The 1st STAR WARS Magazine cover has been spottet!

...and it is a tie (well - not TIE Fighter ;-) 

This year begins with a blast as not one, but two magazines start the collecting year of STAR WARS themed covers.
One is from Germany and it is the No 1 2015 issue of GEEK magazine. I´m quite certain this will not be the last SW cover from GEEK this year (though the Vader picture is old and has nothing to do with Ep7)
Number two - and this is my favourite already - FORTUNE magazine featuring Bob Iger in front of the new Millennium Falcon! This is a really interesting read and great pictures! Thanks Bob for buying STAR WARS ;-) 

Title: GEEK No. 1 /2015     

Published/created by Panini Comics Germany
Cover Story
GERMANY
NOP: 3

and

Title: FORTUNE  1 January 2015
Published/created by FORTUNE
Cover Story
USA
NOP: 4 (?)

2014 ends...

with a partial cover at ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY! 
You can´t ask for more - STAR WARS back again at EW! They already had so many great STAR WARS covers in the past - 
I´m sure this is just the beginning for 2015! My bet for the STAR WARS year: 5 covers fetauring our beloved saga! Wanna bet ?

The First Episode 7 Cover

comes from STARBURST magazine - and it´s a winner! As you hopefully know STARBURST magazine has been re-animated and is now back in full swing. Tricky to get outside the British/UK key market - always a good choice for news, gossip and behind the scenes stories!

The Digital Realm

People who  know me, are well aware of my digital lifestyle and my interest in all things IT. Funny though, when it comes to magazines I´m all ANALOG! I do get all my news via the web - who doesn´t - but when is comes to collecting magazines I´m ALL OLD SCHOOL!
But - let´s face it - it won´t take long and the magazines as we love them, will have gone extinct :-(
Year after year we loose another magazine and the whole market is becoming smaller and smaller, which is a pretty sad development. I see the chances - of course - as well (cutting printing costs, distribution etc. etc. ) BUT still - I don´t like it...
Enough complaining - there is good within the digital publishing world as well and one of those things is ISSUU. I have just learned, that there is a digital only STAR WARS magazine called THE EMPIRE!
In their own words:

The EMPIRE monthly is the official web-magazine of the 501st Legion Russian Outpost. The 501st Legion is a worldwide Star Wars costuming organization comprised of and operated by Star Wars fans. While it is not sponsored by Lucasfilm Ltd., it is Lucasfilm's preferred Imperial costuming group.

It´s a fan magazine covering the activities of the 501s and it looks promising - you can check it out here:

And now that I have lured you to ISSUU, you should try to run the term STAR WARS through their digital library, or you just click here - there you go - lots of new and old mags and books (though I do have my concerns about the copyright situation for some publications. Anyway - enjoy! 

New Issue of Galaxis magazine - J.J. Abrams Cover

It´s been a while but here it is: Galaxis magazine no. 4 - SciFis best kept secret (it´s a shame that this jewel really gets so little media attention :-( ) John Zipperer has done it again - so this issue is a lot less STAR WARS oriented BUT it features JJ Abrams (directing STAR TREK) and a ton of more great articles.
You can read the digital copy right here via ISSUU - worth checking out. 

Again, thank you John Zipperer for sharing your passion with us!

Title: GALAXIS No. 4
Published/created by Weimar World Service
Cover Story
USA
NOP: depends

COMIX cover, with - well a comics story ....

Comix is a monthly comic promotion magazine, with lots of news about the creative force of bringing comics to the market. This month they have a nice MARVEL themed SW cover. The article is about the new (old) home of the STAR WARS franchise back to MARVEL. Nothing too deep, sadly the love and effort DARK HORSE has put into the STAR WARS SAGA is not praised enough (probably because of lack of knowlege/passion) - anyway I´m not complaining....Due to it´s limited run this will be a tough mag to get.

Title: COMIX No. 2 /2014
Published/created by jnk-media.de
Cover Story
GERMANY
NOP: 3

The 1st STAR WARS cover of 2014

..and it is from Germany (again!) And even better, about
STAR WARS featuring the new Disney created REBELS TV series! It took a few weeks into the year, but now it´s official - the first cover is out!

