Star Trek Into Darkness of the Movie Theater Again

Well, this came out today.



Now, let's go back for a minute to 2009, to my reaction to the first movie in this new continuity: "The movie was amazing...but it wasn't Star Trek." I left the theater with the satisfaction of having seen stuff blow up real good IN SPAAAAAAAAACE, and with the disappointment of my favorite entertainment franchise heading off in a direction more appealing to hip, young Star Wars fans than curmudgeonly, fun-hating Star Trek fans like me.

Part of me is looking forward to this new movie—crashing the Enterprise into downtown San Francisco looks like it should be cool, and I'll finally be able to determine whether this new direction was worth four years of aggravatingly conflicting emotions.

The other part of me doesn't really care.

You know I've still only seen the previous movie once? On opening day, in the theater. That's it. I've seen Star Trek: Nemesis at least four times—willingly, no less. I think that says something about where my loyalties lie. I'd rather watch bad Star Trek than a good movie pretending to be Star Trek.

Though, really, I'm no longer sure the previous movie was all that good to begin with. And after more intense scrutiny, Nemesis doesn't seem as bad, either.

I read through all of "Star Trek by the Minute," a series of 117 blog posts analyzing the science, moviecraft, and faithfulness to the Trek name of every single minute of the 2009 Star Trek film. I watched Cowboys & Aliens, a film written by the same guys who wrote Star Trek. I continued my ongoing endeavor to watch every episode of every official Star Trek series with several seasons of Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. I chatted about the film with Morgan Gendel, writer of (among others) TNG's famous episode "The Inner Light."

I've had plenty of time to think about the 2009 film, and plenty of opportunities to pick it apart and compare it to other movies and other Trek. I've reached the conclusion that the action sequences, special effects, music, and novelty of having the original Star Trek back on the big screen have successfully masked some very serious flaws with the storytelling, and deflected attention off of the heart of the movie, which is so fundamentally different from what has traditionally made Star Trek...well, Star Trek.

There have been bad films and bad episodes that haven't really felt like Star Trek, or haven't lived up to the standard of quality established by the likes of Wrath of Khan and "The Best of Both Worlds." Even with the wrong director at the helm or a sub-par script to work with, someone involved in any given Star Trek production was trying to keep Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future alive. If this new movie trailer is any indication, it looks to me like J.J. Abrams wants to recreate Star Trek in his own image.

Time for spoilers, kiddos.

From the press release: "When the crew of the Enterprise is called back home, they find an unstoppable force of terror from within their own organization has detonated the fleet and everything it stands for, leaving our world in a state of crisis. With a personal score to settle, Captain Kirk leads a manhunt to a war-zone world to capture a one man weapon of mass destruction. As our heroes are propelled into an epic chess game of life and death, love will be challenged, friendships will be torn apart, and sacrifices must be made for the only family Kirk has left: his crew."

So, let's think about that while we consider what was destroyed in the first film, and what will probably be destroyed in the second one: Spock's mother. Kirk's father. Vulcan. Starfleet. "Friendships," whatever those are. (I'm already blaming Uhura.) Possibly even the Enterprise itself. And that's not to mention the Prime timeline's Romulus, along with 40+ years of continuity.

Kinda looks like he's gunning for a totally blank slate where the characters are the only things identifiable as being from Star Trek. Who's the villain in this one? Not an iconic alien like a Klingon or imported-from-another-timeline Romulan. Though, that is not to say the villain might not be iconic—that is, i-Khan-ic.

What I'm hoping for: Those parasitic mind-control grubs from the TNG episode "Conspiracy" finally make their grand return, infiltrating Starfleet Command under the watchful eye of a lesser-known villain from the annals of Star Trek history.

What I'm expecting: KHAAAAAAAAAN!!!!

There can still be mind-control grubs, though.

We'll see how this one turns out—without the oppressive shackles of loosely observed continuity shaping the direction of the story, J.J. Abrams and Co. are free to do absolutely anything they want with this film.

Things We'll Probably See:
- Nurse Chapel, whose only function is to scream at scary things, and give McCoy somebody to talk to, 'cuz he really doesn't seem that tight with Kirk
- An impromptu Gorn battle that completely interrupts the flow of the story
- Vulcans behaving completely out of character
- A reference to a classic Trek scene or quote, which inadvertently devalues the scene or quote if you think about it too hard
- LENS FLARE
- An incredibly important plot point that's barely explained and/or makes absolutely no sense if you think about it too hard
- Adults who are absolutely useless in crisis situations, leaving the young'uns to take matters into their own hands
- Petty bickering over a woman (I'm already blaming Uhura)
- Someone getting killed off for plot convenience and/or a cheap emotional response
- No Klingons, or worse yet, pointless Klingons
- Really awesome action sequences that make you forget about everything I just mentioned

Despite my cynicism, I'm open-minded enough to give Star Trek Into Darkness a chance. Skyfall was enough to rekindle my enthusiasm for the James Bond franchise after Casino Royale and Quantum of Solace took it in a direction I wasn't overly excited about; all it takes is one movie.

Though, given how downplayed the words "STAR TREK" are on the movie poster, I doubt Into Darkness will help me see the light.

Enemy Mine: A Star Trek Fan's Look

And now, a guest post!
 

You are, perhaps familiar with (and if you read this blog, shame on you if you aren't) the franchise Star Trek. But, I ask you, I urge, I bid you if you are not familiar, to become familiar with a science fiction movie entitled Enemy Mine. So let me, Joseph Belle, bring you up to speed; maybe you'll give it a watch.

The beginning of the film is quite simple: you have the humans and the Dracs, two vastly different races who can't even talk to one another, vying for control of a mineral-rich area of space. Both believe the area belongs to them, and neither is willing to try and even communicate. So when they see the other, they just send out fighters and blow each other apart. Now I call this a review from a Star Trek fan's point of view because it's not what happens in the beginning that matters so much; because, soon into the film, one of the human pilots goes after a Drac ship, and in the dogfight, both ships are damaged.

They crash to the ground, and you find that the human pilot (one Willis E. Davidge played by Dennis Quaid) is now alone, as his gunner died in the crash. Not knowing if the Drac pilot survived, Davidge tries to radio for rescue, only to find his radio is out, so he starts making his way towards the downed Drac ship, only to find that the Drac pilot survived.

I don't want to go into a complete play-by-play of the entire movie, but in the end, Davidge is faced with living alone, or living with an enemy. Choosing to live with his enemy (The Drac pilot Jeriba Sherigan played by Louis Gossett, Jr.) the two learn to speak each other's language and find that they are not so different.

The story is a heartwarming adventure of how two people can be so different, but so alike at the same time, culminating at the midpoint of the movie, in which Davidge is forced to make a decision that will potentially make all of humanity turn their backs on him.

It's worth a watch, if you can find a good copy of it, and it's based on the story written by Barry B. Longyear. Despite the book being so short, the movie is an exception to the rule of the book always being better than the movie. But I believe both are worth attention and time, especially if, like me, you feel that warm attachment to the hope that humanity can move beyond our petty disagreements and become something greater. If nothing else, it's a good, classic science-fiction movie.

Forty-Six Ways Star Trek Changed My Life

September 8, 1966. It's been 46 years since the very fifth episode of Star Trek went on the air. (Not the first one; the fifth one--"Where No Man Has Gone Before" didn't actually air until September 22, assuming my time-traveling sources are correct.)

