Tonight's Hugo Awards Are World Famous

The Hugo Awards are being given out tonight. And it's a big controversy — one that has the Atlantic, Wall Street Journal, and other non-genre pubs writing about it. See what the controversy is in my latest digital science fiction/science magazine, Galaxis. See page 16.

New Free Digital Magazine: Galaxis – The Worlds of Science & Science Fiction

I'm proud to unveil the premiere issue of my new digital magazine, Galaxis. Subtitled "The worlds of science & science fiction," the premiere issue features an exclusive interview with famed physicist Dr. Michio Kaku, plus Q&As with writer Mary Doria Russell, physicist Leonard Susskind, critic Michael Medved, and heart specialist Deepak Srivastava.

Also in this issue is a colorful look at the days when science fiction magazines were the place to find out about your favorite genre films, background on Mobile Suit Gundam, David Gerrold's Starhunt books, a look back at the TV adaptation of The Lathe of Heaven, and more.

This new quarterly magazine is a free digital magazine that you can read online or download. Check it out today.

The Starlog Project: Starlog #72, July 1983: Seventh Anniversary Party

A rather unlikely ad appears near the end of this science-fiction magazine: the movie Porky's II: The Next Day, which is only science-fiction in the sense that it was considered a real motion picture. Starlog also announces two licensed movie magazines it's publishing this summer: the James Bond thriller Octopussy and the Superman III flick.

Starlog #72
100 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $3.95

This extra-page issue features some neat extras, such as the first installment of a three-part excerpt from David Gerrold's A Matter for Men novel, which itself was the first in a series of landmark novels chronicling the invasion of earth by the Chtorr. As always with Gerrold, it's all to give him a platform for discussing his philosophy of life (and one does occasionally get the sense that he spent a little too much time in 1970s-era pop psychology seminars, but what the heck? The Chtorr books are great, and Gerrold has interesting things to say about life). Oh, and because I know you really care: on page 96 of this issue is my second letter ever published in Starlog, in which I say good-bye to recently departed staffer David Hirsch. It just seemed like the thing to do.

The rundown: I guess we've seen the last of the contents-page anniversary collages; at least, there's not one in this issue. Instead, it's a big picture of E.T. In his From the Bridge column, publisher Kerry O'Quinn discusses reaching for the stars; Communications letters include birthday greetings from readers, response to the television debut of Star Trek – The Motion Picture, a brilliant letter praising David Hirsch, and more; Log Entries short news items include Steve Martin's The Man with Two Brains, the fifth annual SF Short Film Search, Norman Jacobs goes to the UK to acquire magazine licensing rights to the Octopussy film, the winners of the Starlog Treasure Hunt Contest, the Disney Channel debuts, and more.

Steve Swires interviews Mark Hamill; Ed Naha's L.A. Offbeat column looks at the making of the special effects for The Right Stuff; Charles Bogle interviews Roger Moore; David Gerrold's A Matter for Men is excerpted, with introductory notes by the author and illustrations by Alex Nino.

In the special full-color anniversary section, there's a photo review of the top SF films of the past year (E.T., Blade Runner, Star Trek II – The Wrath of Khan, Tron, The Dark Crystal, The Thing, The Road Warrior, Airplane II, Conan the Barbarian, and Poltergeist); Robert Greenberger pens a review of science-fiction television of the past year; Greenberger also highlights the top toys of 1983; an unbylined short article begins a three-page look at fantasy art; actress June Lockhart is interviewed by Steve Swires; Ed Naha interviews William Shatner; Charles Bogle interviews Desmond Llewelyn, the actor who plays Q in James Bond films; Robert Greenberger interviews Annette O'Toole about her work in Superman III; Ed Naha profiles Sam Nicholson's Zenon Company, one of the special effects contributors to Star Trek -- The Motion Picture; and Randy and Jean-Marc Lofficier interview the great Ray Bradbury about Something Wicked This Way Comes, which people born after 1990 only know about as a song in one of the Harry Potter movies.

Lenny Kay's Space Age Games column reviews Gorf, Wizard of Wor, Dragonfire, and Countermeasure; James Van Hise interviews Peter Srauss about his work in Spacehunter; four pages of anniversary greetings include everyone from George Takei ("Congratulations on your seven year trek. We're up to Warp Seven and holding steady. All the best wishes") to Alan Dean Foster to Howard Cruse and onward; and Howard Zimerman uses his Lastword column to share a few words about E.T. and the Oscars.

"As I leave the Right Stuff complex and head toward the airport and out of San Francisco for superslick L.A., I chuckle one last time at the vision of the spinning plane and the sterno cans. Madness. Insanity. Wizardry."

