Once Upon a Geek

As usual, I will be attending the upcoming Dragon*Con convention.  If you’re not familiar with it, Dragon*Con is the largest multi-media, popular culture convention focusing on science fiction and fantasy, gaming, comics, literature, art, music, and film in the US.  Dragon*Con 2008 will be held Labor Day weekend (August 29 - September 1, 2008) in Atlanta, GA.

Several of my buddies from THE UNIQUE GEEK will also be there.  We’ve started a Dragon*Con countdown over a THE UNIQUE GEEK website.  The countdown is basically daily lists of things to keep in mind and pictures from Dragon*Con’s past.  Check it out!

And if you’re thinking about going to Dragon*Con, drop me a line! 

I recently read the trade paperback of Sean Wang’s “Runners”. Wow, this was a great sci-fi comic! The story chronicles the misadventures of reluctant smuggler Roka Nostaco and his ragtag alien crew as they struggle to complete hazardous runs through outlaw space and against all odds. I agree completely with James Mishler’s review from Comic Buyer’s Guide, “This is what Star Wars comic books should be like: fresh stories, living characters, non-stop banter, action and adventure.”

I stumbled across “Runners” in a recent Diamond Previews issue. Previews featured an ad for the trade paperback along with a recommendation. The art looked great, so I gave it a shot. This was one gamble that paid off. The illustrations in this book are top-notch! Sean Wang got his big break years ago drawing some of the Tick comic books. Obviously that training paid off here. Wang really has a grasp of body language and expressions. He’s also bursting with creativity. In regard to alien design, it seemed that Wang’s pencil was channeling George Lucas’ creative energy (on one of George’s good days). On top of that, he has a good grasp of pacing, panel design, background detail, and incredibly clean lines. After I read each issue in the trade paperback, I would flip back just to look over the art and make sure I didn’t miss any brilliant details.

In addition to great art, it’s a solid space romp about smugglers doing their best to complete a job. The main characters run into roadblocks along the way that make for an interesting story. The banter is great; each character has a distinct personality; and you really get caught up in the cinematographic feeling of each action scene.

This first trade paperback is called, “Runners: Bad Goods” and is available from Sean Wang’s website, or your local comic book shop can probably order it for you. The next mini-series still awaiting publication is called, “Runners: The Big Snow Job“. It’s scheduled to be published by Archaia Studios Press, but they’ve suffered some delays recently. If you want to see some preview pages of the fantastic artwork, there are several on Sean Wang’s website.

I can’t recommend this series enough. Give it a try! If you don’t want to commit the money, contact me. Maybe I’ll loan you my copy!

Looking for some background noise while I sorted through paperwork Saturday night, I turned on a Sci-Fi channel.  Being Saturday night, they were of course running their monster/creature movie of the week.  This time it was Sabertooth.  A TV movie made back in 2002.  It was pretty predictable for Sci-Fi: wild creature on the loose, young people in an isolated area, a rising body count, and the requisite hot blond. 

The reason I thought this was blog-worthy was just a split second of footage in the beginning.  The very first shot of the movie was an establishing shot of the laboratory where the sabertooth is being held.  The shot of the laboratory was actually stock footage from the old “V” TV series.  It was specifically an exterior shot of the “Science Frontiers” building, even with the sign and logo in the foreground.  “Science Frontiers” in “V” was Nathan Bates company; also the place where Julie Parrish worked.  If I hadn’t been watching the “V” TV series recently, I don’t think I would have noticed.  I checked the web and apparently I’m not the only person to spot this.

I guess I’m just surprised by this.  I suppose the Sabertooth filmmaker needed an exterior shot of the laboratory and using stock footage was the easiest way to do it.  However, seeing something from “V” just took me right out of the story.  After that I just couldn’t completely engross myself in the movie.  Yeah, that’s it.  That MUST be the reason I couldn’t enjoy the film tremendously.  It couldn’t have anything to do with the horrible special effects, weak acting, or threadbare plot.   :)

In honor of the Doctor Who premier tonight on Sci-Fi, I thought I would post a fun image I put together a few years ago.  Interestingly enough, the gag still works since all three shows are still being shown on Friday nights.