1980's science magazine.Name of.

[seanrx]

Hi all.

My topic title refers to a young reader factual/science magazine that I bought way back in 1982.

Am trying to find its name.

 

In my now lost issue, there was a feature on jet aircraft design.

 

That airliners should have rear facing seats for passenger safety and a great stealth jet article with a centrefold painting of a possible stealth bomber.

Delta wing, dual pilot side by side and I think missile bays (with sliding doors) in the upper wing.

 

AND another way to i.d. this mag, there was also a comic strip telling of a war between frogs and toads (Am serious!).

But drawn like human figures and wearing ancient armour. A bit like Warcraft.

 

I'd really like to (finally) know the name of this mag. 

 

[Vince1159]

The only one i can think of from that time is Tomorrows World from the BBC but then i'm not sure if it came as a mag...

 

I've just googled frog and toad wars and they were in The Comic Strip so it's probably American (forget about TW)...

Edited August 26, 2022 by Vince1159

[Troy Smith]

3 hours ago, seanrx said:

My topic title refers to a young reader factual/science magazine that I bought way back in 1982.

Am trying to find its name.

Have a look at the Books and Magazine section on ebay.  you might find a memory jog, 

I put vintage magazines into google

 

https://vintagemagazines.org.uk

 

or

https://m.famousfix.com/list/childrens-magazines-published-in-the-united-kingdom

 

from your description maybe this?

"Look and Learn was a British weekly educational magazine for children published by Fleetway Publications Ltd from 1962 until 1982. It contained educational text articles that covered a wide variety of topics from volcanoes to the Loch Ness Monster; a long running science fiction comic strip, The Trigan Empire; adaptations of famous works of literature into comic-strip form, such as Lorna Doone; and serialized works of fiction such as The First Men in the Moon." 

 

3 hours ago, seanrx said:

there was also a comic strip telling of a war between frogs and toads (Am serious!).

But drawn like human figures and wearing ancient armour.

perhaps a misremembering of The Trigan Empire which was a long running feature? 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trigan_Empire

 

[seanrx]

10 minutes ago, Troy Smith said:

Have a look at the Books and Magazine section on ebay.  you might find a memory jog, 

I put vintage magazines into google

 

https://vintagemagazines.org.uk

 

or

https://m.famousfix.com/list/childrens-magazines-published-in-the-united-kingdom

 

from your description maybe this?

"Look and Learn was a British weekly educational magazine for children published by Fleetway Publications Ltd from 1962 until 1982. It contained educational text articles that covered a wide variety of topics from volcanoes to the Loch Ness Monster; a long running science fiction comic strip, The Trigan Empire; adaptations of famous works of literature into comic-strip form, such as Lorna Doone; and serialized works of fiction such as The First Men in the Moon." 

 

perhaps a misremembering of The Trigan Empire which was a long running feature? 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Trigan_Empire

 

 

That's a great find!

I have searched their covers for stealth, but can't see any.

Right now I can't view their downloads.

And the Trigan feature?

In my late teens I still owned the magazine and I worked with a goth who also owned some issues and was a fan of the toad/frog story in it.

So maybe not pure science, but more a factual magazine for teens.

 

I have found an old mag 'Science Now'. And there is the more adult Popular Science from the U S.

[bentwaters81tfw]

Trigan Empire appeared in Century 21, possibly syndicated, as I never saw Frog & Toad wars in it.

[Peter2]

For more on the (alleged) war between the toads and frogs, it may be worth looking up references to the Bucky O'Hare comic books published from 1984 onwards. There is a Wikipedia article on that, which tells us that "The storyline of Bucky O'Hare follows a parallel universe where a war is ongoing between the inept United Animals Federation and the sinister Toad Empire." Strangest sentence I've typed all day: I have seldom felt more like a nerd for discovering these facts. Yippee!

[Peter2]

When I entered "war between frogs and toads" into Google, the first thing that came up was a Wikipedia article about the following: The Batrachomyomachia (Ancient Greek: Βατραχομυομαχία, from βάτραχος, "frog", μῦς, "mouse", and μάχη, "battle") or Battle of the Frogs and Mice is a comic epic, or a parody of the Iliad [...].

Maybe the comic book guys borrowed that idea?

Also the article adds: The word batrachomyomachia has come to mean "a trivial altercation". Both the Greek word and its German translation, Froschmäusekrieg, have been used to describe disputes such as the one between the ideologues and pragmatists in the Reagan administration."

Take about the Internet taking me down a rabbit hole... or should that be mouse hole?

I'm definitely going to try and get that word batra -wotsit into my next e-mail to our local County Council.

Edited August 26, 2022 by Peter2

[Mike]

Omni? My art teacher used to bring his in and I loved it. Shame it went.

[Alfisti]

Ah yes,Omni magazine,it was very good.I bought an issue in 1979 to read on a bus journey up to Sheffield and there was an illustrated article on Gigers Alien. Remember the Trigan Empire,but,IIRC I used to read it in Eagle,I may be mistaken,as I used to have The Eagle and Look and Learn in my younger days.

 

Dave.

[cmatthewbacon]

I subscribed to Omni for years, and loved it. I don’t think it ever had comic strips, though. Interestingly, it was published by the folks who brought us Penthouse, and presumably funded by the revenue from said mag. The fiction in Omni was always by the best SF writers of the time, which presumably cost money…

best,

M.

[seanrx]

This mag is a puzzler.