--Ed Naha, columnist, L.A. Offbeat: "The Right FX for The Right Stuff"

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

The Starlog Project: Starlog #40, November 1980: Mark Hamill Redux

The Year of Empire continues, with Starlog publishing its delayed interview with Star Wars star Mark Hamill (this time, he doesn't go to war with Harlan Ellison). The Hamill interview was originally scheduled to appear a couple issues earlier, but it was delayed due to scheduling changes by Hamill. And a tidbit for inveterate staffbox-watchers: David Houston is no longer listed as the magazine's West Coast editor; nor is he even listed as a conributor, though his Visions column does still carry his byline. And Starlog releases the latest in its line of trade-paperback photo guidebooks: Science Fiction Toys & Models (inaccurately listed as Toys & Games in the payment coupon, if you're picky enough to notice).

Starlog #40
76 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $2.25

This issue: Author/columnist David Gerrold strikes back at Fred Freiberger, and also takes a big swipe at Starlog's publishers and editor, plus Freiberger himself is back for part two of his interview, this time covering his tenure on Space: 1999.

Kerry O'Quinn's From the Bridge column is another "Grab Bag Notes," this time covering Swedish censorship, Short Film Search info, and comments overheard at science-fiction conventions; Communications letters include positive and negative feedback on David Gerrold's review of The Empire Strikes Back, British commiseration over a lack of SF TV, an unusual degree of anger over a mild comic, and more; short news items in Log Entries include a threat that Dino De Laurentiis is about to unleash his Flash Gordon movie, more film studio money games (this time concerning the Superman movies, and there's a separate update on the Alien revenue controversy), Sweden deems The Empire Strikes Back "too scary and too violent" for people under the age of 15, and more.

David S. Packer interviews Mark Hamill, who discusses his work in The Empire Strikes Back and says that he's as much in the dark as everyone else about what will happen in -- as it's still being called at this point -- Revenge of the Jedi; Bjo Trimble's Fan Scene responds to reader letters; comedian Rick Overton is profiled (though mostly in pictures, including several showing his science-fiction models); Alan Brender interviews Jane Seymour, who discusses her new film Somewhere in Time, and her past work on Live and Let Die and Battlestar Galactica; Gerry Anderson's Space Report is a photo feature on Martin Bower's models of spaceships belonging to various SF villains; Karen E. Willson wraps up her three-part article exploring the making of the Buck Rogers episode "The Flight of the War Witch," and she ends the article with some extended thoughts on where and how an episode can go flat; the Fourth Annual Science-Fiction Merchandise Guide is published in an eight-page yellow-pages insert; Karen E. Willson interviews Gene Roddenberry, who discusses the making of Star Trek-- The Motion Picture and responds to Harlan Ellison's extensive critique of the film in Starlog #33; the Quest page includes a short story by Sheldon E. Inkol and a comic strip by John Hall; this is shaping up to be a Karen E. Willson issue, as she interviews Gil Gerard about his frustrations and hopes for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century; Mike Clark and Bill Cotter continue their two-part interview with producer Fred Freiberger, who discusses his work on Space: 1999; David Hutchison covers the back-stage SFX work on The Empire Strikes Back; David Gerrold defends himself and Dorothy Fontana against claims by Fred Freiberger in part one of the Clark/Cotter interview, and he criticizes publisher Kerry O'Quinn and editor Howard Zimmerman for publishing an article in which the interviewee was "suckered into a phony feud"; David Houston's Visions column continues looking at music and genre films, focusing on the work of John Williams and Jerry Goldsmith; and Howard Zimmerman's Lastword sort-of responds to Gerrold's complaints (in particular, the "phony feud" bit), and also explains why sometimes the magazine doesn't deliver what it previews in the Next Month box (which reminds me of Fangoria editor Bob Martin's response to that topic, in which he wrote that he kind of considers the next-month box to be the science-fiction section of his magazine).

"I thought that it was an excellent review, except that Harlan, as usual, would like to escape dealing with the fact that motion pictures, like television and most entertainment today, is a blend of art and commerce. I wish Harlan's adolescent wishes ... that money would cease to be an influence ... I wish they could come true. But [that wish] is not the real world that we live in."

