Starburst (magazine)

Starburst
Editor Jordan Royce
Categories Science fiction
Frequency Online
First issue January 1978
Company Starburst Magazine Limited
Country United Kingdom
Website http://www.starburstmagazine.com

Starburst is a British science fiction online magazine published by Starburst Magazine Limited. The magazine (columns and features) is published every month on the 14th, with news and reviews being published daily.

Contents

History

Starburst was formerly a printed magazine launched in January 1978 by editor Dez Skinn with his own company Starburst Publishing Ltd. The name Starburst was settled on after rejecting other names, including Starfall, as Skinn considered it too negative.[1] Issue 1 was launched just in time to cover the UK premiere of Star Wars. At that time, Starburst was the only publication authorised by 20th Century Fox to use images from Star Wars. Its original tag line read "Science Fantasy in Television, Cinema and Comix" and initially included comic strips. Skinn sold the title to Marvel Comics from issue 4; according to an interview with him in Doctor Who Magazine (issue 344), this was because Marvel wanted him to work for them and help expand their range (including becoming launching editor of DWM).

Marvel eventually put the title up for sale and it was bought by Visual Imagination and published by them from issue 88 (1985).

Starburst's review sections were edited by notable writers and reviewers such as Alan Jones (films) and David J. Howe (books), and, for several years, the magazine also carried a column by the late writer John Brosnan. Its television review column, "TV Zone", was used as the title of its sister publication TV Zone.

The magazine's publication was put on hold due to Visual Imagination folding in early 2009, having reached issue #365.

Editors

Over its history, Starburst has been edited by the following people:

Relaunch

In early 2011 Starburst Magazine Ltd announced that Starburst would resume publication as an online magazine. The magazine has welcomed back some previous writers, most notably Paul Mount (TV Zone), as well as introducing a host of new columnists and features writers. Original creator Dez Skinn is the Honorary Editor-In-Chief. The first online issue (#366) was released on May 14th 2011, and carried an editorial by Dez Skinn.[2]

Starburst Radio

On 19th March 2011 Starburst magazine presented its first weekly radio show on Manchester Radio Online.[3] Presented by editor Jordan Royce and news editor Kris Heys on Sunday nights between 9pm and Midnight, Starburst Radio deals with current news and reviews as well as guest interviews and the weekly "Bone of Contention".

Content

Starburst contains news, interviews, features and reviews of genre material in various media (including TV, film, soundtracks, multimedia, comics, books etc.). Paul Mount has resumed his "TV Zone" column[4] and Jordan Royce has taken over the "It's Only a Movie" column previously penned by the late John Brosnan.[5]

References