions -- pretentions it had not yet met; but issue after issue, it improved and got closer to that manufactured self-image.

In short, Playboy was aping Esquire in many ways, even while it was clearly going beyond and above it in terms of quality and success. Playboy has a long history of award-winning and stunning cover treatments, but it was only when I saw those early issues of Playboy and then -- wow -- saw contemporary issues of Esquire that I realized that Playboy's (and, by that, I assume I mean Hugh Hefner, the former Esquire employee who started his magazine after being denied a raise; but it might also include his art staff) view of its audience and itself owed an immense debt to Esquire.

It's not just the cover designs that were clearly done with an eye to the market leader. Those '50s issues of Playboy were almost painfully earnest in their attempt to reach the ivy league young professional, the educated "gentleman" (oh, if only either magazine tried to reach educated gentlement today, the world would be a better place) seeking to learn what it takes to be independent and successful in the post-war world. That was Esquire's market.

I saw something similar when I spent more time looking into Famous Monsters, the Jim Warren-published movie monster magazine that paved the way for such competitors as Fantastic Films, Starlog, Fangoria, and others. Like Playboy, Starlog was known for years as a creative and confident powerhouse in its publishing market. In its first half-dozen years, in addition to its monthly magazine and its many spinoffs, it published poster magazines, best-of collections, LP albums of movie music, high-quality paperback books, photo collections, foreign editions, a children's book by Boris Vallejo, calendars, t-shirts, licensed movie magazines, and more, and would soon launch live conventions. It was a great time to be a science-fiction geek.

But Famous Monsters had done a number of those things first (such as best-of "yearbook" collections, licensed movie mags, and conventions), and that realization has only fairly recently come to me. After all, I was too young to appreciate Famous Monsters; I found it to be juvenile and low-quality; as a 'tweener in the late '70s, early '80s, I much preferred the Starlog approach that inspired me to play with ideas and controversies, and that also gave me lots of color pages and professional-quality features.

But Starlog-partisan that I am, I have to admit now that the magazine would have been radically different had FM not existed. That's not to take anything away from all of the people who worked hard on Starlog -- or, for that matter, on Famous Monsters or Playboy or Esquire. It's just a recognition of when a great title is more an evolution than a revolution.

What interested me about it is that both Playboy and Starlog came to dominate the markets created by the magazines from which they were drawing ideas. And noticing their creative debt to other magazines is both disconcerting and a little endearing.

Playboy borrowed a lot of ideas from Esquire; Starlog borrowed a lot from Famous Monsters. It's not just a matter of taking from what came before. Starlog wasn't stealing very many ideas from Cinefantastique, another pre-existing competitor. Playboy certainly was avoiding the men's adventure mags that also flourished before it came to dominate the market.

And that is the point, and I think the lesson for magazine creators today: Starlog and Playboy borrowed from the leading publications in their fields, not just any publications in their fields, because both Hugh Hefner and Starlog's Norman Jacobs and Kerry O'Quinn had expectations of great success and of leading their respective fields. So why not learn from, and imitate, the best?

Queerantine Short Film

The above short video was made by Kerry O'Quinn and others in response to the hysterical pro-Proposition 8 advertisements that tormented Californians last autumn.

Starlog: Quo Vadis?

The beginning of the new year is as good a time as any to address the matter of my long-promised review of Starlog magazine. But instead of reviewing a recent issue of the magazine, I wanted to review the magazine as a whole, as a brand.

I know that if someone had proposed to review any of the magazine brands for which I've worked, I'd have a mixture of curiosity, bemusement, and a chip on my shoulder. For the editors and publisher of a brand such as Starlog, you could probably add "weariness," because people are always airing their opinions about the magazine and how it should be run.

That's the burden of being an iconic magazine in its field. Playboy gets the same treatment. Whenever Playboy Enterprises reports a quarter of bad earnings, the blogosphere fills up with people saying the company should ditch its print edition, ditch its executives, adapt to the Internet age, etc.

And so it is with Starlog. For more than three decades, this magazine has covered science fiction films, television, books, plays, theme park attractions, comics, and much more, and at its height (arguably in the 1980s, but possibly in the 1990s) it was the flagship of a small but thriving publishing group that produced titles on everything from horror to teens to movie tie-ins to baseball and wrestling (and astrology and cars and cat calendars and soap operas and military history and women's magazines and bodybuilding and obviously much, much more). For a lot of that time, Starlog magazine dominated a field that included weaker competitors such as Fantastic Films, Cinefantastique, Famous Monsters of Filmland, Movieland, Sci-Fi Universe, Questar, and others.

