Buried deep in today's financial pages (which, of course, are buried deep under under tons of Brexit coverage) is the news that FUTURE have purchased IMAGINE PUBLISHING and their portfolio of 19 titles (plus tons of bookazines and digital-only publications) for £14.2 million.
This of course means that SFX and SCI-FI NOW will now be part of the Future stable. Will Future (notorious for ruthlessly slimming down in the face of falling print sales) want to keep both titles going or will a merger/ closure be on the cards?
Or will Future look to sell on SFN as a going concern to another publisher?
Keep watching the shelves....
Saturday, 25 June 2016
Thursday, 23 June 2016
1997: THE OFFICIAL GUIDE TO STAR WARS TOYS (TOPPS)
From 1997: Topps presents THE OFFICIAL GUIDE TO STAR WARS TOYS, a one-shot spin-off from their regular STAR WARS GALAXY MAGAZINE.
Toy collecting, and (of course) Star Wars, were booming at the time... fuelled by Kenner's return to the galaxy far, far away after a prolonged absence due to market and consumer indifference.
Unlike the comic book proportioned regular SWG, this was scaled to larger magazine dimensions. Disregard the optimistic numbering, this never progressed any further.
Toy collecting, and (of course) Star Wars, were booming at the time... fuelled by Kenner's return to the galaxy far, far away after a prolonged absence due to market and consumer indifference.
Unlike the comic book proportioned regular SWG, this was scaled to larger magazine dimensions. Disregard the optimistic numbering, this never progressed any further.
1997: SCI-FI TV & CINEMA ISSUE 1 (DENNIS PUBLISHING)
From 1997: The first - and only (almost) issue of the British genre mag SCI-FI TV & CINEMA.
Published by Dennis Publications, this was one of the succession of genre mags that popped up around the 20th anniversary of the release of STAR WARS, the release of the Special Editions, the impending arrival of The Phantom Menace and the small screen supernatural boom.
This one was, I think, billed as a monthly but never progressed beyond this issue.
It did return, in a manner of speaking, in 1999 when Dennis published the suspiciously similar SCI-FI TV & MOVIES with a virtual identical name, masthead design and SW-centric contents. That one also failed to progress.
Published by Dennis Publications, this was one of the succession of genre mags that popped up around the 20th anniversary of the release of STAR WARS, the release of the Special Editions, the impending arrival of The Phantom Menace and the small screen supernatural boom.
This one was, I think, billed as a monthly but never progressed beyond this issue.
It did return, in a manner of speaking, in 1999 when Dennis published the suspiciously similar SCI-FI TV & MOVIES with a virtual identical name, masthead design and SW-centric contents. That one also failed to progress.
Tuesday, 21 June 2016
1991: MARVEL ILLUSTRATED SWIMSUIT EDITION (MARVEL COMICS)
From 1991: STARLOGGED is celebrating the official start of the summer season with a bit of Fan Boy stress relief... The oh-so-blatant MARVEL ILLUSTRATED SWIMSUIT EDITION, packed full to the rafters with newly commissioned cheesecake art of your favourite Marvel Guys and Gals (with an emphasis on the ladies) ready to catch the summer sunshine.
The artists clearly enjoyed it because it gave them a chance to show their characters in more - ahem - casual attire and inject a bit of humour. The teenboy audience clearly liked it because it combined their two favourite subjects: comics and the untouchable opposite sex. What more could you need on those hot summer nights?
Swimsuit editions were a bit of a thing back in the day, even the otherwise reputable AMAZING HEROES jumped on the bandwagon with a couple of special issues of the regular run. Unfortunately their comparatively low-fi production values hardly elevated them into the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (which is what this one-shot was spoofing) top tier.
I don't think Marvel ever repeated this just-post-pubecent PLAYBOY substitute and the whole thing feels like a bygone from another age today.
The artists clearly enjoyed it because it gave them a chance to show their characters in more - ahem - casual attire and inject a bit of humour. The teenboy audience clearly liked it because it combined their two favourite subjects: comics and the untouchable opposite sex. What more could you need on those hot summer nights?
Swimsuit editions were a bit of a thing back in the day, even the otherwise reputable AMAZING HEROES jumped on the bandwagon with a couple of special issues of the regular run. Unfortunately their comparatively low-fi production values hardly elevated them into the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED (which is what this one-shot was spoofing) top tier.
I don't think Marvel ever repeated this just-post-pubecent PLAYBOY substitute and the whole thing feels like a bygone from another age today.
Monday, 20 June 2016
1998: LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE ISSUE 1
From June 1998: the first issue of LIGHTSPEED, another UK genre mag, launched (and swiftly closed) in the pre-millennial magazine boom.
This one, from Roma Publishing, clocked up four issues before closing at the end of the year. Maybe LOST IN SPACE wasn't the smartest movie to feature on the first cover (although SFX survived TANK GIRL).
The contents were a bit more quirky with the opportunity to make your own robot as well as a retrospective (the STARLOGGED one is much better. Nuff said) of MARVEL UK.
I was underwhelmed with the launch issue back in the day and I don't think I picked up any of the subsequent issues in the brief run.
