24 November 2009: Super MegaFest report

On Saturday, 21 November 2009, I met former co-workers Ken G. and Brian F. at the Super MegaFest at the Framingham Sheraton (photos courtesy of Ken). I’ve attended this genre entertainment convention several times over the past decade, and it’s usually a good value for a $20 weekend ticket.

There were fewer panels than at the previous weekend’s New England Fan Experience (NEFX), but the celebrity guests were more accessible. Autographs were still expensive at about $40 apiece. I met Brent Spiner, who played the Asimovian android “Data” on Star Trek: the Next Generation, as well as The Bionic Woman‘s Lindsay Wagner.

Although I had seen them before, Ken waited in line for signatures from Jame Marsters, members of The Monkees, and Ray Park. There were also pinup models,
professional wrestlers, and some people in costume. Spiner proved to be sarcastically funny during his question-and-answer session, teasing me for not following him on Twitter and being teased by Ken for his robot-like recall of people’s names.

The vendors sold comic books, DVDs, toys, and other nostalgia items to a crowd that was almost as diverse as the one at the NEFX and Star Wars in Concert. Brian was disappointed that there weren’t more dealers in superhero-related statuettes, and I agree that there were fewer vendors than in past years. Overall, I had fun, and I look forward to more fan events, such as the “Harry Potter” exhibit at the Boston Museum of
Science and the just-announced New England Comic-Con.

In the coming weeks, in between work, gaming, and holiday shopping, I hope to blog about the recent wave of animation, the midseason turnover in genre television, and the nature of steampunk. If there’s anything you’d like to see here, let me know!

Janice and I will be driving down to Pennsylvania to see her grandmother before
spending Thanksgiving with my parents in western Virginia. Unfortunately, I probably won’t have time to visit family and friends near Washington, D.C., or New
York City, and I hope that traffic and the weather are cooperative. I hope that you have a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

18 November 2009: Convention and concert report

I’m sorry that I haven’t blogged much in the past week or so — I’ve been busy with the usual round of work (for which I went to a trade show), gaming, genre TV, and seasonal events. I’ve also raked numerous bags of autumn leaves. On Saturday, 7 November 2009, Janice and I went into Boston for the Christmas Craft Festival at the World Trade Center. We didn’t buy lots of arts and crafts, just foodstuffs.

We got turned around a few times while trying to get to the Compleat Strategist, but we managed to eventually visit that game store and Pandemonium Books and Games in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We enjoyed a late lunch at Mr. Bartley’s Burger Cottage, one of the best places for hamburgers in the area, and walked around the book shops of Harvard Square, which we try to get to quarterly.

On Saturday, Nov. 14, we returned downtown for the New England Fan Experience (NEFX) and Star Wars in Concert. Janice and I stayed overnight at the Courtyard by Marriott Tremont, which hosted the genre entertainment convention. The ballrooms at that venue were adequate in size, but the hallways and elevators were a bit crowded.

We caught the tail end of the session featuring Corin Nemec, star of Parker Lewis Can’t Lose and Stargate SG1, as well as the career retrospective of character James Hong, who has worked in movies for more than 50 years! Hong was funny, doing impressions and mentioning his numerous roles in films such as Blade Runner, Big Trouble in Little China, Mulan, and Kung Fu Panda.

Janice and I had lunch at the Rock Bottom Restaurant and Brewery before taking the
train to meet former co-worker Ken G. and his girlfriend Kahmmie at the Boston
Garden. Star Wars in Concert was excellent, featuring the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, a large screen showing clips from all six movies, and even lasers and pyrotechnics.

We had difficulty choosing whether to focus on the talented and precise musicians
or on the well-organized vignettes introduced by C3P0 himself, Anthony Daniels.
On the way into the arena, we gazed at some props and costumes from the two
trilogies, as well as people in costume. I was pleased to see many children (some waving toy lightsabers) in the audience and to see that George Lucas’ space opera lives on.

We then returned to the hotel, grabbing dinner at the International Burger Bar before attending more convention sessions. Unfortunately, because of the concert’s timing, we missed the guest of honor, Star Trek and Mission Impossible‘s Leonard Nimoy. Still, we did get to see Gareth David-Lloyd from Torchwood because his room was on our floor! In addition to the usual aging male fans of comic books and old television shows, there were younger, often female anime and horror enthusiasts, multiple generations of Star Trek fans, and people in outlandish costumes.

I was impressed by the number and variety of panels at the NEFX. That evening, Janice and I sat in on sessions about technology (and “technobabble“) in Star Trek, steampunk media (about which I hope to blog more soon), and archaeology in science fiction. The steampunk sessions were led by comic book author Everett Soares and the fun troupe “the Penny Dreadfuls.”

On Sunday, Nov. 15, we went to the knowledgeable Paul Gavins’ panel on “suitmation” vs. computer-generated imagery in kaiju (giant monster) movies. We also picked up a few elements of steampunk garb at the dealers’ room. I’m looking forward to visiting the Super MegaFest and the “Harry Potter” exhibit at the Boston Museum of Science in the coming weeks!

