This is also the 300th STARLOGGED post of the year. Yay!
Showing posts with label 1995. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1995. Show all posts
Wednesday, 16 August 2017
1995: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 25
From around now back in 1995: THERMAL LANCE issue 25 and a line-up of of-the-time telefantasy shows which - with one exception - have been all but forgotten about today. Plus STAR TREK of course.
Thursday, 10 August 2017
1995: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 24
From May-June 1995: the 24th issue of THERMAL LANCE.
With a punter-pleasing X-FILES cover. Of course.
With a punter-pleasing X-FILES cover. Of course.
Tuesday, 8 August 2017
1995: DOWNTIME STRAIGHT-TO-TAPE DOCTOR WHO DRAMA VHS, SIGNED BY THE CAST.
From 1995: The recent death of Deborah Watling reminded me of this... DOWNTIME: a straight-to-tape (via a convention) DOCTOR WHO fan film which reunited some of the show's cast (reprising their characters from the show in a copyright-dodging manauver made possible by the BBC's bonkers contracts) to take on the Yeti.
It's OK... and it is good to see so many of the cast in the same production... but it ain't great! A lot of these 1990s fan-made films just demonstrated that making decent TV drama is harder than it looks (despite having some pros in front - and behind - the camera).
Reeltime, stepping outside their comfort zone of walk-and-talk interviews, were canny enough to make this look like a legit BBC Video release by apping the sleave design as much as possible. This comes with a bonus... it is signed by all the principle players. Most of whom are sadly no longer with us.
There was also a novelisation published by Virgin as part of their DOCTOR WHO MISSING ADVENTURES line (in fact, in keeping with its unofficial origins, the Doctor is all but missing from his own Missing Adventure) and a soundtrack CD.
I'm pretty sure I would have bought this VHS from FORBIDDEN PLANET on New Oxford Street when it was first released. I don't remember if copies were sold more widely than the specialist market.
UPDATE: Whilst hunting through a stack of DVDs last night I discovered I have a copy of this! I'd forgotten i had bought a copy. The reissue comes with a 'making of' which might prove to be more interesting than the main attraction...
It's OK... and it is good to see so many of the cast in the same production... but it ain't great! A lot of these 1990s fan-made films just demonstrated that making decent TV drama is harder than it looks (despite having some pros in front - and behind - the camera).
Reeltime, stepping outside their comfort zone of walk-and-talk interviews, were canny enough to make this look like a legit BBC Video release by apping the sleave design as much as possible. This comes with a bonus... it is signed by all the principle players. Most of whom are sadly no longer with us.
There was also a novelisation published by Virgin as part of their DOCTOR WHO MISSING ADVENTURES line (in fact, in keeping with its unofficial origins, the Doctor is all but missing from his own Missing Adventure) and a soundtrack CD.
I'm pretty sure I would have bought this VHS from FORBIDDEN PLANET on New Oxford Street when it was first released. I don't remember if copies were sold more widely than the specialist market.
UPDATE: Whilst hunting through a stack of DVDs last night I discovered I have a copy of this! I'd forgotten i had bought a copy. The reissue comes with a 'making of' which might prove to be more interesting than the main attraction...
1995: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 23 REVIEWS THE STATE OF THE STAR TREK NATION
From March-April 1995: More STAR TREK.... THERMAL LANCE issue 23 casts a critical eye over the whole franchise to coincide with the release of the (frankly underwhelming) STAR TREK GENERATIONS movie.
Tuesday, 25 July 2017
1995: COMICS INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 61
From November 1995: COMICS INTERNATIONAL issue 61... just because it has a STAR WARS cover.
Monday, 24 July 2017
1995: THE TREKKER FANZINE ISSUE 54
From November 1995: A copy of TREKKER, a US news-based fanzine (watch out! Watch out! The internet is coming!) which - despite the lawyer-baiting masthead - actually covered a bunch of current US telefantasy shows.
I found a few issues of this lurking in a dealer's back issue box. I seem to recall seeing copies in comic stores back-in-the-day so this must have had reasonable distribution. I think I considered it poor value for money compared with the British magazines. And left it right there on the shelf.
I found a few issues of this lurking in a dealer's back issue box. I seem to recall seeing copies in comic stores back-in-the-day so this must have had reasonable distribution. I think I considered it poor value for money compared with the British magazines. And left it right there on the shelf.