It was published by Roma Publishing and edited by Chris Martin.
This one, from Roma Publishing, clocked up four issues before closing at the end of the year. Maybe LOST IN SPACE wasn't the smartest movie to feature on the first cover (although SFX survived TANK GIRL).
The contents were a bit more quirky with the opportunity to make your own robot as well as a retrospective (the STARLOGGED one is much better. Nuff said) of MARVEL UK.
I was underwhelmed with the launch issue back in the day and I don't think I picked up any of the subsequent issues in the brief run.
It was published by Roma Publishing and edited by Chris Martin.
1993: AVENGERS ANNIVERSARY MAGAZINE (MARVEL COMCS)
From November 1993: Marvel New York celebrated thirty years of THE AVENGERS with this glossy one-shot magazine, officially a spin-off from the not-magazine-sized MARVEL AGE MAGAZINE.
Marvel published a bunch of these in the early 1990s with a similar edition devoted to THE X-MEN, an objectification-packed celebration of the fictional flesh with a Swimsuit magazine (riffing on the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED tradition) and a couple of annual in-universe retrospectives spoofing the likes of TIME and NEWSWEEK.
The fad proved relatively short-lived (maybe it was just cheaper and easier to concoct another PUNISHER one-shot?) and the magazine line quietly went away when the market tanked.
The contents were all text based, albeit illustrated by numerous panels and covers from the Marvel vaults.
Marvel published a bunch of these in the early 1990s with a similar edition devoted to THE X-MEN, an objectification-packed celebration of the fictional flesh with a Swimsuit magazine (riffing on the SPORTS ILLUSTRATED tradition) and a couple of annual in-universe retrospectives spoofing the likes of TIME and NEWSWEEK.
The fad proved relatively short-lived (maybe it was just cheaper and easier to concoct another PUNISHER one-shot?) and the magazine line quietly went away when the market tanked.
The contents were all text based, albeit illustrated by numerous panels and covers from the Marvel vaults.
Friday, 17 June 2016
1996: HMV CELEBRATES 75 YEARS
From 1996: the HMV entertainment retail chain celebrates its 75th anniversary with this nice, full colour hardback corporate history and puff piece.
This looks like the sort of expensive publication that is never intended for mass market sale to the public (there's no cover price or anything vulgar like that). I suspect it was put together for staff (although they are often the last to get the goodies), shareholders, artists, performers, industry contacts and anybody else on the Marketing and PR distribution list who the retailer wanted to impress.
It's actually a really nice potted history of the UK business as well as expansion into numerous overseas markets. I'm not sure if 1996 represented the pinnacle of the chain's success but it can't have been too far from the summit. Despite the dodgy economics of the early 1990s, entertainment retailing must have looked like a cash cow. CDs had fuelled the growth of the previous decade and were now a nice little earner thanks to their ridiculously high margins. Sell through VHS was firmly established (and equally cash generating: £10.99 or more for two episodes of STAR TREK), video games were on the ascendancy and home piracy was largely limited to making a copy of a CD to share with your mates or play in the car. Good times.
Most reasonably appointed high streets or shopping centres could usually expect to house an HMV, often in tandem with one of its rivals on the principal of never allowing your rival to have a local monopoly. The example I cite is suburban Putney High Street (notorious for exceeding a whole year's pollution targets in - basically - a day or two) in South West London. In 2000 it boasted a high street HMV, a Virgin (at one point badged as a V Store) and well appointed entertainment departments in the local Woolworths and WH Smith. And the usual "go on, stuff it in your trolley" temptations from the supermarket. Now there is only the supermarket (and a few DVDs behind the till in Smiths) left.
This looks like the sort of expensive publication that is never intended for mass market sale to the public (there's no cover price or anything vulgar like that). I suspect it was put together for staff (although they are often the last to get the goodies), shareholders, artists, performers, industry contacts and anybody else on the Marketing and PR distribution list who the retailer wanted to impress.
It's actually a really nice potted history of the UK business as well as expansion into numerous overseas markets. I'm not sure if 1996 represented the pinnacle of the chain's success but it can't have been too far from the summit. Despite the dodgy economics of the early 1990s, entertainment retailing must have looked like a cash cow. CDs had fuelled the growth of the previous decade and were now a nice little earner thanks to their ridiculously high margins. Sell through VHS was firmly established (and equally cash generating: £10.99 or more for two episodes of STAR TREK), video games were on the ascendancy and home piracy was largely limited to making a copy of a CD to share with your mates or play in the car. Good times.
Most reasonably appointed high streets or shopping centres could usually expect to house an HMV, often in tandem with one of its rivals on the principal of never allowing your rival to have a local monopoly. The example I cite is suburban Putney High Street (notorious for exceeding a whole year's pollution targets in - basically - a day or two) in South West London. In 2000 it boasted a high street HMV, a Virgin (at one point badged as a V Store) and well appointed entertainment departments in the local Woolworths and WH Smith. And the usual "go on, stuff it in your trolley" temptations from the supermarket. Now there is only the supermarket (and a few DVDs behind the till in Smiths) left.