It´s not really a MUST HAVE, because the cover basically only features the TV series logo, but then again ;-)
Inside you find a lot of coverage about the German Toy fair and one article especially about new STAR WARS toys (2 pages)


das Spielzeug 
Nr. 1 / 2014
Published by www.meisenbach.de
GERMANY
NOP: 3

BACKISSUE No 55 - STAR WARS at DARK HORSE

Though this magazine is from 2012, I just found it these days - and boy, am I glad I did!!!
BACK ISSUE by itself is a treat! What a wonderful magazine covering all things comics, their creators and histories behind characters and stories. Twomorrows Publishing is a specialized publisher, who does exactly that: Celebrating comics and graphic novels at it´s highest level. If you are somehow drawn to comics - and who isn´t (well, at least if you are a SW fan and / or magazine collector) THIS is a magazine worth checking out!
They offer everything online and you can choose between a printed and/or a digital copy.
Back to No. 55 - well THIS IST THE ULTIMATE STAR WARS ISSUE! Twomorrows covers everything worth mentioning about each and every STAR WARS DARK HORSE comic - what a ride!
I can honestly say this is the best, most interesting read concerning STAR WARS I had this year! Period! Best of all: You can grab a sneak peek directly here - and do yourself a favor - buy the digital copy of No. 55 (and after that - support them and subscribe ;-) ) At least, that is what I did! Enjoy!

BACK ISSUE No 55
Twomorrows Publishing
NOP

May the Mouse be with you

Bloomberg Businessweek runs the Disney/Lucasfilm sales story.
Probably not your everyday leisure magazine, Bloomberg Businessweek runs an in-dept story about how George Lucas prepared the selling of his company and what might happen with our beloved saga. A very interesting article (also availabe online here) but - of course - as a magazine collector, even better in printed form ;-)

Title: Bloomberg Businessweek
March 2013
Cover Story
USA
NOP: 6

1st STAR WARS magazine of 2013...

..and it is from GERMANY! Well, just added GEEK mag No 4 January/February to my collection. Of course the mag runs a story about the anounced new trilogy - exiting times indeed! Don´t expect any real news just yet...







 
GEEK! No. 4 2012/2013
Publisher: Panini Verlags GmbH
Germany
Cover Story
NOP: 4
www.geek-mag.de

Can you hate the creator ?

That is just one headline of many really interesting articles fom the GALAXIS magazine no.3 December 2012 with a fantastic Boba Fett cover.
This issue of Galaxis is... let me quote ´the magazine of science fiction and science. Complete episode guide to the original Battlestar Galactica, a visit to CERN, SpaceX takes off, classic short fiction, our epic Prometheus review, wuxia and Star Wars, SF authors Charles Yu and Lev Grossman, presidential SF politics, and much more´
It is certainly a good read and - did I mention it - it´s just 2.99 US$ cheap (Actually it dropped to FREE)!  You can read the digital copy right here via ISSUU - worth checking out. Of course - as a collector - I prefer the print copy which is also available! I can only recommend supporting the printed Galaxis mag with an order of a printed copy, as good Sci-Fi publications are fading fast in these digital times...but that´s just MHO.
Thank you John Zipperer for sharing your passion with us!

Title: GALAXIS No. 3
Published/created by Weimar World Service
Cover Story
NOP > 10

STAR WARS meets economy

Talking about pop culture influence, a Darth Vader lookalike graces the cover of a new business magazine in Germany. Nothing about true STAR WARS coverage here, but the evil spirit of our favorite Sith Lord is truly suitable for a comparision to some bad broker / businessguys.

Buisness Punk
Cover: Darth Vader
Site: www.business-punk.com

STARBURST RETURNS!

Good news indeed! The news is out for a little while now, but I just read the deatils that the classic, really, really nice UK Sci-Fi magazine STARBURST is about to return this January 2012! Ceased in 2008 it was one of the few loooooong time running mags to exit the publishing market. I still remembering reading those first copies covering STAR WARS (though I have even better memories of FANTASTIC FILMS - but that magazine won´t return for sure). Back than, the UK was really far away and getting a copy at our international newspaper stand was a tough challenge. If you have the proper age you know what I mean, if not - well, let´s just be happy with the return of a lost friend! WELCOME BACK STARBURST!!!

