Warren Publishing, publishers of
Famous Monsters Of Filmland, Vampirella, Eerie and
Creepy, put out several authorized, B&W "collector's" magazines in conjunction with major genre films of the
Space: 1970 era. Among these were
Moonraker, Meteor, and
Alien. These were basically full-issue,
Famous Monsters-styled "filmbooks," featuring a long, detailed plot summary, actor profiles and behind-the-scenes articles, all written for 13 year-olds. Which, of course, was pretty much the exact target audience.
Each of these Warren collector's magazines also had plenty of ads in the back for Warren's mail-order outfit, The Captain Company, which offered
thousands of genre products - from Warren magazine back-issues to paperback novelizations, posters, models, action figures, masks, t-shirts and LPs. Looking at the representative Captain's Co. ad above, I'm still amazed how many kid-targeted items of merchandise were licensed by 20th Century Fox for an R-rated horror film. Such a thing would hardly raise an eyebrow today, but in the 70s...?
I've still got that oversized photonovel. It was the only way I could get to see the movie in '79. I was 15 and they wouldn't let me in (it was an X - over 18s only - in the UK.
ReplyDeleteI had the SAME problem. My family moved to England in '79, a few days after I picked up this magazine at a gas station in Selma, Ala. I took me a few years to finally see the film, which was around 1982 (I think) when it aired on television in the UK.
DeleteThe photonovel, "The Book of Alien" and Alan Dean Foster's novel held me over until I saw the film, though.
Want to get hold of this one day. I've always been intrigued by the cover picture and was wondering if anyone knew whether this shot was from the deleted scene where Parker corners the xenomorph by the airlock and is about to flush it into space when an unseen Ash sounds an alarm and it escapes. I believe the scene is in Alan Dean Foster's book, too. Footage from the bridge as Ripley and Lambert overhear Parker cornering it exists and was on the laserdisc, I remember, but the Alien/Parker part of the material apparently couldn't be found at PINEWOOD when the ALIEN DVD set was being prepared for. Still remaining missing?
ReplyDeleteI have this magazine still from my childhood. I think the cover shot is a still from the scene in which Ripley surprises the alien in the hallway en route to the escape shuttle. I had originally thought it was from the deleted scene as well.
DeleteI miss the days when there would be such "Official Collector's Edition" tie-ins, as well as movie programs sold in the theaters. Still have a few of them packed away. Many were pitiful, basically just a few stills taken from the movie. The Return of the Jedi collector's edition had quite a bit of behind the scenes production information and photos from the sets and locations. Pretty good, but pretty expensive at $3.50, about the same as admission to the movie.
ReplyDelete