Look and Learn and World of Wonder

[doctorbluebox]

I used to regularly receive these two mags - they were mainly factual/informative. The highlight of Look and Learn was the sci-fi comic strip 'The Trigan Empire' which featured the adventures of Jano who lived on a planet where they all wore Roman style costumes but had hover cars and ray guns. Apparently this comic strip is now highly sought after, a shame as the 350 odd consecutive issues which I had until the late 90s were thrown away by my dad :-(

[Roxxy]

Re: Look and Learn and World of Wonder

My sister and I both took 'Look & Learn' up until we were about 12 (I think it folded when I reached that age, c. '81). It was a descendant of the 'Treasure' children's magazine of the late '50s and '60s, which combined adventure stories with factual articles about natural history, technology, history and so on. On this count it was excellent- you just don't get children's periodicals like this any more, it provided actual educational input for kids in a way that engaged their interest. The negative side of it was that it used to run some stupid 'strange but true' articles based upon alleged paranormal or sinister events that were supposed to have happened in the recent past, that used to scare the juvenile readers witless- one such involved an American grain farmer who was allegedly abducted by aliens and never seen again, but who could still be heard calling for help on the wind, and another one featured a pair of Portugese lighthouse-keepers at an isolated lighthouse who were attacked (and one killed) by a giant squid. All of it was completely made-up rubbish of course, but extremely irresponsible to expose young readers to. In junior school, we had a somewhat creepy part-time teacher called Mrs. Lane who used to read these stories to my class, some of the kids were terrified by them and she was made to stop doing it by the PTA (very spooky woman, glamorous and striking but rumoured to be a member of a local Devil-worshipping group that was said to be active in the parish at that time).

The Trigan Empire was a cult classic, set in a kind of space-age version of ancient Greece; as doctorbluebox says, they had Greco-Roman architecture and bearded toga-wearing high priests who invoked Romanesque Gods, but also had hyper-advanced technology that had enabled them to establish an interplanetary empire, with space fighter-ships, laser guns and super-intelligent computers. It became so popular that seperate Trigan Empire annuals were issued, although it had a number of different artists as the years went by.
I've still got our old Look & Learn annual from '72, as well as quite a pile of old magazines. I'm surprised that The Trigan Empire was never made into a film, I suppose 'Star Wars' stole the march on the idea!

[staffslad]

Re: Look and Learn and World of Wonder

My parents bought Look and Learn and World of Wonder for me each week for a few years in the early/mid 1970s. I remember well the Trigon Empire strip--I seem to remember it was in colour. There were other strips as well but I can't remember which were in L&L and which in WoW. There was one about pilots in the Royal Flying Corps during WWI, plus a strip which was supernatural but I remember hardly anything about it. I was given a pile of L&L dating from around 1967/1968 and there was a space-based strip in those issues called Jason January.

Also, anyone remember that both mags gave away posters from time to time. I remember one about space exploration with pictures of US and Soviet astronauts on it. Another was a really big poster showing a world map with little pictures showing principal exports for each major nation.

[darren]

Re: Look and Learn and World of Wonder

HERE THEY ARE.

CANT SAY I REMEMBER THEM.

[zabadak]

Re: Look and Learn and World of Wonder

I have a couple of Look & Learn annuals from about 1970

[staffslad]

Re: Look and Learn and World of Wonder

Thanks, Darren . I remember the posters being on my bedroom wall for years. Wish I still had them.

[Zincubus]

Re: Look and Learn and World of Wonder

I think I've got loads of those mags in the attic somewhere .

Mine are dated around 1966 I think ???

[darren]

Re: Look and Learn and World of Wonder

No probs.

What they had posters with them too.

What sort of size.

I MUST SAY THEY LOOK REALLY GOOD BOTH MAGS PLENTY OF READING.

thanks, darren . I remember the posters being on my bedroom wall for years. Wish i still had them.

[staffslad]

Re: Look and Learn and World of Wonder

I would say that they were around 24" by 18" give or take an inch or two. I only remember the space and world map ones--maybe I had more from L&L and WoW, but I can't remember.

As an aside, does anyone remember 'Target' magazine from the early 1970s? In some ways it was similar to L&L and WoW but was a bit more pop-cultural. I recall there was a colour article on the then new 007 film 'Diamonds are Forever' plus a comic strip called 'Bovver Boy' about the comical adventures of a skinhead. Dave Lee Travis contributed a fashion feature each issue called 'Get Clobbered.' And I am sure Christopher Lee wrote a column for the mag.

[darren]

Re: Look and Learn and World of Wonder

[darren]

Re: Look and Learn and World of Wonder

World Of Wonder - No.66 - 26th June 1971 - The Mighty Yukon

[darren]

Re: Look and Learn and World of Wonder

World Of Wonder - No.53 - 27th March 1971 - The Girl In The Bullring

[darren]

Re: Look and Learn and World of Wonder

World Of Wonder - No.33 - 7th November 1970 - The Fastest Expresses In The WorlD

[Hair Bear]

Re: Look and Learn and World of Wonder

I used to get 'Speed and Power'. This was merged with 'Look and Learn' and got that for a long time after.
I still have the complete set of 'Speed and Power' magazines in the red collectors binding!
I seem to remember the 'Trigan Empire' stories went full circle and after a certain amount of time re-appeared.
There used to be a good quiz as well.