To celebrate this awkwardly numbered anniversary, I've compiled a list of 46 different ways in which Star Trek--not just the original series, but the entire multimedia franchise--has changed my life, or at least influenced it in some way or another. Strap yourselves in, kids--I'm about to get sentimental, ridiculous, and incredibly esoteric all at once.

1.) I occasionally refer to human beings as "ugly bags of mostly water."

2.) I occasionally wear cologne, making me an ugly bag of mostly scented water.

3.) I masqueraded as Geordi La Forge one Halloween. It was awesome.

4.) I was an avid fan of Reading Rainbow growing up--in no small part because the show was hosted by LeVar Burton--which helped foster a lifelong love of reading.

5.) I know more about fictional technology than I do about my own car.

6.) Much of my time on the playground in elementary school was spent running around pretending I was a starship captain.

7.) I got it into my head that "Spot" is a perfectly acceptable name for a cat.

8.) It is incredibly easy to shop for calendars for me every year. "Do you have Ships of the Line? Yes? Beautiful. Done."

9.) For several months, I was engaged in geeky, philosophical, and religious discussions and debates with the author of "Star Trek by the Minute" that challenged me to think more critically and logically in my arguments.

10.) I missed about an hour and a half of festivities during one of my last cast parties with my theater group to catch the series premiere of Enterprise.

11.) I missed a sizeable chunk of the festivities at PAX East 2010 to meet Wil Wheaton.

12.) My now-wife and I had the perfect way to geek out with the invitations and table markers for our wedding.

13.) I paid a visit to the 24th century.

14.) I bought my first movie tie-in comic book in 2009.

15.) I got a lot of inspiration for blog posts, apparently.

16.) Riverside, Iowa is on my list of places to visit if I ever get the chance.

17.) I chuckle a little bit whenever I hear John Tesh on the radio, knowing he once played a holographic Klingon.

18.) I've learned that the best explanation for irreconcilable continuity errors is usually, "time travel."

19.) Where (in)appropriate, I refer to nudity in terms of Betazoid weddings and dressing like a Ferengi female. Yes, I'm terrible.

20.) I own a Star Trek: The Next Generation mug, which is my mug of choice when having toast and hot chocolate.

21.) On the rare occasions where I drink tea, there's usually only one choice, and it's the beverage that prompted me to drink tea in the first place: Earl Grey, hot, of course.

22.) My phobia of crawling around in ventilation ducts (a phobia that started with Space Quest V, which was also very heavily influenced by Star Trek) got slightly worse thanks to those squeak-burbling Parasite creepy-crawlies in Star Trek Voyager: Elite Force. (Yes, I just used the expression "squeak-burbling." It's incredibly accurate.)

23.) I am computer literate: After haphazardly tinkering with things I knew little about and accidentally destroying my family's Star Trek screensaver, I vowed to teach myself enough about computers to never let such a thing happen again.

24.) The exploits of Captain Proton encouraged me to watch Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe, further expanding and deepening my knowledge and appreciation of vintage science fiction.

25.) I giggle anytime I hear the phrase "recipe for biscuits," which, admittedly, is not nearly as often as I'd like.

26.) I possess a sizable collection of action figures, toy props, and model starships, all of which contribute to the already overwhelmingly geeky décor of my home.

27.) My bedroom ceiling was once decorated with various tiny Star Trek (and Star Wars) ships suspended from it, amidst glow-in-the-dark stars. Going to sleep at night was about the coolest thing ever.

28.) "The Picard Song" is proudly featured on one of my many mix CDs, and I've developed an unexpected fondness for "Blue Skies," as well.

29.) I've started paying attention to the names of writers, directors, and music composers in film and television. It's so much easier to understand the ups and downs of a franchise once you know the people involved behind the scenes.

30.) I have an improved understanding of the general structure of languages thanks to a crash course in Klingon.

31.) My friends, family, and I have spent countless hours bonding over the episodes and movies we've watched together.

32.) My friends, family, and I are collectively around $3000 poorer for buying me every Star Trek movie and series on DVD.

33.) I managed to turn a hand injury into a training exercise at a young age and learned the Vulcan "live long and prosper" salute while two of my fingers were bandaged together.

34.) Though I enjoy Star Wars, I never got into it the way other people have, in part because it differed from my expectations that Star Trek had set for sci-fi. That's not a "Star Trek is better than Star Wars" argument; Star Trek simply beat Star Wars to the punch.

35.) When my computer starts acting up, I occasionally employ a hint of a Scottish accent and address the computer by name, picking up the mouse and speaking directly into it if I feel so inclined.

36.) I've seen more episodes of Hawaii Five-O than I'd ever expected to.

37.) I've learned how to better analyze difficult situations and see multiple sides to a problem or issue, seeking a greater understanding of a situation before jumping to conclusions and solutions.

38.) Despite all the problems and troubles of our world today, I've been reminded time and again that we can overcome our differences and shape a better future for ourselves.

39.) When I have to suddenly shut off my car's cruise control to slow down for traffic, I refer to it as "dropping out of warp."

40.) When I'm struggling to keep awake while driving, I frequently ask my wife to talk to me, and she'll often ask whether I've heard the story of the three brothers who go to Jo'Kala to sell a giant kava root. (Silly us; we usually mess this up and say "Kalto Province" instead. Duh.)

41.) My wife and I also do our best bug-eyed Gowron impressions at one another sometimes to cheer ourselves up. My wife would like to inform you that she is much better at it than I am.

42.) I've gained an appreciation for clever reuse of props, sets, and archive footage, and have developed a keen eye for spotting such material. Like the cave that's in every episode of Deep Space Nine.

43.) On more than one occasion, I've thrown open my flip-phone like a communicator and started talking with my best "Kirk on a landing party mission" impression.

44.) Beyond the real people I knew, I had a series of role models throughout my youth thanks to Star Trek--intelligent people who had a passion for learning and exploration, loved their jobs, showed compassion to those in need, and sought peace with their enemies.

45.) I think space is incredibly cool.

46.) Growing up, my Saturday nights were always a family event--homemade pizza and an episode or two of whichever Star Trek was on. Even after Voyager and Enterprise went off the air, the pizza tradition continued, and something feels wrong with the universe if I go more than a weekend without it. (The pizza, that is; not the universe, though that's important, too.)

47.) OK, so this list was supposed to stop at 46. But you've gotta have a 47 in here somewhere.

Exfanding Review: Hawaii Five-O

One of the many joys of having Netflix is the ability to pick up and drop any TV series that catches my interest, without any obligation to buy the DVDs or to continue watching if my interest begins to wane. Having demonstrated with The Dick Tracey Show that I can break free of my completionist tendencies and skip around if necessary, I was prepared to take on another detective show of sorts that I had no hope of ever finishing: Hawaii Five-O.

Twelve seasons? 279 episodes? 45-50 minutes per episode? It'd take me two weeks straight to watch it all, assuming I quit my job and spent every waking minute of my day marathoning Hawaii Five-Oh For The Love Of Jack Lord Make It End. I don't even like cop shows! But I have a passion for classic cinema, and that passion extends into the realm of television. It's not just entertainment; it's educational as well: film has a unique way of preserving our history and culture, and even the fictional elements have a way of hinting at the reality of the time.

