Can't wait to see what Paul has in mind for the 15th anniversary...
Neither can I....
Er... It'll be US issue 25, and funnily enough I was discussing one item with Darryl Curtis, one of my illustrious predecessors, only a couple of hours ago.
I'll throw this open to the floor, since I am literally just starting to think about it - what would you like to see? (Bear in mind that issues 1-24 of the UK Mag are available as a CDROM, so we would be unlikely to print much from them)...
P
The magazine has come a heck of a long way from those early issues. I've spent a good hour reading through #1, which apparently came out 28th Febuary 1995. The date is mentioned in the back of the Generations Souvenir Magazine, a reprint of Starlog's title for the British market. I must've picked that up before going to see the film in cinemas.
The very first issue came with a fabulous free gift. Yes, a bookmark! We were ever so easily pleased back then! I managed to come away with a Data one, although if you shopped around you may have got Spock or Worf. The design was basic compared to now, particularly the covers which tended to be solo actor publicity shots. Inside the hot topics for news centred around Voyager's US TV launch and its upcoming release on VHS, some Generations coverage and news of DS9 Season 3 with the introduction of the Defiant, tempting audiences we hadn't immediately made the jump from TNG with some starship action.
Being British this was a different take than anything the Fan Club's Communicator or Starlog offered, more relevant to us, with reviews of merchandise occasionally unique here, in Europe or Australia. Anything from phonecards, the vast amount of CIC/Paramount videos, Titan novels (reprinting Pocket titles in a different number system), fan club addresses to keeping track of UK TV schedules. All that stemmed from the popularity of The Next Generation over here in the '90s which filtered down until Voyager ended.
With all that it was only natural that Issue 1 promoted an interview with Patrick Stewart to kick things off. Maybe it would an idea to catch up him for a 15th Anniversary celebration? I've heard that he's reticent when it comes to being interviewed about Star Trek, but perhaps spending sometime dicussing where his stage career is currently at, is a way in? His not too distant appearances with David Tennant and Ian McKellen. Assuming it's possible and he's agreeable, have a photo taken of him holding Issue 1 and the renumbered Issue 25 to tie it altogether. In preparation ask readers to email or write in, a question they always wanted to ask?
