1972 The Monster Times article: The Saga of Star Trek

This time, I've dug deep into the inner recesses of the Collection Cabinet #2 (pictured in the middle of the three, the TMT stack is on the fourth shelf down, on the left) for some of the earliest and best Trek articles to come out during the early 70's, when the show was only beginning to gain its reputation as the "show that will not die."

Here, from Feb. 16, 1972 is Issue #2 of "The Monster Times." More than any other, "The Monster Times" seems to encapsulate the memories and excitement of that period of my life, and each issue holds a fond place in my recollections. The first article from the issue, titled "The Saga of Star Trek," marks the beginning of my effort to scan and post (eventually) all of the articles from this particular issue. Since its oversize newspaper format makes scanning time-consuming, it might take a little while, but I will get it done. Enjoy!

(Click on images to enlarge.)

As a note, I bought the "tracer gun" toy pictured above as a kid. All I have remaining is a piece of the cardboard backing that I saved for my scrapbook, which you can see here.

Bonus: Below, from a later edition of TMT, a regular feature called "Trek Talk" that kept fans up to date on the latest tidbits of Trek news. I'll scan and post them in coming entries in the order published, at least in the issues I have. This is from Issue #34, published June, 1974. These little nuggets of Trek history are glimpses into the past of the show's revival rumors and the early conventions, as well as other appearances in TV and film by the actors. Even in dry months with no Trek articles, the Trek Talk feature was a little fix I could depend on. I'm tagging any entry that contains one of these as a bonus item, with the tag "Trek Talk," so you can locate them easily. Logical, no? Yes.

A note about my Monster Times posts; over the past few years there have been various announcements from two different sources that all the back issues of this publication were going to be scanned and posted online in their entirety. Realizing that if this were the case, my work at scanning in my own dog-eared copies would be wasted effort; so I refrained from sharing many articles from this source. I, like many others, would enjoy having large-format scans of all the issues. Not only would it mean I didn't have to scan (or even take out to read) my own copies, saving on more wear-and-tear on the paper, but I could read the issues I missed and save them to my own harddrive. However, neither announced plan has come about, and rather than wait longer, I've recently begun posting material from this great magazine on this blog, as well as my others (see side bar for links to these). I hope you get a kick out of it!

Another bonus, below: a nice photo of Nimoy as Spock, looking rather skeptical about something... since it seems to be a third season pic, he's probably skeptical about the show's chances for renewal.

"Oh, Really?

It's a lot of fun getting together with a fellow Trekker and going through each other's collections. Since we can't get together to do this, I'm taking stuff out of mine to scan and share with you. I've always felt a connection to others that love Trek, so if you like these little virtual get-togethers, leave a comment... let me know you enjoyed going through my stuff! After all, you wouldn't just walk in my house and start rummaging through the cabinets, then leave without a word, would you? Would you?

1980 article on Bob Fletcher

Ah, what fun I'm having going through the collection cabinets looking for stuff to share with you! Lately I've been hitting the Starlog shelves, and there's so much good stuff in them that I think my readers will enjoy, that I've been posting them back to back. Here from the April, 1980 issue of Starlog is an interview with and article on Bob Fletcher, costume designer for ST:TMP.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

On the Rigellian homeworld, interior decorators also moonlight as fashion designers. Which makes a lot of sense when you realize that they resemble turtles, which carry their homes on their backs.

Bonus: Below is a clipping from the same issue of Starlog about the official Hollywood premiere of ST:TMP.

Goldsmith, having been the only one to have seen the film beforehand, seems to be wryly anticipating the reaction of the others.

Bonus: Below, from the back of the magazine, an ad for a neat jacket that lit up! (Yes, they did have LEDs that long ago!) Which would have been a cool thing to wear to a disco as the ad says... but how many Trekkers would have been at a disco, dancing the night away with the non-nerdy crowd?

Guaranteed to get attention is the school lunchroom, just before you got your lights punched out... literally.

ST:TMP article from 1980 Famous Monsters

This time we take a fond look back at Issue 161 of the fun(and pun)-filled Famous Monsters, as they covered the new Star Trek: The Motion Picture. This was published in March, 1980 and I bought it on the newstand while living in Savannah, GA at the time. I was 22, going on 16. (I have always been younger in heart than my actual age.)

(Click on images to enlarge.)