1986: DEEP RED ISSUE 0
From July 1986: The first issue of the fanzine DEEP RED ("Horror from the heart of Hollywood").
Ignore the £15 price tag (which I didn't even notice when I bought it), I picked this up for a £1 (far more agreeable) whilst browsing a comic book store that I don't get a chance to visit very often. Its not really my sort of reading matter but it was a launch issue so I thought it was worth getting for the STARLOGGED vaults.
This is "issue zero" with nine more editions (including, most recently, a 15th anniversary special published in 2002.
Ignore the £15 price tag (which I didn't even notice when I bought it), I picked this up for a £1 (far more agreeable) whilst browsing a comic book store that I don't get a chance to visit very often. Its not really my sort of reading matter but it was a launch issue so I thought it was worth getting for the STARLOGGED vaults.
This is "issue zero" with nine more editions (including, most recently, a 15th anniversary special published in 2002.
Thursday, 16 June 2016
1990: TOTAL RECALL MERCHANDISE
From 1990 and the self same DC Comics adaptation... a full page advert for TOTAL RECALL merchandise. Someone - somewhere - is a collector...
1990: TOTAL RECALL MOVIE ADAPTATION (DC COMICS)
From 1990: the done-in-one DC Comics adaptation of the Arnie movie TOTAL RECALL.
The cover is - I think - the key art from the film's marketing campaign.
Carolco were the high spending studio that eventually spent themselves into bankruptcy.
The cover is - I think - the key art from the film's marketing campaign.
Carolco were the high spending studio that eventually spent themselves into bankruptcy.
1997: THE BEST OF STAR WARS MAGAZINE (TOPPS)
From 1997: THE BEST OF STAR WARS one-shot magazine, published in the States by Topps.
This harkens back to the halcyon days before the Prequels added a whole new layer of characters and mythology to the saga. At This point, things were so simple: three films, a few TV spin-offs (of the easy to ignore variety), the computer games and copious books and comics (which were equally of the take-it-or-leave-it variety). It was a lot easier to enjoy STAR WARS back then.
The magazine itself is nothing to write home about. Its just a collection of lists, of the sort that would bulk out the official magazine or your average issue of WIZARD, puffed out to fill a whole mag. Its not,despite the title, a compilation of material from STAR WARS GALAXY MAGAZINE or any of the other SW mags floating around at the time.
Loving the 1990s lens flare on the logo. Nice touch.
This harkens back to the halcyon days before the Prequels added a whole new layer of characters and mythology to the saga. At This point, things were so simple: three films, a few TV spin-offs (of the easy to ignore variety), the computer games and copious books and comics (which were equally of the take-it-or-leave-it variety). It was a lot easier to enjoy STAR WARS back then.
The magazine itself is nothing to write home about. Its just a collection of lists, of the sort that would bulk out the official magazine or your average issue of WIZARD, puffed out to fill a whole mag. Its not,despite the title, a compilation of material from STAR WARS GALAXY MAGAZINE or any of the other SW mags floating around at the time.
Loving the 1990s lens flare on the logo. Nice touch.
Tuesday, 14 June 2016
1991: JUDGE DREDD 10TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION (TITAN BOOKS)
From 1991: Titan Books celebrated a decade of publishing JUDGE DREDD and 2000AD reprint albums with this special anniversary edition of the first JD book.
The Titan albums were regularly advertised in the pages of 2000AD but, unless you happened to live near Forbidden Planet or another comic book stockest, hard to find in the real world. That gave them something of a holy grail quality... a perception enhanced by their substantial cover price (for kids) for soft cover black & white reprints (with no royalties paid to the creative teams... although they were commissioning new cover art).
It took a few more years for IPC themselves to realise that their inventory could have value in the UK. In the mid-Eighties they launched a range of BEST OF monthlies built around the back catalogue (traditionally used to take the pressure off origination budgets in the weeklies and to pad out the specials and annuals) with varying degrees of success. The 2000AD edition, later joined by a separate Dredd spin-off, ran for a decade (and a bit longer if you count the post-movie relaunches).
Titan milked the Tharg franchise as long as possible and used it as the launch pad to expand further into book publishing (including UK editions of some DC trade paperbacks as well as the original STAR TREK novels) followed by magazines, UK comics and - now - the extensive range of US format comic books.
The Titan albums were regularly advertised in the pages of 2000AD but, unless you happened to live near Forbidden Planet or another comic book stockest, hard to find in the real world. That gave them something of a holy grail quality... a perception enhanced by their substantial cover price (for kids) for soft cover black & white reprints (with no royalties paid to the creative teams... although they were commissioning new cover art).
It took a few more years for IPC themselves to realise that their inventory could have value in the UK. In the mid-Eighties they launched a range of BEST OF monthlies built around the back catalogue (traditionally used to take the pressure off origination budgets in the weeklies and to pad out the specials and annuals) with varying degrees of success. The 2000AD edition, later joined by a separate Dredd spin-off, ran for a decade (and a bit longer if you count the post-movie relaunches).
