1974: MONSTERS OF THE MOVIES Issue 1 (Marvel/ Curtis)

From June 1974: the debut issue of Marvel's MONSTERS OF THE MOVIES magazine, an obvious me-to attempt to cash in on the ongoing success of Jim Warren's FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND.

The magazine boasted colour covers with black & white interiors on the cheapest possible paper, ideally unsuited for reproducing movie stills with any clarity. It was published under the Curtis rather than Marvel brand. The brand was finally phased out circa 1980, by which point Marvel only occasionally dabbled into the magazine realm. 

Despite the long running success of the Warren book, Marvel couldn't make this one stick and they pulled the plug, in 1975, after a mere eight issues. The title bounced back one final time with an annual (AKA issue nine), boasting a great Spock cover, which I've posted previously.

Although the interiors are underwhelming, and don't feature any comics material, the covers are universally gorgeous: supplied by Luis Domingquez and Bob Larkin (with Gray Morrow stepping in for the annual). 

1979: STARLOG PHOTO GUIDEBOOK: ROBOTS

From 1979: STARLOG PHOTO GUIDEBOOK: ROBOTS.

Top marks to Messrs O'Quinn and Jacobs for very swiftly realising their little unlicensed STAR TREK magazine (with enough other genre stuff to keep the Paramount lawyers at bay) could be upscaled to a whole publishing empire at the height of the Star Age. Not only did they spin off FUTURE LIFE, FANGORIA, CINEMAGIC and COMICS SCENE in quick succession but they also launched the PHOTO GUIDEBOOKS, essentially a series of colour scrapbooks dedicated to all things SF. 

These seem a little crude by today's standards but hark from the pre-internet age where even colour printing was a relative luxury. They were A4 softcover books of varying page counts and price points. 

They covered all the obvious bases including heroes, villains, robots, toys, tech, vehicles etc. The various volumes dedicated to special effects are amongst the most coveted by collectors today.

Two of the most useful reprinted, with a good range of stills, the TV episode guides which were a fixture of the early issues of the magazine. Behind-the-scenes information was all but absent but that didn't matter when these were the only source available. 

1979: STAR TREK THE MAGAZINE ISSUE 1 (Fanzine)

From 1979: the first issue of the British STAR TREK THE MAGAZINE (actually an unlicensed fanzine).

As is often the case with fanzines, I know very little about this one. Its obviously unlicensed and published around the time of The Motion Picture. Note the movie-era Enterprise on the cover. 

I picked this up from a dealer, for a couple of pounds, earlier this year because it looked cool and - frankly - you never know how many of these things are still out there.

That said, I don't generally endulge in fiction 'zines. You could fill a while library with those and, to be honest, I would never read them. Although some of the more racy "slash" stuff might be eye-opening. I wonder how many fan writers had guessed that Sulu's alter ego was already living the dream? 

1991: MELTDOWN ISSUE 1 (MARVEL UK)

From August 1991: MELTDOWN from Marvel UK.

This was, depending on how you view it, a compilation of the best 'mature readers' strips (and creators) from around the world. Or the Epic Comics UK anthology. Or both,.

Edited by John Freeman, this (along with the new HAVOC weekly) had a covert assignment: testing demand, formats, frequencies and tone for a new title at the core of Paul Neary's new Genesis 92 project. The Annex of Ideas ultimately split the difference and launched Overkill as a fortnightly, pitched somewhere between the two tryout titles. 

The downside of this see-what-sticks strategy was, despite putting together two nice packages, Marvel wasn't very committed to either of them and dropped them at the first opportunity. HAVOC died, without warning, after only nine issues and MELTDOWN bowed out after six, albeit using the last issue to plug the upcoming birth of the UKverse. 

The Meltdown line-up, as you'll see on the cover, was pretty powerful stuff. Although it was short lived, two of the reprints were to live again in the next few years. Marvel London dusted off the Clive Barker strips for a new monthly that quickly fell foul to cuts at the company. And the original black & white version of Akira (Meltdown ran Epic's colour version) appeared in the Manga monthly.

The Introductory Booklet, which only occasionally services along with copies of the main comic, had background information on the characters and creators. 

1986: DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN ISSUE 36/ 37

From the summer of 1986: another double-issue of DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN, aka DWB, pulled from the Random Scans file.

1991: TOXIC!

From August 1991 and May 1992: What a difference a few months makes... The rise and fall of TOXIC! Punctuation obligatory. 

Toxic! was another part of the Trident-Neptune-Apocilypse axis of brands owned by Neptune Distributors, one-time rival to Titan for the accounts of Britain's specialist stores. The distribution side folded into Diamond (who subsequently acquiured Titan) in 1992. 