But in recent years, it has fallen behind, both technologically and competitively. I'll write more about the competitive landscape below, but first let's take a look at Starlog-the-brand's many aspects and how it's doing with each.

In Print
The May 1980 issue of Starlog was the first edition of the magazine I ever purchased. Even now, without thumbing through a copy to refresh my memory, I can recall most of the articles in it. (Interviews with two of the new actors in Galactica 1980; a report on a backyard production of Alien; an editorial reviewing Galactica 1980; a column by David Gerrold in which "Harlan Ellison," "litchi nut," and "sex" all figured prominently in the lead; and on and on....)

That issue made me a lifelong reader. But being a reader from "way back when" doesn't make me qualified to critique a magazine, for which a small merry band of individuals spend a lot of time writing, editing, designing, and marketing. As a professional editor myself, I respect their work and dedication, but I offer this constructive criticism of Starlog magazine today in the hopes that they're listening.

The magazine remains timely, including coverage of all of the big -- and many small -- science fiction media projects. They get the big interviews, they ask the good questions, and they stay on target, which is reporting on the films, books, and television programs; thankfully, they do not do what so many other film publications do and report on the bedroom details of the actors or directors. If you want that, there's plenty of such reporting elsewhere. Instead, we learn about projects that are of wide interest and others that are targeted at niche-audiences, which is a great way to attract new readers and retain older ones. (If you're the magazine where readers can be sure of getting interviews with every star of a small WB fantasy-oriented TV series, that makes it a must-buy publication for the show's fans.) It also features excellent film historians Tom Weaver and Will Murray, who provide frequent must-read articles.

Editor David McDonnell is a well-known comics fan (having worked on three different iterations of sister publication Comics Scene) who gathers a large number of one-panel comics for each issue of Starlog. There are also book reviews, DVD previews, a monthly overview of changes to science fiction television programs, short updates on upcoming media programs, and photos of science fiction and fantasy celebrities at public appearances. All well-and-good.

The drawbacks of Starlog are not in what is there. McDonnell and his team produce a slick magazine each month (10 times annually, down from 12 a few years ago, but that's par for the publishing world these days), and reading it will keep any science fiction fan well-informed and entertained.

No, the drawbacks are what is not in Starlog. First, there are no editorials or columns, either of which (preferably both) can give a magazine personality and, perhaps more important, can give readers a reason to buy a magazine even if they're not particularly interested in the articles blurbed on the cover. The examples are many: David Schow in Fangoria in the 1990s; David Gerrold in Starlog in the late 1970s to the mid-1980s; Harlan Ellison in Future Life for the second half of its short life; Howard Cruse in Comics Scene's first iteration. Or -- in the non-Starlog Group world -- the late Asa Baber's column in Playboy, William Safire in the New York Times Magazine, and many other examples. The reader doesn't have to agree with everything or even a lot of what the columnist writes, but the reader does have to be served a column that is provocative and interesting. A good column doesn't have to be more than a page or two in the magazine, so it's not taking up too much real estate. But it should help sell the magazine and help define its character to readers who pick up the publication for the first time.

Editorials can be even shorter in length, but they accomplish a lot, as long as the editor or publisher writing it is allowed to say things and not just highlight articles in that issue. Editor McDonnell has written tons of these over the years for all of the magazines he's edited, but he currently does not. Nor is there a publisher's letter in Starlog, as there used to be when Publisher Kerry O'Quinn really set the tone for the magazine in the 1980s. The magazine needs an editorial voice, something to show that the magazine has a voice of its own, to help point readers to things not covered in the magazine, to give the magazine a personality with which the reader, one hopes, identifies and thereby makes it more likely that the reader will continue reading.

The other thing missing from the magazine is more difficult to define, but I believe it to be very important. That is a sense of the calendar, something to make the magazine the reader's guide through the year. This can be done best with annual special issues, such as anniversary issues, seasonal previews, and other special features or editions that don't appear each month but which give the reader something to look forward to (and a reason to plan on buying the next issue of the magazine). I remember well how much I anticipated each July's special anniversary issue of Starlog back in the 1980s. No, my life wasn't so empty that this was all that I looked forward to; but it was something that in the context of my reading and purchasing of magazines was very important. Not only does this sense of the calendar help sell the magazine, but it helps define the genre for the reader, and that makes the magazine that much more of an indispensible buy.