--Gene Roddenberry, producer, interviewed by Karen E. Willson: "An Interview with Gene Roddenberry: The Man Behind the Myth"

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

Starlog Internet Project: Starlog #15, August 1978: Classical

Starlog reaches a new height (or length) in page-count with this issue: 84. Packed with a Twilight Zone fan's greatest dream, this issue is mostly aimed at lovers of the classics. That includes the (admittedly blurry and grainy) cover photo from the This Island Earth retrospective (it's not often that retrospectives make the cover). But there's new stuff, too, including the printing of a chapter of columnist David Gerrold's new novel, Death Beast. There's also some new staff: Ira Friedman joins the company as assistant publisher; Howard Cruse is no longer art director; he's succeeded (very temporarily, as it turns out) by Chris Hedick; and Robin Snelson is now listed as co-science editor with David Hutchison; Snelson would soon be co-editor of sister publication Future Life. On the advertising front, an interesting ad is a two-page spread from Heavy Metal magazine, promoting some of its graphic novels. It's another sign of the flowering of SF and fantasy publishing at that time in the late 1970s. There was a lot of dreck, but there was also some quality stuff, including Starlog and Heavy Metal.

Starlog #15
84 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $1.75

My how things change. Not only were classics like Twilight Zone different from the TV shows of 1978, or movies like This Island Earth different from blockbusters of the 1970s (which is what make Island a candidate for lampooning in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 motion picture many years later), but productions change quite a bit from first announcements through production to final release. Look no further for one example than the cover text of Starlog #15, which announces "TV's 'Earth Star.' Earth Star was just one of several names for what would become Battlestar Galactica, which is previewed on page 52.

Kerry O'Quinn's reach-for-the-stars philosophy is on full display in his From the Bridge column, where he encourages people to work hard to achieve their dreams. Communications letters range from UFO devotees to Godzilla pros and cons; short news items in Log Entries include tickets on the space shuttle for Steven Spielberg, GE gets a patent on a living organism, SF comics in the newspapers, Jefferson Starship's new SF-themed album Earth, and more. Richard Meyers interviews Superman director Richard Donner; the first chapter of Death Beast, from the novel by David Gerrold, is printed and is illustrated by Feibush; Jonathan Eberhart's Interplanetary Excursions, Inc., visits Valles Marineris on Mars; Susan Sackett's Star Trek Report announces that Trek has officially been given the green light to be a motion picture; Richard Meyers reports on Milton Subotsky's Thongor in the Valley of the Demons, which even an SF fan like me has to admit is an embarrassing title; Ed Naha writes about Twilight Zone, "Rod Serling's Dream," which serves as the introduction to the 11-page episode guide to the classic series, compiled by Gary Gerani. Richard Meyers previews the TV show known variously as Star Worlds, Earth Star, and Galactica; David Hirsch edits a new column by British SF producer Gerry Anderson, Space Report, which gives background on Space: 1999 and other Anderson productions; Richard Meyers looks at merchandising in "The Selling of Star Wars"; Louis Broadhurst previews Brian DePalma's The Fury; Michael A. Banks looks at "SF Prediction: Speculation or Future Fact?"; David Hutchison uses the SFX section to look at the creation of sound effects in classic SF films; Hutchison also puts together a two-page photo profile of makeup artist David Ayres; Robert Skotak and Scot Holton write the cover story, "Space: 1955 -- The Story of This Island Earth"; David Houston's Visions column examines extra-sensory perception in films such as Village of the Damned and Carrie; and editor Howard Zimmerman wraps it all up in his Lastword column by being cautiously optimistic about Galactica -- or whatever it's called this week.

"[I]f you're a bit skeptical about the future possibilities of some of SF's more fantastic themes, consider how outlandish modern technology must have appeared when it was presented -- before its time -- in SF."

Michael A. Banks, writer, "SF Prediction: Speculation or Future Fact?

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

Starlog Internet Archive Project: Starlog #11, January 1978: Lookin' Good

Starlog kicks off 1978 with a good issue that contains lots of solid content, nicely designed articles, and further evidence that the title was beginning to flex its muscles. The magazine announces the second in its Photo Guidebook series of trade paperback books: Science Fiction Aliens. Publisher Kerry O'Quinn relinquishes his editor-in-chief role and leaves sole top editing responsibility to Howard Zimmerman (at least one assumes so, judging from the staffbox). Another special-effects shot on the cover and, as with issue #8's dinosaur model cover, it's both a nice cover and a bit of a snoozer.

Starlog #11
80 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $1.75

Makeup special effects take center stage this issue. Also, William F. Nolan gets back at columnist David Gerrold, who dissed his Logan's Run novel in the previous issue.

