Watch this space, you poor doomed motherfuckers

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L.I. Underhill is a media critic and historian specializing in pop culture, with a focus on science fiction (especially Star Trek) and video games. Their projects include a critical history of Star Trek told through the narrative of a war in time, a “heretical” history of The Legend of Zelda series and a literary postmodern reading of Jim Davis' Garfield.

9 Comments

  1. Steve
    June 8, 2016 @ 9:24 pm

    I subscribed to this sometime during Season Six. I didn’t get my full subscription’s worth because the mag was cancelled! I used to treasure the giant wedding poster of Jadzia Dax.

    You may be interested in this feature by the magazine’s editor: http://www.startrek.com/article/the-9-deepest-deep-space-nine-magazine-covers

    And also this one: http://www.startrek.com/article/starlogging-with-david-mcdonnell-how-to-synopsize-the-next-generation

    He has a lot of blogs for the official Star Trek site about the making of various Starlog Star Trek things, which provide good insight into the tie-in publishing world of the 1980s and 1990s, if you like that kind of thing (I do).

    Reply

    • Josh Marsfelder
      June 8, 2016 @ 11:00 pm

      These were both terrific reads, thanks! I definitely remember those covers vividly, and I have some more thoughts on the magazine’s cancellation.

      But that is, as they say, for Another Time.

      Reply

  2. David Faggiani
    June 9, 2016 @ 4:17 pm

    Here was my (UK) equivalent. I see here it came free with the wider-ranging STAR TREK MONTHLY, which makes sense, I collected that religiously (I remember my dad bringing me new copies after school) and it contained prequels of what would have been Season 3/Season 4 DS9 and early Voyager episodes.

    http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Bge473bFDAM/VVwjwx38JZI/AAAAAAAAYJY/NNrqA8urKqY/s1600/ST-DS9_POSTER-MAG_0_AUG96_TITAN_JOHN-FREEMAN.jpg

    I also had a Dax poster on my wall, along with a Kira one.

    Reply

  3. Josh Bernhard
    June 10, 2016 @ 7:37 am

    Thanks for this, Josh. Your personal experience of Trek is unique and fascinating. I never read these Starlog DS9 mags, but you’ve absolutely piqued my curiosity. Are they online anywhere?

    Reply

  4. John S. Hall
    June 11, 2016 @ 4:47 pm

    As a freelancer who used to write for STARLOG and its sister publications (including this one), it’s great to see that these magazines are still fondly remembered and appreciated! 🙂

    (I did the occasional celebrity interview for this — folks like Andrew J. Robinson and Camille Saviola, among others…)

    Reply

  5. Daru
    June 14, 2016 @ 9:20 am

    I didn’t buy any Star Trek magazines, but through my childhood love of Doctor Who Magazine, I completely know what it’s like to have a show come to life through a regular magazine. DWM recently published their 500th issue and it was such a great nostalgia kick to read back over retrospectives of the magazine’s history. These magazines aren’t just about the history of a show are they, but they are also about the history of television too?

    Reply

  6. Jacob
    June 14, 2016 @ 11:26 pm

    Great entry, Josh (as always). I also enjoyed the various Star Trek and sci-fi mags of the time, although I don’t remember coming across DS9 magazine too often.

    Your experiences with this magazine reminds me of how I experienced Doctor Who around this same time. I was only privy to the episodes shown by my local PBS station – or what I could find on VHS at Suncoast Video – and that was a limited selection. Nevertheless, I had a whole swarm of the Doctor’s adventures put together in my head, comprised of a mish-mash of photos and blurbs from Doctor Who magazine and episode descriptions in whatever episode guides I could find at Walden Books.

    Come to think of it, my pro wrestling fandom functioned in a similar way at the time, as well — as small regional promotions and past matches/storylines/wrestlers were brought to life in my imagination via magazines like Pro Wrestling Illustrated.

    The Star Trek: TNG Collectable Card Game (which was HUGE among my circle of fellow-fans in ’94-’96-ish) also helped us experience/relive characters and episodes that our local affiliated neglected to rerun on a regular basis.

    I don’t know — it’s probably just nostalgia — but I can’t help feel like something is lost now with every episode of everything viewable on demand. I mean, it’s absolutely awesome that my kids can watch any episode from any Trek series with a few clicks of our remote control …. but they won’t ever have that weird/thrilling experience of building/re-building a show in their imagination in this way.

    Reply

  7. Christian
    November 8, 2016 @ 4:19 pm

    I rediscovered Star Trek DS9 lately, enjoyed watching the probably best Trek-Series again and from the somewhat middle of the 4th season for the first time.
    Which also lead me to a bunch of DS9 magazines (14 in my subbasement) and furthermore 8 that I ordered from a german Antiquariat.
    I love these magazines and pull my hat to the makers of Starlog. Sadly I heared of the fire of 2007, so I am even more happy I didn’t ban the magzines to the recycle-bin. 🙂

    Reply

    • Christian
      November 8, 2016 @ 4:20 pm

      By the way, me myself is from Austria.

      Reply

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