The Design
With the redesign of Starlog's longtime logo a couple issues ago, there was an assumption by some people that the magazine would itself undergo a redesign, but none has been forthcoming so far. None is called for, necessarily, because the publication's designers do a good job, and covers have been quite good of late. (Any magazine that has published more than 370 issues is going to have some great covers, a lot of good covers, a ton of so-so covers, and more than a few boners. Starlog is no exception.)

The magazine has lots of color, but it long ago learned the advantages of letting the color photos speak for themselves without needing to overload the reader with colored backgrounds to the text. One of Starlog's strengths has always been that it is a readers' magazine; even with a lot of sharp color photos in each issue, most of the magazine is text, and that plays to the strength of print publications in the Internet age: You get a headache after reading text on the web for too long, but a print magazine is something you lie down on the couch or sit in a chair and put your feet up while you read for extended periods, which gives the reader more commitment to the magazine and the brand.

ONLINE
Starlog has never been at the forefront of the Internet revolution. Sure, one of its editors had a Compuserve address in the 1980s, and it (along with sister publications Fangoria and Comics Scene) had a presence on the early MSN network in the early 1990s. But when the World Wide Web exploded and became the obvious platform for communication and dissemination, Starlog lagged, relying on its print presence and only belatedly creating a web site.

The web site the magazine has had for much of this decade has been underfed in terms of content or even attention. And, as of this writing, the site has been down ("Under construction and coming soon") for a couple months, following the purchase of Starlog and Fangoria from its previous, bankrupt owner.

There's no e-mail newsletter, no podcasts (video or audio), no blogs. Before the site went on hiatus, there was an online forum, as well as short reports on news of the day, excerpts from print articles, and an online store. Missing was any regular presence of the print publication's editorial staff, as well as anything substantive.

In brief, Starlog has missed the boat -- and a great many opportunities to promote its brand -- by ignoring or giving short shrift to the Internet. I believe that has to change, and I have some ideas below on how that can be done cost-effectively.

Competitive Landscape
In the early 1990s, there appeared within a very short timespan several new newsstand competitors to Starlog. My thought at the time was that, though Starlog remained strong and a favorite of mine, competition would be good for it and would perhaps impel it to step up its game. But the competition proved unworthy; Sci-Fi Universe, published by the Hustler group of magazines, remains the only magazine I've ever seen to publish an interview with provocative writer Harlan Ellison that is boring. The magazine died an early death, unbemoaned. Sci-Fi Entertainment and Cinescape offered nothing new, trying to play in Starlog's yard but beating it only in terms of color pages, not in quality or new ground broken (to mix metaphors).

But the real competition has come from England, where the economics of magazine publishing clearly are different from here in the United States. SFX magazine (which usually manages to cover part of its logo so it looks like "SEX") offers lots of pages and attitude, but it has no connection to the soul of the SF fan the way Starlog did in its early years and still occasionally today. In the past couple years, Sci Fi Now and Deathray have emerged from England, both of them, like SFX, at nearly 150 oversized pages, all color. In terms of paper quality and quantity, energy, and attitude, these magazines have raised the bar in a way that Cinescape and its sisters could never do.

How has Starlog reacted? In the past decade, the magazine has gone through one bankruptcy and another implosion (which saw the former Starlog Group close something like a dozen of its other magazines when financing ran out in 2001). Most recently, Starlog has cut its page count from 92 pages (including covers) to 84.

How should it react? Here are some thoughts.

My Suggestions for Starlog
First, don't stop doing what the magazine and its editors, writers, and designers are doing well, which is offering that broad coverage of science fiction media past, present, and future.

But much more attention needs to be paid to a basic magazine need: Advertising. Time and effort need to be spent to increase the advertising. Even if the mag's circulation has dropped from its peak, it's still a good vehicle for advertisers to reach readers.

Second, address the lack of "a sense of the calendar," as I call it above. Do something special for the anniversary issue each and every year. Have a couple special articles (featuring a special layout/design), a self-lauditory editorial (that's not as selfish as it sounds; any such editorial is doing two things: It does praise the home forces, but it also praises the readers as being a part of this great enterprise, and lets the readers know they are part of a very special breed of readers and thinkers), maybe a bust-the-editorial-budget special report on some aspect of the science fiction universe.

