The mandate of British publisher Usborne Books was to produce beautifully illustrated children’s publications, designed and written by its in-house team. The first wave of books Usborne released in 1975—which included the popular Spycraft—had sold well, and in 1977 the company followed it up with the World of the Unknown series: a triptych that included Monsters, Ghosts and UFO’s…
By Daniel Cecil
Once people believe something, they want to keep believing it, even if they are presented with incontrovertible evidence that their belief is incorrect. In fact, being confronted with contradictory evidence can make them want to express their questionable belief with even more conviction. In our current perpetually appalling discourse…
Episode two of a dark sci-fi tale by Łukasz Kowalczuk and Maciej Czapiewski. Ultra Minion runs every Friday at We Are the Mutants…
Okay, so we were originally going to do a Peter Gabriel album (or the Shock the Monkey video) in this slot, but, after hearing you guys worship at the altar of Phil for the last two weeks, I no longer want anything to do with the man or his musical relations. We each get two songs to rescue from a shameful obscurity, so here goes…
When you first suggested we look at Moonwalker (which I literally knew nothing about at the time), I figured it would be a fairly anodyne collection of Michael Jackson music videos. Do you remember back when artists would release their last couple of albums’ music videos on a single, hour-long VHS? Those were great times. Moonwalker? Not great times…
One of the best parts of starting We Are The Mutants (nearly two years ago now!) has been becoming friends with my co-editors and learning about all the things that they find interesting. So when Richard and I first started talking about our shared, unabashed mutual love of Phil Collins, it was like I’d finally found a kindred spirit…
Episode one of a dark sci-fi tale by Łukasz Kowalczuk and Maciej Czapiewski. Ultra Minion runs every Friday at We Are the Mutants…
During the Cold War, a new archetypal establishment role joined the pantheon of soldiers, cowboys, and cops that often peopled children’s games: the spy. Equipped with false identities, given to using hidden surveillance devices, and communicating in strange codes, this newcomer was perfectly suited to the duplicitous, mistrustful mood that was the constant background noise of the times…
In the middle of the 20th century, the realization slowly began to dawn on earthlings that we were sharing our planet with other sentient beings. Research into great apes revealed a close-to-human intelligence in many cases. Meanwhile, beneath the seas, the grouping of aquatic mammals known as…
Over May and June 1979, Britain was gripped by a sensational trial. Jeremy Thorpe, former leader of the Liberal Party, stood accused, along with three alleged accomplices, of conspiring to murder his former lover Norman Scott. As falls from grace go, this one was spectacular…
By Richard McKenna and K.E. Roberts
Surprisingly, Dredd still doesn’t appear on the cover of Prog 3, which contains the second appearance of Judge Dredd. Inside is the episode where they give Mega City One a name and start sketching in more of the details of the world Dredd inhabits…
A few years ago, I was at a New Year’s Eve party where the TV was tuned to a Cannon Films action movie marathon. The mindless gunfire and body blows became perfect New Year’s Eve party fodder as the crowd got more and more intoxicated…
It’s one of the peculiarities of SF literature—and perhaps of genre writing in general—that the imagery generated to sell and promote it has often proved to be more visionary and transformative than the writing itself. Serious-minded SF fans are often heard complaining about this irony, claiming (not without some justification) that Star Wars, say, is not actually science fiction but rather fantasy, or just straight-up infantile dross…
When it comes to Italian genre filmmakers, Antonio Margheriti is perhaps the underdog when compared to the likes of Dario Argento, Sergio Leone, Mario Bava, and Lucio Fulci. His 1963 gothic masterpiece, Castle of Blood, may be his most revered film, but it’s certainly overshadowed by the work of other Italian genre directors…
By K.E. Roberts
The Shootist is one of the greatest Westerns ever made, although it is rarely named as such. It is John Wayne’s final film, and possibly his best performance. Wayne, of course, essentially invented the on-screen American cowboy: swaggering, gritty, terse, self-contained, charming, relentless, invincible…
