Earth, 2147. The legacy of the Metal Wars, where man fought machines—and machines won. Bio-Dreads — monstrous creations that hunt down human survivors... and digitize them!
In 1987, before he created Babylon 5, J. Michael Straczynski was a writer for
Captain Power and the Soldiers of the Future, a live-action sci-fi show for kids. 24 episodes were produced. Straczynski wrote or co-wrote 14 of them, including multi-episode plot arcs. A
line of interactive toys brought the battle into kids’ living rooms, and
Captain Power was also one of the very first shows on television to feature computer animation in every episode. But in an attempt to appeal to both children and the adults who watched with them, the campy show included some concepts and scenes critics deemed too violent for children and lasted only a single season in syndication.
The full run of the show has now been uploaded to Youtube. [more inside]
posted by zarq
on Apr 1, 2012 -
28 comments
In this time of corrupt politics, police brutality, media dereliction, and increasingly vicious culture wars, there's perhaps no graphic novel more relevant today than the brilliant and blackly funny
Transmetropolitan.
Created by Warren Ellis back in 1997 and inspired by prescient sci fi novel
Bug Jack Barron, the series covers the work of
gonzo journalist, vulgar misanthrope, and all-around magnificent bastard
Spider Jerusalem in a
sprawling futuristic vision of New York so chaotically advanced that humans splice genes with alien refugees, matter decompilers are as common as microwaves, and a new religion is invented every hour.
As a callous Nixonian thug nicknamed
The Beast prepares for his re-election to the presidency, a primary battle heats up between a virulent racist and a charismatic senator whose
rictus grin masks some disturbing realities. When Jerusalem delves into
the machinations of the race, he breaks into a web of conspiracies that threaten the future of the country -- a problem only he, his
"filthy assistants," and the power of
intrepid journalism can defeat.
More: Read the first issue (or
three) -
browse images from
the new artbook -
Tor's read-along blog (
another) - Jerusalem's
touching report on cryogenic "Revivals" -
dozens of original sketches and
sample pages -
timeline -
quotes
posted by Rhaomi
on Dec 17, 2011 -
55 comments
SpaceCollective. Where forward thinking terrestrials exchange ideas and information about the state of the species, their planet and the universe, living the lives of science fiction today. A growing number of universities, architecture and design schools are
conducting projects on this site. Hundreds of art treasures, educational videos and narratives are found in their
galleries. Every SpaceCollective member is provided with a
personal time capsule, preserving their contributions for the edification of each other as well as future times and beings.
posted by netbros
on Apr 7, 2009 -
5 comments
Did you grow up anticipating sports where death would be likely, if not certain? Almost certainly played by convicts, possibly with robot limbs? And which would be even more likely to have chainsaws and flamethrowers not usually found in the sports of today?
Those We Left Behind’s look at Future-sports of the past, in
videogames,
movies and
comics is for you!
posted by Artw
on Sep 11, 2008 -
41 comments
Parallel universes Alternate universes may exist besides our own in some ghostly manner. Various science-fiction series explore
parallel universes, but what do serious physicists think? Hugh Everett III's doctoral thesis outlines a controversial theory in which the universe at every instant branches into
countless parallel worlds. Physicist Andrei Linde's theory of
self-reproducing universes implies that new universes are being created all the time through a budding process. Stephen Hawking's
quantum cosmology also suggests the possibility of other universes connected by wormholes. Some scientists feel that the famous photon
double slit experiments proves the existence of parallel universes in which a photon from one universe interacts with a photon from another. Black hole theory suggests that black holes may be portals to
parallel universes.
Science-fiction stories about parallel universes always delight the mind. Two of my favorite SF novels on parallel universes are Heinlein's
Job and
Number of the Beast. Several others intrigue me, such as
The Neoreality Series,
Diaspora, and
Parallelities. Science books on the subject include a
famous book by David Deutsch.
Do you have any favorite books on parallel universes or parallel realities, fiction or nonfiction?
What do you think? No doubt, scientists and
science-fiction authors will continue to explore the concept in the decades to come.
posted by Morphic
on Oct 21, 2002 -
64 comments
