Here are the covers of the four British hardcover annuals (1981-84) devoted to the 1979 NBC television series,
Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, starring
Gil Gerard and
Erin Gray. These volumes contained reprints from the
Gold Key/Whitman Buck Rogers comics along with new material. If any Star kids from across the Pond can identify the cover artists (1981 and '83 appear to be by the same hand) or can provide more details of the contents, I'd appreciate it if you'd post the info in the comments.
As I've mentioned, growing up in the U.S., I never owned any of these distinctly British collectibles, but they fascinate me. Someday I may have to start trying to hunt down copies of these books, particularly the
Buck, Logan's Run and
Space: 1999 volumes.
these were pumped out with no love - a few comics - terrible puzzles, some fiction, some space facts about nasa - i have just described most of these books - the older the better - 60s trek ones are better and the dalek world ones are great - even though i was a huge dr who fan one issue of dr who monthly was better - the annuals made me cry with disapointment
ReplyDeleteHi - not sure if this is helpful or not but Wikipedia has a list of "Buck Rogers" comic strip artists:
ReplyDeletehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Buck_Rogers_comic_strips
British artists who worked on the series are a little way down. Frustratingly, there appears to be a signature in the bottom right corner of the 1982 annual, by the Starfighter wing, but its not very legible at the image size - maybe someone who owns the annual could send it in? (even more frustratingly, I actually own the 1982 and 1983 annuals but they've long since gone to flea sale heaven, I'm afraid... )
A guy named Bill Anchors used to run a mail order company named Star Tech out of TN, it was through this company that I found the British Annuals in 1984/85. I managed to pick up several volumes of Knight Rider and The A-Team, and single volumes of Airwolf, V, and Street Hawk. The best thing to me about the annuals were the sometimes rare photos published within. Star Tech carried all sorts of British import books, models kits, etc. 70's kids might enjoy Anchors short lived magazine called Epi-Log which contained extensive episode guides of tons of series from the 60's to the 90's. The best features being actual interviews with cast or crew from various series done by freelancers.
ReplyDeleteHowever some of the most interesting reading in Epi-Log were Anchors editorial rants and his intense dislike of Beauty and The Beast actress Linda Hamilton.
I had the 81 annual I didn`t know that they produced 3 more of them tho`
ReplyDeleteThere were also 2 blakes 7 annuals 79,80 I think
Shaqui suggested Edgar Hodges as artist.
ReplyDeleteApologies, in my comment above I state that I "own" the annuals; that should have been "owned".
ReplyDeleteI do remember a couple of the stories in them - in one, Wilma Deering is framed for a crime and made to stand trial. In another, Buck meets an elephant headed alien who is wanted by two warring races for reasons I forget. She somehow sacrifices herself so that neither race "wins". I realise those details are a bit vague, but its been a *very* long time since I read those stories!
They look great, i picked up 3 DR Who annuals the other day in a charity shop, you never know what they will have its all ways a good idea to check them out from time to time. 78,79,80 they are in good nic and a good price 1 euro 50 cent for the 3
ReplyDeletemerci beaucoup , j'adore ces affiches dessinées des années 80 et bravo pour ton super blog !
ReplyDeleteI worked as an artist on the 1981 Annual. Edgar Hodges provided the cover art. His style is also apparent in the 1982 and 83 Annuals cover art. The 1984 cover art is by an artist I don't recognize. I painted the endpaper of the 1981 Annual, the Contents page, a double-spread qame page and wrote and illustrated a one-page feature on the history of Buck Rogers. All the artists worked freelance for Stafford Pemberton. Their offices were opposite Tatton Park in Knutsford, Cheshire. Always a friendly place to visit. The staff and artists previously worked for World Distributors in Manchester. - Paul Green
ReplyDelete