5 November 2009: Comics in crisis?

As I’ve noted previously, like the rest of the publishing industry, there has been
speculation that comic books are doomed as an artistic medium because of the rise in printing and distribution costs, the move of readers online, and the lack of original storylines.

At the same time, the recent popularity of manga, movie adaptations, and corporate
mergers such as Disney and Marvel seem to demonstrate that superheroes and other genre entertainment aren’t quite dead yet. Photos of my Halloween costume as Captain America got more comments on Facebook than most of my posts, and my
nephews and role-players still eagerly discuss costumed metahumans.

I’m still enjoying the monthly routine of visiting local shops and reading
installments of favorite titles, but I agree that comics, like tabletop role-playing games, will remain a niche market and that cost pressures will drive some changes. I’m not yet a fan of digital comics, but trade paperbacks for certain storylines, fewer variant covers and similar stunts for collectors, and the continuing aging of the reader base are all but inevitable. They’re not necessarily bad developments.

As with all art, my preferences for good writing and artwork are subjective. I’ve already noted that I’m a fan of DC’s iconic heroes such as Batman and Green Arrow, but Captain America has brought me back to some Marvel Comics, even as the “Dark Reign” crossover leads to the “Siege” storyline. I’m also pleased to see Filipino artists doing well and being recognized.

In nonsuperhero comics, the hermetic Planetary finally wrapped up, and Conan has
still been faithful to the spirit of Robert E. Howard’s barbarian stories. In adaptations, I’ve only recently become aware of a well-reviewed Superman animated series that came out shortly before the Timm/Dini renaissance, and I’m looking forward to the
direct-to-video Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths more than the next live-action Spider-Man flick.

Coming soon: Cartoons and other SFTV!

2 November 2009: Hungry for Halloween

Friends, I hope you had a Happy Halloween! Janice and I spent much of this past weekend raking leaves around our duplex. On Saturday, 31 October 2009, we drove down to the New England Comics in Norwood, Massachusetts, to participate in its costume contest. I dressed as Captain America, and Janice was Supergirl!

We were relatively early, so no other contestants were around. We were also
disappointed in how few trick-or-treaters came to our door that night. Perhaps
the area children were at events at local shopping malls and churches, or maybe
they were scared away by our boisterous neighbors. Our leftover candy will go to co-workers and gamers.

Speaking of food, now that it’s getting colder outside, everyone around me (and much of the TV I watch) seems to be focused on food. On Friday, Janice and I tried to go to dinner at Acapulco’s, but its parking lot was full, and we ended up at the Union Street pub in Newton, Mass. On Sunday, in between raking leaves, we went to Legacy Place in Dedham and had lunch at Four Burgers. Today, my boss Margie brought in a sushi lunch from Fuji. I’ll be at a work-related conference in Boston tomorrow.

Last week, we got into the spirit of the season by rewatching It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown and The Nightmare Before Christmas. I’ve already mentioned the Scary Godmother television specials, and I’m caught up on recorded genre shows — just in time for the November ratings sweeps and midseason turnover!

Coming soon: Comics and conventions

29 October 2009: Space opera on TV

This is my fifth and last blog post (for now) looking at the new genre television season by subgenre. I’ve noted before that within speculative fiction — which starts with the question “What if?” — supernatural conspiracy shows, vampire romances, and metahuman melodramas have been more popular lately than space opera. That’s too bad, because my some of first loves in science fiction were the late-1970s TV heroes of Buck Rogers and Battlestar Galactica (see above and reruns), as well as the novels of Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, and many others.

The recent success of Star Trek‘s cinematic reboot could be an early sign of the pendulum swinging back to rockets and ray guns. Not surprisingly, the best space opera on the air right now is the computer-animated Star Wars: Clone Wars. Loosely based on the Tartakovsky shorts that took place between Episode 2: Attack of the Clones and Episode 3: Revenge of the Sith, the pilot movie turned off some fans by focusing on young Padawan (Jedi apprentice) Ashoka Tano.

However, since then, I think that Clone Wars has done an excellent job of exploring and expanding various corners of George Lucas’ universe. It has humanized the clone troopers, showed how the Jedi knights are outmaneuvered by the cunning Sith, and demonstrated what Yoda described as the futility of war. Plus, Clone Wars has the blazing space and lightsaber battles, kid-friendly humor, and strange aliens we’ve come to expect from the Star Wars franchise.

I’m still on the fence about Stargate Universe. On the one hand, it’s part of the franchise established by the retro action movie and long-running Stargate SG1. On the other hand, the large conflict-ridden ensemble, dark and shaky cinematography, and focus on survival over heroism are more in the style of Battlestar Galactica: the Plan or Flash Forwardthan I’d prefer.

We’ll see how the major cast and crew changes coming to Doctor Who will affect that British time-travel franchise. I’ve enjoyed its mix of space opera, pseudohistorical swashbuckling, and alien horrors from the Jon Pertwee incarnation through Tom Baker and David Tennant, and I’m willing to give Matt Smith, the eleventh eponymous Time Lord, a shot. Spin-offs include the more adult-themed Torchwood,
the adolescent-aimed Sarah Jane Adventures, and the dubious reboot of K-9
and Friends. Have a Happy Halloween!