Monday, 17 July 2017
1995: COMICS INTERNATIONAL: MARVEL VERSUS DC
From October 1995: When titans clash... COMICS INTERNATIONAL previews the MARVEL VERSUS DC crossover event: an almighty punch-up between the two companies intended to bolster the sales - and profiles - of both companies in the midst of an industry in trouble.
Unfortunately, inter-company crossovers were so frequent during this period that - despite the literal heavy-hitters on parade here, it didn't seem as special as it once might have done.
Unfortunately, inter-company crossovers were so frequent during this period that - despite the literal heavy-hitters on parade here, it didn't seem as special as it once might have done.
Wednesday, 12 July 2017
1995: COMICS INTERNATIONAL REPORTS THE EXPANSION OF THE MARVEL MUSIC LINE
From February 1995: COMICS INTERNATIONAL reports the substantial expansion of the MARVEL MUSIC imprint.
This one caught my eye because it got me wondering: how many of these projects actually made it into stores? This looks like a very ambitious publishing slate... yet copies of Marvel's music industry books very seldom seem to surface. Which makes me think many of them were distributed in very small numbers, were distributed outside the direct market or (and given the dodgy financial status of Marvel - and the marketplace - at the time) never actually happened at all.
This one caught my eye because it got me wondering: how many of these projects actually made it into stores? This looks like a very ambitious publishing slate... yet copies of Marvel's music industry books very seldom seem to surface. Which makes me think many of them were distributed in very small numbers, were distributed outside the direct market or (and given the dodgy financial status of Marvel - and the marketplace - at the time) never actually happened at all.
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
1995: HORIZON: THE BLAKE'S 7 APPRECIATION SOCIETY NEWSLETTER 33
From November 1995: Issue 33 of HORIZON, THE BLAKE'S 7 APPRECIATION SOCIETY.
I suspect I'm not the only B7 fan who was 'reunited' with the show when the BBC started to release the show on tape in the early 1990s. And I bet I'm not the only person who started off just buying one tape for nostalgia's sake... and then finding that I had to buy the whole lot as the addiction grew.
I also joined HORIZON (who had a useful plug on the back of every BBC tape, a move that probably helped deflect a ton of mail landing at BBC Woodlands wanting to know more about the show and the cast) around this time. And rejoined several times over the next few years. I don't honestly recall if this edition of the newsletter was one that I had at the time or one that I found later. They don't surface in the wild very often. As far as I know, copies were only ever available to members with - maybe - overstocks also sold at conventions.
The Horizon newsletters were, in my time, very hefty affairs stuffed full of letters, articles and updates (either news or reviews) of the cast's latest work. Which seemed to involve a lot of trips to the theatre.
The club also offered members assorted limited-run merchandise like stills and t-shirts.
Spin-off publications included fiction-based fanzines (never my thing), a compilation of interviews (which i posted sometime previously) and a rather excellent Technical Manual with detailed plans and cross sections of assorted hardware and ships seen on the show.
I'm revisiting episodes of assorted Star Age SF shows at the moment (WAR OF THE WORLDS last night, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA earlier in the week) and rewatched a couple of long-unseen B7 S4 outings. They have a reputation, not entirely undeserved, for looking a little rough around the edges and suffering from some overacting. But I was impressed by 'Orbit' by Robert Holmes. Not only does it include one of his trademark double acts but the performances towards the end of the episode, by Darrow and Keating, are first class.
Now... If only Network would get around to releasing Darrow's 1990 Thames series MAKING NEWS.
I suspect I'm not the only B7 fan who was 'reunited' with the show when the BBC started to release the show on tape in the early 1990s. And I bet I'm not the only person who started off just buying one tape for nostalgia's sake... and then finding that I had to buy the whole lot as the addiction grew.
I also joined HORIZON (who had a useful plug on the back of every BBC tape, a move that probably helped deflect a ton of mail landing at BBC Woodlands wanting to know more about the show and the cast) around this time. And rejoined several times over the next few years. I don't honestly recall if this edition of the newsletter was one that I had at the time or one that I found later. They don't surface in the wild very often. As far as I know, copies were only ever available to members with - maybe - overstocks also sold at conventions.
The Horizon newsletters were, in my time, very hefty affairs stuffed full of letters, articles and updates (either news or reviews) of the cast's latest work. Which seemed to involve a lot of trips to the theatre.
The club also offered members assorted limited-run merchandise like stills and t-shirts.
Spin-off publications included fiction-based fanzines (never my thing), a compilation of interviews (which i posted sometime previously) and a rather excellent Technical Manual with detailed plans and cross sections of assorted hardware and ships seen on the show.
