1997: US TV REVIEW ISSUE 13

From Spring 1997: a copy of the British fanzine US TV REVIEW, dedicated to contemporary American TV shows.

This was actually an amalgamation of several existing fanzines dedicated to BABYLON FIVE (BABCOM: Not to be confused with the UK BABYLON FIVE club magazine I have posted previously) and LOIS & CLARK: THE NEW ADVENTURES OF SUPERMAN (The Daily Planet).  The combined title expanded the remit even further to cover other imports.

I'm not sure where the issue number comes from... it may have been inherited from one of the merged titles or there may also have been a US TV newsletter (not to be confused with AMERICANA) that was running alongside the two show-specific zines.  The memory now cheats.

I'm pretty sure I was a regular reader of the titles prior to their merger but - over the years - I have misplaced or dumped all my copies.  For some reason, this one survives.

I forget exactly how these were advertised.  Definately mail order but I don't recall if it was on an issue-by-issue basis or via a subscription.  The adverts probably appeared in the classified sections of SFX or TV ZONE.

i have a suspicion that this one might not have lasted much longer... or maybe I just stopped ordering it.

1997: HORIZON THE BLAKE'S SEVEN APPRECIATION SOCIETY ISSUE 37

From November 1997: HORIZON, the newsletter of THE BLAKE'S SEVEN APPRECIATION SOCIETY issue 37.

1997: TV SCENE MAGAZINE ISSUE 2

From the summer of 1997: Another magazine I had no idea existed until I found this copy on my travels recently... the second issue of TV SCENE.

And a reminder that cult actor Bruce Campbell once starred in a made-for-TV version of THE LOVE BUG, a one-shot that aired on ABC in November of that year.

Disney and CBS had tried to make Herbie into a TV star back in 1982.  The franchise-killing weekly series mustered only five episodes before being cancelled.  Ending any fresh adventures, on any screen size, until this reboot spluttered into view.  

The precursor to KITT first appeared in THE LOVE BUG in 1968 and three sequels before stalling on the small screen.  

I have no idea how long the magazine rolled on for but I don't think it had very good (if any) distribution in the UK.  

1997: STAR WARS VILLAINS POSTER MAGAZINE

From 1997: the other half of the Titan Magazines double-act: the STAR WARS VILLAINS POSTER MAGAZINE, a one-shot published to make the most of 20 years of the release of the first STAR WARS movie.

Finally, fans everywhere could have the Emperor on their wall.  Someone should get a large research grant to discover the long-term psychological effects of that...

1997: STAR WARS HEROES POSTER MAGAZINE from TITAN MAGAZINES

From 1997: As part of the STAR WARS 20th anniversary celebrations (read: marketing opportunity) the UK's Titan Magazines published two POSTER MAGAZINES: HEROES (see below) and VILLAINS (future post teaser).

I skipped these at the time (I've never been much of a Poster magazine fan) but spotted both recently whilst out-of-town and decided to grab them for STARLOGGED.

1997: STAR WARS OFFICIAL 20th ANNIVERSARY MAGAZINE

From 1997: the official STAR WARS 20th ANNIVERSARY MAGAZINE, a one-shot published by Titan Magazines.

1997: STAR VOYAGER ISSUE 1

From May 1997: Probably one of the most 'out there' of the wave of SF mags that cluttered newsagents in the 1990s boom: STAR VOYAGER.

Edited by Chris Martin and published by Roma, it appears to have never made it past this first issue.

1997: PARAMOUNT COMICS PRESENTS: THE MIGHTY HEROES ISSUE 1

From 1997 (but with a 1998 cover date): Everyone (who cares to remember) remembers the numerous STAR TREK titles published under the MARVEL PRESENTS PARAMOUNT COMICS imprint but often overlooked are several other one-shots that also snuck out of the tie-up before a cash-strapped Marvel called it quits.

I think this - THE MIGHTY HEROES - is probably the most forgotten.  I only found it by chance in a 50p box a few years ago.  The characters are from a 1966 Terrytoons animated series, created by Ralph Bakshi.  The company was aquired by Viacom in 1971.  Viacom went on to purchase Paramount in 1994, hence their (brief) appearance under the Paramount imprint.

UK Star Warriors may remember seeing the cartoons (which probably cost next-to-nothing to buy) during the early years of TV-am before management twigged they could get better ratings (but annoy the IBA) by airing shows based on the latest toy lines.

I'll cover some of the other non-TREK Paramount comics in future posts.

1997: COMICS INTERNATIONAL ISSUE 83: JUDGE DREDD AND PREDATOR

From July 1997: A very eyecatching franchise mash-up cover for COMICS INTERNATIONAL issue 83, promoting (from memory) a JUDGE DREDD/ PREDATOR crossover event.

1997: DOCTOR WHO BEHIND-THE-SCENES TV CENTRE PIC ON THE COVER OF TARDIS

From 1997: British DOCTOR WHO fanzine TARDIS (volume 15, number 1).

I really love this behind-the-scenes-and-overhead shot of the (seventies?) Tardis console, presumably in situ in one of the TV Centre studios.  Idon't recall having seen this photo anywhere else.  I have no idea who is drapped over the set and what the original purpose of the picture was.  It looks like the sort of thing that might have been snapped for a behind-the-scenes (doh) book or - possibly - some sort of internal BBC publication or training materials.

1996: CULT TIMES SPECIAL ISSUE 1 (VISUAL IMAGINATION)

From December 1996: The first CULT TIMES spin-off special.

