Monday, October 29, 2012

SPACE WARS (1977-1980) Cover Gallery - Part 1

Issue #1
Once again, we're braving the downscale genre mags of sleazy publishing mogul Myron Fass' Stories Layouts and Press Inc., purveyors of cheap newstand fodder. A while back, we reviewed the short-lived sci-fi mag, Star Encounters, but this time around, we're looking at his company's longest-running cheapo Starlog imitator - Space Wars.

Like its companion magazines, Space Wars was printed on the cheapest possible newsprint, with little-to-no interior color, and ugly, cluttered layouts. Still, for young genre fans back in those pre-home video/pre-Internet dark ages, Fass' 'zines helped sate the appetite for behind-the-scenes stories and sci-fi news between issues of Starlog and Fantastic Films.

Here's a gallery of some of the lurid cover layouts that caught our eyes from the newsstand racks and lured our meager allowances out of our pockets...

Issue #2
Issue #3
Issue #4
Issue #5
Issue #6
Issue #7
One of these days, I'll post the remaining Space War covers. How many of these did you have?

7 comments:

  1. Yep I was one of those young fans that bought many of these mags. I think I got rid of them all as I got older though. The memories you bring up.;)

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  2. The memories you bring up.

    That's really the whole point of a blog like this - to trigger the memories of those who grew up during those days.

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  3. This mag never arrived in the UK (we had enough trash of our own). Judging by the covers, I would definitely have bought a few issues though. The issue #2 'Silent Running' cover is particularly good

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  4. Wow, that's great. I remember buying the one as a kid that had the Alluring title "Star Wars vs. Battlestar Galactica"! The upshot I recall was that Battlestar was the superior since the main characters were more heroic.

    Man, those were the days.

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  5. I love pointing people here as a way of answering their question, "How the heck did anyone know about this stuff before the 'Net?"

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  6. "How many of these did you have?"

    Every one of them.

    Tex
    (AND loved them)

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  7. I have most of those. Such a crappy magazine, and now I MUST complete the set!

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