I'm revisiting episodes of assorted Star Age SF shows at the moment (WAR OF THE WORLDS last night, BATTLESTAR GALACTICA earlier in the week) and rewatched a couple of long-unseen B7 S4 outings. They have a reputation, not entirely undeserved, for looking a little rough around the edges and suffering from some overacting. But I was impressed by 'Orbit' by Robert Holmes. Not only does it include one of his trademark double acts but the performances towards the end of the episode, by Darrow and Keating, are first class.
Now... If only Network would get around to releasing Darrow's 1990 Thames series MAKING NEWS.
Friday, 30 June 2017
1995: THE BLAKE'S SEVEN CAST REUNITED
From 1995: The cast of BLAKE'S SEVEN (I have to say: still looking pretty dapper) reunited to promote something-or-the-other. I think it was the BBC Video VHS releases.
This really nice still (nothing says space opera like a night club at three in the afternoon) was published on the back cover of one of the HORIZON FAN CLUB newsletters.
David Jackson (Gan, second from the left) sadly died in 2005, followed by Gareth Thomas (centre) in 2016.
The others are (left-to-right): Paul Darrow (Avon, Mobility Scooter advert); Jan Chhappell (Cally); Sally Knyvette (Jenna) and Michael Keating (Vila).
This really nice still (nothing says space opera like a night club at three in the afternoon) was published on the back cover of one of the HORIZON FAN CLUB newsletters.
David Jackson (Gan, second from the left) sadly died in 2005, followed by Gareth Thomas (centre) in 2016.
The others are (left-to-right): Paul Darrow (Avon, Mobility Scooter advert); Jan Chhappell (Cally); Sally Knyvette (Jenna) and Michael Keating (Vila).
Monday, 26 June 2017
1995: COMIC WORLD REPORTS THE PANINI TAKEOVER OF MARVEL UK
From August 1995: COMIC COLLECTOR issue 42 (the last one) reports on the beginning of the end of MARVEL UK.
Panini, best known at the time as the sticker people, were another part of the swelling Marvel empire following the rapid expansion of the early 1990s. No doubt it made sense to consolidate all of Marvel's European operations under one roof (and - following the boom-and-bust growth of the UK operation with the US line and magazines - bring some financial rigor to the business).
It didn't take the new management long to purge the ranks of M-UK staff and streamline the business. The changes killed any hopes of re-entering the US market as well as most of the magazine line. Only DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE survived the cuts but even that long-runner lost its spin-offs. The editorial to the left lists the early casualties. Who's next? COMIC WORLD as it happens. Oops.
Unfortunately for Marvel London, Marvel's dire financial situation meant that the recently purchased Panini had to be flogged-off pronto to keep the faltering empire afloat. And Marvel UK were bundled-up with the package. I've always assumed that Marvel sweetened the deal to speed the sale by granting Panini the European rights to publish Marvel material as soon as the existing market-by-market license expired. An arrangement that survives to this day.
Panini, best known at the time as the sticker people, were another part of the swelling Marvel empire following the rapid expansion of the early 1990s. No doubt it made sense to consolidate all of Marvel's European operations under one roof (and - following the boom-and-bust growth of the UK operation with the US line and magazines - bring some financial rigor to the business).
It didn't take the new management long to purge the ranks of M-UK staff and streamline the business. The changes killed any hopes of re-entering the US market as well as most of the magazine line. Only DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE survived the cuts but even that long-runner lost its spin-offs. The editorial to the left lists the early casualties. Who's next? COMIC WORLD as it happens. Oops.
Unfortunately for Marvel London, Marvel's dire financial situation meant that the recently purchased Panini had to be flogged-off pronto to keep the faltering empire afloat. And Marvel UK were bundled-up with the package. I've always assumed that Marvel sweetened the deal to speed the sale by granting Panini the European rights to publish Marvel material as soon as the existing market-by-market license expired. An arrangement that survives to this day.
1995: COMIC WORLD ISSUE 42: THE FINAL ISSUE
From August 1995: the final issue of UK magazine COMIC WORLD, with JUDGE DREDD movie tie-in cover.
The magazine (which started life as COMIC COLLECTOR) shuttered suddenly (a victim of falling sales, increasing print prices and the bottom falling out of the comics market... robbing it of the essential advertising it needed to survive) so - unlike the current (and final) issue of GEEKY MONKEY (sad to see you go... you were great) - there was no opportunity for a farewell.