Titan milked the Tharg franchise as long as possible and used it as the launch pad to expand further into book publishing (including UK editions of some DC trade paperbacks as well as the original STAR TREK novels) followed by magazines, UK comics and - now - the extensive range of US format comic books.
1988: DWB (DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN) ISSUE 52
From March 1988: The JN-T hateathon continues on the cover of the next DWB (DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN) in the STARLOGGED archive.
Issue 52 reports that the WHO producer would be bowing out after the anniversary season.
He didn't.
Issue 52 reports that the WHO producer would be bowing out after the anniversary season.
He didn't.
Monday, 13 June 2016
1987: MARVEL UK ANNOUNCES THE CLOSURE OF SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS
From February 1987: MARVEL UK announce the impending closure of SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS one week after announcing that the ZOIDS strip would be spun off into a solo title.
1987: MARVEL UK ANNOUNCE THE LAUNCH OF ZOIDS MONTHLY
From February 1987: Marvel UK announces the impending launch of the new ZOIDS monthly in the pages of SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS issue 49.
1987: SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS ISSUES 49-51 (MARVEL UK)
From February 1987: the end of an era... The last issues of SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS and the end of a (near) continuous British run for the Web Slinger stretching back to 1972 (and, indeed, earlier).
SPIDER-MAN had, unsurprisingly, been one of the "big three" (along with the Hulk and the Fantastic Four) which launched THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL back in 1973. Six months later, he graduated to his own weekly which - through numerous title and format changes - ran for 666 issues until December 1985 (although many would say it ended when it morphed into the unloved juvenile THE SPIDER-MAN COMIC earlier in the year).
After a three-month hiatus, Spidey returned to anchor this new weekly, sharing his billing with Tomy's ZOIDS toys. A sign of the times.
SM&Z was an attractive weekly read with two strong title strips and a rotating third slot which flip-flopped between experimenting with new strips and providing a last resting place for one-time top sellers which had fallen on hard times.
However, because the contemporary Spider-man strips were readily available through imports sold in comic book stores and newsagents, the real attation was the originated Zoids strip. From humble beginnings as a promotional insert across the range, it had established itself in a brief pre-Christmas run in SECRET WARS.
The next stage of evolution was to have been to spin the strip off into its own standalone monthly which could be sold on both sides of the Atlantic. However, don't bother searching the 50p boxes for back issues... something changed at the last minute and Marvel abandoned the plan (and, presumably not coincidentally, scrapped the run of Collected Comics specials as well) leaving the completed first issue to languish in a Bullpen filing cabinet.
Such was the dire state of superhero publishing at the time that Marvel felt that a solo Spidey title simply could not survive. The cancellation of the weekly, after less than a year, not only marked the end of an era for one character but also ended, for several years, any ongoing superhero comics published by the British Bullpen. They simply no longer fitted with a publishing plan governed by licensed properties. It's telling that the anthology THE MARVEL BUMPER COMIC only occasionally flirted with superheroes and, when it did, it was to pilot the appeal of the Green Goliath ahead of the launch of THE INCREDIBLE HULK PRESENTS. That weekly lasted a mere twelve issues.
London Editions renewed their association with DC Comics and stepped in with a range of titles anchored by BATMAN and SUPERMAN. Some ran for years, some only months, but the line did enjoy reasonable success.
Marvel waited until 1990 to launch the bumper-sized four-weekly THE COMPLETE SPIDER-MAN which found its niche by cramming together the ongoing US books in a
value-for-money precursor to today's COLLECTOR'S EDITION range (launched, in the dying days of Marvel UK, in 1995).
Spider-man had made his official UK comics debut in the pages of Odham's POW weekly, beginning with the first issue, in January 1967. The strip also appeared in the dying days of TV21 towards the end of the decade.
SPIDER-MAN had, unsurprisingly, been one of the "big three" (along with the Hulk and the Fantastic Four) which launched THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL back in 1973. Six months later, he graduated to his own weekly which - through numerous title and format changes - ran for 666 issues until December 1985 (although many would say it ended when it morphed into the unloved juvenile THE SPIDER-MAN COMIC earlier in the year).
After a three-month hiatus, Spidey returned to anchor this new weekly, sharing his billing with Tomy's ZOIDS toys. A sign of the times.
SM&Z was an attractive weekly read with two strong title strips and a rotating third slot which flip-flopped between experimenting with new strips and providing a last resting place for one-time top sellers which had fallen on hard times.
However, because the contemporary Spider-man strips were readily available through imports sold in comic book stores and newsagents, the real attation was the originated Zoids strip. From humble beginnings as a promotional insert across the range, it had established itself in a brief pre-Christmas run in SECRET WARS.
The next stage of evolution was to have been to spin the strip off into its own standalone monthly which could be sold on both sides of the Atlantic. However, don't bother searching the 50p boxes for back issues... something changed at the last minute and Marvel abandoned the plan (and, presumably not coincidentally, scrapped the run of Collected Comics specials as well) leaving the completed first issue to languish in a Bullpen filing cabinet.
