MESSAGE FROM SPACE: GALAXY WARS Graphic Novels (1979)

I haven't posted much about the Message From Space: Galaxy Wars television series, spun off from the Japanese feature of the same name, because until recently, I knew very little about it. I still don't have a lot of information about the series, but I know it was popular in Europe (especially France), and in English-speaking markets it was known as Space Ninja!

There was also a feature-length compilation/condensation, called Swords Of The Space Ark. I actually found and watched it on YouTube some months ago. It was fun, although it made little sense. The strongest connection to the original movie seemed to be the re-use of both miniatures and actual effects shots.

This artwork is from the cover of one of a pair of graphic novel adaptations, published in France by Dargaud in 1979 and 1980, written and illustrated by Pierre Frisano.

Thanks to August Ragone for the info!

Hungarian CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND Poster (1977)

Here's a cool find - a Hungarian one-sheet for Steven Spielberg's classic 1977 UFO epic, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind. It has a funky quality I kinda dig.

I have no information on the artist's identity, but, as always, if anyone has info to share, post it in the comments!

VULCAN! (1978) Cover Art By Bob Larkin

I remember receiving a copy of Kathleen Sky's original Star Trek novel, Vulcan!, in my Christmas stocking in 1978. I spent the rest of that holiday afternoon at my grandmother's house ignoring my relatives, reading it.

I haven't revisited it in decades (though I still have my original copy), so I can only barely recall the plot. I've since learned that it was based on a spec script the author had submitted to the Trek offices during the Original Series' third year. Supposedly, Roddenberry liked it, but as the show was canceled without a fourth season, the script was never produced. A decade later, she adapted it into a novel for Bantam Books.

I may not remember the story very well, but I never forgot the striking cover art. Here's a scan of the original cover painting by the masterful Bob Larkin, found online.

Bionic Pin-Ups by Jeff Cummins

I'm not sure where these pin-ups of Six Million Dollar Man Steve Austin and Bionic Woman Jaime Sommers by artist Jeff Cummins originally appeared - I'm not familiar with that Sci-Fi logo - but I'm sure one of you will let me know. In any case, I think they're pretty cool.

UPDATE: Sure enough, over on Facebook, Star Kid Glen Mullaly identified the source as the UK magazine Sci-Fi Monthly. I'd never heard of it. Thanks, Glen!

Rare PLANET OF DINOSAURS (1978) Poster

 A variety of Star Wars spacecraft meet prehistoric beasties in this rare poster for 1978's Planet Of Dinosaurs. This image was recently posted on a Facebook stop-motion animation fan group, and identified by Dinosaurs effects artist Jim Aupperle as being of Lebanese origin.

Regardless of its origins, it's delightful example of International hucksterism, 70's sci-fi pop art... and shameless copyright infringement! Enjoy!

BUCK ROGERS on CD

A couple years ago, Intrada released two multi-disc CD collections of incidental music from both seasons of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century. The two volumes represent pretty much all of the original musical cues composed by Stu Phillips, Johnny Harris, Les Baxter, Bruce Broughton and several others for the 1979-80 NBC space opera series.

They've gotten a bit hard to find, and are expensive when you do, but they come highly recommended, as they transport you back to Buck's 25th century and provide hours of nostalgic listening.

Today's post, though, is primarily to showcase the gorgeous cover art by Paul Shipper. They're great illustrations.

Happy 40th Anniversary, STARLOG!

Ahh... this stunning cover painting of Star Trek's Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock by Jack Thurston graced the first issue of Starlog magazine, back in August, 1976. Which means that this month marks 40(!) years since the debut of the 70's greatest science fiction media periodical, a magazine that was literally my bible for two decades.

(Actually, as former Starlog honcho David McDonnell points out in the comments below, the first issue actually went on sale in June of that Bicentennial year. I stand corrected. Still... better late than never!)

Starlog not only kept me informed of new and upcoming genre films and television, but opened my mind to the classic (and not-so-classic) productions of the past. It was in the pages of Starlog that I first discovered the films of George Pal, the television series of Irwin Allen, and the original Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon movie serials. It fed my insatiable hunger for behind-the-scenes information on special effects and gave me countless cool photographs of miniature spaceships and alien monster to obsess over.