The magazine (which started life as COMIC COLLECTOR) shuttered suddenly (a victim of falling sales, increasing print prices and the bottom falling out of the comics market... robbing it of the essential advertising it needed to survive) so - unlike the current (and final) issue of GEEKY MONKEY (sad to see you go... you were great) - there was no opportunity for a farewell.
Tuesday, 13 June 2017
1995: THERMAL LANCE ISSUE 22
From January 1995: Mulder and Scully inevitably make it onto the cover of THERMAL LANCE issue 22. Because THE X-FILES sold. A lot. And it was cool. Briefly.
What was the big deal about THE AVENGERS PROGRAMME GUIDE? It was another in the run of unofficial Virgin-published paperback episode guides from this this period (Series covered included THE WEST WING, RED DWARF, THE SIMPSONS, BUFFY, ANGEL, START TREK, DAWSON'S CREEK, GERRY ANDERSON shows, BABYLON FIVE, NEIGHBOURS... I have a shelf full of them) but it ran into a spot of bother. From memory, the first edition rather unwisely suggested that one of the leading actors on the show got the gig by bedding the incoming producer. Dave Rogers, publisher of assorted Avengers fanzines and books (and - crucially - not involved with The Programme Guide) got wind of it, told the performer and the lawyers were called. Cue some hasty recalling and pulping of early copies that had already hit the shelves.
The book was later reissued - as THE AVENGERS DOSSIER - in 1998 with the offending text removed.
What was the big deal about THE AVENGERS PROGRAMME GUIDE? It was another in the run of unofficial Virgin-published paperback episode guides from this this period (Series covered included THE WEST WING, RED DWARF, THE SIMPSONS, BUFFY, ANGEL, START TREK, DAWSON'S CREEK, GERRY ANDERSON shows, BABYLON FIVE, NEIGHBOURS... I have a shelf full of them) but it ran into a spot of bother. From memory, the first edition rather unwisely suggested that one of the leading actors on the show got the gig by bedding the incoming producer. Dave Rogers, publisher of assorted Avengers fanzines and books (and - crucially - not involved with The Programme Guide) got wind of it, told the performer and the lawyers were called. Cue some hasty recalling and pulping of early copies that had already hit the shelves.
The book was later reissued - as THE AVENGERS DOSSIER - in 1998 with the offending text removed.
Thursday, 8 June 2017
1995: STARLOG MAGAZINE PREVIEWS SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND
From 1995: SPACE: ABOVE AND BEYOND, FOX's one-season-wonder, is previewed by STARLOG MAGAZINE.
After a lousy opening night, the show settled down to be pretty good stuff. It never quite managed to capture the TOUR OF DUTY in space vibe that i think it really needed (the writing wasn't quite good enough) but it put together some strong episodes played out by a good cast. The world-building and back-story was also pretty interesting with lots of opportunities to explore various facets of the war with the aliens further had the show been renewed. It did - however - pass out with a cracking two-part conclusion with unresolved cliffhangers aplenty. It's on DVD (and the UK edition comes with some exclusive new material including a documentary).
After a lousy opening night, the show settled down to be pretty good stuff. It never quite managed to capture the TOUR OF DUTY in space vibe that i think it really needed (the writing wasn't quite good enough) but it put together some strong episodes played out by a good cast. The world-building and back-story was also pretty interesting with lots of opportunities to explore various facets of the war with the aliens further had the show been renewed. It did - however - pass out with a cracking two-part conclusion with unresolved cliffhangers aplenty. It's on DVD (and the UK edition comes with some exclusive new material including a documentary).
Wednesday, 7 June 2017
1995: MAXIMUM PRESS REVIVE BATTLESTAR GALACTICA COMICS IN STARLOG MAGAZINE
From 1995: BATTLESTAR GALACTICA returns to comics (for the first time since the Marvel years over a decade earlier) as reported in STARLOG MAGAZINE.
Mximum Press (a bolt hole for publisher/ industry villain Rob Liefield when things got too hot at Image Comics) enjoyed some success with their take on the long-slumbering franchise, eventually publishing a bunch of mini-series (and booking a slot in the company's anthology), before stuttering to a hallt.
Most of it is hard to find unless you stumble across a dealer who has some in stock. They don't tend to sell for much... there just wasn't much demand for them so copies are few and far between. Only the first four-part series, set twenty yahrns after the TV show... and ignoring GALACTICA 1980... was ever collected into a trade paperback. Which is - of course - decades out-of-print as well.
