Starburst – London Comic Book Store Adverts – Part 1

15/05/202015/05/2020alxkdd

More from the pages of Starburst magazine, here’s Part 1 of a selection of London Comic Book Stores and Dealers from the late 1970s into the 1980s!

Starburst issue 1 – 1978 – The Comic Dealer

Comic Dealer SB1 1978

Starburst issue 33 – 1981 – Comic Showcase, 15 Catherine Street, London, WC2

Comic Showcase SB33 1981

Starburst issue 36 – 1981 – Comic Showcase, 15 Catherine Street, London, WC2

Comic Showcase SB36 1981

Starburst issue 17 – 1980 – Arrow Films Ltd – VHS sales

Starburst issue 14 – 1979 – Great advert for the long running and fondly remembered Comic Marts at Central Hall, always loved going to these!

Comic Mart SB14 1979

Starburst issue 47 – 1982 – Eye In The Pyramid, 33 Marshall Street, W1. This is a really interesting advert simply because I’ve never heard of this store before and never went there, plus it’s super central being just off Carnaby Street, would have loved to pay this place a visit.

Eye In The Pyramid SB47 1982

Merlin (1979) = Excalibur (1981)

14/05/2020alxkdd

A great find in issue 6 of Starburst from 1979 is this early promotional artwork celebrating the start of production of director John Boorman‘s Merlin, which by 1981 would be re-titled Excalibur.

Merlin SB6 79

Here’s the 1978 article from issue 4 mentioned above:

Merlin SB4 1 1978

Merlin SB4 2

Network 7 – Channel 4

13/05/2020alxkdd

Network 7, or Network Seven as the actual logo spells it, was a short lived but fairly groundbreaking TV show from Channel 4 that aired for two seasons in 1987 & 1988. I remember this show very fondly mostly because for the first time there was actually something interesting to watch on TV during Sunday daytime!

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Last year I found two blank tapes on ebay and the picture shows the labels saying they had Network 7 episodes on them, so I took the chance and won the tapes, hoping that what was written on them was what was actually on the tapes. We got lucky and the tapes were what they said they were, two complete episodes of the show from 1988! Those tapes have now reached the top of the To Upload pile and I added them to our YouTube channel this week. These two episodes come from towards the end of the second season, by that time all the presenters I remember seem to have moved on, but these are still two fun shows and reminded me of how far ahead of it’s time the show seemed even then. Enjoy these two complete shows below:

Network 7 – full episode from Sunday 18th September 1988

Network 7 – Full episode from Sunday 25th September 1988

Starburst – Forbidden Planet Adverts – Part 2

12/05/2020alxkdd

Here’s the next batch of Forbidden Planet adverts from the pages of Starburst magazine, here we move into the early 1980s!

Starburst issue 32 – 1981 – Forbidden Planet goes international with the opening of their New York branch, it’s still there only having moved a few doors up the road.

01 Forbidden Planet NYC SB32 1981

Starburst issue 35 – 1981 – Get your VHS and Betamax at Forbidden Planet!

02 Forbidden Planet VHS SB35 1981

Starburst issue 37 – 1981 – Brian Bolland designed store t-shirts now available!

03 Forbidden Planet Tshirts SB37 1981

Starburst issue 39 – 1981

04 Forbidden Planet Escape NY SB39 1981

Starburst issue 39 – 1981

05 Forbidden Planet Posters SB39 1981

Starburst issue 40 – 1981 – Opening of Forbidden Planet 2 around the corner at 58 St. Giles High Street, London, WC2 – featuring more amazing artwork from Brian Bolland.

06 Forbidden Planet 2 SB40 1981