Such was the dire state of superhero publishing at the time that Marvel felt that a solo Spidey title simply could not survive. The cancellation of the weekly, after less than a year, not only marked the end of an era for one character but also ended, for several years, any ongoing superhero comics published by the British Bullpen. They simply no longer fitted with a publishing plan governed by licensed properties. It's telling that the anthology THE MARVEL BUMPER COMIC only occasionally flirted with superheroes and, when it did, it was to pilot the appeal of the Green Goliath ahead of the launch of THE INCREDIBLE HULK PRESENTS. That weekly lasted a mere twelve issues.
London Editions renewed their association with DC Comics and stepped in with a range of titles anchored by BATMAN and SUPERMAN. Some ran for years, some only months, but the line did enjoy reasonable success.
Marvel waited until 1990 to launch the bumper-sized four-weekly THE COMPLETE SPIDER-MAN which found its niche by cramming together the ongoing US books in a
value-for-money precursor to today's COLLECTOR'S EDITION range (launched, in the dying days of Marvel UK, in 1995).
Spider-man had made his official UK comics debut in the pages of Odham's POW weekly, beginning with the first issue, in January 1967. The strip also appeared in the dying days of TV21 towards the end of the decade.
Friday, 10 June 2016
1979: WHAT IF SGT. FURY HAD FOUGHT WORLD WAR TWO IN OUTER SPACE (MARVEL COMICS)
From April 1979: One of the strangest Star Age entries from Marvel Comics: WHAT IF SGT. FURY HAD FOUGHT WORLD WAR TWO IN OUTER SPACE? Really.
WHAT IF issue 14 is, as the cover so tellingly teases, silly stuff (a cigar... in a spacesuit) but delivered with a whopping dose of action and is well worth digging out of the back issues boxes if found at a reasonable price.
I was convinced that this had an outing in STAR WARS WEEKLY here in the UK because I'm sure I read it in one of the weeklies when I was little. But I'm struggling to track down the correct issues... Which makes me wonder whether I imagined it. And yet... I must have seen it somewhere in the British line. A mystery!
Despite boasting a classic Nick Fury in Space cover on its first issue (reviving the old British Marvel tradition of covers that only roughly related to the actual contents), the strip wasn't recycled in the pages of FUTURE TENSE... but probably would have been had the fortuitous failure of VALOUR not alleviated the need to find enough reprints to feed the SF anthology.
WHAT IF issue 14 is, as the cover so tellingly teases, silly stuff (a cigar... in a spacesuit) but delivered with a whopping dose of action and is well worth digging out of the back issues boxes if found at a reasonable price.
I was convinced that this had an outing in STAR WARS WEEKLY here in the UK because I'm sure I read it in one of the weeklies when I was little. But I'm struggling to track down the correct issues... Which makes me wonder whether I imagined it. And yet... I must have seen it somewhere in the British line. A mystery!
Despite boasting a classic Nick Fury in Space cover on its first issue (reviving the old British Marvel tradition of covers that only roughly related to the actual contents), the strip wasn't recycled in the pages of FUTURE TENSE... but probably would have been had the fortuitous failure of VALOUR not alleviated the need to find enough reprints to feed the SF anthology.
1999: CINESCAPE INSIDER STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE SPECIAL ISSUE
From 1999: Another of the square-bound bumper editions of the US magazine CINESCAPE INSIDER... and yet more coverage of STAR WARS: THE PHANTOM MENACE.
Thursday, 9 June 2016
1995: JUDGE DREDD MOVIE ADAPTATION - DC COMICS EDITION
From 1995: the US bookshelf edition of the JUDGE DREDD MOVIE ADAPTATION, published by DC Comics.
I've posted the UK edition on STARLOGGED in the past. This is the classier package but the downside is that the page dimensions are standard American size which gives the art less room to breath compared with the more generously proportioned British edition.
Why both DC and Fleetway editions? Different markets obviously (although Fleetway had been publishing the Quality Comics line in the States) but also part of the licensing deal between the two companies that allowed DC to publish two ongoing DREDD books with all new material.
I rewatched the film at the weekend, and although it is a flawed beast in many ways, I don't think it deserves its reputation as a Dredd disaster. The combination of the plot and the casting dictated several changes to the lore (it would have been dumb to keep Stallone's face obscured throughout when the plot demands that he's stripped of his uniform and helmet. Plus, of course, he was a considerable international star which it would be nuts not to exploit) but - all told - it felt a lot more faithful to the franchise than the more recent, stripped back, version. I don't agree with the armchair critics who advocated bring in the Dark Judges as the first villains... I think its too much to ask a mainstream audience to accept the future of Mega City One AND supernatural villains from another dimension.
Stallone probably wasn't the best casting for the role (and some of his delivery is suspect for an actor who clearly can deliver the goods when he puts his mind to it) but its hard to imagine which of his contemporaries would have been a better choice in terms of star power and suitability. And, to his credit, he did apparently immerse himself into Dredd's world when he took the part.
The whole comedy sidekick routine, our way into Dredd's impenetrable world, was much beloved of Hollywood and clearly some computer somewhere decreed Fergie (not that one... or that one) was essential to opening up the film for a mainstream audience.
