1976: STARLOG ISSUE 1 LOOKS AHEAD TO SPACE:1999 YEAR TWO

From 1976: the very first issue of STARLOG MAGAZINE looks at the changes afoot on the set, and behind-the-scenes, on the second year of BRITISH-based SPACE:1999.  

Well, that went well...

1976: STARLOG MAGAZINE ISSUE 1

From August 1976: the very first issue of multi-decade Geek magazine mainstay (and regular source of posts for Starlogged) STARLOG.

The (really nice) cover art says it all: this was concieved as a less-than-official STAR TREK magazine to cash-in on the ongoing reruns in first-run syndication.  But the lawyers pointed-out that Paramount would sue if it was too obviously a Trek tie-in.  So packing out the pages with other SF (pre-STAR WARS) was the best way of staying legit.

And thus an empire (which - from the early 1980s onwards - did include officially licensed Trek mags) was spawned....

1976: THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL HITS 200 ISSUES

From July 1976: British Marvel's THE MIGHTY WORLD OF MARVEL weekly celebrates 200 issues in print.

The black & white anthology, launched in 1972, started life as a vehicle for heavy hitters Hulk, Spider-man and the Fantastic Four in a plan to raise the characters UK profiles in the hope of shifting more copies of the imported US comics.  Early success meant that plans changed and the line expanded to become a fully-fledged operation, albeit largely planned and managed out of the New York Bullpen.

MWOM has a bit of a reputation - with justification - for being a vehicle for characters (with the exception of the Green Goliath, who became the title's anchor star) who had performed less well elsewhere.  A succession of mergers saw the likes of FURY, PLANET OF THE APES and DRACULA LIVES (as well as a humbled FF) pop up in its pages.

By issue 200, the line-up consisted of the Hulk, the Avengers (previously stars of their own fairly successful weekly) and Conan (star of a less successful weekly who enjoyed greater success in the back of the Avengers comic).  The latter two had both crossed over from the collapse of The Avengers comic, cementing a weird partnership which also extended into the British annuals.

As this was the first Marvel UK launch, it was also the first to celebrate this milestone.  As the decade dragged on, the Bullpen found it harder-and-harder to keep subsequent titles in business for any length of time.  Hatch-match-dispatch became the order of the day.  Not even the runaway success of STAR WARS came close, thanks to a frequency change after 1980 and a reboot - with a new issue one - in 1983.

MWOM soldiered on, probably bolstered by wave of refugee readers from defunct titles, until January 1979 when it was radically retooled as MARVEL COMIC.  Which didn't last long.  The masthead returned in the Eighties (albeit for less than two years) and has enjoyed an extended run as part of the Panini line.  It's almost surprising that Marvel have never adopted the brand in the States.

That's a very happy Hulk.

1976: THE TOMORROW PEOPLE IN ONE LAW PAPERBACK

From 1976: One for the weekend... the TV TIMES paperback (a brand extension before anyone had coined the phrase) adapting Thames TV's THE TOMORROW PEOPLE.

I can't say that I've read the paperback but, thanks to DVD, I've discovered the original series over the last decade or so and really enjoyed it (especially the lawyers-be-dammed commentaries by the cast which are thin on technical details - don't expect a Ken Johnson style outing full of insights - but thick with barbed comments) for its lo-fi Teddington austerity production values.  

Prior to the DVD's, I was more familiar with the early 1990s version which came and went during the dying days of the Thames ITV franchise. The recent American version initially seemed like a triumphant return but became increasingly dumb as it lurched towards cancellation at the end of its only season. It was the "V" reboot all over again. Sadly. But, to their credit, they did get their monies worth out of their subway train interior set by reusing it almost every episode. 

1976: TV SCI-FI MONTHLY ISSUE 1

From 1976: the first issue of the British TV SCI-FI MONTHLY, published by Sportscene out of Goodge Street, London. 

I picked up a few copies of this title over the last few months. I'm not sure if I have a complete run, I'll need to check. 

Considering the age of this mag, and the fact that most publishers seemed to think that a few black & white photos poorly reproduced on newsprint was perfectly acceptable, I think this is an impressive package.

The format looks to be your bog-standard A4 but it actually opens up to become a glossy tabloid with a good percentage of the pages printed in colour. Unfortunately the pages are too large for my scanner. The text fearures are perfectly adequate but the real strength is in the good use of photographs and (what appears to be) specially commissioned visuals and graphics. 

A quick Google suggests that copies were also shipped to the States (and I've seen adverts in US magazines) although I have no idea how good distribution was on either side of the Atlantic.

It looks like at least eight issues were published with a heavily emphasis on the big shows of the day (DOCTOR WHO, STAR TREK, SPACE: 1999 and the Bionics). It seems to have folded before it could capitalise on the post-STAR WARS small-screen explosion. 