Perhaps it was actually a supplement for another mag or just a short run then folded.

 

I know now that back then random magazines would be at the newsagents, sent by the distributor.

That's how I picked up a NASCAR mag just once, the shop owner said he just accepts what's sent to his shop "And no, I can't stock more issues"!

[Peter2]

Before Omni was mentioned, it was the first magazine I had thought of as a possibility: but I rejected that thought quickly as one problem is that to me, when I used to buy it in the 1980s, Omni definitely seemed aimed at an adult audience, not a younger readership; and the original poster seanrx stated he remembers "a young reader factual/science magazine." Therefore M'Lud, I submit it is possibly not Omni. Nor is it likely to be my second guess which was "Speed & Power" a magazine aimed at younger readers (including articles on aviation, space, science fiction stories, and tips for modellers), as that publication only appeared between 1974 and 1975. So 1982 seems too late. More research is needed. Or less.

[Peter2]

Wikipedia (a tool which should not be considered gospel but as a source of guidance) tells us that the comic strip called The Rise and Fall of the Trigan Empire (later called simply The Trigan Empire) "first appeared in the first issue of the British magazine Ranger in September 1965 and then in the British Look and Learn magazine from issue #232 (June 1966) when the two titles merged after the 40th issue of Ranger." It was "written mainly by Mike Butterworth" with artwork by Don Lawrence, "among others." Also, "a very small number of Trigan Empire stories were published in Ranger annuals and a Vulcan summer special." Hope this helps someone.

[IanHx]

When I were a lad in the 80s, there was a partwork  "Insight" by Marshall Cavendish that would frequently cover military topics.  But no "frog war" comic strip, so this is not the publication you are looking for....

Edited August 28, 2022 by IanHx

[seanrx]

'Insight' could be possible and i'm mistaken on the frog graphic strip.

 

Whatever i had from 82, it was a good read for the stealth aircraft and airline passenger safety feature.

Rear facing seats were considered but not thought commercial enough.

[bentwaters81tfw]

I would have been reading Ranger as I had a paper round in those dark days, and the comics and mags were read during delivery.

[noelh]

It wasn't  Discover magazine by any chance? I used to read that and Omni.

 

But  perhaps it was British. I have a vague  recall of a magazine aimed at younger readers but can't think of it at this remove.

[seanrx]

1 hour ago, noelh said:

It wasn't  Discover magazine by any chance? I used to read that and Omni.

 

But  perhaps it was British. I have a vague  recall of a magazine aimed at younger readers but can't think of it at this remove.

Odyssey magazine? Just for kids, but published in USA.

I checked online their covers, but no stealth features, as with Discover.

[cmatthewbacon]

Could it have been the re-launched “Eagle”?

https://britishcomics.wordpress.com/2018/10/18/eagle-2nd-serie-1982-1984/
 

Looks like it did mix “factual” content with comic strips…

best,

M.

[seanrx]

 

Finally, i find this old magazine!

 

Look Alive its called.

Only five issues were printed, it was a rebrand of sorts for the Look & Learn magazine that was deleted that same year.

And it has the Ghengis Grimtoad strip. This exact issue i once owned, has the stealth feature on left of cover.

 

 

[IanHx]

Glad you managed to finally track it down. Know all too well the frustation of "what was that thing I saw but don't know the name of "  -  took me 45 YEARS to work out that the monster film I once saw on TV was in fact "Space Amoeba"  !

[IanHx]

4 minutes ago, IanHx said:

Glad you managed to finally track it down. Know all too well the frustation of "what was that thing I saw but don't know the name of "  -  took me 45 YEARS to work out that the monster film I once saw on TV was in fact "Space Amoeba"  !

 

 

....  and 45 minutes to realise that it was nowhere near as good as 7-year old me remembered 🤣

[cmatthewbacon]

https://downthetubes.net/the-chronicles-of-genghis-grimtoad-with-art-by-angus-mcbride-an-early-version-of-the-much-loved-fantasy-tale/
 

Looks like the toad wars comic was rather better than I expected. It also spawned (see what I did there…?) a bigger budget reboot written by 2000AD’s Wagner and Grant, and drawn by Ian Gibson, of “The Ballad of Halo Jones” fame. Both versions are available in collected form, if you want to discover it’s not a good as you remember…

best,

M.

[seanrx]

11 hours ago, cmatthewbacon said:

https://downthetubes.net/the-chronicles-of-genghis-grimtoad-with-art-by-angus-mcbride-an-early-version-of-the-much-loved-fantasy-tale/
 

Looks like the toad wars comic was rather better than I expected. It also spawned (see what I did there…?) a bigger budget reboot written by 2000AD’s Wagner and Grant, and drawn by Ian Gibson, of “The Ballad of Halo Jones” fame. Both versions are available in collected form, if you want to discover it’s not a good as you remember…

best,

M.

Thanks for the link. I do prefer the early artwork, that 70's look.

 

Also, at the British Comics site Look Alive can be downloaded with Mediafire.

I'vr tried but no luck on my pokey phone.

 

A favour! Can be possible for yourself or another member to do this and post up here the stealth jet feature and Grimtoad pages?

 

The stealth artwork, would like to see that again.

Edited September 3, 2022 by seanrx

[Peter2]

Great news that you tracked it down. Can I ask how you found the answer to your query? (I am interested in the outcome of these kind of literary "detective" searches.)