Its been had to miss the huge dump bins popping up in stores across the land as the traditional festive double issues of the TV listings magazines go on sale. The first sighting of the bumper RADIO TIMES is a sure sign that Christmas is coming. However, for the past few years I've found that I've bought that traditiinal whopper... and then not looked at it once throughout the holiday season.

Regadless, it reminded me of the first CULT TIMES SPECIAL, a festive themed issue with the Christmas season geek tv listings for cable and satellite. Terrestrial TV, with more erratic schedules and weekly rather than monthly press days (geared to the publishing schedules of the weekly rather than monthly telly mags), were generally treated on a 'best guess' basis.

The cover stars should come as no surprise.

Visual Imagination's CT launched in October 1995 and eventually clocked up 159 issues through to the end of 2008 when the publisher went bust. This was the first of 47 specials published on a quarterly schedule.

1997: SCI-FI INVASION! (WIZARD)

From the Fall of 1997: Another of the brief run of SCI-FI INVASION!, the occasional spin-off from the WIZARD MAGAZINE empire.

1997: SCI-FI INVASION (WIZARD MAGAZINE)

From 1997: Another WIZARD spin-off from the boom years... an out-of-the-bag copy of SCI-FI INVASION.

Five issues were published circa 97-98, the consistent themes across the run being STAR WARS, BABYLON FIVE and - of course - THE X-FILES.

1997: STAR WARS UKINVERSE: MAGAZINE OF THE OFFICIAL UK STAR WARS FAN CLUB ISSUE 2

From 1997: the second issue of STAR WARS UKNIVERSE, the shortlived newsletter of the briefly revived OFFICIAL UK STAR WARS FAN CLUB.

Not to be confused with the original fan club of the seventies and eighties... nor the unoficial early nineties incarnation I've been posting recently... this was another officially sanctioned enterprise timed to coincide with the re-release of the original trilogy and the early buzz around the prequels.

This passed me by entirely at the time but i recently found issues 2-4 in a London comic store so picked them up cheap. I don't remember seeing the magazine in any stores at the time so I assume it was only sent out to paid up members.

Tbe fourth issue also happens to be the last... the closure of the club and the end of the newsletter apparently down to a Lucasfilm decision to streamline such licenses.

Although, in the age of the web and an abundance of genre magazines, its hard to see that there was a particularly large niche for an official club when Lucasfilm were already licensing several official magazines with overlapping content.

1997: TARDIS VOLUME 15, ISSUE 2

From August 1997: something for the weekend sir?

Sophie Aldred turns kick ass space babe (was this to promote something? Possibly Ace's appearances in the New Adventures novels?) on the cover of DOCTOR WHO
fanzine (published by the DOCTOR WHO APPRECIATION SOCIETY) TARDIS.

This is Volume 15, Issue 2.

1997, STARBURST VIDEO HOUSE AD (VISUAL IMAGINTION)

From late 1997: a house ad for STARBURST VIDEO VOLUME 3, the last in the series of straight-to-tape 'editions' of the magazine released by publisher Visual Imagination.

I've never seen the first volume (fronted by Jon Pertwee and released to celebrate the 200th edition of the magazine) but I do have copies of the second and third (albeit long since dubbed onto DVD and the original VHS tapes dumped).

They both follow the same formula: various short (and not very candid) interviews with genre types (often snatched on location... presumably during conventions or promotional appearences) linked together by a celeb better known for acting than presenting. There's plenty of links that flow with all the confidence and spontaneity of someone reading from cue cards.

George Takai beamed in for the second tape, shooting his links at the STAR TREK exhibition staged at London's Science Museum (I went!) whilst - for this tape - BABYLON FIVE's Bruce Boxleiter wandered the halls of The Sci-Fi Channel's new London base. That location choice was clearly one that seemed better on paper than it looks on the screen. The sad fact is thst most TV stations, except for the studios (if they have any), galleries and (sometimes) edit suites, look just like any other pokey office building once you pass the fancy reception. And it's clear - in the case of this low-budget start-up, they didn't even have a fancy reception.

I have a strong suspicion that Visual Imaginatiin were simply taping the rushed interviews that turned up across their range of magazines (which was pretty much at their peak at this point) so a canny viewer with time on their hands would probably be able to spot where the print versions of all the content here appeared. Possibly several times as VI seemed to spread suspiciously similar content across the whole range.

Visual Imagination are now defunct (although STARBURST lives on) so these tapes are long unavailable. They were never issued on DVD and it's unclear what happened to both the finished masters and the original rushes once the company folded.

If anyone has a digital copy of the first volume, I'd be very interested in seeing it.

1997: DARK SKIES: THE AWAKENING ON UK VHS

From 1997: the UK rental release of DARK SKIES.

This is the Tobe Hooper directed pilot episode that established the show's X-FILES-in-the-Sixties premise. Although it had oodles of flaws, I think this was by far the best of the glut of wannabe shows that bubbled to the surface in the wake of Mulder and Scully and had the potential to having something interesting to say over several seasons. Unfortunately, viewer perceptions that it was simply a knock-off kept audiences low and ended the run after a single season.

A second VHS tape followed with episodes two and three.

TRIVIA: Sony didn't want the show to impinge on the potential big screen success of the impending MEN IN BLACK. So they demanded that none of the government operatives wear black suits.

1997: INTER-SECTION FANZINE ISSUE 1

From September 1997: the first issue of the A5 British comics zine INTER-SECTION.

I found this, and the second issue, in a comic shop quite recently.

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.

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.