— Ch. 1 · Launch And Target Audience —
Pizzazz (magazine).
~2 min read · Ch. 1 of 6
Pizzazz magazine arrived on newsstands in 1977 with a clear mission to capture the youth culture market. Marvel Comics published sixteen issues of this periodical before it ceased operations in 1979. The publication mixed celebrity features and comic strips into a single package for young readers. Articles covered popular movies like Grease and rock stars such as Meat Loaf. Puzzles and other entertainment content filled the remaining pages alongside these stories.
Star Wars Serialized Stories
Roy Thomas, Howard Chaykin, and Tony DeZuniga created the first original Star Wars story arc titled The Keeper's World. This serialized narrative appeared within Pizzazz during 1977 and was not adapted directly from any film. It preceded both the main Marvel Star Wars comic series and the 1978 novel Splinter of the Mind's Eye. A second arc called The Kingdom of Ice followed with writers Archie Goodwin and Walt Simonson. The final two chapters were scheduled for issues seventeen and eighteen but never printed due to cancellation. Marvel UK later completed the unfinished story in their Star Wars Weekly comic issue number sixty in April 1979.Celebrity Cover Art Strategy
Shaun Cassidy appeared on six different covers while Peter Frampton graced three others. The Hulk showed up five times and Spider-Man four times on the magazine fronts. These images alternated between photographs of real celebrities and photo-realistic drawings of Marvel superheroes. One house ad featured in May 1978 asked readers if they felt like being bored. The visual strategy aimed to attract fans of both pop culture icons and comic book heroes simultaneously.