The complete run was:
Mximum Press (a bolt hole for publisher/ industry villain Rob Liefield when things got too hot at Image Comics) enjoyed some success with their take on the long-slumbering franchise, eventually publishing a bunch of mini-series (and booking a slot in the company's anthology), before stuttering to a hallt.
Most of it is hard to find unless you stumble across a dealer who has some in stock. They don't tend to sell for much... there just wasn't much demand for them so copies are few and far between. Only the first four-part series, set twenty yahrns after the TV show... and ignoring GALACTICA 1980... was ever collected into a trade paperback. Which is - of course - decades out-of-print as well.
The complete run was:
- BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (4 issues + the trade paperback reprint)
- THE ENEMY WITHIN (3 issues)
- STARBUCK (3 issues)
- APOLLO'S JOURNEY (3 issues. Written by Richard Hatch)
- JOURNEY'S END (4 issues)
- ASYLUM (a BG strip appeared in 1-5, 7-8, 10. A single-page pin-up appears in 6)
- THE COMPENDIUM (collects the BG strips from ASYLUM 1-4, 10)
- SPECIAL EDITION (collects the BG strips from ASYLUM 4-5, 7)
ASYLUM 6 also included a SIX MILLION DOLLAR MAN/ BIONIC WOMAN story, the first outing of what was intended to be an ongoing revival of the Universal franchise.
Thursday, 25 May 2017
1995: BOXTREE'S CLASSIC STAR WARS VOLUME 3
From 1995: The third and - I think - final Boxtree books collection of the CLASSIC STAR WARS newspaper strips, reworked by Dark Horse Comics in the States into a more floppy-friendly format.
Thursday, 11 May 2017
1995: CLASSIC STAR WARS VOLUME 2: REBEL STORM UK TRADE PAPERBACK EDITION
From 1995: The second trade paperback collection of STAR WARS NEWSPAPER STRIPS, reworked to work as comicbooks by Dark Horse.
This is a UK volume put together by the masters of the quickie media tie-in BOXTREE BOOKS.
A hefty (including the price) hardback of the original strips has just been issued by IDW. As far as I know, it represents the first time the strips have been widely distributed in their original format since they were first published.
The reworked Dark Horse versions were recently reissued (along with some previously unpublished strips in a weird hybrid combo) by Marvel. I'm not sure how much overlap there is between the two in terms of the strips reprinted.
This is a UK volume put together by the masters of the quickie media tie-in BOXTREE BOOKS.
A hefty (including the price) hardback of the original strips has just been issued by IDW. As far as I know, it represents the first time the strips have been widely distributed in their original format since they were first published.
The reworked Dark Horse versions were recently reissued (along with some previously unpublished strips in a weird hybrid combo) by Marvel. I'm not sure how much overlap there is between the two in terms of the strips reprinted.
Thursday, 6 April 2017
1995: SARAH-JANE AND K9 ON THE COVER OF DOCTOR WHO'S CELESTIAL TOYROOM ISSUE 222
From September 1995: CELESTIAL TOYROOM, the magazine of THE DOCTOR WHO APPRECIATION SOCIETY, issue 222.
Wednesday, 15 March 2017
1995: 2000AD INCURS THE WRATH OF THE LUCASFILM LAWYERS.
From June 1995: More STAR WARS related legal action. This time the Lucas legal guns were pointed at Tharg's Command Module and the galaxy's greatest comic.
The Mighty One Versus the Bearded One.
The Mighty One Versus the Bearded One.
This time the Lucasfilm lawyers objected to the cover copy, related to the Rogue Trooper strip, which they felt was a triffle misleading. I don't think this went any further but the Mighty One's green knuckles were well-and-truely rapped.
Monday, 21 November 2016
1995: THE SECRETS OF THE X-FILES VHS COVER
From 1995: More X-FILES. More VHS tape goodness.
From memory (it's a long time since I watched this) this was a compilation of clips from the show which was released (possibly only as a rental tape or store exclusive) to accompany the tape releases of selected two-parters (tarted-up as feature length installments) prior to their UK TV premiere. A nice little money spinner for Fox when the show was at its pop culture peak.
I have a hunch I might have picked this up from the HMV flagship store in London... but I can't be sure.
From memory (it's a long time since I watched this) this was a compilation of clips from the show which was released (possibly only as a rental tape or store exclusive) to accompany the tape releases of selected two-parters (tarted-up as feature length installments) prior to their UK TV premiere. A nice little money spinner for Fox when the show was at its pop culture peak.
I have a hunch I might have picked this up from the HMV flagship store in London... but I can't be sure.
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