Kerry O'Quinn's From the Bridge column looks at the leap of faith SF fans are -- almost always -- willing to take to enjoy their movies. In the Communications letters, the debate over Anita Bryant and homosexuality spills into the SF world, and author William F. Nolan attacks David Gerrold. Fun stuff. The short news in Log Entries includes Carl Sagan's Voyager record, real-life domestic robots, Disney's Return from Witch Mountain, William Shatner discusses Kingdom of the Spiders, and more. Charles Bogle (methinks that's a pseudonym) writes about the Magic Lantern animation company; Howard Zimmerman explores the classic Patrick McGoohan series The Prisoner, complete with a detailed episode guide; David Houston gives the low-down on the Quark science-fiction parody; Ed Naha (not a pseudonym) contributes a retrospective of The Incredible Shrinking Man; a new Conventions department reports on Suncon and Star Trek America; Susan Sackett's Star Trek Report gives a progress report on the Star Trek film, including comments from her boss, Gene Roddenberry, on how he's resurrecting the classic series; Richard Robinson writes "The Computer's Game," looking at home PC games; Richard Meyers previews Close Encounters of the Third Kind; David Houston interviews Logan's Run production designer Mort Rabinowitz; the TV Update section includes an early report on the upcoming NBC Buck Rogers TV series and production info on Man from Atlantis. Apparently none the worse for the fracas with Nolan, David Gerrold uses his State of the Art column to explain the difficulty of getting a coherent vision to the TV screen in a series (with more comments on Logan's Run and some info on the Buck revival); Richard Meyers interviews Superman producer Ilya Salkind. In the SFX section, it's a collection of profiles of makeup effects masters: Sam Maronie on John Chambers; Richard Meyers on Stuart Freeborn and Rick Baker. Peter B. Gillis writes "Looking for SF in the Comics"; and the Visions column looks at some fanciful technology at the heart of some SF productions.

"[David Gerrold] calls the novel's premise (compulsory death at 21) "stupid ... silly, unbelievable and a waste of time" -- while admitting he's never read the book. Now, there are many SF novels which are stupid, silly, unbelievable and a waste of time (including Mr. Gerrold's own clumsily written The Man Who Folded Himself -- which I did read) but Logan's Run is not among them. It is, in plain fact, a modern classic."

--William F. Nolan, letter, Communications

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

Starlog Internet Archive Project: Starlog #10, December 1977: The Howard Cruse Era

Howard Cruse, who began contributing comic illustrations to Starlog a couple issues earlier, replaces Linda Bound as art director with this issue, and the magazine's design shifts toward bolder use of photos and type treatments. (Art directors really make a difference in a magazine, and Howard Cruse was one of my favorite at the Starlog magazines; another is his successor, Robert P. Ericksen.) Ed Naha is now managing editor of the magazine, and advertising starts to pick up.

Starlog #10
76 pages (including covers)
Cover price: $1.75

It's not quite issue #7's Star Wars dogfight, but the rocketship blasting off on the cover of this issue shows the direction Starlog wants to go. And for completists: For the first time, the next-issue preview is in the same location in the magazine as the on-sale date of that issue. Exciting, no? Well, at least the lineup of personalities in this issue is exciting, indeed.

Kerry O'Quinn's From the Bridge editorial frankly gushes with pleasure at the inclusion of big names in this issue, such as Ray Harryhausen (interviewed), George Pal (interviewed), and Isaac Asimov (contributing writer). The letters in the Communications section range from complaining that Starlog bleeped out Harlan Ellison's four-letter words to praising Robbie the Robot. Log Entries' short news items include a Japanese fishing boat, the Zuiyo Maru, that found a dead animal believed to be a prehistoric monster, Pigs in Space, a new SF comic called Star Hawks, and the "Earth Sounds" record carried by the Voyager spacecraft. Isaac Asimov explains the unlikelihood of faster-than-light space travel; Susan Sackett's Star Trek Report covers the reunion of the Trek cast on the Paramount lot, and the beginning of the construction of the starship Enterprise model; Kirsten Russell relates the difficulty of getting any reliable information out of the production company putting together Close Encounters of the Third Kind, and a one-page editor's note follows up to say that the production has gotten even more publicity-phobic since Russell's article was put together (the inability of Starlog and Steven Spielberg to share information would come to a head with E.T., which led to an extended editorial by O'Quinn explaining the futility of it all); David Houston looks at the Space Academy TV series; David Gerrold's State of the Art column whacks Space Academy and has some choice words for TV's Logan's Run; David Hirsch writes about the concepts for Space: 1999 that were abandoned; a special eight-page "yellow pages" insert features "The 1st Annual Science-Fiction Merchandise Guide"; Ed Naha contributes an extensive eight-page interview with the great producer George Pal; Richard Meyers then interviews SFX great Ray Harryhausen; Richard Meyers talks with Ralph Bakshi about his animated Lord of the Rings movie; Ed Naha, who began his career as a rock journalist, here contributes "The Rock Connection," looking at the SF-rock intersections (I mean: David Bowie -- 'nuff said); Kerry O'Quinn profiles composer Albert Glasser (who would be the subject of a forthcoming Starlog Records LP); Richard McEnroe writes this issue's SFX section, focusing on homemade special effects movies; and the Visions column wraps it all up by linking Jules Verne with great innovators throughout history.

