Starlog #1 Color Star Trek Section

When the first issue of Starlog came out in the July of 1976 (see the cover here), fans like me didn't just embrace it, we ran up to it on the magazine rack and placed wet sloppy kisses over it as we wept for joy. Here, at last, was a regular monthly magazine devoted to Star Trek and science fiction film and TV! And with an 18 page COLOR Trek section... it was almost too much to believe. This was back when color photos of the show were hard to come by in a magazine... at least until the first Giant Star Trek Poster Book came out a few months later. 1976 really was a watershed year for Trek-oriented publications. It seemed to be the year that Trek fandom really blossomed and the phenomenon became something more public.

I have posted material from this first issue before; here, here, here and here. But this time I am posting the color section that excited me so much when I saw it. It's probably hard for today's fan to grasp just how exciting this kind of thing was to us back then, but it's how it was. In fact, the magazine itself resorted to photographing the show off of a TV set for the sequence of images from "The Doomsday Machine," something I had done with my Polaroid instant camera. Back then, it was the only way we could "screen capture" images from our favorite show. Now, we can put the disc in a computer and grab all the frames we want. I'm presenting the 16-page color section in two parts, so here goes part one... enjoy!

R.I.P. Charlie Washburn

Another veteran of the original series, this time a behind-the-scenes name, has passed off the scene. Charlie Washburn, assistant director during the the second and third years of the program's run, died at age 73 on April 13th of this year. Here is an article written by Mr. Washburn himself, recalling his memories from his time on the show, scanned from the Trek 20th Anniversary issue of Starlog, #112, published in November of 1986. (See the cover to the magazine here.)

Here is a great blog post by Larry Nemecek about Charlie that does a good job of eulogizing him.

For some odd reason, the official site at http://www.startrek.com/ has refused to acknowledge Charlie's passing, as they do for anyone else that dies who was associated with any of the shows. I have posted this omission twice on their facebook page, but each time they have deleted the comment. Why? I think we should all post comments on the FB page and site and ask them that question. UPDATE: Finally, on Feb 23rd of 2013, the site did acknowledge Mr. Washburn's passing and his contributions: http://www.startrek.com/article/trekland-extra-15-oscars-remember-charlie-star-trek

Bonus: Below is another photo from the ST:TMP Date Book desk calendar that came out in 1980. (See more pages here.)

A Paragon Of A Blog!

"V'Ger seeks the Creator!"  Flash: the creator of the long-lost fan film "Paragon's Paragon" speaks at last!

We fans have been curious about the fan-film "Paragon's Paragon" since reading about it in an early issue of "Cinemagic." (Read the post with that article here, and a followup article with many screencaps from the film here.) Well, after finally tracking down the man primarily responsible for it, John Cosentino, and emailing back and forth several times, I have heard some good news back from him; he has started a blog that gives all the inside info on this early and ambitious fan film!

"Captain, it's Earth! We've found our way home!"

John's email contained this interesting information about the new effort:

I have finally decided to give into the Paragon seekers and have started a blog. Eventually it will have video clips but for now photos and history of Paragon and why it took so long to finish. As much behind the scenes information as I can muster up and never before seen photos. I hope they will like it.

The address is http://www.paragonsparagon.com/

Currently the last series of articles are the projects that kept me from finishing Paragon and are the first ones seen on the blog. Just scroll down and the Paragon stuff is there. The next series of articles will focus on "Paragon's Paragon." I felt it was important to show why I was distracted from Paragon.

Thanks for having a great Star Trek blog!

Your friend, John.

So there you have it, straight from the source. Visit the blog regularly as footage is to come!

Bonus link: Below, a captioned photo from the sci-fi humor page that spins off of "I Can Haz Cheezburger" groups of sites. Lots of fun, even if I have never been successful in getting any of my own captioned pics to post there for some reason.

Star Trek Poster Book #4

The Star Trek Giant Poster Book (actually a magazine) was one of the greatest publications to come out in the 70's on the show, and I never missed an issue. I said earlier that I would post all of them, and I plan on doing so, starting back now with issue #4, published December 1, 1976. (Read all of the previous posts by using the tag link.) They are spaced apart somewhat since I have to scan them in sections then put them back together in photoshop, all for your enjoyment. You may leave a token of your appreciation in the tip jar on the counter. Or better yet, leave a comment!