1st STAR WARS Cover of 2012

It only took 18 days and we have our first STAR WARS related cover! I´m surprised and impressed! After the weak media news and marketing efforts for Episode One I´m really not expecting much this year. But Total Film did it! Funny enough it is the German edition, which is a licenced and translated version. Nevertheless I ´m happy ;-)

TOTAL FILM
Coverstory
NOP 5

LEGO HAN SOLO to celebrate Xmas in style...

at least that´s what this cover tells me! Well, I almost missed this really sweet cover from the LEGO CLUB magazine (almost ;-) ) - thanks to ebay I fetched a copy. I´m not sure, if this cover has been available in th US - so far it looks like a European special ( I got a German copy as well) - maybe someone can confim this. ?!
Good job LEGO - give us more cover stories! I´m not sure if you know this, but compared to the United States LEGO is really far behind sharing their love for LEGO toys here in Europe. As there is always everytime a story, poster etc. in the US issues, LEGO ist cutting back the coverage in half - though the SW sets are at least as popular in Europe as they are in the USA. Don´t ask me why they do it, but I have a lot of LEGO magazines and catalogs proving that the company really ´removes´and / or changes ´articles´ in favour for some other LEGO related coverage! Just to let you know and to honor this cover even more ;-)

LEGO CLUB MAGAZINE
UK and Germany
Race into Adventure - Pod Racing set
NOP: 1 + 2

STAR WARS INSIDER QUADRUPLE COVER CELEBRATION

Celebrating the STAR WARS SAGA Blu Ray release in style, the SW INSIDER comes this month with 4 (four) different covers! LUKE, LEIA, VADER or BOBA - there is some-thing or everyone! Well done TITAN publishing. As the rest of the publishing world is pretty much ignoring the BLU RAY event, at least you can count at your own licenced mags ;-) - right Lucasfilm ? ;-)

But I don´t want to not cherish these beautiful editions - I´m glad Titan cares! Unfortunately I was wrong with my EW cover forecast as with a lot of other expectations...

Anness Laser fetures Vlu Ray Release

My French is close to zero, but I know for sure that France has got a very vivid & cool magazine culture. So I always check my French sources concerning magazines from the land of bread & wine ;-)
Well, it seems that the mag Anneess Laser managed to keep below my radar for quiet some time now (years infact!) The September issue has a great cover of C-3po & R2D2. The magazine comes up with a nice STAR WARS alphabet and a unique cover!
Check out the other STAR WARS from the past 10 years as well - these guys really managed to come up with some unique covers over the time - I´m impressed!



ANNEES LASER No 178 Sep 2011
STAR WARS Cover
Blu Ray coverage
NOP: 5You can find the complete magazine archieve of ANNEESS LASER here:

GERMAN CINEMA runs SW special

Germany´s oldest (more than 30 years in print !) has a neat STAR WARS special in its July issue! The cover story itself is about the 2012 movie season, but they´re also looking forward to the release of the blu ray box!
The first part covers the making of A NEW HOPE on an 8 pages color spread! The biggest article this year by far! Some nice behind the scene pictures - a good read for sure! Can´t wait for the next part of this special...



CINEMA No 07/2011 - issue 398
Germany
Cover Story / partial cover
NOP: 8 pages

STAR WARS Magazyn

The official site reports that there is a new STAR WARS publication: THE STAR WARS MAGAZYN! This mag - published in Poland - is the first polish periodical SW mag I´m aware of - congratulations to all Polish speaking STAR WARS fans - this will be a great addition to the fandom for sure! My guess is, that the mag is basically a licensed version from the INSIDER, but as far as I know the native publishers can always add some of their own content.
After the UK (deceased - pardon now ONE issue synced with the US INSIDER (or vice versa as TITAN is a UK company), FRANCE (not sure if the LUCASFILM mag is still available), SPAIN (deceased) and GERMANY (still available and kicking) a new country publishing SW news is highly welcome! Guys, I wish you all the best in this tough publishing market!

I´m currently trying to get some detais how to optain a copy, though I don´t speak a word polish...
Check out their web site: STAR WARS MAGAZYN

TeeKay 421 SW Magazine from Belgium

I just found out (shame on me, because this mag is running for years (!)) that there is a pretty cool mag in my neighborhood country and I never ever have heard about it, nor ever seen it! Thanks to www.moviemags.com, my trusted source in everything printed magazines, I just found out about this good looking, colorful, professional STAR WARS magazine. Well, unfortunately I won´t be able to read a lot (it´s in Dutch) but I love the recent covers - these guys do have some cool artists on hand ;-) While you can enjoy some of the cover art here, I´m going to find out how to get some older copies (there is nothing on ebay!) - probably one of the reasons I never got aware of them (but this is gonna change ;-) )

Update: After some study of their website, I´m pretty sure that TeeKay 421 isn´t only the title of the mag, it´s also the name of THE BELGIUM STAR WARS FAN CLUB! Well, another best kept secret ;-) The site looks great and they have some stunning STAR WARS shirts as well - worth checking out!