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| Images copyright D.C. THOMSON & Co, Ltd |
Elsewhere on this blog I related the tale of how, several years or so ago, a pal of mine turned up at my door one evening with a bag of comics that I'd given him 30-odd years before. "I thought you might like these back!" he said. Among other gems (some of which I previously told you about), the bag of goodies contained - wait for it - the first 10 issues of D.C. THOMSON's STARBLAZER pocket-sized science-fiction comic-mag. I originally parted with them because I missed subsequent numbers for some reason (probably just didn't see them in the shops), so saw no point in hanging on to the ones I had. Recently though, I decided to track down #s 11 & 12 and round off my returned collection to the first year's worth.
Starblazer survived for 281 issues before succumbing to the 'Death Star' of cancellation due to declining sales. Launched in April 1979, it finally crash-landed in January 1991, but is fondly remembered by those readers who supported the title during its respectable almost twelve year orbit. Previously I posted the first 10 covers in two parts, but with my acquisition of the next two, I herewith present all 12 of them for your perusal and pleasure. Am I thoughtful or what? I've tarted up the first 10 covers a little, as my current scanner used for the last two is superior to the original one I had. When I get the time (if I ever do), I'll rescan and replace them with better images. Now - enjoy!
I enjoyed Starblazer, I remember in the early 90s accompanying my mum as she went to visit a friend in Ruchill Hospital on the other side of Glasgow. My mum told me to wait in the waiting room (best place to wait) when really I'd been hoping I could go out and wander around this unfamiliar area of town. I was delighted to find out that the waiting room had a large stack of Starblazer and Commando comics, and spent a happy hour reading them!
ReplyDeleteI seem to remember DC Thomson publishing a similar comic with football stories- I remember being excited to see it advertised and buying one of the early issues in the paper shop round the corner from our house.
Did Starblazer later do some'Choose your own adventure' style stories or have I imagined that- does anyone know?
Great post Kid!
That last bit sounds familiar, DS, but I don't know whether Starblazer ever did it or not. However, I'm sure one of the comics I featured recently did such a thing, but I just can't recall which one it was. Talking about pocket-size mags, the 64 pages (not counting covers) seems like good value, but when you think about it, each page has only 2 panels on average. As a regular sized DCT comic had around 8 panels per page (at least), Starblazer and Commando each represent a mere 16 pages in real comic strip terms. Swizz, eh?
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