Pizzazz #9 - June 1978

Shaun Cassidy is the mug on the cover for this issue but there's no article on him, just a series of photographs. There is however, an article on the mechanical shark of the upcoming Jaws 2 which was pretty sweet. I like that movie. Not a patch on the original of course, but as far as sequels go it's not bad at all.

On to the Star Wars strip, and I've not really any clue as to what's going on story wise having not read the previous installments. Luke, Leia and the droids seem to be escaping from some high tech planet with the aid of 'the keeper'. I'm looking forward to getting all issues of this magazine and putting the strips into chronological order to make sense of them.   

Pizzazz #5 - February 1978

Now isn't that just the coolest cover ever? Linda Rondstadt backed by Dr. Strange on lead guitar with Captain America on bass and C-3PO on drums. Linda Rondstadt was the cover story for this issue and boy was she hot stuff in the '70s. Widely regarded one of the top stars of the decade, she was regularly alluded to as 'The Queen of Rock' with sell-out shows and chart topping albums. This year she is seventy. Just let that sink in for a while.

No teen mag is complete without an 'agony aunt' column and some of the old ones can be pretty hilarious. In Pizzazz's case it's 'Write Wendy' who, when contacted by a kid who's two-timing a pair of girls actually tells him its the perfect set up and not to get caught! I have a feeling 'Wendy' isn't taking her duties all that seriously here. I also have a feeling this agony 'aunt' is actually and agony uncle.









Anyway, on to the Star Wars strip. Luke and Leia have found some sort of Mayan style temple and the Empire is hot on their heels. In true Scooby-Doo fashion, Threepio inadvertently gets them out of the scrape.

A few choice advertisements here, including one for Peter Pan book and records for such decade stalwarts as Kojak and the Six Million Dollar Man. Also a nifty CB set for kids (the late '70s was when this was a massive craze) and a 'logic' computer game form MB which, although wonderfully retro, would likely have bored me to tears.

Starlog #19 - February 1979

Starlog really is one of my favorite magazines from this era. It's not just the Star Wars stuff, but this issue alone spotlights a ton of other stuff I like such as Battlestar Galactica, Roger Corman and Ralph Bakshi's Lord of the Rings animation. Not many magazines are such a joy to read from cover to cover.

This cover really has gone down in history as it's one of the few pieces of memorabilia connected to the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special. The dreaded show went out a month previous to this and the article doesn't give much away regarding public reception. It's really more of a set of stills with captions rather than an in depth look at the making of the show and other than a vague reference to 'creative differences', it doesn't say much about what must have been a fascinating production.

 

 

Also, a cool ad for Reel Images; a forerunner to home video. I like the art deco look on Vader.

 

Pizzazz Magazine #14 - November, 1978

Straight to the Star Wars strip and I have to say I love the pink fur trim on the Imperial Officer's uniform. As per usual for this period, Luke Skywalker looks a lot like He-Man.

It was a pleasant surprise to see a pic of those Topps Star Wars cards featured in this 'Consumer Guide to Gums'.   

This is a nice feature, putting our Alderaanian princess up there with Barbarella and the incredibly hot Maya from Space: 1999. 

Pizzazz Magazine #13 - October, 1978

Another issue of the fantastic Marvel-produced Pizzazz magazine here featuring Bill Bixby/Lou Ferrigno from The Incredible Hulk tv series which had begun that year. 

The 'Kingdom of Ice' story line begun in issue #10 continues here. Eventually I'll do a post with all the episodes in chronological order for your reading pleasure. 

Starlog #14 - June 1978

I know I've done a lot of magazines lately, but there's just so damn many of them from this era and they really give a glimpse into the times which is why I love them. Issue #14 of the cracking sci-fi magazine 'Starlog' featured another Star Wars article as its cover story; this time the work of matte painter P. S. Ellenshaw. The issue also included info on upcoming sci-fi flicks like Superman (1978) Star Trek The Motion Picture (1979) as well as TV series like Ray Bradbury's The Martian Chronicles and 'Galactica' (Battlestar Galactica).  

Another Star Wars related article was this one calling for readers to vote which sci-fi movie soundtracks they wanted to be released. It's interesting to see how influential the 2-record release of John Williams' score was on the release of film music records. These days just about every film gets a soundtrack release but before Star Wars the availability of sci-fi movies in particular seemed very limited. 

In the days before home video, ads like this one for 'Reel Images' offered an exciting opportunity...

Star Wars items filled the pages of these Starlog magazines which makes them particularly collectible.