Pat of the fun of being a sci-fi fan in the 1970s was that the success of
Starlog magazine (which owed much of that success to the unprecedented popularity of
Star Trek reruns in syndication combined with the one-two boxoffice punch of
Star Wars and
CE3K in '77) inspired a number of other publishers to flood the newsstands in the latter half of the decade with science fiction film magazines of their own. None of them matched
Starlog in quality or longevity, unfortunately.
Another short-lived
Starlog imitator was the awkwardly-titled
Science Fantasy Film Classics, which had a four-issue run from late 1977 through 1978. The issue at the top of this post, the fourth and final issue, was the only one I ever bought, and unlike some of the other genre film mags of the era (
Space Wars, I'm looking at you), it was in color and reasonably well-produced. (If I recall correctly, that Mattel "Code Name: Galactica" toy insert that
I posted here a while back, originally appeared in this magazine.)
Anyone else out there remember this mag?
I still have mine. "Fantastic Films" gave them a run for their money and I actually preferred that at the time to "Starlog" and the UK publication "Starburst" lasted nearly as long as Starlog did
ReplyDeleteRemember it. Had 'em all. LOVED 'em all!
ReplyDeleteThe back half of the 70s was a GREAT time to be a kid AND a Science Fiction fan.
Tex
(who has replaced the first 2)
Yep, had the last issue. Might still be in deep storage. These types of mags were our internet.
ReplyDeleteI had all three of the issues shown!
ReplyDeleteRead and re-read them...
Great post!
Yeah, I read all three of those issues. Good times...
ReplyDeleteThis is not on topic(didn't know where else to ask this), but...I was wondering what you thought of putting up a link that would let a reader like me go to the beginning of the blog so I could go though it in its proper order, without having to scroll down and click 'older post' a thousand times. I have never seen a link like this at any blog, but I think many would appreciate the convenience of it.
ReplyDeleteWow! Never heard of this mag before this! Thanks for posting this. :)
ReplyDeleteThere were some great genre magazines in those days. There are still some out there, but they don't have the same attraction they did 30 years ago (for me).
It's too bad Starlog stopped publication.
The easiest way to do so in Blogger is to go to the "Archives" box in the right-hand sidebar, click on "2009" and then find the first post in November of '09.
ReplyDeleteOr, I guess I could do it for you and make this: The Good Stuff (Post #1)
I wish I had picked up Starlog at the time, they are now pretty pricey. I still find the articles & photos interesting this many years later. During the 70's I was very interested in music so most of my money went for that. However, if I can run across a cheap copy of a Starlog in a used book store or somewhere else, I generally buy it. Re: Mark's comment--they were our internet, ha, so true.
ReplyDeleteI miss Starlog sometimes.
ReplyDeleteThis, Fantastic Films, and Starlog made up the bulk of my late 70's Sci-Fi magazine collection - lovingly pored over page by page as much for the amazing ads as the articles themselves. SFFC posters were on my walls for years! Although I disposed of all my Sci-Fi stuff in my late teens I've been lucky enough to find them all again, all the Starlogs up to about '81, and all the Fantastic Films (along with a few dozen other late 70's Starlog cash-in/ rip-off mags) over the years - usually for a dollar or two at used books stores or swap meets. Thanks for the post!
ReplyDeleteI'd completely forgotten about this magazine till I saw your post. I owned the issue with the Battlestar Galactica cover. Thanks for the memory jog!
ReplyDeleteI remember scanning the second issue of this mag (with the CE3K cover) at the grocery store when I was a kid and being fascinated by images from Silent Running. I believe Michael Stein was briefly involved with this before he started Fantastic Films.
ReplyDeleteWow. I had no idea this had a 4 issue run. I have two of them still. The October and July issues. I really enjoyed them.
ReplyDeleteI think I rember this magizine, I think I had a copy of it when I was in grade school. it had a story on War of the Worlds, Slient Running and one other movie. the mag had a large poster that combined all three movies, I forgot the title of the mag but I belive that this is it.
ReplyDeleteI have all 4 of those magazines. I noticed you don't have the issue that featured Close Encounters. When I was a kid I only owned & still do, the Star Wars & CE3K issue. I hung the free poster in my room for both of those issues. The poster for the SW issue got thrown away but I still have the one for CE3K. Both of the magazines themselves got very beat up over the years so...on to Ebay I went & found an auction where I not only replaced the two I owned but aquired the Star Trek one & the Galactica one in mint condition and all posters still stapled in.
ReplyDelete