1976: PLANET OF THE APES & SPIDER-MAN CARDBOARD FIGURES

From the simpler 1970s: Giant, if you are a child, cardboard cutouts of your fave heroes: SPIDER-MAN and Cornelius from PLANET OF THE APES.

I can't quite comprehend as to how these could be "frightening" (except to grandparents with little grasp of anything post-war), especially as these were the good guys, but top marks to the advertising masterminds for making them sound as exciting as possible. And I bet they do look pretty neat. 

This one-pager appeared in Marvel New York's black & white mags. 

1976: A TRIBUTE TO CHARLIE'S ANGELS POSTER MAGAZINE Issue 1

From 1976 (or thereabouts): the first issue of the A TRIBUTE TO CHARLIE'S ANGELS POSTER (or, err, "posta") MAGAZINE, featuring the first season cast of Farrah, Kate and Jaclyn.

I found this recently in a second handstore and it was too good to pass up. Its obviously British (or a British edition) and, judging from the title and the lack of publisher information, an unlicensed take-a-chance cash-in. 

There's no publication date but it features the original 76-77 line-up before, famously, Farrah walked away at the height of her fame. The US TV Movie THE CHARLIE'S ANGELS STORY is a fun, but probably not entirely accurate, dramatic reconstruction of the show's rollercoaster origin and turbulant first season. 

There's something charming about revisiting this and Spelling's other primetime crime shows like TJ HOOKER and MATT HOUSTON, not least because they frequently seemed to share the same plots, just tailored for the formats of the individual series. The legendary Angels in Chains (the prisonepisode that made the show a sensation) is not a million miles from the HOUSTON episode Caged, which gave Star Age icon Pamala Hensley a chance to shine when she found herself banged up in a similar establishment which also happened to be operating a prostitution business on the side. Such things must have been endemic in the US correctional system. 

Just remember: it's seven boobs including Bosley. 

1976: THE MAKING OF SPACE:1999 by Tim Heald

From November 1976: a book that seldom seems to surface today: THE MAKING OF SPACE:1999.

I spend a fair amount of time perusing secondhand book stores and comic book stores whenever I'm visiting a new town or city but this one had, up until recently, eluded me.  I hadn't made it my life's work to find it... it's just the sort of paperback I would buy without a second thought if I ever saw it.  Which I never did.  

So I eventually took the plunge and ordered a copy (for a lot more than the 85p cover price) from Amazon.

I've not had a chance to look at it in detail (and, in truth, I'm worried that the ancient binding might not respond to well to too much love at this advanced age) but I'm (once again) struck that it is not the sort of book that would ever appear nowadays.  It's a text-heavy paperback which is dense with information but not a great format for stills, artwork etc.  Today, it would be a studio-scrutinized coffee table tome with an abundance of images and a lot less text.  And none of it critical.   

This seems to have been published in the States and then shipped to the UK.  This may explain why copies are few-and-far between.

1976: THE MAKING OF DOCTOR WHO (Target Books)

From 1976: Target Book's THE MAKING OF DOCTOR WHO.  

This tie-in seems pretty basic today but, I bet, at the time this was essential reading for fans desperate for any information that could find on the thirteen year old show. 

1976: QUEEN KONG NOVELIZATION (Everest Books)

From 1976: The novelization of QUEEN KONG.  Really.  

When I found out a few years ago that the plucky Brits had actually made a film called QUEEN KONG... and it starred Robin (sex Comedies-a-plenty) Askwith, Rula Lenska and Valerie Leon... I decided immediately that I HAD to see it.  Fortunately, Amazon came to my rescue with a R1 DVD release paired with another movie.  QK even came with a commentary track.  Hurrah.

I had low expectations but a bad flick is usually no impediment to enjoyment (I'm slowly working my way through the Cannon back catalog... and really enjoying it... even SUPERMAN IV) and, sure enough, I thought this spoofy take on women's lib (apparently conceived through the prism of a very Seventies Benny Hill-esque world view) was a great deal of fun and miles better than it might have been. 

The one low point, but all part of the fun, was the wretched effects work... a haphazard combination of traditional bloke-in-a-suit stomping and some hopeless CSO that would shame the BBC.  

I'd assumed the film had passed without making much of dent on popular culture (although, as you'll see above, it did keep the lawyers busy for a while) so i was amazed to stumble across the NOVELIZATION in a second hand book store.  Instant purchase.  I was even more chuffed to see that the original owner had tucked a newspaper clipping (source unknown but clearly dated) into the front cover. 

1976: DRACULA LIVES House Ad (Marvel UK)

From 1976: A MARVEL UK House Ad for DRACULA LIVES (currently featuring The Legion of Monsters).