Yeah, Starlog was an important part of my formative years... in many ways, the biggest part.

In retrospect, maybe I should have called this site Starblog...?

BUCK ROGERS (1981) "The Golden Man" TV Guide Ad

Here's another TV Guide ad for the second season of Buck Rogers In The 25th Century, specifically the episode, "The Golden Man," complete with misleading and titillating ad copy!

For other Rogers TV Guide promos, check out these earlier posts:

BUCK ROGERS TV Guide Advertisements
BUCK ROGERS 2nd Season TV Guide Ad 
More BUCK ROGERS 2nd Season TV Guide Ads!

RETURN FROM WITCH MOUNTAIN (1978) Poster Art

Yeah, I like me some Witch Mountain - what kid of the Seventies didn't? The original two-film series from Disney featured a couple of likable adolescent leads in Ike Eisenmann (who would go on to star on TV's The Fantastic Journey and a play small part in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) and Kim Richards, some genuine menace thanks to veteran heavies like Ray Milland and Christopher Lee (and Bette Davis!) and some all-too-brief glimpses of a cool flying saucer!

Here are some of the one sheets for the second film, released to U.S. cinemas in March of 1978, Return From Witch Mountain. Personally, I think it's the weaker of the two movies, but I always enjoy Chris Lee.

I really like the striking and atmospheric poster above. I don't know the identity of the artist, but I really dig the other-worldliness of the image, which is superior to the rather TV-like look of the actual film.

Kelly Freas STAR TREK Portfolio (1976)

In 1976, legendary science fiction illustrator, Frank Kelly Freas, published the Star Trek Portfolio, featuring gorgeous charcoal portraits of the officers of the U.S.S. Enterprise. Needless to say, it's a highly-desired collectible these days.

Beginning in 1950, Freas provided the covers to hundreds of science fiction and fantasy magazines, including Weird Tales, Planet Stories, Astounding Science Fiction (and Analog), among many others. In the field of genre paperbacks, he created cover illustrations for DAW, Signet, Ballantine Books, Avon, all 58 Laser Books (which are now collectors' items), and over 90 covers for Ace books alone. He provided many covers for MAD Magazine, artwork for NASA's Skylab program, and in the Eighties, for numerous gaming publications. He also painted the cover to Queen's classic LP, News of the World, and was the first person to win ten Hugo Awards.

He passed away in 2005.

Cracked STAR WARS Art by John Severin

This original 1980 Cracked magazine cover art by the legendary John Severin seems even more appropriate today, with the new Star Wars film poised to set box office and merchandising records in the next few weeks. Enjoy!

SILENT RUNNING (1972) Lobby Cards

 

"Amazing companions on an incredible adventure..."

Here's a terrific set of promotional lobby cards for Douglas Trumbull's 1972 sci-fi parable, Silent Running, featuring an impressive selection of lesser-seen stills from the film, including some very nice effects shots that showcase the exquisite detailing on the Valley Forge spaceship. Enjoy.

DAMNATION ALLEY (1977) Newspaper Ad

This original newspaper ad "slick" for 20th Century Fox's other big sci-fi release of 1977, Damnation Alley, certainly promises a lot. "More than a movie," even. Of course, even if it hadn't come out the same year as Star Wars, I can't imagine it would have been much better received by audiences and critics than it was. As impressive as the "Landmaster" vehicle was, the overall production was just shoddy - even for the pre-Lucas 70s.

Sure, it has a talented cast, and even a premise with a certain amount of potential, but the only way it can truly be enjoyed today (and even in '77) is as "camp"... and I say that as a guy who is notoriously forgiving when it comes to the era's sci-fi efforts (and yes, who owns the movie on Blu-ray).