"Which brings me to Logan's Run. I have never read the book. I have no intention of reading the book. I thought the basic premise of the book was stupid when it was first published, and I still think so today."
--David Gerrold, columnist, State of the Art

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

Starlog Internet Archive Project: Starlog #4, March 1977: Taking Shape

A number of names crop in in Starlog's fourth issue that will play big roles in the magazine's future. First is the author David Gerrold, who signs on as a regular columnist. Also joining the party is David Hutchison as a production assistant. He will eventually become the magazine's special effects editor, producing a series of special effects trade paperback books and editing sister magazine Cinemagic after that magazine is purchased by Starlog in a couple years.

Starlog #4 

68 pages (including covers)

Cover price: $1.50

There are no major leaps with this issue, but we do see the solidifying Starlog approach (its article mix, page designs, etc.) and reader appreciation for a magazine that was clearly filling a niche in the SF world. One item of note is the first appearance of fiction in this magazine; fiction would only appear a handful of times in Starlog, but it was well-chosen when it did appear. 

David Houston uses his editorial to herald David Gerrold's inaugural column; Log Entries is filled with reports on upcoming productions (The Island of Dr. Moreau), Hugo award winners, an "SF Resurgence in Comics," and books news (which seems to have migrated to this section from its previous Sci Fi Library location); James M. Elrod writes a "newsflash!!!" on Wade Williams' effort to release classic SF films. In his first column for the magazine, David Gerrold describes his antipathy toward critics -- and irony that he has just become one. The Communications letters page has the first, I believe, appearance of the "Sci Fi vs SF" controversy, an argument in which Starlog would eventually choose "SF" -- until it published Sci Fi Teen and Sci Fi TV magazines in the late 1990s.

Regular contributor Isobel Silden interviews Richard Anderson (Oscar Goldman from The Bionic Woman and The Six Million Dollar Man); David Hutchison writes about "Science-Fiction Movies in 3-D," covering a topic that would be a recurring passion of his; there's no author listed for a two-page filmography of 3-D movies from the 1950s, but it's there nonetheless; Star Teasers has two pages of games; the centerfold of the magazine appropriately features the two-page opening spread of "Arena," a reprint of a classic Fredric Brown short story (that had been adapted as a Star Trek TV episode in the original series), and the centerfold art is by the great Boris Vallejo, showing an alien blob meeting a naked man (I said it was appropriate for the centerfold -- you've got to trust me on these things); there's also a two-page color spread of images and descriptions of the Trek episode adaptation of Brown's story; Jim Burns interviews Space: 1999's Nick Tate, who played Alan Carter in that series; Gary Gerani gives the background to "The Inner Mind of The Outer Limits," which is followed by a complete episode guide to the series; we've got the first appearance of "Classified Information" advertising, and the Visions column wraps it all up with a look at robots in sci fi -- er, SF.

"The most useless job in the world is that of the critic. That is a prejudiced statement. I admit it. I'm prejudiced. I hate critics. ... And now, as the saying goes (yesterday, I couldn't even spell critik), and now I are one."

--David Gerrold, "State of the Art"

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

What Do Andrew Probert, Gil Gerard and David Gerrold Have in Common?

Star Trek: The New Voyages is a fan-created (i.e., not produced for commercial reasons nor by Paramount, but with the tacit acceptance of the studio) series of new Star Trek episodes. The news today is that an upcoming episode will feature guest stars Gil Gerard (who is best known for starring in the Buck Rogers in the 25th Century series in the late 1970s) and Andrew Probert, who is a prolific and excellent artist and designer who has done a ton of work on various Star Trek projects (official ones, that is).

So, a shout-out to New Voyages. This blog retains a warm place in its heart for Probert. Probert's web site kindly links to my web site, where I post an article I wrote (a decade or so ago for my friend Aaron Barnhart's TV Barn, when I wrote a weekly science fiction TV column) about a TV production on which Probert had worked. Starhunt was a never-made project based on a great book by David Gerrold, whom I interviewed for that article.

BTW, previous episodes of New Voyages have included guest stars such as George Takei, Denise Crosby, and Walter Koenig, among others; they also included the two-part Fire and Blood, written and directed by David Gerrold, which finally broke Trek's inexplicable (and unpardonable) gay taboo.