If you're unfamiliar with Hawaii Five-O, the short version is that there's a crack police team in Hawaii known as "Five-O" that's always hot on the trail of every crime syndicate, con artist, and disgruntled tourist on the islands. Five-O is comprised of the levelheaded Steve McGarrett, who is rarely seen without his iconic blue suit; his ever-ready sidekick Danny "Danno" Williams; family man Chin Ho Kelly; Kono Kalakaua, the loyal tough guy; and a parade of replacements for anybody who leaves the show. I realize that Ben Kokua, Duke Lukela, and other characters who joined the regular cast later on are worth mentioning here, but the fact is, I barely saw any episodes with them in it.

The original plan was to selectively watch a few episodes from every season, choosing the ones whose descriptions sounded most up my alley and/or most important to a broader understanding of the show's overarching plotlines, assuming there were any. This worked nicely through the end of Season Four, by which point I'd realized three things:

1.) The episodes with the most appealing premises were the least relevant to overall plot and character development, and thus began to lose my full attention after about 10-15 minutes;
2.) The episodes that were most relevant to overall plot and character development had the least appealing premises, and thus began to lose my full attention after about 10-15 minutes;
3.) I was mostly watching to see who else would show up from Star Trek.

Hawaii Five-O ran from 1968-1980, which very neatly covers the hiatus between the last episode of Star Trek in 1969 and Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979. Star Trek: The Animated Series notwithstanding, this Trekless period of time is one where all the actors from The Original Series had previously disappeared from my radar. I've been spotting Star Trek alums in films such as Airplane II: The Sequel throughout the '80s and beyond, but before that? Either nobody did any acting, or else they were making appearances in shows I'd never watched.

Like Hawaii Five-O.

In one early episode, a Japanese man under the impression the year is still 1941 attempts to carry out his planned role in the bombing of Pearl Harbor. First off, it was jarring to watch a television show made in a time period where the majority of viewers would remember World War II as a part of their childhood, and not a Hollywood-coated history lesson. Second, it was jarring to see someone who was clearly not Japanese wearing heavy makeup to appear Japanese--the thought crossed my mind that any Japanese actor of the appropriate age for that role might potentially have found the subject matter to be too close to home.

Enough food for thought with those two points alone, but then I began to recognize the actor who McGarrett and the rest of his team were chasing. At first, I thought it was Charlton Heston, who I'd recently seen pass for a Mexican in Orson Welles' Touch of Evil. When the credits rolled, I realized my mistake--it wasn't Charlton Heston, but Mark Lenard.

Mark Lenard, who played Sarek, Spock's father, on Star Trek. Suddenly I had a renewed interest in Hawaii Five-O.

As I continued watching, I saw Diana "Dr. Pulaski" Muldaur as a suspicious wife, Ricardo "Khaaaaaaaaan!" Montalbán as an expert racecar driver, Roger C. "Harcourt Fenton Mudd" Carmel as a Russian informant, and William "Denny Crane on Boston Legal" Shatner as a Texan detective, complete with an accent of such questionable authenticity that--I swear I'm not making this up--one of the characters in the episode was on the fence about whether he was a Westerner or only "affecting a Western accent."

It was a kick to see so many actors from Star Trek in such wildly different roles and situations than I was accustomed to. I'd never seen Mark Lenard or Roger C. Carmel in anything else, and it was fascinating to watch them take ownership of their characters--and amusing to realize how much of a character actor Carmel must have been when his Russian accent occasionally gave way slightly to a very fine English one.

Diana Muldaur was impressively...normal. As in, a persuasively regular person, and not a Star Trek character out of uniform. For someone whom I strongly associate with a particular character to show no trace of that character in a different role is no easy task. Especially for William Shatner, whose slyness and force fit the role perfectly, but whose accent--as consistent and inoffensive as it was--never convinced me of his origins. Funny how easily accents can make or break a character.

I find myself with a growing respect for how--in the movies I've seen, at least--Ricardo Montalbán's distinctive accent never seems to define his character. He's the kind of actor I admire most: one who can fully become a character even without changing his hair or disguising his voice. He could've played JFK, and I wouldn't have questioned why John F. Kennedy sounded Mexican.

In general, I have nothing but praise for the acting and direction. I even caught a familiar name directing one of the episodes--Nicholas Colasanto, who played Coach on Cheers, which my wife and I are currently watching. The stars I recognized were one of the most compelling reasons for me to stick with the show for a while, but the unique setting was a selling point, too--I appreciated how Hawaii wasn't just part of the background, but an integral factor in the kinds of crimes Five-O would deal with. Culture, history, and geography played a big part, and I feel like that's not always true of detective shows.

I was simultaneously impressed and disappointed by the show's consistency--twelve seasons, and aside from the aforementioned cast changes, there were very few ways to tell the first episode from the last one. A few minor modifications to the intro theme, really. The actor playing Chin Ho had visibly aged by the end of his ten-year tenure, but the film quality and costumes and actors around him seemed to have been oddly unaffected by the passage of time. I think of shows like Star Trek: The Next Generation whose first seasons seem like a completely different show coming off of later seasons, but Hawaii Five-O established itself almost immediately and never seemed to stray from its path. The only significant addition I can think of was a mildly distracting split-screen effect toward the end of the series that allowed the viewer to watch the bad guys running away and the good guys running after them in two different locations at the same time. Oh, and the uncontrollably shaky camera seemed to calm down a bit after a while, so there's that.

There was a lot to like about Hawaii Five-O. I'm just not big into detective shows. For fans of the genre, and even for aspiring film buffs such as myself, it's worth a look...even if you've only got a 10-15-minute attention span.

If nothing else, the title theme is really catchy:



And, just for the heck of it, let's throw in a little Star Wars, too:

In Which Greedo May Possibly Be Allowed to Shoot First

Whenever the age-old Star Wars vs. Star Trek argument comes up, I try to stay out of it. They've both got their high points, they've both got their low points, and it's difficult to judge something that started as a movie against something that started on television. Despite any similarities they may have, Star Wars and Star Trek are simply too different and too vast for both franchises in their entirety to compete on the basis of merit.

The argument boils down to personal preference of the creative details--Tatooine vs. Ceti Alpha V; phasers vs. blasters; Bothans vs....uh...Bothans--and preference between breadth and depth. In my experience, Star Wars has more breadth thanks to its wide variety of aliens and eons of internal history; Star Trek's focus on character interactions and social issues gives it more depth. I prefer Star Trek for its depth, and for the planets, technologies, cultures, etc. that are more in line with my tastes...but there are huge portions of both franchises to which I've never been exposed, so I can't say with any true certainty that the issue of breadth vs. depth is really what the argument boils down to.

Especially after reading Heir to the Empire.

As discussed yesterday, Heir opened my eyes to a level of complexity in the greater Star Wars universe that was largely absent from my experience with the franchise. The movies, television episodes, games, and books with which I'm familiar all have their share of plot twists and clever heroics, but I've always perceived the story to be what drives the characters, and I prefer the characters to drive the story--another matter of personal preference, I might note.

Luke Skywalker joins the Rebellion because two droids literally fall out of the sky and effectively drag him along through a series of events largely outside his control. The Battle of Hoth occurs because the Imperials happen to find the Rebels' hidden base. Kyle Katarn has to muck around in the bowels of Nar Shaddaa because the data disk he needs accidentally gets knocked off the landing platform when he shoots off 8t88's arm. Clone Troopers easily kill Aayla Secura because she happens to be looking the wrong way when Order 66 is given. So often in Star Wars, things just...happen. The characters are merely along for the ride, doing little more than nudging their destiny one way or another.

