Starlog: Let's do the time warp

Old magazines and newspapers are like time capsules. They lend insight to eras long gone, immortalizing news and opinions that might otherwise be forever lost. For this reason, they can be fascinating reads.

That's why I bought several issues of Starlog, an old sci-fi magazine, last weekend at CONvergence 2010. No longer in print or available online, Starlog was a massively popular magazine in its day. A circulation statement in the magazine's February 1980 issue shows nearly 300,000 issues were printed at the time. To put that number in perspective, it's more than 10 times better than many sci fi magazines were doing earlier this decade. Starlog was so widely read that its letters column in February 1980 included communiques from across the nation, Canada and Australia.

And speaking of letters, Starlog received a wide variety. Some people wrote in earnest regarding the rumors surrounding Han Solo's unknown fate in "The Empire Strikes Back." Lynette Lichenstein of Texas wrote that she'd read elsewhere an article that "strongly suggested" Darth Vader would capture Han and expose him to the Dark Side.

This would put Luke Skywalker in the position of having to face Han Solo and it asked the question "Would Luke Skywalker be able to face and kill his friend?" This, to me, is the same thing as saying this is exactly what's going to happen — that Luke is going to be put in the position and maybe at the very last minute Han won't be able to kill Luke and Luke kills him instead. Then, in the trailer of Empire, there's one scene of Han Solo being knocked out and another with him in a chair obviously against his will, so I don't figure I need any more proof of this.

We know now that in the trailer Lynette likely saw, Han was knocked down by Cloud City security agents after he punched Lando Calrissian, and Han's torture was used to draw Luke from Dagobah to the Empire's trap.

Another reader, Tony Hanenstein of Iowa, had a bone to pick about the climactic self-destruct sequence in "Alien."

I can understand a complicated procedure to initiate self-destruction. But, a complicated procedure to disengage self-destruction? Gads, what a waste of a multi-billion-dollar spaceship. Wouldn't a simple voice command by the commanding officer to Mother do a better job? All I know is that Capt. Kirk never accidentally blew up the Enterprise. Oh well. The alien looked neat.

It's been a great treat to read through the magazines — chuckling at rumors associated with old movies and reading news bits that in hindsight are laughable. Would you believe a Silver Surfer film budgeted at $25 million was supposed to start shooting in July 1980? And that a Batman movie was slated to hit theaters for Christmas 1981?

In the weeks and months ahead, I'm planning to share some of the most entertaining bits from the issues I own. You can look forward to items about the Star Wars saga, "The Black Hole," "Tron," "Star Trek II," "Blade Runner," "Battlestar Galactica" and — if you ask really nicely — "Dr. Who." So stick around. It'll be fun.