I have a passion for collecting vintage Star Wars merchandise from the late 70's. Action figures, comics, trading cards etc - anything related to the first Star Wars movie. But why only until 1980? It's not that I don't love The Empire Strikes Back and beyond (I really do), but there is something about that first wave of Star Wars mania that really grips me, back when it was all fresh and exciting...

Saturday, May 19, 2012

Starlog Magazine - December 1978


I've only just picked up an issue of this Sci-fi fan favorite magazine and can only say that it's brilliant! The quality is top notch in comparison with the slew of cheaper magazines put out at this time. As well as covering the upcoming Star Wars sequel, issue #18 of Starlog also has a feature on Battlestar Galactica which I also like mainly as it stylistically borrowed so much from Lucas (probably down to Dykstra's involvement). There's also an update on the Star Trek motion picture which was in development at the time and several articles on monsters and make-up that one might expect to find in Famous Monsters of Filmland.

The article on 'the continuing adventures of Luke Skywalker' is a very interesting read. I'm surprised that Empire had a name this early on (a good year and a half before the film's release), albeit a working title. Gary Kurtz is really hammering home the point that 'Star Wars II' is actually 'Episode IV' and it's interesting to see the discussions on how confusing this could get for fans in the future. We coped with it Gary! Although he keeps referring to a possible 12 installments... I'm kind of glad they left it at 6!  





 There's a few tasty advertisements in its pages too. 


2 comments:

Abe Lucas said...

Looking at some back issues of STARLOG recently, I couldn't help but be struck by the often-intelligent letters, the witty touch in the news reports, and the scope of the articles, which were clearly written with enthusiasm and love.

My childhood obsession with Star Wars led me to the magazine, and my first issue had an interview with Harrison "Han Solo"(!) Ford. I usually bought Starlog when SW was featured on the cover, though a particularly nice issue with Jane Badler got my money, too. The last issue that I bought was the Star Wars 10th Anniversary Special, so it has been awhile since I picked up the magazine. I remember the furor when they tried covering non-SciFi movies like James Bond--oh, the horror!

Chris Thorndycroft said...

The quality of the articles and writing in general is the best. Far above most magazines from then (or now!)

I didn't realize that the magazine was still going. I'll definitely be tracking down some of those older issues from the late 70s!