Appearing under the Apocalypse banner, Toxic! was the boldest and most ambitious of the new wave of mature readers British titles to spring up at the turn of the decade. Many followed the VIZ formula to deminishing creative returns, Fleetway used 2000AD as a launch pad for various new titles and Marvel mixed reprints with a new UKverse not a million miles from their usual superfare. Toxic! united Tharg's heavy-hitters (Mills, O'Neil, McMahon, Wagner and Grant) to create a new colour weekly, stuffed full of their own creator-owned strips that would, they hoped, supplant 2000AD as Britain's go-to weekly. 

All under the mission statement "The comic throws up", a riff on the pretentious slogan that adorned Marvel UK's STRIP. 

The creators, freed from the shackles of corporate ownership, let rip with an increased quotant of gore, violence and general gruesomeness. All flogged in WH Smith. 

Unfortunately for them, the new publisher lacked both the infrastructure and deep pockets of the Nerve Centre and things soon started to fracture. The scheduling of individual strips became erratic as deadline-doom began to over take the title... And cash flow became an issue as some creators found they didn't get paid.

It all ended suddenly after only 31 regular issues and a few spin-off one-shots.

A year later, readers of the surviving Trident books could pick up the whole run for £12 plus postage. 

1998: BABYLON FIVE MAGAZINE VOLUME 2, ISSUE 1

From July 1998: Another first issue for Titan's BABYLON FIVE MAGAZINE.

Now distributed globally, the relaunch (all but identical to the previous nine issues) reflected the cast changes to the fifth season (now bankrolled by TNT in the States) by spotlighting B-movie star (and occasional Scream Queen) Tracy Scoggins, an actress that split her time fairly evenly between straight-to-tape movies and TV shows. Her finest hour (DANTE'S COVE not withstanding) was surely the Aerobics Snuff Movie episode of TJ HOOKER. 

Volume 2 ran for 24 issues (the last boasting an extended page count to mop up the last of the outstanding business) and charted the end of the TV show, the TNT-backed TV movies (which ran from Quite Good to Quite Bad) and the CRUSADE space wreck that saw the production team fall out with the cable station so badly that the show was retooled and then cancelled before a single episode ever aired. 

With no new screen product of note on the horizon (several B5 relaunches stalled after pilots were shot) and sales flagging, Titan declined to renew the license. 

1997: BABYLON FIVE MAGAZINE VOLUME 1, ISSUE 1

From August 1997: the first issue of the first volume of the ongoing BABYLON FIVE OFFICIAL MAGAZINE, published by Titan.

Although this was the first of the ongoing run of UK originated magazines, there had already been an American one-shot which Tiutan picked up for the UK and published with a new (and not very creative) cover. I've posted the one-shot in the past.

Titan must have been impressed with the sales figures as they then launched this: a British magazine with all-new content, initially edited (as was many a media tie-in) by John Freeman. 

The show itself had just wrapped its penultimate season in '97 and although perennially marginal in terms of future survival (partly because of structural changes in the broadcast industry, reducing demand and timeslots for first-run drama not offered by the networks or the next generation of quasi-networks), it did look like its fortunes were on the upswing thanks to a deal with Warner-owned cable outfit TNT to air the fifth season, spin-offs movies and a second TV series (the doomed-before-it-aired CRUSADE). So Titan must have felt confident that there was some longevity in the format. 

Freeman looked back to his past on DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE and STAR TREK for his formula: the bulk of each issue was new editorial, supplemented by a comic strip licensed from DC in the States. The US issues had only limited distribution in the UK several years earlier so these were a good fit for the bulk of the readership. 

The reprints were possible because Titan only officially had the license to publish the magazine in the UK with little or no international distribution. The deal went global the following year and rather than retain the existing numbering, Volume 1 was cancelled... And immediately replaced by the all-but-identical (save for the comic strips) Volume 2. The first volume ran for nine issues. 

1985: DWB ISSUE 24/25 and SMALL ADS

From the summer of 1985: the cover and selected interior pages from the DWB (DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN) sizzling seasonal double issue.

The cover is a nice showcase of the miniature work from the BBC Visual Effects department (little known BBC fact of the day: Television Centre used to have a dedicated strong room used as an armory for prop guns and weapons) from Tom Baker's City of Death.

I've also posted the several pages of small ads found inside: a nostalgic return to small scale fan-run conventions and fanzine publishing. Obviously, it goes without saying that should you want to attend or purchase any of these items you'll need a time machine of your own.

1991: THE TERMINATOR (UK) ISSUE 1

From August 1991: yet another movie-to-comics reprint mag from Trident... This time the first issue of THE TERMINATOR.

This skipped the Now Comics (with some early Alex Ross work) and Marvel (a profunctury adaptation of Judgement Day in a variety of dollar-chasing formats) incarnations in favour of the superior Dark Horse strips, published in a succession of interrelated limited series and one-shots. 

This monthly survived the arrival of Dark Horse International and continued under the brief British subsidery.