I’m sitting here, desperately attempting to make sense of the maelstrom of press releases, past issues and books that is my desk, and it occurs to me slowly that I haven’t actually seen the HD trailer for Indy IV yet. I’ve seen the bootleg, don’t get me wrong, but the relatively good quality of it can’t disguise the fact that it is filmed on a dodgy camera.Having now watched it, my opinions are still mixed about the film. I don’t like the fact that half of the trailer is just footage from the previous offerings in the franchise, and I do think that Cate Blanchett’s character design is just far too cartoonish for my liking.Also, seriously, when did Indiana Jones become John McClane? The guy falls backwards into a jeep windshield without even flinching, quips, and elbows the soldier next to him right in the kisser. So there’s no spinal damage, or at least mild bruising? Hmm.I remain firmly skeptical about Indy IV. But I suppose that’s good, because it leaves me open to being pleasantly surprised if it turns out to be excellent.

Hello and welcome to the new SciFiNow blog, the latest addition to our ever-growing website.
Written by the team behind the UK’s biggest and best sci-fi magazine, the new SciFiNow blog will offer regular stories, updates, news, insight and more on the world of sci-fi, fantasy and horror. If you’re looking for the latest behind-the-scenes industry info or simply want to know what the members of SciFiNow think about the latest trailers, episodes and books, then log on and get reading. This won’t be the place for in-depth features and extensive interviews – just light, snappy shorts that bring you even closer to the action. 
Enjoy!

So 2008 is upon us and we’re ready to make our first full year a great one. Shouldn’t be too hard – the amount of great sc-fi and fantasy films released this year is extraordinary. TV’s more difficult to judge at the moment though. Hopefully the strike will end soon and all the writers can go back to their desks happy in the knowledge that they stuck it to the man. Apparently, George Clooney’s going to resolve things, or at least he said he’d try to. In the meantime we’re just going to have to wait. And wait. And wait.

There’s no getting around it, Christmas runs the show. After a few months of not getting a great deal of books, films and comics we’re suddenly inundated with them. Decent ones as well. Just finished looking at the Spider-Man: The Icon book, which typifies the sort of release that does so well this time of year, and it was really rather good, bringing back a fair few welcome memories. Looks like sci-fi fans are set to have a good few months (the only problem being January, which by comparison to November and December is a depressing month wherein we receive mere scraps).

So the new season is underway in the States. That didn’t take long. One of the less frequently cited differences between TV and film is that you don’t usually have to wait as long for next the part to come along on the small screen. Take, for example, next summer’s The Dark Knight – Batman Begins came out in 2005, and we’ve had to wait three years to find out exactly what the hell is going on with The Joker. The first volume of Heroes, on the other hand, has been swiftly followed up, with only a matter of months separating the two seasons. This begs the question: does the length of a hiatus help or hinder a cliffhanger’s impact? Is TV, in this instance, better off than film? Another one for the ages perhaps… or maybe just until we commission a feature on it.

We’ve just started planning issue 7 and we’re already faced with a problem: there’s too much exciting sci-fi out there. We’re honestly struggling how to fit it all in. At last count there were nine features, but we’re going to have to squeeze more in. Of course, there are worse problems to have. At least this shows just how healthy the industry is at the moment. With new shows starting and bigger and better blockbusters coming soon it’s a great time to be a sci-fi fan. Now if only we could up the pagination…

So the San Diego Comic Con has just finished and we’re… a bit underwhelmed. With Fox pulling out just before the even and the Star Trek announcement not being as huge as we wanted it to be, it was easy to feel a bit disappointed. You’d think that by now we’d have learnt to control our excitement and consequently avoid feeling a bit glum when things don’t go quite as we want them, but there you go. Still, at least we’ve got the Iron Man and Beowulf footage to help us get over it.

Issue 4 has just come back from the printers and we’re very happy. Not just because it’s the best issue yet either, but because usually when a magazine comes back you’re almost desensitized to its impact having worked on it so thoroughly for weeks and that’s simply not the case here. Disposing of the next few hours is going to be very easy indeed.

One of the many joys of being the editor of SciFiNow is that you get a fine choice of highlighter pens. Another perk is that you have many reasons to use them. This month I’ve found myself rejigging the flatplan to issue 4 just so I can colour in what’s been commissioned out again. It’s worth mentioning though, whilst we’re on the subject of flatplans, how exciting they can be. On the surface, it’s just a gridded A4 sheet that helps us organize the magazine, but it also works as a small hype machine. Every time I glance at it, I get excited about the issue coming back from the printers. Hopefully, it’s telling that the issue 4 flatplan currently residing to the left of my keyboard has me more buzzed about the magazine than ever before. It’s just going to be one of those issues where you wish you were working on a 250 page magazine. Now there’s a thought.

Hello and welcome to the SciFiNow blog. As you might well imagine, here is where we’ll keep you up to date with the behind-the-scenes goings on of the UK’s best science fiction magazine. With SciFiNow we’re determined to close the gap between you, the reader, and us, the creative team, and this blog is going to play a big part in that. Right now we’re just coming to a close on editorial duties for issue 3 – easily our best issue yet – so naturally my desk is a complete mess. Honestly, it’s embarrassing. Luckily, I have all eight Manimal episodes to take my mind off it. I have been assured that this is the worst programme I’ll ever have the fortune to secretly enjoy. Man was animal, animal was man…