Fahrenheit 451Graphic Novel

NPR had a good story last night by correspondent Lynn Neary about Reimagining 'Fahrenheit 451' As A Graphic Novel (4 min 40 sec). The adaption has Ray Bradbury's endorsement, though how it can capture the nuance of the original novel is hard to imagine. And as they note in the course of the report, it's somewhat ironic that the novel Fahrenheit 451 is being turned into a comic book given that in the dystopian world it imagines books are banned but comic books and porno mags are proliferate. When you consider the hoopla over ComicCon to the deafening silence surrounding Readercon it gives that aspect of the novel added relevance.

C-Chute

From the Old Time Radio show X Minus One here's an adaptation of one of Isaac Asimov's famous short stories, originally published in the October 1951 issue of Galaxy Magazine.

C-Chute (MP3 13 MB)

Conan O’Brien's anime voice-over

A few nights ago Conan O’Brien and second banana Andy Richter dropped by the Bang Zoom! studios and did some zany anime voice-over work.

War Of The Worlds: Goliath

Heavy Metal looks set to cash in on the popularity of Steampunk with the upcoming film War Of The Worlds: Goliath.

War of the Worlds: Goliath

"Heat rays, steam-powered battle Tripods, souped up biplane and triplane fighters, a 1,500-foot long, armored battle Zeppelin and a re-imagined steampunk New York City are some of the striking visuals that are being brought to life in this epic production."

There's something in the American psyche that can't stand the idea of alien invaders being defeated by Nature instead of by Yankee might. Right after H. G. Wells' original novel, The War of the Worlds, was published there appeared an unauthorized sequel, Edison's Conquest of Mars, which saw Americans launching a counter-attack and giving those damned aliens what for.

Needless to say this completely misses the point of Wells' novel which put the shoe on the other foot and dramatized what it would be like for the dominate world powers to be the victims of imperialist aggression, rather than the perpetrators.

And I think it's not without significance that this new movie features not the scientist/inventor Edison but the cowboy/soldier Teddy Roosevelt. So much of what passes for science fiction is just military fiction with sf trappings added to try and give its played-out plots an illusion of novelty.

So this new movie may end up being entertaining, but I suspect that it won't be much more than that. I'll have to wait and see. In any event, for substantive steampunk there's always Alan Moore's The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen.

Marvel Anime

Marvel has struck a deal with Madhouse to release OVAs of some of its superheroes.



Looks promising. I just wish they'd do the same thing with some popular sf/f titles. Like maybe an anime version of Elric...

Fly Me To The Moon

Form the Old Time Radio show Dimension X comes the radio adaption of George Pal's curious 1950 film Destination Moon (6.25 MP3).

The film itself puts more emphasis on scientific realism than entertainment, resulting in what amounts to a technicolor docu-drama. It's an interesting glimpse into how people envisioned a trip to the moon years before it happened. If you want to watch it just head on over to The Classic Science Fiction Channel.

Evening Star

by Edgar Allan Poe

'Twas noontide of summer,
And mid-time of night;
And stars, in their orbits,
Shone pale, thro' the light
Of the brighter, cold moon,
'Mid planets her slaves,
Herself in the Heavens,
Her beam on the waves.
I gazed awhile
On her cold smile;
Too cold—too cold for me—
There pass'd, as a shroud,
A fleecy cloud,
And I turned away to thee,
Proud Evening Star,
In thy glory afar,
And dearer thy beam shall be;
For joy to my heart
Is the proud part
Thou bearest in Heaven at night,
And more I admire
Thy distant fire,
Than that colder, lowly light.