Starburst (magazine)

Starburst is a British science fiction magazine published by Starburst Publishing Limited. The magazine is published monthly, with additional news and reviews being published daily on the website.

History

Starburst was launched in December 1977 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] Starburst was then purchased by Marvel for publication of issue 4 onwards, as part of deal whereby Skin was put in charge of the UK comic reprints division.

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 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 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. An online only version of the magazine existed following this closure. It returned to print by Starburst Magazine Ltd in February 2012 with issue #374.

Editors

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

• Dez Skinn - 1978-1981
• Alan McKenzie - 1981-1985
• Cefn Ridout - 1985
• Stephen Payne - 1985-1999
• David Richardson - 1999-2001
• Andrew Cartmel - 2001
• Gary Gillatt - 2001-2002
• Stephen Payne - 2002
• Simon J Gerard - 2003-2005
• Stephen Payne - 2005-2009
• Jordan Royce - 2011–present
• Martin Unsworth - 2014-present

Relaunch

In early 2011 Starburst Magazine Ltd announced that Starburst would resume publication as an online magazine. Original creator Dez Skinn is the Honorary Editor-In-Chief. The first online issue (#366) was released on May 14, 2011, and carried an editorial by Dez Skinn.^[2] Starburst re-entered print in February 2012 with issue 374.

Starburst Radio

On 19 March 2011 Starburst magazine presented its first weekly radio show on Manchester Radio Online.^[3] The show has since moved to Fab Radio International.^[4] Presented by editors Jordan Royce and Martin Unsworth on Wednesday nights between 9-11pm, Starburst Radio deals with current genre news and reviews as well as featuring guest interviews and the always exciting "food news" section.

Starburst Podcasts

Starburst Magazine also has the following Podcasts available from iTunes; Starburst Radio Podcast - The podcast of the Official Starburst Radio Show. OST Soundtracks Podcast - The Starburst Movie and TV Soundtracks podcast. The Blue Box Podcast - The Starburst Doctor Who podcast. Friday Night Frights - The Starburst Horror podcast. The BookWorm - The Starburst Book and Graphic Novel podcast.

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^[5] and Jordan Royce has taken over the "It's Only a Movie" column previously penned by the late John Brosnan.^[6]

References