Sadly it was all for naught as it failed to catch fire at the US box office and actually raked in less cash (partly because of its kids and teens unfriendly rating) than minor Disney effort THE GOOFY MOVIE. Oh dear. But it did fare better overseas where the Stallone brand of action was still capable of pulling in the punters. But this was still a time when US BO and merchandising (which also took a hit because of the film's older viewers
rating) were the only true measure of success as far as Hollywood was concerned... overseas grosses helped the bottom line but weren't valued as much as domestic success.
I've posted the UK edition on STARLOGGED in the past. This is the classier package but the downside is that the page dimensions are standard American size which gives the art less room to breath compared with the more generously proportioned British edition.
Why both DC and Fleetway editions? Different markets obviously (although Fleetway had been publishing the Quality Comics line in the States) but also part of the licensing deal between the two companies that allowed DC to publish two ongoing DREDD books with all new material.
I rewatched the film at the weekend, and although it is a flawed beast in many ways, I don't think it deserves its reputation as a Dredd disaster. The combination of the plot and the casting dictated several changes to the lore (it would have been dumb to keep Stallone's face obscured throughout when the plot demands that he's stripped of his uniform and helmet. Plus, of course, he was a considerable international star which it would be nuts not to exploit) but - all told - it felt a lot more faithful to the franchise than the more recent, stripped back, version. I don't agree with the armchair critics who advocated bring in the Dark Judges as the first villains... I think its too much to ask a mainstream audience to accept the future of Mega City One AND supernatural villains from another dimension.
Stallone probably wasn't the best casting for the role (and some of his delivery is suspect for an actor who clearly can deliver the goods when he puts his mind to it) but its hard to imagine which of his contemporaries would have been a better choice in terms of star power and suitability. And, to his credit, he did apparently immerse himself into Dredd's world when he took the part.
The whole comedy sidekick routine, our way into Dredd's impenetrable world, was much beloved of Hollywood and clearly some computer somewhere decreed Fergie (not that one... or that one) was essential to opening up the film for a mainstream audience.
Sadly it was all for naught as it failed to catch fire at the US box office and actually raked in less cash (partly because of its kids and teens unfriendly rating) than minor Disney effort THE GOOFY MOVIE. Oh dear. But it did fare better overseas where the Stallone brand of action was still capable of pulling in the punters. But this was still a time when US BO and merchandising (which also took a hit because of the film's older viewers
rating) were the only true measure of success as far as Hollywood was concerned... overseas grosses helped the bottom line but weren't valued as much as domestic success.
1985: ROMULAN SHIP RECOGNITION MANUAL from STAR TREK: THE ROLE PLAYING GAME (FASA)
From 1985: the ROMULAN SHIP RECOGNITION MANUAL supplement for the FASA-published STAR TREK: THE ROLE PLAYING GAME.
I'm not that much of an expert in Trek lore but I do know, in 1985, their screen appearances had been limited to a few episodes of the original series... where they were sometimes seen to be using Klingon warships because the cash-strapped production couldn't bankroll the new miniatures and effects work. That NuStar have made the job of writing this both easier (because they had something of a blank slate to work from) and harder (because they had to conceive a whole fleeting vessels based on scant screen time).
The end result is an enjoyable flight of fancy which sits nicely alongside the Federation and Klingon editions thet I've posted previously.
I'm not that much of an expert in Trek lore but I do know, in 1985, their screen appearances had been limited to a few episodes of the original series... where they were sometimes seen to be using Klingon warships because the cash-strapped production couldn't bankroll the new miniatures and effects work. That NuStar have made the job of writing this both easier (because they had something of a blank slate to work from) and harder (because they had to conceive a whole fleeting vessels based on scant screen time).
The end result is an enjoyable flight of fancy which sits nicely alongside the Federation and Klingon editions thet I've posted previously.
Tuesday, 7 June 2016
1996: STAR WARS FANZINE HOLOCRON ISSUE 5
From 1996 of thereabouts: the fifth issue of the British STAR WARS A5 fanzine HOLOCRON.
This is the last issue I ordered at the time but I'm not sure if it also marked the end of the run. I have no recollection of deciding not to order it again so I may have simply lost track or hit a periodic cash crunch that prevented me from ordering any more.
I can't even remember where this was advertised... yet I must have known when the next issue was published so I could send my cheque.
This is the last issue I ordered at the time but I'm not sure if it also marked the end of the run. I have no recollection of deciding not to order it again so I may have simply lost track or hit a periodic cash crunch that prevented me from ordering any more.
I can't even remember where this was advertised... yet I must have known when the next issue was published so I could send my cheque.
1997, SCI-FI ZONE MAGAZINE ISSUE 1
From 1997: SCI-FI ZONE Issue 1, published by an outfit called LCD.
This British mag, part of the wave of genre mags that hit the shelves in '97, didn't progress beyond this first issue.
It's no wonder... it's not very good.
This British mag, part of the wave of genre mags that hit the shelves in '97, didn't progress beyond this first issue.
