Starlog and Batman 1989

That first glimpse was everything.

Starlog: The first source of news

It beggars belief nowadays, but there was a time when if you wanted to know anything about an upcoming genre movie, Starlog the magazine was your best source.

Starting in 1976 with an issue devoted primarily to Star Trek, Starlog was the go-to magazine for interviews, SF news, and behind-the-scenes reports of upcoming movies. I never subscribed, but I always remembered seeing it on newsstands in bookstores, grocery stores, and convenience stores. Every time I saw it, I flipped through the pages. If it was a property I enjoyed, I bought it.

Which brings me to February 1989. I can't recall which came first, the magazine or the trailer, but in tandem, both provided the first glimpse of the new Batman feature. What made the magazine special, however, were the pictures.

There, on the front cover, was Mr. Mom, er, Beetlejuice, er, Michael Keaton as Batman. Count me as one of the initial people skeptical about Keaton in the title role, but when I laid eyes on Starlog issue 142, all doubt vanished. There, on the cover, was Keaton in full Batman gear, staring into your soul, standing in front of the new Batmobile.

Mind. Blown.

I was in college at the time, but I could have easily been twelve for all the excitement coursing through my veins. I wasn't alone. Many of my buddies in Longhorn Band were SF geeks and we all geeked out over the issue. Interior pages were quickly turned until we landed on the main story. More pictures of the Caped Crusader. Another image of the Batmobile and explosions!

And Jack Nicholson's Joker. Sure, it was in profile initially, but there was also a shot of him with half-and-half makeup. What was that about?

We wouldn't know until what I consider the real Batman Day: June 23. For thirty years, literally ever June 23, I think of this movie. By then, I was working in a movie theater in 1989, one of the best summers ever for movies.

And the first true glimpse of it--complete with behind-the-scenes details--came in Starlog. Such was the power of a single issue of a long-treasured magazine.

You can read every issue of Starlog online, including this one, at Archive.org.