Surveying the Gen X landscape and the origins of geek
Beautiful illustrations by Walter Velez, a fantasy cover artist who worked on many Star Wars publications of the time. He also did some work for TSR in the ’90s. His cover for Robert Asprin’s Thieves’ World (1979) influenced a slew of gamers.
Anyway, it’s Halloween and you can only wear one mask. Which one do you choose? I choose Ackbar.
(Images via eBay)
(Photo via Timothy Davis/Flickr)
With a Star Wars t-shirt and a garbage bag cape thrown in for good measure. No shit, take a closer look. Kid’s got a garbage bag tied around his neck.
Hey, we did what we had to do to get that stash of candy.
The Silver Spoons episode is called “A Dark and Stormy Night.” You can watch it here. Synopsis: The power goes out as the boys are watching a horror movie, and dad chides them for depending on TV when they should be using their imagination. So they gather around a candelabra and play “pass the ghost story”—which, of course, the rest of us unimaginatively watch on TV.
The Punky episode has nothing to do with Halloween, so I shall ignore it. Both shows premiered on October 28, 1984.
(Image via Nostalgic Collections/eBay)
From WesternOutlaw, who writes:
When I was a kid, I loved ordering books from the Scholastic book club. In addition to some exciting books, purchases over a specific amount would result in a free poster. This poster from 1980 is one of my personal favorites that I hung in my bedroom for some time. I was surprised to find it in an old stack of papers in the garage. On the backside is a description of the 10 mythical creatures pictured. What a great poster for a kid interested in Greek Mythology!
In doing a little research on the artist, I discovered the artwork is by Carlos Victor Ochagavia who created the original covers of the Illuminatus paperback books.
Can anyone name the 10 mythical creatures pictured?
All three novels in The Illuminatus! Trilogy came out in 1975. See Ochagavia’s striking covers here.
Select pages only. See the whole catalog at Monster Masks.
Photon, believe it or not, was a short-lived live-action TV show based loosely on the game. It looks totally kooky and I wish I could get a hold of it. Lazer Tag spawned Lazer Tag Academy, an animated series that ran for one season, and also an animated movie.
Check out the 1979 Collegeville Catalog (BSG, The Lord of the Rings, KISS) at Plaid Stallions.
(Photos via eBay)
Shawn Smith, Colonial Warrior. Not sure how he’s going to fit into that Viper, though.
2 Warps to Neptune 