Questar magazine October 1980

Questar magazine

October, 1980

Questar was a short-lived science fiction magazine that ran for 13 issues, from Spring 1978 to October 1981. It began life as a semiprofessional zine, then briefly flourished in 1980, when it received national distribution. One problem the magazine experienced was its irregular publishing schedule, which meant it was months behind other genre magazines (like Starlog) in covering prominent films. This is apparent in the October, 1980 issue, where films like The Empire Strikes Back are being reviewed some three months after release. This was a disadvantage in terms of maintaining circulation. 

 

According to the entry for the magazine at the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction website, in 1981, Undercapitalized and undersold, Questar sank: lamented by a few, unnoticed by many. 

Over the years I've collected six or seven issues, and the October, 1980 issue is one of the best. It features a striking Frazetta painting on the cover. The advertising, while rather limited, directs readers to vinyl LPs of soundtracks to lower-budget horror films:

There's an ad for the Roger Corman film Battle Beyond the Stars, a reasonably engaging Star Wars ripoff. And Marvel promotes its new magazine Epic Illustrated.
 

Looking through the movie reviews in the back pages reveals some strange and long-forgotten enterprises. Such as Cheech and Chong's Next Movie, a 1980 followup to Up in Smoke. During the course of Next Movie our stoner duo wind up inside a UFO, hence the sci-fi connection. Stretching things a bit, Questar lumps the disco musical Xanadu in with Cheech and Chong, something of an awkward juxtaposition.

Also reviewed are two low-low-budget sci-fi films. One, Scared to Death, was an Alien copy. You can watch the film here. Showing that no scrap of pop culture ever is lost to perpetuity, in 2022 a novelization of the film was published under the auspices of the 'Encyclopocalypse Movie Tie-In' series.

 

Alien on Earth, aka Alien Contamination, was a drive-in obscurity from 1980. Another Alien ripoff, this time from an Italian film studio, Alien Contamination since has earned a place in the demented hearts of trash film fans. It can be viewed here.

The book review pages deal with some novels and short story collections from Pohl, Wolfe, Niven, and Vance. I wouldn't consider any of the profiled works to be gems of early 80s sci-fi.

One thing about the October issue is it has outstanding illustrations, such as this one for the short story 'Youth in Asia' ('euthanasia'.....get it ?). 

The main feature in this October issue is a tribute to the 1968 film Night of the Living Dead. It leads off with a powerful illustration whose artist is, sadly, un-named. The article provide capsule reminiscences of the cast and crew, looking back at their work from twelve years previously.

 

This October issue of Questar is sufficiently interesting that if you see it on the shelves of a secondhand bookshop, or an antiques store, it's worth paying a little extra for it, in order to have your own copy. Eighties nostalgia, for sure......