The Starlog Project: Starlog #62, September 1982: Tron Tron Tron!

When I worked in the publishing department of a firm in Chicago in the 1990s, I was also involved in our web site and its database. The database was created and maintained by an outside firm, and on occasion I had to go into it to retrieve or change some data. The password? Basically, it was TRON. That was the first time I realized that this early-'80s Disney movie wasn't just a flash in the pan, that it had a following many years later. With issue #62, the original Tron is featured on the cover, using what is really a collage of several different images of characters, scenery, and vehicles.

Starlog #62
68 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $2.50

In addition to the Tron coverage (and kind of connected to it, when you think of it), we see the first appearance of what would be a steady stream of video game advertising in the magazine. Starlog never did rely much on advertising (which is part of the reason its cover price tended to be relatively high), but it did benefit for a time from TSR Hobbies, Atari, and the like. Also this issue: An old friend of the magazine returns to pen an article -- writer and actor Walter Koenig. This was not his first, nor would it be his last, contribution to Starlog.

Kerry O'Quinn uses his From the Bridge column to discuss how people's views toward eclipses changed as they gained more knowledge about the phenomenon; Communications letters include reader views on Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, E.T. and Poltergeist, additional followup to Howard Zimmerman's call to support Greenpeace to save the oceans, and more; Log Entries short items include first word on Superman III and the Twilight Zone movie, a wee controversy over Caroline Munro's voice being dubbed in The Last Horror Film, actress Sarah Douglas from Superman II visits the Starlog offices, and more; and the Spotlight page highlights winners of a Quest for Fire contest.

Robert Greenberger interviews Ricardo Montalban, who played Khan Noonian Singh in the Trek sequel; Walter Koenig asks "Where Have You Gone, Gene Roddenberry?"; David Hutchison chats with composer Basil Poledouris about scoring Conan the Barbarian; Bjo Trimble's Fan Scene explores the world of fan letter-writing to Hollywood heroes; the Quest page features the sketches and blueprints of Bill Earle; a two-page spread commemorates the re-release of Star Wars: A New Hope with color photos from the movie; the centerfold two-page poster is from Superman; another two pages feature color paintings by Ralph McQuarrie from the upcoming Star Wars: Revenge of the Jedi; David Hirsch examines the new season of Britain's Doctor Who by talking with the producer, John Nathan-Turner, and new actor Peter Davison; Robert Greenberger interviews Star Trek's James Doohan; Steve Swires interviews actor Kenneth Tobey, who talks about his starring role in the Howard Hawks 1951 version of The Thing; David Hutchison looks at how Disney created the innovative special effects in Tron; David Gerrold continues his look at "The Transformation of Spock" in his Soaring column; and Howard Zimmerman gives some capsule reviews of big SF films (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Conan, The Thing, E.T., etc.) in his Lastword column.

"He tasks me -- and I'll have him. I'll chase him round the moons of Nibia and round the Antares maelstrom and round Perdition's flames before I give him up!"

--Khan Noonian Singh (played by Ricardo Montalban in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan), printed at the beginning of the article by Robert Greenberger, "The Charm of Khan: An Interview with Ricardo Montalban"

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

The Starlog Project: Starlog #61, August 1982: The Wrath of Khan

It was an unlikely resurrection, this second Star Trek movie. The first one was critically panned, not least by Starlog's writers (see Starlog #33), and it was one of the most expensive films ever. So when Paramount decided to try again, they shunted aside Gene Roddenberry, gave the film to the studio's TV division (to make it more cheaply) ... and ended up with a modern classic in the space film genre. IMHO.

Starlog #61
68 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $2.50

Great cover photo and a strong article lineup help make this a good issue of the magazine. In fact, come to think of it, except for issue #56, Starlog's been on a roll lately. And an unrelated thought: Ever notice that in the same season, George Lucas was about to change the name of his upcoming Star Wars film from The Revenge of the Jedi to The Return of the Jedi, and Paramount changed the name of its new Star Trek film from The Vengeance of Khan to The Wrath of Khan? Revenge/vengeance -- much the same word.

The rundown: Kerry O'Quinn, in "Here's One for Mom," gives us a sense of the parents who raised and inspired him; Communications letters include response to the recent Battlestar Galactica coverage, hopes and fears for Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, more anniversary greetings (Gene Roddenberry, Jim Danforth, Gerry Anderson & Christopher Burr, and more), someone falls for a Starlog April Fools joke, and more; in Log Entries, short news items include a roundup of summer SF books, a peek at the book The Atomic Cafe, Mork & Mindy is canceled, and more; the Spotlight page highlights Blade Runner special effects.

Ed Naha continues his look at "The Re-Making of Star Trek"; Steve Swires interviews Trek's Walter Koenig; Bjo Trimble explores the fan fantasy (er, fantasy?) of buying the Star Trek franchise; James Van Hise interviews The Road Warrior's Byron Kennedy and George Miller; Ron Miller highlights the planetary artwork of Chesley Bonnestell; Robert Greenberger interviews Conan actress Sandahl Bergman; James Van Hise interviews Sean Young, "Rachel" in Blade Runner; David Gerrold's Soaring column revisits Star Trek -- The Motion Picture and explores the transformation that Spock underwent in that film; Don McGregor looks at the props and vehicles used in Megaforce; Howard T. Brody examines the building of Disney's EPCOT Center (a continuation of a series of EPCOT articles begun in the now-discontinued sister magazine Future Life); James Van Hise sneak previews Revenge of the Jedi (as it's still being called), complete with photos from the location shoot; Steve Swires interviews The Thing producer Stuart Cohen; and Howard Zimmerman wraps it up in his Lastword column by talking about the magazine's two-page poster series.