It's no wonder... it's not very good.
Monday, 6 June 2016
1987: DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN/ DWB ISSUE 50
From December 1987: DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN (now definitely DWB) celebrate the big fifty, and the end of the year, with a new look, a new masthead, another colour cover and a double issue packed full of goodies. But.. not The Goodies.
1987: SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS ISSUES 44-48 (MARVEL UK)
From January 1987: New Year: New Merger as SECRET WARS II folds into SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS as the (fairly) long-running weekly (nee fortnightly) succumbed to MARVEL UK's traditional First Quarter deck clearing, it wouldn't be the last.
Marvel had already spread the Christmas cheer by bumping up the cover price by 5p at the end of the previous year. Bah humbug.
The first issue of the New Year was also the first to boast cover prices for North America, Quite how extensive the distribution was, and whether US readers embraced a weekly where two-thirds of the contents were serialized reprints, albeit better presented, is unclear.
The brief run of STRIKEFORCE: MORITURI reprints bowed out in issue 45 in order to make way for the merger of SECRET WARS II the following week. The second title with the initials SW to be absorbed. The joy of the SWII enterprise was that Marvel could keep the weekly going for as long as sales allowed by simply slipping in more non-core reprints in between the main issues and official crossovers. Once sales began to nudge cancellation point, they could simply ditch the less relevant stuff and rush full tilt to the climax.
Issue 80 of SECRET WARS II reprinted the end of the official limited series, leaving SM&Z to pick up the coda that, although badged as SWII herein, actually appeared in an issues of THE AVENGERS in the States.
Readers didn't realise it at the time but SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS was about to follow its companion into cancellation...
Marvel had already spread the Christmas cheer by bumping up the cover price by 5p at the end of the previous year. Bah humbug.
The first issue of the New Year was also the first to boast cover prices for North America, Quite how extensive the distribution was, and whether US readers embraced a weekly where two-thirds of the contents were serialized reprints, albeit better presented, is unclear.
The brief run of STRIKEFORCE: MORITURI reprints bowed out in issue 45 in order to make way for the merger of SECRET WARS II the following week. The second title with the initials SW to be absorbed. The joy of the SWII enterprise was that Marvel could keep the weekly going for as long as sales allowed by simply slipping in more non-core reprints in between the main issues and official crossovers. Once sales began to nudge cancellation point, they could simply ditch the less relevant stuff and rush full tilt to the climax.
Issue 80 of SECRET WARS II reprinted the end of the official limited series, leaving SM&Z to pick up the coda that, although badged as SWII herein, actually appeared in an issues of THE AVENGERS in the States.
Readers didn't realise it at the time but SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS was about to follow its companion into cancellation...
Friday, 3 June 2016
1992: THE UNCANNY X-MEN EASTER SPECIAL (MARVEL UK)
From Spring 1992: THE UNCANNY X-MEN EASTER SPECIAL, published by Marvel UK.
This one-shot not only tapped into the boom in all-things-X (fuelled by the Marvel hype machine, speculators and the quest for ever bigger profits at the expense of industry stability) but also the raised profile of the franchise thanks to the animated show and the rehabilitation of superheroes in the UK after several years where publishers (except for London Editions), distributors and retailers wouldn't touch them with the proverbial barge pole.
This coincided with Paul Neary's reboot of the Annex of Ideas, moving it back into adventure publishing and massively bolstering the amount of origination by creating the UKverse of new characters to sell on both sides of the Atlantic.
Marvel's mutants, thanks mainly to the TV show (and then - of course - the movie franchise), regained a regular slot on the shelves of Britain's newsagents for the first time since the closure of their ill-fated (sabotaged by ancient contents and cackhanded printers) weekly ten years earlier.
This one-shot not only tapped into the boom in all-things-X (fuelled by the Marvel hype machine, speculators and the quest for ever bigger profits at the expense of industry stability) but also the raised profile of the franchise thanks to the animated show and the rehabilitation of superheroes in the UK after several years where publishers (except for London Editions), distributors and retailers wouldn't touch them with the proverbial barge pole.
This coincided with Paul Neary's reboot of the Annex of Ideas, moving it back into adventure publishing and massively bolstering the amount of origination by creating the UKverse of new characters to sell on both sides of the Atlantic.
Marvel's mutants, thanks mainly to the TV show (and then - of course - the movie franchise), regained a regular slot on the shelves of Britain's newsagents for the first time since the closure of their ill-fated (sabotaged by ancient contents and cackhanded printers) weekly ten years earlier.
1995: TELEVISION CHRONICLES MAGAZINE ISSUE 1
From April 1995: the first issue of the US magazine TELEVISION CHRONICLES.
This was a really rather nice black & white magazine devoted to the small screen packed full of episode guides and articles. What made it particularly interesting was that it covered shows that were routinely ignored by other titles like TV ZONE, THE BOX and CULT TV.
Unfortunately UK distribution in specialist stores was really hit-and-miss (actually more miss) which made regular purchases impossible. It eventually ran for twelve issues before closing.