Other options could include devoting a portion of the December issue to a year-end review, which also lets you devote a good-sized article in January to a new-year preview. Both can be produced with little extra cost (i.e., time-willing, they could be staff-produced and not require freelance talent) and can even draw in the sorely lacking reader involvement (in October, tell readers to write in with their top-10 lists of the year, with a selection to be printed in the December issue, or with a tally to be taken and published, along with selected comments on the best/worst/whatever science fiction films/tv/books that make the collective list. Free content, but it lets the reader become a part of the magazine and maybe even see their name in print -- a not-to-be-dismissed plus) and it can be a fun use of two or three pages.

For several years in the mid-1908s, Starlog produced an annual end-of-summer issue that included reviews of the summer's movies. The theory they offered was that by then everyone's had a chance to see the movies for themselves, so they weren't straying from their mantra of letting the readers make their own judgements. Starlog could revisit this type of an issue, perhaps making the special section a collection of reviews by science-fiction writers, readers, and its own collection of the top genre journalists. With the dominant role that DVDs now play in the success of a film or television program, having a review issue that comes out after most of the big films have made their debut but before they have hit DVD (and before the new TV season gets really going) could be perfect timing.

If not those ideas, then something needs to be done to have a schedule in the year that offers the reader a map of the genre year and milestones along the way. Make them a part of that calendar, and make the magazine their official guide through it.

Other ideas for the print magazine would be (as I noted much earlier in this review) the addition of a regular opinion columnist and and monthly editorial. And the publication of the occasional episode guide wouldn't hurt, either. (Will they miss the boat by not doing a complete episode guide when the new Battlestar Galactica ends this season?)

But it's on the online front where Starlog can do some exciting but cost-effective things to build brand loyalty, market the magazine (and its related publications, such as Fangoria), and get the reader involved with the magazine in the weeks between the release of each new print edition.

First, produce a free weekly e-mail newsletter that people go to the web site to subscribe to. Sell banner ads for the e-newsletter, and come up with newsletter content that can be produced relatively easily but is still valuable to the reader. Some ideas: Short synopses of the next week's science fiction TV programs; release date in the next week of any science fiction, fantasy, or horror film, a short opinion piece (first paragraph only in the newsletter; link to the web site for the full article), an excerpt from an article in the current or upcoming issue of the print magazine, reader letters, a couple noteworthy reader posts from the bulletin boards, and maybe an original news report. I'd enjoy writing something like that. More important, I'd subscribe to it and read it, and I think thousands of other science fiction fans would, too.

Second, add a blogger or two to the web site. One could be an omnibus staff blog, as Playboy does with its editorial team. In that case, no one person is tasked with writing a blog posting every day, but every day still sees a new posting from one or another editor from a variety of perspectives and on a variety of topics. Another blog might be a movie and TV program review blog. Coming up with topics for possible blogs is not a difficult challenge.

Third, add audio (and, even better, video) podcasts. With the technology available today that ships with any new Mac, you can create audio and video podcasts and distribute them through your web site and/or through iTunes. Do movie reviews, short excerpts of talks with science fiction creators, and genre news -- it's a free or low-cost way to produce and distribute great content, and it again serves the bottom line of getting people involved and invested in the brand, helping sell the online content and the print content, which all cross-promote.

Fourth, take some of those brands that keep getting resurrected as special sections of Starlog magazine (Future Life, Comics Scene, Fantasy Worlds) and relaunch them as web sites. It'll keep your foothold on the title and logo, and it'll also let you cross-promote all of your brands to the betterment of all of them.

The Future of the Magazine
I don't know the source or sources of Starlog's current lethargy. I think I've pointed out that it has many current strengths and behind-the-scenes talent, not to mention a valuable brand name. Whether it's a lack of manpower, a lack of editorial vision, a lack of direction from the company's executives, or something else, it's simply not an excuse to let things go undone and let markets slip out from under them.

I write this article as both a longtime Starlog reader and as a publishing professional with almost 20 years of experience. I hope it's read by other readers and fans with sympathy for a great title, and by Starlog staff with an eagerness to break new ground. I'll be their biggest cheerleader.

What do you think? E-mail me or leave a comment on this blog. Thanks.