In case you're curious about the unusual use of the word "sevagram" in the article above, I looked it up for you. I learned something new about a word I have never read in use before. See, kids could learn from reading FM!

Bonus: below, one of the early publicity photos taken before regular production. They got a lot of mileage out of that transparent chart, as a number of both Shatner and Nimoy photos were made using it. It kind of reminds me of the transparent display screens seen in Abram's '09 Trek movie, except static.

The captain calculates the amount of Vitalis needed to control flyaway hair during action scenes.

Bonus: Below, a vision of loveliness that could go under the wikipedia entry of the word "goddess." Nichelle from her pre-Trek days. No wonder Roddenberry went for her!

1976 article: "Shatner: Shakespeare To The Stars"

Here's another article from the first issue of Starlog, published Aug, 1976. I've already posted the cover and some memories of this landmark first issue, here, as well as an article in the post before this one. This was such an exciting issue to read, being mostly devoted to the series as it was; a great way to start off the magazine!

The photo caption above says that Shatner insisted on doing all his own fight scenes... which is true, up until the point where the director called "Cut! Stuntmen!" The stuntmen on the show are so easy to spot now, with our high-definition TVs. but back when watching it in the 70's, I never noticed them.

1976 article: Star Trek: Past, Present and Future

Today's item from the collection cabinet is a goodie from the first issue of Starlog, published Aug, 1976. I've already posted the cover and some memories of this landmark first issue, here. Now, I begin posting the actual articles contained within, starting with one that is especially interesting in light of what all has come about since it was written.

Bonus: below, a newspaper clipping about Bill's TV movie "Indict and Convict," from 1974. You can see the old tape that holds it in my first scrapbook, which was a school notebook.

Bonus: Below, Kirk discovers that the time of captivity on Mudd's planet could be filled in some entertaining ways.

"So, you say you are both fully functional?"

Mad Spoof of "The Wrath Of Khan"

While perusing one of my collection cabinets last night, I came across this 1982 MAD magazine spoof of "The Wrath of Khan." Mort Drucker does his usual spot-on charicatures, and it's obvious that they had at least seen the movie, as the costumes and sets are pretty accurate. All in all, a well done parody! Enjoy... "Star Blecch II:The Wreck Of Korn!"

(Click on images to enlarge.)

And below, one of Don Martin's hilarious cartoons, spotlighting the sexy new addition to the crew! There is something different about her...

Bonus: Below, another of the randomly-captioned Leaf bubblegum cards from 1967.

Bonus: a couple of panties shots from "The Gamesters of Triskelion," in which our lovely communications officer finds herself unceremoniously dumped onto the ground after a sudden transport. Her bad luck is our good luck, however. You could almost call this set of photos "A Day At The Beach."

Speaking of Nyota sunbathing, here's a tantalising comic panel...

Want to see the whole sequence of pages from this scene? Let me know!

Update: a personal note... sometimes as I backtrack links that lead to this site, I see they come from discussion boards where they are talking about something I've posted. The comments go on for pages, sometimes. But here on the actual blog, sometimes there are no comments left at all! So, if you like a post, leave a comment! It helps me to judge how my readers are enjoying the blog. If I see no comments, I assume my visitors aren't liking it, and that doesn't give me much incentive to post more very quickly. So, if you like the post, leave a comment and let me know, and you'll get even more, and more often!

The Monster Times Trek Special #1: continued

The old collection cabinet doors swing open this time to present more material from "The Monster Times" Star Trek special, published in 1973. I recently posted the first article from it here: ST special #1 post and now I'm bringing you some more. Aren't I just the nicest person you know?

(Click on images to view larger.)

It's interesting to read that even as far back as 1973 that Trek was being considered as a movie, and that Gene was wanting to out-do "2001: A Space Odyssey," a goal he apparently held onto even into the late 70's when he finally made the movie... without taking into account the need for some action as demonstrated by the success of Star Wars. Heaven knows ST:TMP could have used some.

Below, from the same issue, another of the trivia question articles, "So You Think You Know Star Trek?" Well, do ya... punk? Do you feel lucky? Then see if you can answer most of them right!

Below, two more of the colorized black and white pinups from the magazine. Since the magazine only used two colors per issue, any photos that were color were done using as many mixtures of the two shades as they could come up with.

"William Shatner, beware my sword!"

Of course this one was my favorite.