To a certain extent, the characters are driven by the plot in Heir to the Empire. The key difference, though, is that every character has well-defined goals and motives that drive him or her to fight against the flow of fate. Some are in better positions than others to succeed, but virtually nothing ever happens--or fails to happen--strictly because the story dictates it must be so. Author Timothy Zahn knows the characters extraordinarily well, and ensures they use every tool, trick, and ability at their disposal before succumbing to the inevitable, or before claiming victory over impossible odds.

I find myself invested in the Star Wars movies because I like the action sequences, and some of the aesthetics, and some of the characters, and some of the creative situations in which the heroes find themselves. I found myself invested in Heir to the Empire for all those same reasons, but I found myself in awe because these characters and their universe were living up to a potential I didn't realize existed.

You think of an X-Wing as just another snub fighter until its guts are willfully burned out and ripped apart to escape a tractor beam and set up an improvised homing beacon. You assume that a Jedi is the most powerful force in the galaxy until a little furry snake creature puts his Force powers on mute. You take for granted that Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine are the baddest of the bad until criticisms from an Imperial officer and obvious contrasts with the increasingly sinister Grand Admiral Thrawn start to make you think that maybe the Rebellion had it easy. The book takes what already exists and goes to lightspeed with it.

This must be why Star Wars fans harbor such ire for the prequels--knowing what's out there, and what could be out there, makes a goofy Gungan who accidentally saves the day seem like a slap in the face. And that's to say nothing about the breaches in continuity that I've heard exist. For me, the prequels have the same kind of action and aesthetics and characters and creative situations that I like about the original trilogy. As films, they're not anywhere near as well-directed and well-scripted as the originals, but as Star Wars films, I'm getting all the sci-fi fun I could hope for.

That's what Star Wars has been for me: sci-fi fun. That is why I've steered away from those venomous Star Wars vs. Star Trek debates. That is why the rage against George Lucas over the prequels and the Special Editions has always baffled me. Dislike and disappointment, sure--but rage? I've seen a lot of passionate fans, and I've gotten up in arms about one thing or another ruining my favorite fandoms, but I have seen Star Wars turn people into irrational zealots who would hurl you into the Great Pit of Carkoon if you so much as suggested that it was maybe not beyond the realm of possibility that Greedo could potentially have shot first, you guess.

My childhood wasn't shaped by Star Wars. My adolescence wasn't spent immersing myself in the Expanded Universe. My adulthood hasn't been spent hiding or picking up the wreckage from the brand-new canon George Lucas has pointed at his fans. I watched the Star Wars films, and I liked them. I've tried out different parts of the fandom, and I've liked them too. It's been a matter of personal preference--nothing more, nothing less.

Heir to the Empire changed everything. I've read other books of comparable quality, and I've been exposed to other installments of Star Wars that have been just as captivating, but I'd never seen Star Wars as anything other than a collection of events that dragged along some interesting characters. For the first time ever, I understood both the heroes and villains as people, not just as archetypes or sci-fi characters.

Characters can never grow beyond their role as entertainment. People can become your family and friends.

Without my understanding this, the most diehard Star Wars fans became irrational zealot characters in my eyes when defending the people they cared so deeply about. Those debates were never about franchises; they were about friends. It's taken me a decade to realize this.

I don't know that I'll ever fully turn to the Dark Side (the Light Side?) and embrace Star Wars over Star Trek, but there is plenty of room in my heart for both. I've got a Dark Force Rising paperback on the table, a Clone Wars disc in the DVD player, and a Rogue Squadron cartridge in my N64. I am a Star Wars fan. That may not mean the same thing to me as it does to you, but I hope we can both come to understand each other as people before making judgments on the differences.

Sunday Spotlight: Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan Phaser (Diamond Select Toys)

Since I was a wee lad, I've been collecting Star Trek toys. Action figures, playsets, model starships, replica props, the works. For a number of reasons, my collecting tapered off in the mid-'90s, but I have been known, especially in more recent years, to pick up the occasional Soverign-class vessel to display on top of my computer or, in this case, Type II phaser to fire at my wife.

We're very much in love, I assure you.

On a recent trip to a mall I've never had the chance to explore, she and I happened upon a Local Comics Shop peddling Star Trek merchandise on top of the regular fare of Ultimate Comics Ultimate Crisis Crossover Calamity and 6" statues of naked women with just enough clothing to suggest they're supposed to be dressed as superheroes. Within minutes of entering the store, I had spied the only thing, aside from my wife, I was planning on taking home with me from there: a Diamond Select Toys replica of the style of phaser used in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, but consider which movie the average fan gets more excited about seeing listed on the side of a box).

In my possession already from the Diamond Select line were a tricorder and Type II phaser from The Original Series. On the one hand, they look and feel authentic, right down to the sound effects and flashing lights. On the other hand, I call into question the technical design, or possibly the craftsmanship: The "on/off" switch for the tricorder is buried inside a compartment within a compartment; the fold-out panel of the outer compartment needs to be popped out of place completely to actually reach anything inside of it, and the panel covering the inner compartment with the switch needs to be pried open.

The phaser features a smaller detachable Type I phaser with a flip-up "targeting grille" (which barely flips up at all) that doesn't lock back into place properly; pulling the trigger on the main body of the Type II phaser actually makes the Type I phaser pop back out, and extensive fiddling only occasionally seems to fix the problem. On top of that, the electronics don't always respond as expected--I know what the buttons and knobs are supposed to do, but sometimes the lights don't light up properly, and sometimes nothing happens at all. And yes, I've checked the batteries.

When they work, however, they're tremendous fun. Even when they don't, it's still neat to have a part of my favorite fandom in a tangible form. The Wrath of Khan phaser suffers from the same kinds of issues as the aforementioned toys, but at the end of the day, it's the most fun with new Star Trek merchandise since the resurgence of Star Trek toys around the release of the 2009 Star Trek film. Plus, my collection is severely lacking in TOS movie-era memorabilia, so I'm always happy to make an addition there.

This phaser is a button-presser's paradise: there's a big, glowy "on" switch, a mode selector that allows you to cycle through the various settings of Tickle, Stun, Kill, and Disintegrate (with pleasantly distracting light-up indicators showing your current setting), a big ol' trigger, and alternate fire buttons on the detachable Type I phaser (yes, it's detachable!). These buttons can be used in conjunction with the mode selector button to trigger a power cell overload that will destroy the phaser and anyone in the vicinity (for pretend, silly) after a short countdown filled with flashing lights and oddly transporter-esque sound effects.

My wife suggested that setting the phaser to self-destruct on the coffee table and then taking cover behind the couch would not, in fact, protect me from the blast.

I appreciate the extra playability that a detachable phaser brings, but as with its TOS counterpart, this little Type I phaser is almost more trouble than it's worth.

While it's incredibly simple to detach and reattach this phaser thanks to a crazy-powerful magnet, there's a crazy-powerful magnet on my electronic device. I saw no warning on the package or instruction manual about it, so I can only assume it's well-shielded, but the force with which the smaller phaser snaps back into place is slightly frightening. The trouble is that (a) it sometimes takes some adjustment to get the electronics to work again once the whole phaser is reassembled (because all the functions of the larger phaser are based on a connection with the smaller one), and (b) the smaller phaser looks kinda dorky.

