At Flashbak: Starlog Photo Guidebooks

This week at Flashbak, I remembered the colorful and well-illustrated Starlog Photo Guidebooks.

Here’s snippet and the url; (http://flashbak.com/gallery-starlog-photo-guidebooks-59048/).

“When I was growing up in the 1970s, Starlog Magazine felt, without exaggeration, like a godsend. There were other quality genre magazines out there too, of course (like Fantastic Films…), but few which had possessed the longevity, stability and depth of coverage readers could find in Starlog.

In the pre-Internet age, Starlog magazine was great for publishing news about upcoming science fiction films, television programs, and literature.  Many correspondents for Starlog went on to successful and even award-winning writing careers, and the magazine featured great interviews, retrospectives, illustrations and cover art. It was also, most of the time, a damn good read.

But there was another part of the Starlog Empire that I also loved for a different reason; for purposes of reference, you might say: The Photo Guidebooks. 

For many years, Starlog published a series of heavily illustrated books on specific genre-related topics.

For instance, there was a Photo Guidebook devoted to movie and TV aliens, and at least two editions of another great topic; movie and TV spaceships. The texts featured examples from productions that you might have missed, forgotten about, or wanted desperately to see. 

I remember earmarking my copies of the Guidebooks on Robots, Weapons and “Fantastic Worlds” specifically. The entries were brief, but incredibly informative, and the pages upon pages of illustrations -- some in color -- were tantalizing.

The photo Guidebook series had an ambitious reach.  There was an edition published about science fiction toys, for example. There were several editions devoted to the art of special effects.

There was also another set too; one devoted to sci-fi heroes, its book-end to sci-fi villains.

But my favorites were undoubtedly the photo-guidebooks devoted to “episode guides” of classic and current TV series.

Very few writers in those pre-IMDB days were meticulously cataloging and recording for future scholarship episode titles and plot-lines (let alone focusing on things like “robots,” “spaceships” or “aliens,”) and so these books were a much-needed resource...”

Please continue reading at Flashbak.

At Flashbak: The Five Best Starlog Covers (And the Three Worst)

My new list at Flashbak considers the five best Starlog covers, and the three worst ones.

Here's a snippet and the link (http://flashbak.com/the-5-best-starlog-magazine-covers-and-the-3-worst-26845/ ):

"Before the Internet Age, sci-fi geeks had to get their information about upcoming genre entertainment the old fashioned way: from print magazines, sold at the local newsstand, or delivered to your mail-box via monthly subscription.

From 1976 to 2009, Starlog Magazine – more than three decades -- reported extensively on the world of science fiction television, movies, and literature. The mag featured columns by “The Trouble with Tribbles” author David Gerrold (first “State of the Art,” then “Rumblings,” and then “Soaring.”)  Starlog also featured David Hirsch’s detailed and informative updates about the world of Gerry Anderson (“Space Report,”) in particular, behind-the-scenes information on Space: 1999 (1975 – 1977). 

The magazine featured great retrospectives from the likes of great writers such as Lee Goldberg and Jean-Marc Lofficier, and interviews from the meticulous film scholar, Tom Weaver. 

Starlog also grew up at the same time I did, and at exactly the right time, covering the release of Star Wars, and the post-Star Wars boom that brought us Alien (1979), The Black Hole (1979), Meteor (1979), Moonraker (1979), and Star Trek: The Motion Picture.

As a kid who grew up in the seventies and eighties, I remember the rush of discovering a new issue of Starlog, whether at a vendor location (mine was at the Englishtown Flea Market in N.J.), or in the mail.  It was always a thrill to see the cover of the magazine, and find out -- at a glance – what magical entertainments were impending.

With that thought in mind, here are five of my selections for the best Starlog Magazine covers from the span 1976 – 2009, as well as those for the three worst."

Television and Cinema Verities: Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future

"I could tell from the way the ongoing story and the characters' back history was outlines that Captain Power was going to be much more ambitious and mature than your normal Saturday morning cartoon show. I mean, they brought Captain Power's former lover back on one show and for my money, they made it very plain what their relationship had been."

- Captain Power lead actor Tim Dunigan discusses the 1987 series, from an interview with March Shapiro in Starlog Magazine (#121).

Late Night Blogging: Starlog TV Commercials

Pop Art: Starlog Photo-guidebook Edition