"I'm still getting mail from people identifying the 'mystery photo' from issue #58 as Carol Burnett in Choo Choo and the Philly Flash. Yes, that is the correct answer; yes, it was an April Fools joke; and no, you cannot get a star named after yourselves. That was part of the joke, but some of you seem to have taken it seriously."

--Howard Zimmerman, editor, Lastword

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

The Starlog Project: Starlog #60, July 1982: Sixth Anniversary Issue

Upon completion of its sixth year of publication, Starlog celebrates with another of its 100-page special issues, chocked full of extra pages, features, and color. In news about the Starlog brand, this is a busy month: The company releases the third edition of The Best of Starlog this month, complete with Spock's photo on its cover. Also out this month is the second edition of the TV Episode Guides photo guidebook, the first edition of The Bloody Best of Fangoria, three new licensed film magazines (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Annie, and Rocky III), and the latest (and last, I think) Starlog Records release, The Avengers. Whew!

Starlog #60
100 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $3.95

The cover's another blocked-photo design, so there's no one photo that dominates (after all, the main message is that this is a "SCIENCE FICTION SPECTACULAR -- More Pages! More Color! Bonus Surprises!" as the roof text shouts). But the contents page is a departure from past anniversary issues: there's no Howard Zimmerman-created collage; instead, there's a big photo from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.

Kerry O'Quinn's From the Bridge editorial, "Finding Your Telephone Booth," is another in his series of inspirational columns, though this time it's illustrated with a black-and-white drawing by O'Quinn, showing a nude man (nothing salacious, kids); Communications letters include a remembrance of Philip K. Dick, feedback on Zimmerman's Greenpeace column, news from Leonard Nimoy's fan club, a reprint of a Trek-themed Bloom County strip, and more; short news items in Log Entries include a note about computer ads featuring William Shatner (Commodore) and Isaac Asimov (Radio Shack), the news that Trek II has changed its title to The Wrath of Khan from The Vengeance of Khan, a sneak peek at E.T. and Poltergeist, Norman Spinrad's novel The Iron Dream re-issue was banned in West Germany, feedback on the audience previews of Conan the Barbarian, and more.

Ed Naha explores "The Re-Making of Star Trek"; Bjo Trimble introduces her family in Fan Scene; Steve Swires interviews The Thing's director, John Carpenter, who talks Thing, El Diablo, Halloween II, and more; and Susan Adamo and Bob Greenberger provide an overview of toys and games for the year (including the oh-so-1982 sidebar, "Pac-Man Gobbles up a Nation").

The special color anniversary section kicks off with photo reviews of Raiders of the Lost Ark, Time Bandits, Superman II, Heavy Metal, Quest for Fire, Escape from New York, Outland, Clash of the Titans, and Heartbeeps; Eddie Berganza compiles a three-page index to Starlog articles for issues #47 through #58; Robert Greenberger reviews SF TV for the past year; David Everett profiles English fantasy illustrator Chris Achilleos (with some of his colorful paintings displayed, of course); Ron Miller's Futures Past column continues its look at the spaceship's evolution; four pages of anniversary greetings include everyone from Isaac Asimov ("In six days God created the Heaven and Earth. In six years, the staff of Starlog, with somewhat lesser powers, has managed to create a magazine that fills a niche no other does. On the seventh day, God rested, but I have a feeling that Starlog will keep right on going.") to Robert A. Heinlein ("... Only six years old? It feels to me as if I had always been watching the mail for the new issue of Starlog, then reading it at once while more stodgy magazines waited until I felt up to it. ...") to Buster Crabbe ("You've done a magnificent job. Keep it up.") and more; Robert Greenberger interviews director Ridley Scott about Blade Runner; in his Soaring column, David Gerrold imagines Starlog in the year 2001 (let's just say he got his predictions wrong); the three-part reprint of John W. Campbell's "Who Goes There?" short story concludes; David Hutchison previews the new Disney film Tron; David Hutchison interviews Academy Award-winning matte artist Albert Whitlock (Ghost Story, The Hindenburg, Diamonds Are Forever, The Birds, etc.) in the SFX section; Michael A. Banks looks at more "Hi-Tech Games"; several artists and wits have their talent showcased in Quest; and Howard Zimmerman's Lastword talks Blade Runner.

"Described as an electronic science-fiction fantasy, Tron is the story of a young computer game wizard, Flynn (Jeff Bridges), whose computer game programs have been stolen by Ed Dillinger (David Warner), the executive vice-president of ENCOM. ... Dillinger's Master Control Program has become so powerful that it is now using Dillinger rather than the other way around."

--David Hutchison, writer, "Tron"

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