It's a little awkward to hold, too.

The fact that this detachable action was never seen on-camera also makes this feature feel a little unnecessary. But hey, it's one more feature for the people who want it, and it doesn't affect the use of the Type II phaser for people who don't.

Overall, I'm pleased with my purchase. I am easily enthralled by flashing lights, and I approve of the number of functional buttons. The phaser is sleek, fits comfortably in the hand, and just plain looks good. The only oddity is that holding down the trigger does nothing--the lights and sound effects don't happen until after you release the trigger. Still, that didn't stop my wife from scoring a few good hits on me while I was typing away on the computer. Can't say I didn't deserve it.

Next time she wants a phaser fight, though, I'll be prepared.

The Accidental Death of a Nerd

Today we have the pleasure of introducing our first-time guest poster Marcus, an ex-hobbit who I'm fairly certain was last last seen chucking potatoes at passersby from atop a tall building. At least, that's what I recall from one of our previous tabletop roleplaying sessions together.

"Dungeons & Dragons," they called it. I had never heard of it, but after recently moving across the country and seeing my first opportunity to have friends outside of school, I happily agreed to come over that night and try their game. That was fourteen years ago, and now here we are: the same people, the same table, the same DM, and the same chainmail and lightning bolts; but somehow it doesn't feel the same. Then the realization hits me, and I lean over to the guy who in those fourteen years has come to be my closest friend, whispering, "dude...I don't think I'm a nerd anymore."

I'm not sure when, or how, it ended. I definitely can mark the first time I sat down at that table as the moment when it began; my passage through the wardrobe and into the realm of nerddom, a place in my life now so foreign to me I can hardly believe was ever real.

I had been playing video games since my friend got an NES when we were six, but there was nothing to indicate that I would later put two years of my life into WoW raiding. I was an avid reader and enjoyed The Lord of the Rings, but I had countless other books I considered to be of unquestionably higher caliber. My interest in school and learning was non-existent, and I was happier playing sports. Unusual interest in dark humor aside, I was about as average a kid as you can imagine.

But something did happen, beginning with that first D&D campaign, those first friends I made after the move: I came to define myself by which genres of games I preferred, I saw red when Trekkies called Star Wars derivative, and I began to shun any but the most necessary physical activity and threw myself into school; my curiosity about understanding the natural world was only matched by my fascination with imaginary ones. Perhaps most tellingly, I discovered the label 'nerd'--and it fit me perfectly.

Those of you whom I met in college likely knew me through shared interests in anime, pen-and-paper RPGs, and late night video-gaming. Each of these, in turn, has fallen by the wayside as I come closer to a time when I can no longer call myself "in my mid-twenties." I had been vaguely aware of the changes, although my continuing Steam account suggests an attempt to cling to the identity I once had. Once, I played video games to relax, to enjoy my free time; now I play them when I have nothing else to do, which is sadly too rare. My love of games--while still present--is no longer a significant part of my life. That's what I realized, sitting at that table; "nerd" was a title I simply could no longer ascribe to myself.

Like its rival sibling "geek," "nerd" has become decidedly less of a pejorative in recent years. Reading, video games, favoring brains over brawn or looks, traits once used to distinguish myself from the popular kids, are now more commonly accepted and even admired. This phenomenon, this mainstream geekiness, I unquestionably recognize as a positive development. Children should never be shamed for their interests, and the notion that school was a place where you could be mocked for intelligence should have been sending off alarms through our society decades ago.

But at the same time, I cannot accept this shift in attitudes coinciding with my own loss of identity as a nerd as coincidence. It is something that I credit--albiet, through grit teeth and clenched jaw - in large part to J.K. Rowling. Those same children who sat at the best lunch tables and shunned us for our interest in playing at elves and wizards found joy in putting on robes, waving sticks, and shouting mangled Latin at one another--and while I wish them all the best in it, as this culture has merged into the mainstream, I've felt myself moving away from it. That night at the table, when I found myself thoroughly nonplussed by the choice between fighter, mage, or thief, I came to accept that this was no longer me.

Given that my identity as a nerd was so tied to my circle of friends, I do suspect that some part of my ultimate rejection of the label can be traced to a transition of setting. Once I left school I was forced, for a time, to work whatever jobs I could to pay the bills, and in these jobs I found myself (as always) surrounded by people with interests different than my own. But that this was no longer school was clear, and the determinants of popularity lay in doing your job well and getting along with people whose best interest is to get along with you. We even all wore the same clothes; it was an absolute reversal of what I understood about being a part of society in school. In this new social scene popularity still did matter, but the paths to it were vastly different than the old ways of high school. Slowly, I began to socialize with and befriend people I would have shunned--or, more honestly speaking, would have shunned me--ten years ago, and in my proximity to a broader variety of less-than-nerdy interests, some of them began to rub off on me.

Labels aside, I found an interest or fond childhood memory that might be described as nerdy in a person that otherwise would seem out of place at a LAN party, but in this I began to be aware of my own changes. In the end, I think this is what became of me. The clear line in the sand between who was and who was not a nerd has been scuffed out in recent years, and we are instead left with a hazier sliding scale on which the vast majority of our peers register at least a few nerdy tendencies.

As for myself, there are still many nerdy things I hold dear but there is a common trend throughout them: they are all old (or older, anyway). The last game I seriously played was WoW; and the last console I owned an N64, but I will quite confidently assert that Chrono Trigger is quantifiably superior to any game released in the past fifteen years. I tried to play Skyrim recently; it fell flat. But man, did I have some good times in Morrowind. Final Fantasy III* was brilliant--rolling around the D-pad into a Bum Rush is 95% of what I remember of fifth grade--but I honestly think VII is a dull plod through a morass of repetitive battles and boring characters.

*Serious Final Fantasy fans know it as VI. People who waited til their parents were in bed to sneak out and play all night when it first came out know it as III.

The difference? Chrono Trigger, Morrowind, and FFIII all came out when I was playing video games. I had an itch in my brain for new worlds, and they were the ones to scratch it. Objectively speaking, I know that there is no way to weigh their merits against Modern Call of Special Ops 6, and I know that there are millions of youths out there whose imaginations will be sparked by the pace, the intensity, and the multiplayer connectivity of the latter. But me? I just don't get it. My point, in so many words, is that there are games---and other things--that are special to me, not because they are games but because they are *my* games. There was a time when video games played a huge role in my life, and while they no longer do, the effects of that time and of those particular games continue.

None of this is to disparage or denigrate anyone who does still call themselves a nerd (hipster bandwagoners aside). To those of you who have kept the faith over the years, you have my admiration, and envy. Even now, as I find new joys and new pursuits, none of them ever excite me the way a new Zelda game did. Never has my imagination been so stirred as by the promise of new, exciting worlds behind each turn of the page and every roll of the dice. Nor have I yet clung to any label or identity so fiercely as I once did to "nerd." Whether it was something in me that developed new interests over the years, or the redefining of the term, I must come to terms that the nerd in me is gone; I'm now simply another average guy with average interests.

But I still hate Star Trek.

