If you grew up squinting at the newsstand rack, hunting for the glossy cover with a starship on it, mark November 13 on your calendar. Starlog, the science fiction magazine that first hit shelves in 1976, is coming back to print for its 50th anniversary.

The new edition is called STARLOG: The Magazine, Vol. 2 number 1, according to the magazine’s own announcement at starlog.com. Officially, it is Issue 375 of the original run, which means the count picks up right where the old magazine left off.

A 100 Page Issue For $19.99, Perfect Bound Like The Ones You Remember

The first printing costs $19.99. That buys you a 100-page, perfect-bound magazine, the kind with a flat, glued spine that sits nicely on a shelf instead of a stapled spine that droops after a few reads.

It measures 8 by 10.875 inches, a generous size for big art and full-page photographs. The issue holds 27 articles, so there is plenty to read over a few evenings.

This is a one-time purchase rather than a subscription. You buy the issue, you own the issue, and nobody signs you up for anything.

Annalee Newitz Takes The Editor’s Chair

Annalee Newitz is the editor-in-chief. Newitz is a science journalist and science fiction author who was a founding editor of the website io9, so the new Starlog is in experienced hands.

The magazine is planned as a yearly publication. That makes each issue more of an event than a routine monthly drop, something you pick up, keep and come back to.

The issue is sorted into three sections, including Space-Time and Alternate Worlds. It is a fun way to wander, whether you want hard science or pure imagination.

LeVar Burton Sits Down With A Particle Physicist To Talk Star Trek Science

One featured piece is a conversation between LeVar Burton, the actor many of us remember as Geordi La Forge, and particle physicist Chanda Prescod-Weinstein. They dig into the science of Star Trek, and Newitz wrote the piece.

The timing is neat. Star Trek first went on the air in 1966, so it reaches its 60th anniversary this year, and the conversation lands right in the middle of the celebration.

Other pieces in the issue include a look at the hidden politics of Dune by Mahmud El Sayed. Charlie Jane Anders writes about the rise of Sauron with the makers of The Rings of Power.

Ten Iconic Movie Starships And A Look Back At Star Wars Before It Was A Blockbuster

Brandon Wainerdi contributes a rundown of ten iconic movie starships. Anyone who ever argued over whose ship was the coolest will find something to talk about.

Josie Riesman writes about how Starlog covered Star Wars before it became a blockbuster. For readers who were around in 1977, it is a chance to remember a time when nobody knew what the film would become.

There is also a story on laser physics in science fiction by Janelle Shane and a feature on jobs for space farmers by Becky Ferreira. It is a mix of nostalgia and curiosity about what comes next.

Where To Find It Starting November 13

Newsstand availability and preorder shipping both start November 13. You can preorder directly from the magazine’s website at starlog.com/magazine, where U.S. shipping starts at $8.95.

In U.S. stores, the retailer list includes Barnes and Noble, Books-A-Million, Target, Walmart, CVS and Walgreens. Grocery chains on the list include Publix, Kroger, Albertsons, Meijer, H-E-B and Wegmans.

Stock varies by store, so a single empty shelf does not mean the magazine is sold out everywhere. Canadian readers have their own list, which includes Indigo, Loblaws, Shoppers Drug Mart, Walmart and Sobeys.

How To Make Sure You Get A Copy Of A One Time Issue

Magazines like this tend to vanish from racks faster than you would think, especially when the cover has a loyal fan base behind it. If you want a clean copy with a sharp spine and corners, a few simple habits help.

First, decide whether the preorder is worth the shipping cost. Paying $8.95 or more on top of $19.99 is a fair price for certainty, while grabbing it during a regular grocery run costs nothing extra.

Second, check the racks near the checkout lanes and the book and magazine aisle on or just after November 13. Many stores place new magazines on the first day, but a few may take a day or two.

Third, protect it. A plain bag and board of the kind sold for comic books costs a few dollars and keeps a perfect-bound magazine flat and free of creases. If you collect, keep it out of direct sun, which fades covers faster than almost anything.

Fourth, think about gifts. A 100-page sci-fi magazine with a Star Trek interview and a Star Wars retrospective makes a sweet present for a brother, a husband or a grandchild who is just discovering these stories.

Starlog’s original run covered television and movies in a way few magazines did, and many fans still keep stacks of old copies in the attic. If yours are up there, this might be the nudge to pull them down and see how the covers look beside the new one.

Whether you pick up a copy at the grocery store or have one mailed to your door, it is a small, happy piece of the old newsstand days coming home again.

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