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Starlog calls it quits

post #1 of 15
4/12/09 at 8:04pm
Thread Starter 
Starlog is ceasing its print magazine and looking to turn their website into a web portal. If you were any kind of geek back in the late 70s/early 80s, Starlog was your guide book. Haven't read it in years, but still a little sad to see the mag go down.
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post #2 of 15
4/12/09 at 8:17pm
Damn, that's sad...a big fan 'back-in-the-day' of Starlog and it's sibling mag 'Future' (later 'Futurelife'...which lasted but a paltry few years).

...another mag curls up its toes and goes the way of 'OMNI'.
Bitter times for print media.
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post #3 of 15
4/12/09 at 8:35pm
Starlog was definitely my introduction to magazines about the latest science fiction/fantasy/high adventure and hilarious cartoons. While I did stop reading it regularly, it was truly an original publication. My first Starlog issue covered the Glen A Larson Classic Battlestar Galactica. They always had the first coverage of an upcoming sci fi/fantasy series or film. Everything from Buck Rogers, Airwolf, Knight Rider, to a then little known science fiction film, Robocop, directed by a director new to me, Paul Verhoven.
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post #4 of 15
4/12/09 at 8:42pm
There were rumours the British (and very good) SF magazine "Interzone" was about to go the same way a while ago. It would be a pity (not least for the loss of the cover art). Over the years I've grown used to breaking open the cellophane wrapping and being greeted by the faint odour of alcohol.

On a similar note, I was very surprised to read "The Encyclopedia of SF" is about to ditch paper and publish its (long overdue) new edition online. The two earlier - brick thick - editions are the most comprehensive resources on the genre that I'm aware of. Lots of intelligent contributors discussing authors, books and movies. Quite funny at times, also.

I'm looking forward to the new edition. I just hope they won't set some exhorbitant membership fee.
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post #5 of 15
4/12/09 at 9:13pm
That is a sign of the times, no doubt, but the personal nostalgia beatdown for me will be when Fangoria inevitably goes down in flames.
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post #6 of 15
4/12/09 at 10:58pm
Starlog should have shuttered in the 80's.
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post #7 of 15
4/12/09 at 11:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nick Nunziata View Post
Starlog should have shuttered in the 80's.
The late 80s is when I gave up on it. The mag was turning into a publicity puff-piece fest. David Gerrold was gone as a columnist -- in fact, most of the opinion was gone from the magazine, replaced by articles proclaiming every single genre film as a sure-fire hit. And advertising for other Starlog products started taking over a good chunk of the mag too. They got successful and got complacent.
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post #8 of 15
4/12/09 at 11:33pm
Loved Starlog back in the day...but it was always a lot of PR puffery.

The publisher/editor, Howard Zimmerman, always had an inspirational "you can do anything" meme going. Did he graduate to the TV/Film industry?

Except for this one issue where they had an interview with Harlan Ellison. You can't have a puff piece with Ellison involved! I think I actually still have that issue somewhere.
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post #9 of 15
4/13/09 at 12:43am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cylon Baby View Post
Loved Starlog back in the day...but it was always a lot of PR puffery.
Yep, and when you were 12, it was the shit. Same with Fangoria. When you turned 15 or so and got all serious, Cinefantastique was where it was at. The early 70s phase of CFQ is hilariously self-serious. I loved it.
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post #10 of 15
4/13/09 at 12:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ratty View Post
That is a sign of the times, no doubt, but the personal nostalgia beatdown for me will be when Fangoria inevitably goes down in flames.
It already did, or rather the warehouse that kept the old issues anyway.
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post #11 of 15
4/13/09 at 12:46am
I remember when the 2 supercopter series Airwolf and Blue Thunder were premiering, Starlog ran an article picking which series would last more than a year, and I believe they thought Airwolf would be the better show. I always thought Starlog did a bang up job, til I started reading SFX.
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post #12 of 15
4/13/09 at 2:09am
Starlog was every bit as important to my childhood as Hustler. I'll miss it.
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post #13 of 15
4/13/09 at 7:56am
Even though I only got into this after its peak (being born well after it), I remember reading about the Star Wars Special Editions as a sprightly scamp and savoring every pic, just like my 70's counterparts would have done. And the comics were class.
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post #14 of 15
4/13/09 at 8:55am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Phil View Post
Yep, and when you were 12, it was the shit. Same with Fangoria. When you turned 15 or so and got all serious, Cinefantastique was where it was at. The early 70s phase of CFQ is hilariously self-serious. I loved it.
That was pretty much my journey as well. Then when I got into late adulthood, I realized that I wasn't enjoying CFQ's jaded outlook any more than Starlog's fannish buffoonery.

Honestly, I don't think this is sad at all. The web serves the purpose that those magazines served better than paper ever did. I'd rather have grown up with CHUD around than most of the shit I used to read.
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post #15 of 15
4/13/09 at 10:55am
Thread Starter 
I think the anticipation of having to wait a month made it seem a little more special. Plus, Starlog usually did a pretty good job of not spoiling anything until after the film had come out.

I do remember them getting steamed at Spielberg over E.T. though. They had previously sunk a ton of money into tie-in magazines for 1941, which burned them pretty badly. So then E.T. was getting ready to come out, and Spielberg asked them to hold off on showing any shots of E.T. until after the film had been released, so that he would be a surprise. Starlog complied -- only to see shots of E.T. in People magazine about a week before the film opened. They really seemed to chill towards Spielberg after that.
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