Background Check

Yesterday, this is what my computer's desktop background looked like:


Today, after leaving my wife alone with Microsoft Paint for a while, this is what my computer's desktop background looks like:

Click to enlarge. Can you spot the difference?

A Year of Opportunities

We've already covered our official resolutions for 2012, but I'd like to lay out some fandom-centric...aspirations, if you will. I hesitate to say "resolutions," because the year ahead is more or less a blank slate at the moment--I'm looking to make the most of the opportunities I have while I've got the time available. Here's what I've got in mind:

- Write more about tabletop roleplaying games. I admit the vast majority of my experience is with Dungeons & Dragons, but there are still plenty of stories to be told and advice to be given.

- Finish my quest to watch through every official Star Trek that exists. I've completed The Original and Animated Series, Next Generation, and all the accompanying movies. My wife and I are now at the end of Deep Space Nine's fifth season, and we're two seasons into Voyager. We'll cap things off with Enterprise, after which I'll begin to brace myself for J.J. Abrams' next Star Trek film in 2013.

- Follow up on my User's Guide to Star Trek: The Original and Animated Series monster mega-post with a guide to TNG and DS9, most likely saving VOY and ENT for the following year.

- Trim down the ratio of unfinished games to beaten and completed games on my Backloggery. I collect games faster than I finish them, and I'd like that to change one way or another.
- Find a suitable permanent recording solution. I've been fighting with a problem-laden makeshift solution since early 2009, and the technical issues keep getting more outrageous with every video series.

One of my friends set the ball in motion by getting me a professional-quality microphone to replace the discount headset I've been using--the one that's barely compatible with my sound card and makes a clunking sound any time I shake my head too much while talking (I get very animated while doing my commentary). Now I just need video recording software that'll last longer than 10 minutes at a clip, and video editing software that works as well as Windows Movie Maker for slapping together multiple video clips and overlapping audio clips, but can also output videos of sufficient quality and size for YouTube without getting any other programs involved. I've had a few suggestions, but more are always welcome.

- Respond to blog comments in a more timely fashion. Seriously, this should not be so difficult for me.

- Follow through on review requests. We've had at least two people offer us review copies for this blog, and we have failed to post so much as a bullet point referencing the material in question. To the people who have offered us things to review, I am sincerely sorry.

- Get caught up on some of the key anime series I've missed. There was a discussion recently on my YouTube channel about Fullmetal Alchemist, which I'd heard plenty about but had never found the opportunity to watch; it's tough to keep track of your comments section when you have no idea what's going on. My parents got me a subscription to Netflix for Christmas, and it turns out there's a wealth of anime available, including FMA. You can imagine how my wife and I spent the last three hours of our day after setting up our account this past Sunday. It's like my college's anime club all over again, and I'm excited about what else is available to watch.

- Avoid staying up past midnight to finish blog posts. On a completely unrelated note, this seems like a good place to stop.

Reunion

At last, I was married. All that was left was the party. And the honeymoon. And the rest of our lives. But I can see your eyes starting to gloss over, so I'll see what I can do about speeding this up.

It was great.

Join us tomorrow for our regular fare!





...OK, I guess I can tell you about the reception. I'll spotlight the two nerdiest points: table decorations and music selection (incidentally, my favorite parts of the planning process).

This is the part where everyone starts to think we had a Star Trek-themed wedding. While the invitations, my cufflinks, the medley of theme songs that played during one of the party games, the guest list indicating table assignments (with bogus invitees such as Roger Wilco from Space Quest and Jek Porkins from Star Wars), and the table markers were all clearly Star Trek-related, we weren't deliberately putting together a theme; it just happened that a bunch of our ideas were drawn from the same fandom.

We had wanted our table markers to be a little more creative than large-fonted numbers, and two pairs of my fellow GameCola staff members had already used some great ideas for their weddings that I didn't want to steal. (Well, I did, but I wasn't gonna.) So, after some brainstorming, the idea my bride-to-be and I liked best was to name each table after a class of starship.

Her plan was to make cutouts of various starships to put on the tables. I reminded her that she had flowers to make, and the wedding was three days away. We went with my plan instead: laminated paper with a different image of the chosen class of starship on each side, in the style of an LCARS computer display.

All table markers could easily double as placemats or posters for whichever guests brought them home. The classes we chose were partially limited by the size and quality of the images we could find--I value consistency, you know.

Per my wife-to-be's request, the head table was a Klingon Bird of Prey; the other tables were Starfleet ships, including Constitution, Constellation, Miranda, Akira, Defiant, Steamrunner, Nebula, and Oberth classes.

Our DJ was captain of an Intrepid-class turntable, and the table near the door was prepared to hold a Galaxy of gifts.

We had a rationale for most of our table assignments, but the one that caused the most ruckus was seating part of my wife's family at the Oberth table, directly next to our Bird of Prey table. "We're supposed to be the unarmed science vessel that gets blown up by Klingons in Star Trek III!?" was the outcry, to which my wife responded, "But you're my family! This is the table O'(my)birth!" I think you can guess which table marker wasn't taken home by any of the guests.

As for the music, we spent a good long time assembling a playlist for the reception. Our DJ provided us with a website where we could log in and add any songs we liked to our playlist, categorizing them as "Must Play," "Play if Possible," and "Do Not Play." My gal went in there first and populated the list with around 150 of the maximum of 300 songs the system would allow. I then filled up most of the rest of the list with songs I have saved on my home computer and from my Pandora playlists, urging my wife-to-be to shift at least a few of her requests to "Play if Possible" so that I might actually have a shot at getting any of my music played at the reception.

About a week before the wedding, our DJ informed us that we had requested over 10 hours of must-play music for our 4-hour reception. After some extensive calculations, I determined that this would preclude the possibility of anything getting played from our additional 10 hours of "Play if Possible" music.

The songs that did end up on the reception playlist offered a glimpse into just how eclectic our tastes in music are, and we were both very pleased with how it turned out. Some songs of possible interest include several video game tunes from OverClocked Remix, the original "Mah Nà Mah Nà" song on which the Muppets' famous sketch is based, the infamous "Numa Numa" song, Rocky Horror's "Time Warp," the Marrymore town theme from Super Mario RPG, and a few Japanese artists (Gackt and Marbell come to mind). The bride and groom entered to Lucca's theme from Chrono Trigger, and we closed off the evening with Europe's "The Final Countdown." The rest of the playlist consisted largely of occasionally mainstream 70's and 80's music, with sprinkles of 90's, Irish folk music, and etc. thrown in for good measure.

So there you have it: music and table decorations. Thus, the wedding story is complete. Well, as complete as is relevant to this blog. For now, anyhow.

Alright, so there's more to tell, but some stories are better suited to being told in person, and some stories are better suited for friends and family than every single person on the entire Internet. Hello, every single person on the entire Internet. Thanks for stopping by.

The last part of the saga is the honeymoon--or, as we've started calling it, the honeycat. If you can stomach just a little more marital bliss, find out how felines directly affected the outcome of our honeymoon in Part 7.

The Next Phase

I dated a nerdy girl, made a nerdy proposal to her, and got married with enough nerdy touches to keep the geeky side of our personalities visible without overtaking the traditions of the ceremony itself. We're both creative sorts, and relished (and occasionally cursed) all the opportunities we had to inject our crafty, dorky ideas into the wedding and reception, generally at the last minute.