STAR TREK Meets LASERBLAST

Star Trek (with a weird, hybrid U.S.S. Enterprise), Laserblast (represented by David Allen's stop-motion aliens) and the Universal sci-fi classic, This Island Earth, collide in this cool magazine poster from the late 1970s. I'm sure one of you Star Kids out there can identify where this poster originally appeared and the artist who painted it... because I have no idea!

The artist's signature is indecipherable, unfortunately, and the style isn't instantly familiar.

If I had to guess as to its origins, I'd say it looks like something from the UK's Starburst or maybe the short-lived Science Fantasy Film Classics, or maybe Fantastic Films.

UPDATED: I knew I could count on you folks! Star Kids Martin Kennedy and Glen Mullaly have both identified it as being the work of John Allison. It appeared in Science Fantasy Film Classics #3 from the Summer of '78 (the one issue I didn't have!). Looks like my guess wasn't that far off. Thanks, guys!

THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN U.K. Annuals

As with most popular television series of the Seventies, ABC's The Six Million Dollar Man was popular in the United Kingdom, and received the "annual" treatment for young viewers. There were at least four of these hardcover collections of fiction, games, articles and comic strips, published from 1977 through 1980. (If anyone know of others, please send scans - or if you have a better scan of the 1980 Annual, I'd like to replace the only one I was able to find online).

PLANET OF THE APES (1968) Door Posters

Among the plethora of promotional material created by 20th Century Fox for the original 1968 Planet Of The Apes were these two-color "door panel" posters for theaters, introducing various characters from the film. This kind of giant poster was fairly prevalent in the 60s (I've seen similar ones for the Bond films and other flicks), but became less common in the 70s as studios continued to cut costs on this kind of promotion. Enjoy.

The Adventures Of Lando Calrissian

Following the success of Brian Daley's trilogy of Han Solo novels in 1979-80, Del Rey Books released a three-volume cycle of Star Wars universe novels by L. Neil Smith, featuring the Millennium Falcon's previous captain, the roguish Lando Calrissian in 1981. The titles were:  Lando Calrissian and the Mindharp of Sharu, Lando Calrissian and the Flamewind of Oseon and Lando Calrissian and the Starcave of ThonBoka. (My spellchecker's having a stroke.)

Like Daley's Han Solo books, these novels took place well before the events of the original Star Wars films, and were set off in corners of the galaxy that seemed to have little connection with the Imperial settings of the films. Unlike the Solo novels, though, the Calrissian adventure were just plain weird. Even when Lucasfilm was building and putting considerable effort into reconciling its "Expanded Universe," the events, characters and planets in these books were essentially ignored. Still, at the time of their release, there was damned little new Star Wars adventures to be had, and offbeat as they were, they were eagerly snapped up by young fans.

Plus, they had great cover paintings by Williams Schmidt.

The Mindharp Of Sharu

The Flamewind of Oseon

The Starcave of ThonBoka

SILENT RUNNING (1972) Poster Art

During one of my recent Google image safaris, I stumbled across this text-free scan of George Akimoto's painting for the the American one-sheet for Douglas Trumbull's 1972 sci-fi parable, Silent Running, and thought it was too nice not to share here.

Updates have been infrequent of late, but I do plan on having some more substantial articles posted here soon.

Gerry Anderson Posters By Eric Chu

I don't often spotlight new products on this site, but this one is pretty damned irresistible, especially since there's virtually no vintage merchandise to tie in with the 1975 Gerry Anderson telefilm, The Day After Tomorrow - Into Infinity. Big thanks to Star Kid Mike Lynch for bringing this poster, painted by the amazing Eric Chu and offered by the official Gerry Anderson website, to my attention.

Of course, I poked around the site a bit, and discovered that the talented Chu had also created posters for various other Anderson properties, and was especially taken by his two paintings for Space: 1999, representing both seasons of that epic series. Gorgeous, gorgeous work.

Look-In Bionic Gallery

Hope you're all having a great Monday. To kick off the week, here's a gallery of Six Million Dollar Man and Bionic Woman cover paintings for the British kid's magazine, Look-In. I'm pretty sure that all of these were painted by regular Look-In cover artist Arnaldo Putzu, and I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm mistaken. Enjoy!