This appeared in early February. 

1976: MARVEL UK TITANS-FORMAT WEEKLIES HOUSE AD

From 1976: Two landscape luvlies from the British Bullpen.  This MARVEL UK House Ad appeared in late May. 

1976: ON SALE THIS MONTH: THE AVENGERS Weekly Issue 122 (Marvel UK)

On sale this week back in 1976: the 122nd issue of MARVEL UK's THE AVENGERS.

The three-strip line-up consisted of the titular super group, Doctor Strange and (thanks to the failure of his own weekly) Conan the Barbarian. 

1976: ON SALE THIS MONTH: THE TITANS Issue 12 (Marvel UK)

Another past-blast from this week in history: the twelfth issue of the legendary THE TITANS from 1976.  

Legendary?  Because it dared to be different! The (Manhattan-based) British Bullpen tried to give cash-strapped Brits more bang for their pence by flipping The Titans (and Super Spider-man) and placing two pages of art side-by-side on landscape pages.

For some reason (anyone got any ideas?), the previous issue and this one were "emergency issues" and appeared without their usual glossy covers (and with only 32 rather than the usual 36 pages).  Marvel, bless 'em, at least softened the blow by reducing the cover price by a penny.

It the inefficient and strike-ridden Seventies there could have been any number of reasons for the sudden change but it's always struck me as odd that Marvel knew in advance that the problem was going to occur.  Something of a "planned outage".  

The time of year may have had something to do with it: maybe the need to pull production ahead of the Christmas break (an annual ritual I'm all too familiar with) may have meant there simply wasn't enough glossy paper and press time around to produce the normal issues. 

1976: MARVEL COLOURING BOOKS HOUSE AD (Marvel UK)

Another blast from the seventies: MARVEL COLOURING BOOKS, as plugged in the pages of MARVEL UK's weeklies.  This ad appeared in March 1976.

1976: GHOST RIDER TITANS HOUSE AD (Marvel UK)

Introducing... the Ghost Rider!

This was a MARVEL UK House Ad from May 1976 plugging his first appearance in the pages of THE TITANS.

1976: SPIDER-MAN MEETS SUPERMAN (Marvel UK)

Here's a landscape-proportioned cross-company encounter: a SPIDER-MAN/ SUPERMAN back-page pin-up from SUPER SPIDER-MAN AND THE SUPER HEROES issue 183 (cover-dated 11 August 1976) from MARVEL UK.

1976: SPIDER-MAN ROCKS WITH GIGGLES (Marvel UK)

Anyone remember GIGGLES?  Nope, not me.  But MARVEL UK indulged in a little record plugging with this half-page (albeit from the TITANS format era, hence the portrait dimensions) feature from SUPER SPIDER-MAN AND THE SUPER HEROES issue 189 (cover-dated 22 September 1976).

I suspect that there's more to this feature than just an excuse to plug Spidey's own (perfectly playable) recorded rock opera ROCK REFLECTIONS OF A SUPER HERO.  Was Neal Tennant just trying to indulge his real passion?  Were Giggles somehow affiliated to the British Bullpen?

1976: MARVEL UK MOVES!

MARVEL UK goes south!

Forget Panini and Royal Tunbridge Wells.  Marvel's British operation first decamped from London to Kent in  late 1976 when the mini-Bullpen (production work was still handled Stateside) exited London's High Holborn in favour of Sevenoaks in Kent.

The excursion south lasted two years until Dez Skinn's appropriately named Marvel Revolution "coup" forced out the existing small staff of Brits in favour of Skinn's own Jadwin House team and saw the Marvel HQ shifted back to the capital.

Marvel UK, in the pages of SUPER SPIDER-MAN AND THE TITANS (which was printed in the titanic Titans landscape format) announced the move in issue 201 (15 December 1976) and followed-up, two weeks later, with more details of their salubrious new super-base in issue 203 (29 December 1976).

 

1976: CAPTAIN BRITAIN TEASER AD (Marvel UK)

This MARVEL UK House Ad, from SUPER SPIDER-MAN AND THE SUPER HEROES (phew) issue 189 (22 September 1976), is - believe it or not - the first glimpse of CAPTAIN BRITAIN.

Yup, despite looking nothing like the character that would emerge only a month later, this was a teaser for Marvel's purpose-built (by - ahem - US creators) British hero.  It looks like Storm Shadow.

What does this tell us?
The Bullpen were very keen to keep the design under wraps?  CB was originally going to have a very different look... and a sword?  With a month to go before launch, Stan and co. still hadn't settled on a design?
I'm not really sure... but it's a fun find.

BTW: It's a landscape add because - of course - SUPER SPIDER-MAN was living through the Titans Format era.