1991: PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE COMICS ADAPTATION (MALIBU COMICS)

From Malibu Comics in 1991: Before the Ultraverse there was... PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE.

This is the first - and to my knowledge only - official comics adaptatiin of the notorious Ed Wood cinematic clunker.

I never really understood the point of this one (which clearly didn't stop me grabbing a copy) because the joy of the film is in the watching and its plentiful shortcomings can't really be translated to print. But it remains a fun Star Age oddity looking back to a bygone time.

Flying saucers over Hollywood indeed.

This also links back to the previous post... The launch issue of HOTDOG MAGAZINE had an article on "buying your first DVD" (hohum) and - weirdly - PLAN 9 wss the first DVD I bought... because I wanted the companion documentary. Which was actually longer than the film itself.

2000: HOTDOG MAGAZINE ISSUE 1

From July 2000: the first issue of British movie magazine HOTDOG.

This one ran for 83 issues and shuttered at the end of 2006. The editorial agenda was a mix of the modern and iconic classics.

1994: THE 5 TIMES ISSUE 3 (BABYLON FIVE UK FAN CLUB)

From Christmas 1994: the third issue of THE 5 TIMES, newsletter of the BABYLON FIVE UK FAN CLUB.

TV SUPER HITS ISSUE 4: THE PROFESSIONALS POSTER MAGAZINE

From sometime after 1977: THE PROFESSIONALS OFFICIAL POSTER MAGAZINE, part of the TV SUPER HITS series, based on the LWT production for ITV.

This is Number 4 is the series but I suspect the numbering belongs to TV SUPER HITS rather than specifically the fourth issue dedicated to this series. I'm sure I've seen issues devoted to other shows (the edition I spotted on display, for a price I wasn't willing to pay, featured THE DUKES OF HAZZARD) so I suspect this was a flexible umbrella title that allowed the publisher to target whatever show looked hot at that moment.

Network are currently releasing the show on Blu Ray disc... and the season box sets are well worth snapping up. Not only do the shop-on-film episodes look gorgeous in their fully restored glory (I doubt the prints have ever looked so fine... the restoration work is amazing) but each set also comes with an incredibly detailed book by Andrew Pixley devoted to the making of each season. Londoners will also delight in some gosh-hasn't-it-changed location spotting as well.

1994: DWB INTERVIEW FILE

From 1994: the softcover DWB INTERVIEW FILE, a collection of the best interviews (with a predictable bias to all things WHO) from the first 100 issues of DWB/ DOCTOR WHO BULLETIN.

This was published alongside the black-covered Compendium (see previous post) and - between them - make for a great overview of the bulk of the fanzine's run (it continued for a bit longer but then rebooted into DREAMWATCH... and began to loose its edge somewhat).

1993: THE UK STAR WARS FAN CLUB MAGAZINE ISSUE 7

From Spring 1993: the seventh issue of Britain's unofficial UK STAR WARS FAN CLUB magazine, celebrating the tenth anniversary of REVENGE RETURN OF THE JEDI.

1993: THE DWB COMPENDIUM

From 1993:THE DWB COMPENDIUM - THE BEST OF DWB, a softcover book collecting many of the best articles and features (some updated or - at the very least - with new formatting and layouts to compensate for the mag's sometimes primitive production values) from the fanzine/ magazine's first 100 issues in print.

This - and the companion compilation of the best interviews - were offered for sale through the magazine and (I think) through shops as well. I have an idea that I picked up my copies several years later as remaindered stock. DWB itself was still trying to shift unsold copies way into the DREAMWATCH era. Copies seldom seem to surface now (although I don't attend any WHO conventions... which may be awash with copies for all I know) which suggests that limited initial interest has translated as scarcity in the secondary market.

Both are well worth grabbing if you find copies. The emphasis is on WHO (of course) bua t there is enough other telefantasy in both to generate a bit of diversity.

1986: 2000AD's DICEMAN ISSUE 5 (IPC)

From 1986: 2000AD's DICEMAN bows out with its final offering... You Are Ronald Reagan! Yes indeed.

As I've said before, I put DICEMAN's failure down to the whopping cover price (way above the weekly or IPC's holiday specials), sporadic scheduling (although the issues were given hefty promotion in 2000AD itself which did at least alert readers thst the new issue was due) and some random racking by newsagents which saw it flip-flop between the bottom shelf and buried with the hobby magazines. These were the days before comics would legitimately make a land grab for space on the upper shelves.

Nevertheless, it was a bold experiment which did - at the very least - explore the different ways Tharg's growing stash of intellectual property could be deployed in different creative ways.

Anyone for You Are Donald Trump?

1993: STAR WARS TECHNICAL JOURNAL ISSUE 3 (STARLOG PRESS)

From 1993: the third and final issue of Starlog's STAR WARS TECHNICAL JOURNAL, dedicated to the tech and hardware used by the forces of the Rebel Alliance.

I'm not quite sure how Leia's slave girl outfit ticks the tech box but presumably the edit was apply the same logic thst demands beautiful ladies must be photographed close to inanimate hardware.

1995: DOCTOR WHO POSTER MAGAZINE ISSUE 4 (MARVEL UK)

From June 1995: A rare opportunity to put a poster of men in military uniform on your wall... and use your love of a cult TV show as total justification. The fourth issue of DOCTOR WHO POSTER MAGAZINE turns its attention to U.N.I.T.