Unwinnable

Today, in 1965, Trent Reznor was born. Chances are he was screaming and making electronic music. What are you doing this weekend?
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I am getting ahead of myself. My son, Halford, can barely hold his head up and I’m already plotting his reading habits. These things must be planned, I tell myself. Fantagraphics might let some of those Carl Barks Donald Duck books go out of print. So, I compile a wish list on Amazon of Tin Tin, Astroboy and Asterix – all the fine cartoon art a growing boy needs. (more…)

My first memory of Star Trek’s Pavel Chekov was seeing him scream.

My mother was (and still is) a big Star Trek fan. Our family watched Star Trek on WPIX every afternoon, so I saw every episode of the series multiple times over the course of a decade. But the first real impression I had of Trek was when a slimy, brainwashing slug crawled into Chekov’s ear in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan. It was pretty intense. While Khan wasn’t my first exposure to Star Trek, Khan and the subsequent film, Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, colored how I viewed the series. For instance, while most Trek fans would get psyched on Kirk or Spock, I found myself gravitating towards the supporting cast members like Sulu, Uhura, Scotty and poor, poor Chekov, because they were so prevalent in both of those films. (more…)

I love dogs and I love stuff about outer space.

For many years, my family owned a dog in some capacity or another, from when I was a baby until I was twenty-one. Because of this, I’ve always been uncomfortable with malicious harm coming to dogs in TV shows, movies, books, videogames and comics. As for outer space, I became fascinated with it pretty like any other kid alive during the 70s and 80s from watching Star Wars, Star Trek, the NASA launches on TV and stock footage from the moon landings, not to mention eating astronaut ice cream. (more…)

The five Halo titles developed by Bungie spoke of a much larger world beyond the confines of the console games. It was a place described in incidental dialogue among the marines of the United Nations Space Command, in computer terminals found on a gigantic alien installation called the Ark and in the live-action commercials for Halos 3, ODST, Reach, and the Neill Blomkamp directed “Landfall” live-action shorts. It was a universe described in glimpses and whispers. (more…)

All good things must come to an end.

That was my general feeling after the success of J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek in 2009. The blockbuster was effectively the final nail in the coffin for the Star Trek that I had known and loved for so many years. (more…)

Family is thicker than blood, except when it comes to science fiction’s two most popular offerings.

Star Wars and Star Trek could use a lesson in family values. Both franchises feature family members who try to kill each other, have children who are abandoned by their parents (or simply cannot get along with the ones they have) and even siblings who lust for one another. (more…)