(Click on images to enlarge. Once the image loads,
you may have to click on it again to view full size.)

As for the interior poster, you can see what it was from the thumbnail preview on the back cover, a frame blowup from "Day Of The Dove." No need to open it up and take a photo of it for this post, since it's not a great poster. In fact, that was the one consistent criticism I had against the magazine; most of the posters were simply grainy frame blowups, and only once or twice did they use sharp promotional photos, which were by far the best ones. Why they didn't go that route every time, instead of film clip enlargements, I have no idea; but the whole idea of the poster book suffered because of it. On the whole, though, an excellent publication.

1987 Cracked Star Trek IV Spoof

From the July 1987, issue #228 of Cracked magazine, comes this spoof on "The Voyage Home," published significantly later than when the movie came out, which was in December of 1986. The cover is rendered by Severin (who passed away recently) but the inside art is by Bill Wray, whose style takes humorous caricature over into plain grotesquery. First, the cover, then the spoof.

Bonus: from the same issue, a page of Trek Hurry Ups...

Bonus: a publicity still of Bones in makeup from "The Deadly Years." He was only slightly more crotchety in this episode.

A rare costume test photo for the un-made "Star Trek 7: The Search For A Retirement Home."

"Shatner: Then And Now" 1977 Article

From issue #3 of the "All About Star Trek Fan Clubs" magazine, published in June 1977, comes this loose filmography that features some photos of Bill from his various appearances. The feature runs out of steam quickly, as the last two pages switch to a nonsensical "biorhythms" article that takes up space (we'd learn more from a chart on his bathroom habits), but has some good photos from his "Barbary Coast" stint.

The cover art (scanned, as is everything on this site, from my own copy) is about the best the magazine ever featured, in my opinion.

(Click on images to enlarge. Once it loads, you
may have to click it again to view full size.)

"Submerged in Star Trek:" 1986 ST 4 Article

This time we look at an article from issue #111 of Starlog, published October 1986, that spotlights the production of "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home."

(Click on images to enlarge. You may have to click on the
image again once it has opened to view full size.)

Below, from the same issue, a short writeup about the rumors surrounding a TV revival of Star Trek, which we now know was the beginning of "The Next Generation."

And lastly, from the back cover of the same issue, this ad for classic Mego Trek action figures...

As an aside, I probably would have collected these action figures had I been living in normal circumstances; but regular readers know of my repressive step-dad, for whom my Star Trek love was a continual irritant. He held it up as an example of my supposed immaturity (although he knew nothing about it), supposing anything not realistic like his westerns to be childish. So I hid the books and such that I bought, and avoided buying anything aimed at younger fans, for fear of giving him more ammunition to use in his war against me.

Nimoy Looks Back at Star Trek 3

From issue #106 of Starlog, published May, 1986, we find this look back at "The Search For Spock" with a critique of the film in retrospect by director Leonard Nimoy.

(Click on images to enlarge; once it opens, you may
have to click on it again to view full-size.)

Below: from the same issue, a photo of Nimoy from page 74, the last page of the magazine with a regular feature called "Liner Notes."

Bonus: from the same issue, an ad for the upcoming 20th Anniversary convention. Hard to believe we have passed the 45th anniversary already. And sad to see how many of the stars are no longer with us.

Alexander Courage: The Music of Trek

From the pages of Starlog #107, published June 1986, comes this article on Star Trek's first composer, Alexander Courage. Courage set the tone for the series as other great composers contributed their talent, and left his indelible mark on it from beginning to end.

(Click on images to enlarge. You may have to
click the opened image again to view full-size.)

Over the years Courage's memory (or other people)may have substituted the phrase "Venus Dance" for what was originally "Vina's Dance," but the title still fits as she could have been a green goddess of love. The article mentions Neil Norman's efforts at getting some of the original series music released on LP, for which I, and many other fans, were eternally grateful. This music deserves to be heard on its own, unedited for timing and such. It's truly some of the best music written for television, and remains memorable today!