Shows covered along the way included (in no particular order) LA LAW, THE FLYING NUN, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, MAGNUM PI, ST. ELSEWHERE, LIFE GOES ON, DOORWAYS (an ambitious unsold pilot), SABLE, THE MONKEES and dozens of pre- Star Age shows which are probably virtually unknown in the UK other than by reputation.
If TC had hit a few years later if might have been able to tap into the nostalgia being created by DVD and the explosion in archive shows hitting the shelves.
This was a really rather nice black & white magazine devoted to the small screen packed full of episode guides and articles. What made it particularly interesting was that it covered shows that were routinely ignored by other titles like TV ZONE, THE BOX and CULT TV.
Unfortunately UK distribution in specialist stores was really hit-and-miss (actually more miss) which made regular purchases impossible. It eventually ran for twelve issues before closing.
Shows covered along the way included (in no particular order) LA LAW, THE FLYING NUN, THE INCREDIBLE HULK, MAGNUM PI, ST. ELSEWHERE, LIFE GOES ON, DOORWAYS (an ambitious unsold pilot), SABLE, THE MONKEES and dozens of pre- Star Age shows which are probably virtually unknown in the UK other than by reputation.
If TC had hit a few years later if might have been able to tap into the nostalgia being created by DVD and the explosion in archive shows hitting the shelves.
1997: ECLIPSE MAGAZINE ISSUE 1
From May 1997: the first issue of the British SF media mag ECLIPSE.
The twin sales drivers of the return of the STAR WARS saga to the big screen coupled with the mainstream success of THE X-FILES promoted the last big boom in SF mags just before broadband and the web unleashed the digital game-changer.
The sudden boom in titles was very reminiscent of the explosion in opportunist launches that accompanied the golden years of the Star Age exactly twenty years earlier.
ECLIPSE was one of several new titles that dropped at the time and was collecting for shelf space, and readers, alongside the likes of SFX, STARBURST, TV ZONE, DREAMWATCH, STAR WARS MAGAZINE, STAR TREK MAGAZINE, imports of STARLOG and some of the other long-forgotten mags I'll post in the near future.
The twin sales drivers of the return of the STAR WARS saga to the big screen coupled with the mainstream success of THE X-FILES promoted the last big boom in SF mags just before broadband and the web unleashed the digital game-changer.
The sudden boom in titles was very reminiscent of the explosion in opportunist launches that accompanied the golden years of the Star Age exactly twenty years earlier.
ECLIPSE was one of several new titles that dropped at the time and was collecting for shelf space, and readers, alongside the likes of SFX, STARBURST, TV ZONE, DREAMWATCH, STAR WARS MAGAZINE, STAR TREK MAGAZINE, imports of STARLOG and some of the other long-forgotten mags I'll post in the near future.
Thursday, 2 June 2016
1987: STAR BRAND LETTER IN SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS (MARVEL UK)
From January 1987: Whatever happened to the Star Brand?
Regular readers of SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS probably weren't that shocked to see another change in back-up strips when Star Brand was jettisoned after a brief run. After all, they had already seen three other strips fill the "third slot: and also extended periods where the Spidey strip was extended to fill out the extra pages.
But Nic Cooper cared enough to fire off a letter to the London Bullpen... And received a pretty mature and sensible response. This harkens back to the Seventies when Marvel's editors still gave detailed (and occasionally verbose) responses to the points readers raised.
If Nic, or anyone else, still wants to know what happened next: Marvel have just published a trade paperback reprinting the first ten or so issues along with some supplementary material from MARVEL AGE MAGAZINE. But shop around as this isn't the first time the early issues have been collected in book form so you may be satisfied with an earlier outing... which might also be cheaper. A second volume, collecting the post-Shooter installments of what should have been the New Universe's headline series, is due in July and will feature previously unreprinted material from the end of the run.
This page originally appeared in SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS issue 44.
Regular readers of SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS probably weren't that shocked to see another change in back-up strips when Star Brand was jettisoned after a brief run. After all, they had already seen three other strips fill the "third slot: and also extended periods where the Spidey strip was extended to fill out the extra pages.
But Nic Cooper cared enough to fire off a letter to the London Bullpen... And received a pretty mature and sensible response. This harkens back to the Seventies when Marvel's editors still gave detailed (and occasionally verbose) responses to the points readers raised.
If Nic, or anyone else, still wants to know what happened next: Marvel have just published a trade paperback reprinting the first ten or so issues along with some supplementary material from MARVEL AGE MAGAZINE. But shop around as this isn't the first time the early issues have been collected in book form so you may be satisfied with an earlier outing... which might also be cheaper. A second volume, collecting the post-Shooter installments of what should have been the New Universe's headline series, is due in July and will feature previously unreprinted material from the end of the run.
This page originally appeared in SPIDER-MAN AND ZOIDS issue 44.
1987: DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN ISSUE 49
From November 1987: The headline that must have brightened John Nathan-Turner's day: the ever crusading DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN and one-time grind of the show Ian Levine (both for somewhat ulterior motives) decide that Doctor Who's Producer must be chopped in order to save the show.
Another nail in the coffin...
Another nail in the coffin...