In order for anyone to enjoy our crafty, dorky ideas, we needed to ensure there would be guests present at the wedding. Combining my love of Star Trek and puns with my now-wife's collection of Japanese manga and her Photoshopping know-how, we collaborated on this Next Generation-themed invitation that would be sure to lure our friends and family (or scare them away):

(click to enlarge)

Oh, we're just getting started. The story continues (or, rather, begins) later this week in Part 2.

I Wanna Be a Trekkie

And now, a guest post--and petition--from my brother-in-law.


Per conversations with my Trekkie wife, my Trekkie Father-in-Law, my Trekkie Mother-in-law, and my Trekkie Brother-in-law-who-writes-for-this-blog, I have decided to share this conversation with you other trekkies out there (and to you non-trekkies like me).

Yes, I said it! On a blog that prizes itself on awesome fandoms, I claim to not be a part of one of the largest fandoms of all. I am not a Trekkie...but I want to be.

As a philosophy major in college, I was initially captivated by the Next Generation episode where Data’s personhood is called into question. Then I began watching the Original Series from its first episode and the depths of the characters began to unfold.

You see, Nathaniel and a few other friends have done a fantastic job of revealing wonderful Star Trek episodes to me; but although I know these episodes are wonderful, brilliant, witty, and even entertaining, they have failed to capture me like many movies, shows, and games have done before.

What I cannot understand is how many characters on the show seem like characters I would typically fall in love with. Spock, who is claimed to be purely logical, is in many ways a character to look up to. Spock is ideal because he is someone who doesn’t have to deal with those messy emotions and is able to see a logical conclusion in all situations. (Even if that logic seems to be more utilitarian than anything.)

If only we all could shed those useless things called emotions and use Pure Reason; but alas we cannot (*cough* *cough* *Kant* *cough* *cough*).

Other characters that fascinate me are from Next Generation. Although Patrick Stewart may be one of the best actors to ever walk the face of the earth, he is not the most interesting character (as of now) on the show. Instead, I find myself fascinated by two characters from that show: Guinan (as played by Whoopi Goldberg) and the Empath Deanna Troi.

Oh, the contrast between Spock and these two.

And Yet! Despite my recognition of character depth (which is one of the things that draws me to television series) I cannot seem to gain a passion for Star Trek as I have done with other shows.

Initially, I thought I just didn’t like Science Fiction. (Science Fiction and Fantasy being two completely different subjects.) But that is not the reason I can't find a passion for Star Trek. You see, I am a huge fan of the shows Stargate SG1 and Stargate Atlantis. I even enjoyed Stargate Universe (which is rather distinct from the rest).

I think I'm in a bit of an uncommon situation here. I desperately want to enjoy this show more than I actually do. Many of my friends and family love Star Trek, so why don’t I?

I believe it has to do with what appears to me as a lack of storytelling. I am not claiming that there is no story, but that I cannot find the story. When watching the show, one finds himself already in the midst of a problem, or an anomaly. Even though there is character growth, development between the races, and lots of other things a story may have, it still doesn't captivate me like I know it should.

I will continue trying, but in the meantime...

Exist lengthy and thrive!

Oh, I will get it eventually!



Oh, he's gonna get it, all right...

New York Comic-Con / Anime Festival 2011 Recap: Part Two

Hey! You made it back for part two! Good for you! If you have no idea what I'm talking about, please refer to yesterday's post where we began this (epic, sprawling, and only a little whiny) recap of New York Comic-Con 2011.

Yesterday we covered Big Ideas, like how the layout of the convention was a bit offputting and how it really isn't a comic book convention anymore. Today we talk about the Good Stuff, like who we saw, what we bought, and what our favorite aspects of this absolutely massive show were.

Finally, without further preamble, here's part two. We dive right into the good stuff, so enjoy! And leave comments--we know some of you guys were there!

----

Alex: So, since we're talking about positive things. For me, the biggest positive? Hands-down it was Artist Alley (the comics version, I mean). The sheer number of quality creators at this show was staggering and impressive.

I've never been, but I can only surmise that NYCC's Artist Alley is comparable only to San Diego in terms of numbers and quality. You had the top artists in all of comics, all literally lined up in (several) rows.

While commission lists filled up at a ridiculous pace--some artists had over 60 names on their lists before Friday morning!--there were plenty of opportunities to say hello to people, get autographs, and to purchase prints, original art, or pre-prepared artwork.

This year's Artist Alley was a whole lot easier to navigate than was last year's, and walking around never felt too crowded. Which is a good thing when you're babbling on to Stéphane Roux about how big a fan of his you are.

I was (for once) smart enough to get on pre-convention commission lists and I made out like a bandit. Take, for example, this Victorian Huntress commission by artist Mike Dooney.

He had a long, long list of pre-show commissions which he opened up over a month before the first day of the con. On the other side of that particular coin, Marvel artist Ryan Stegman opened his commission list the weekend before the show started. And, I was told, I managed to be the first one on that list!

As I do at all cons, I added to my Death gallery (yes, yes, I know, very morbid), starting with this moody image by Mr. Stegman:

I was also fortunate in that an exhibitor's badge and a buddy who got in Thursday night allowed for me to get on commission lists at the show. So I managed to get on Supergirl artist Mahmud Asrar's list--one that grew exponentially throughout the weekend. I think I was number five on that one.

I was pretty much blown away with what he came up with, especially considering the amount of work he had to tackle over the span of four days. I know a lot of people give artists grief--"What do you mean you won't get to my sketch today?!?!"--but let me tell you something:

They work their butts off at these cons.

And a whole lot of them do so in an attempt just to cover their traveling expenses. I think people tend to forget that their art is their life, and even though it's someone the vast majority of us wishes we could do for a living...it's still work.

And it's hard work.

My last addition to my Death Miscellany was by Matthew Clark, the fantastic DC artist on books like Doom Patrol and Superman/Batman. I've been a fan of his work for a while and I was thrilled to be able to get a sketch. And, really, "sketch" doesn't do this piece justice.

What can I say? I love Neil Gaiman's Sandman, and as endearing as Morpheus might be, I think it's safe to say that Death is everyone's favorite character from that seminal work.

But enough about Death. Let's move on to The Batman. Now, as with all of these pieces, I really do need to actually scan them and not just use my phone to snap quick photos of them.

But it's late, I'm tired, and at some point Nathaniel needs to add his bit to this here post. So, rounding things out, here's The Dark Knight in all his creepy, moody glory.

This one is by Stuart Sayger, who may be the nicest person in all of comics. And after this weekend I can safely say that there are a lot of nice people in comics.

I spent most of the con in Artist Alley, obviously, and with that lineup, why would I go anywhere else? I love original art, but there's something really special about commissioning a favorite artist to do a drawing just for you.

Nathaniel: Hey, I got some fancy doodles, too. I just can't talk about them until after Christmas. Wouldn't want to ruin the surprise.

[Checks calendar. Definitely after Christmas now. Venture Bros. fans might enjoy these sketches I commissioned for the two friends who introduced me to the show. The first is by storyboard artist Jon Roscetti; the second is by background artist Denny Fincke, whom I had the pleasure of chatting with for a bit. From both, I had asked for a character they haven't been asked to draw much of. Incredibly, without prompting, they both came up with Henchman 21.]

