Friday 25 May 2012

1981: BLAKE'S SEVEN MAGAZINE

MAXIMUM POWER!Telos Books, purveyors of fine telefantasy tie-in fare (Slow-Robot can't wait for their upcoming multi-volume unofficial guide to original and remake BATTLESTAR GALACTICA) have just published the rather excellent UNOFFICIAL AND UNAUTHORISED BLAKE'S 7 THE MERCHANDISE GUIDE (see below for the cover) by Mark B Oliver which, not unsurprisingly, includes a chapter on Marvel UK's BLAKE'S SEVEN MAGAZINE.It contains a lot of hitherto unrevealed behind-the-scenes information about the magazine (taken, in part, from Rob Kirby's we've-been-waiting-more-than-a-decade-for-this tome to Marvel UK.All the covers are reproduced (along with a page of Ian Kennedy art produced for the dummy issue and never actually published) but thumbnail-sized, so this seemed a good reason to put larger scans (albeit rather old and not quite as nice as I would like) on the blog.- Marvel UK acquired the license from the BBC to coincide with (the unexpectedly commissioned) fourth season of the television series.- Marvel UK's photographer Ken Armstrong was granted access to filming (on location and in-studio at BBC Television Centre) providing the copious amounts of colour (for covers and centre-spreads) and black and white stills used throughout the run.  Most (all?) of these pictures have never been used elsewhere.- Marvel's crappy-paper printing of the era meant that most of the black-and-white photos were poorly reproduced.  The colour covers and glossy centre-spread posters were much better. -  A lack of photographic material, and television repeats, severely curtailed Marvel's coverage of season's 1-3.- As early as issue 1, never a good sign, Marvel clearly struggled to find enough material to fill every issue.  Fans were justifiably critical of unrelated book reviews and jokes and (unrelated) trivia pages better suited to a World Annual.  Licensor BBC Enterprises were also unimpressed and demanded improvements.- Issue one was released to coincide with the UK broadcast of the fourth season.  Issue four was on-sale the fateful day that the final episode aired.  A 1982 repeat of the final season almost certainly extended the longevity of the magazine into 1983.- Marvel produced a not-for-distribution mock-up of the magazine, including a specially-comissioned comic strip drawn by Ian Kennedy.  The never-published strip (panels of which can be seen below in the pre-launch in-house advert) was created before the format of the fourth season had been decided and doesn't match the TV incarnation.- Kennedy was slated to be the regular artist on the strip but had to drop-out after a car accident.- Actor Paul Darrow wrote a regular feature for the magazine.- Marvel published spin-off SUMMER and WINTER SPECIALS during 1982, largely assembled from reprint material from the regular magazine and STARBURST MAGAZINE.- Like Titan's TORCHWOOD MAGAZINE, later issues looked increasingly desperate for new TV-related material.  Despite this, the final issue was still double-sized (and double-the-price).- Most issues contained a mix of Armstrong's photos (which readers had the chance to buy), the comic strip, articles and interviews with cast and crew- Originally priced 45p, the monthly had two price rises (to 50p, then 60p) in quick succession.- The magazine's comic strips have never been collected or reprinted.- The magazine was not generally available in the United States, despite the series gathering a fan following on PBS stations.- World Distributors published three annuals, tied to the first three years of the TV show, which were entirely unrelated to the Marvel magazine.- Marvel renewed their relationship with the series in 1994 with the launch of a regular BLAKE'S SEVEN POSTER MAGAZINE and companion WINTER SPECIAL.  The special, written by TV historian Andrew Pixley, was a detailed account of the making of all four TV seasons (using research material initially compiled for a planned book).  Marvel planned a Blake's Seven Yearbook (a companion to their DOCTOR WHO YEARBOOK) for 1995 but plans changed when the poster magazine proved unsuccessful and closed.  The already written-and-designed yearbook was cancelled and hastily reworked as the SUMMER 1995 special.  This was also written by Pixley and equally invaluable to any fan of the series.


Pre-launch advertising, using Ian Kennedy's strip created specifically for the dummy issue... and never publicly available.

ISSUE 1
October 1981

Free iron-on t-shirt transfer.

ISSUE 2
November 1981

ISSUE 3
December 1981

ISSUE 4
January 1982

ISSUE 5
February 1982

Inexplicably, the cover text now begins to mention Vol. 1.  There was never a volume 2.

ISSUE 6
March 1982

ISSUE 7
April 1982

ISSUE 8
May 1982

ISSUE 9
June 1982

New cover logo design begins with this issue.

ISSUE 10
July 1982

ISSUE 11
August 1982

ISSUE 12
September 1982

Soolin looks like she has a headache.

ISSUE 13
October 1983

ISSUE 14
November 1982

ISSUE 15
December 1982

ISSUE 16
January 1983

ISSUE 17
February 1983

Price rise to 50p.
Free "Bring Back Blake's Seven sticker loosely inserted.

ISSUE 18
March 1983

ISSUE 19
April 1983

ISSUE 20
May 1983

ISSUE 21
June 1983

*Another* price rise, to 60p

ISSUE 22
July 1983

ISSUE 23
August 1983

Extra-length final issue, priced at £1.20

SUMMER SPECIAL 1982

WINTER SPECIAL 1982

WINTER SPECIAL 1994

SUMMER SPECIAL 1995


The Telos Books Merchandise Guide 2012

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