Questar
Entry updated 19 February 2024. Tagged: Publication.
US magazine; letter-size and on Slick paper; 13 issues, Spring 1978 to October 1981; published by M W Communications Inc (William G Wilson and Robert V Michelucci), Pittsburgh; edited by William G Wilson Jr except for #12 (June 1981), edited by Paul D Adomites. The final, redesigned issue, had a new title: Quest/Star, subtitled "The World of Science Fiction".
Questar began as a media Semiprozine largely devoted to talk about Comics and sf Cinema and Television; for example, the second issue (Summer 1978) discussed Space: 1999 (1975-1977). Most issues included one or more original stories, none of very high quality until late in the run; the fourth issue (August 1979) was an exception and contained no fiction. The third issue (March 1979) introduced interior colour illustration and a greater concentration on movies and Interviews. Though glossy, the magazine remained insipid. However, from the seventh issue (June 1980) Questar acquired national distribution and sales mushroomed. Subsequent cover artists included Frank Frazetta, Boris Vallejo and James Warhola; issue #9 (October 1980) had a poem by Ray Bradbury. There was a greater shift towards covering written sf rather than films and comics, including interviews with writers and features on popular science. With issue #12 (June 1981) H L Gold was brought from retirement as fiction editor and began to publish reputable fiction, though most of it reprinted: the reprints comprised stories by Gold himself, Richard Matheson and Robert Silverberg. All this was too little, too late. Undercapitalized and undersold, Questar sank: lamented by a few, unnoticed by many. [PN/MA/DRL]
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