Actually, I can talk about my fiancée's sketchbook. After having spent two-and-a-half days marching around Comic-Con in costume, she wanted nothing more than to take a break on Sunday afternoon and sit in line anywhere just to get off her feet for a while...and she left me her sketchbook to get a few doodles from the attending artists.

Normally, I just gawk at art and then move on to the t-shirts and action figures that I understand. Buying prints I can do, but talking to...people? Convincing them to scribble something artistic in a little notebook?

Surprisingly fun.

Systematically working my way up one aisle and down the next, I passed by every artist in the comics alley, and later, the anime alley. Most of the doodles I got were from people I'd never heard of, which became overwhelmingly obvious when I started inadvertently soliciting colorists and artists' assistants for professional sketches. One person drew a shoe. Another drew a turret from Portal.

This is where my convention experience began to pick up: I was conventioning with a purpose again. "Show up and have fun" only works when you have no idea what you're getting into; this time around, I knew exactly who and what I wasn't willing to wait in line for 2+ hours to see, and I'd already done about all the shopping I could afford to do. Collecting pictures for my gal gave me a direction, and it got me to thinking about some doodle projects of my own...

I met an an artist whose work I'd seen and whose name I forget, complimenting him on the cool and unusual Blackest Night cover that was featured in an old Waiting for Wednesday post, which always catches my attention when the image shows up among the posts spotlighted in the LinkWithin widget at the bottom of each post we write.

I met up with my brother-in-law a few times, who was also collecting scribbles. While he was getting his first sketch of the day (I'm awful at names, so I don't recall who this person was, either), I stood nearby and perused the merchandise on the artist's table. I walked away with $3 worth of Chris Wnuk: Secret Jew comics (click to make the funny bigger).

One of the highlights of the afternoon was meeting C. Martin Croker. Now, I wouldn't have immediately recognized the name, either, but a helpful handmade sign behind him covered all the basics: this was the animation director for Space Ghost Coast to Coast, who also voiced Zorak and Moltar.

Fantastic! This is why I go to conventions.

We had a nice little chat about Space Ghost, and I mentioned how my gal and I enjoy it the most when we're deliriously tired--the show suddenly becomes obscenely hysterical. He followed up with a story about how he and the people with him at the time, when the nonstop news coverage became too overwhelmingly depressing to bear, sat down to Space Ghost in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. Wow.

After our conversation, I asked if he'd mind doing a quick sketch for my fiancée (I had to bribe him, as per the pricing guide on his sign), and he drew a partial Zorak, providing running commentary in his authentic Zorak voice the whole time. Once again, fantastic.

I actually covered a tremendous amount of ground at the convention--between Saturday and Sunday, I combed the entire Artist Alley for comics, the entire Artist Alley for anime, every corner of the Dealers' Room, the Autograph Room (once just about everybody had packed up and left) and most importantly, the food court. A few highlights of my wanderings:

- Star Trek action figures I'd never seen before. And I was a pretty avid collector when the Playmates line of TNG figures was out, tapering off (but still paying attention) shortly after the DS9 figures showed up. Remember Lt. Carey on VOY? No? Well, Playmates didn't forget.

- A t-shirt with the following wonderful (horrible) logo on it:

- The DeLorean from Back to the Future, the Michael Keatmobile, and the Adam Westmobile. Yes, the DeLorean is that blurry in real life.

- Lots of Mega Man costumes. Hey, they had a panel on Mega Man comics--these are totally valid costumes for this convention.

Lastly--and there are plenty of other tales and mini-tales to tell, but I'll close with this one--my brother-in-law, my wife-to-be, and I were headed out on Saturday evening as the Artist Alley was closing down when we ran into a table we were not expecting to see. Not, like, turned a corner too fast and toppled over a table; what I mean is that we were surprised to find a table showcasing my fiancée's all-time favorite episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation: "The Inner Light."

I prod my gal, gesturing toward the table, and she rushes over with mouth agape at the stack of scripts and photos of "The Inner Light" (along with scripts of "Starship Mine" and pictures from the DS9 episode "Armageddon Game")...and for-sale replicas of Picard's iconic flute from the episode--the one that sold for $40,000 at auction. This is an episode that is incredibly dear to the Star Trek fan community.

Meanwhile, my brother-in-law was saying, "Wait, what's 'The Inner Light'?"

While my fiancée recoiled in shock, I responded plainly and informatively, "It's one of the most popular episodes of Star Trek." Morgan Gendel, The bespectacled, respectably graying gentleman behind the table responded with what sounded like genuine, humble gratitude: "Thank you."

I turned to him, paused for a second, and asked, "You wrote the episode?" Indeed he had. At last, this table started to make sense. We didn't have much time to chat, as the convention volunteers were already shooing everyone off the floor, but I made a mental note to stop by the next day. I also reminded my fiancée to bring her copy of "The Inner Light"--just that individual episode on VHS--for a signature. We split up the next day and she went to see Morgan separately, but he apparently expressed surprise that such a VHS existed in the first place. Now it's a collector's item, for sure.

My brother-in-law and I stopped by first thing in the morning on Sunday to say hello, and a conversation ensued about pitching the script for "The Inner Light" multiple times before it was accepted, differences in opinion on the Captain America film (which I still haven't seen--gotta catch up!), and how obnoxious it is for Morgan's family to watch movies with him, a scriptwriter with a penchant for picking everything apart. We agreed that modern movies tend to have too big a focus on the special effects and not enough care put into the scripts...which led me to the Big Question.

"I assume you've seen the newest Star Trek movie?"

As you may recall, I was not the biggest fan of the newest Star Trek movie, yet anything I've ever heard from the casts and crews of the various Star Treks about the 2009 film has been nothing but positive. It revitalized the franchise, it made the series relevant again, it would've done creator Gene Roddenberry proud, etc.

"It had a lousy script." I don't believe those were Morgan's exact words, but the sentiment was the same. Begin spoilers.

Writers Orci and Kurtzman were determined to shoehorn in Leonard Nimoy as Spock, to reassure people that he was, is, and forever will be Spock (no matter who else after him wears those ears), and as a result, they couldn't just tell a good story--they had to work their story around Spock Prime. The new Spock, played by Zachary Quinto, could certainly pull of the role skillfully...but his romantic relationship and emotional outbursts drew his character in a different direction than the classic Spock he could have played so well.

I also brought up the lack of carefully crafted situations that organically created emotional responses from the audience. I used the example of Spock's mother, Amanda--oh she's falling, she's falling, we should probably grab her, she's falling, she's falling, oh she's dead. Now we've manipulated the audience's emotions and needlessly scarred one of the main characters for life. Paraphrasing Morgan: "Right. If you want to get an emotional response, just push a character off a cliff."

End spoilers.

After two years of being in the minority amongst fans and Trek actors alike, it was refreshing to find another writer (in addition to the author of Star Trek by the Minute) with an eye on the script who ended up with some of the same misgivings I did. Perhaps I'm more of a critical moviegoer and less of a curmudgeonly traditionalist fan than I once thought.

But hey, you probably didn't come here to read so much about Star Trek. Let's conclude with Chewbacca playing Pac-Man, some actual props and costumes used in the movie Iron Man 2 (which we jointly reviewed last year), more convention costumes (sorry to say, I missed my fleeting chance to snap a picture of Axe Cop), The Goon on wheels, and the most elaborate free sketch I could have hoped for (note the coffee cup).