The last survivor of an extinct intelligent alien race arrives on Earth and almost immediately finds himself enamored of the endlessly complex, less-evolved-but-still-so-admirably-hopeful denizens of the planet, and vows to dedicate his life to protecting them, allowing them to thrive and finally live up to their true potential as a species. Wait, who was I talking about again? Oh yeah, Superman...right? Or—wait, no, The Doctor? No, definitely Superman. I think. Man, I could have sworn that it was The Doctor...

But really, what’s the difference?

[Read more]

“A change in formatting—from Normal to Bold, for instance—indicates a change in universe.”

So begins the script for Constellations, a play by Nick Payne which received its world premiere last winter at London’s Royal Court Theatre. The play tells the story—or perhaps, more accurately, stories—of Marianne, a quantum physicist, and Roland, a bee-keeper, and their love (or perhaps not) across the multiverse. In one 65-minute act, we experience every possible iteration of their relationship—they meet at a party when Roland is still in a relationship, and just out of a really serious relationship, and married, and single; and their first date goes horribly, and pretty well, and also just kind of fizzles, and they sleep together for the first time, and they don’t but they continue to date; and so on. Every possibility plays out in front of us.

As Marianne explains on at least one version of one of their first date:

“Every choice, every decision you’ve ever and never made exists in an unimaginably vast ensemble of parallel universes […] Let’s say that ours really is the only universe that exists. There’s only one unique me and one unique you. If that were true, then there could only ever really be one choice. But if every possible future exists, then the decisions we do and don’t make will determine which of these futures we actually end up experiencing.”

[Read more]

Back in 1965, Marvel Comics decided to capitalize on the popularity of spy stories such as Danger Man, Man From U.N.C.L.E., and James Bond, and turned their grizzled WWII foot soldier Nick Fury into a one-eyed badass super spy and situated him as the new head of S.H.I.E.L.D. (which then stood for Supreme Headquarters, International Espionage, Law-Enforcement Division but has since come to stand for any other number of things, depending on the medium). Now as much as I would love to write a million words gushing over the trippy ’60s brilliance of Jim Steranko’s run on Nick Fury, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D., we’re here to talk about much more important things: crazy spy gadgets.

[Read more]

The first time I saw The Lawnmower Man was at my friend’s birthday party when I was about 10 years old. We were all pretty obsessed with the Super Nintendo video game inspired by the movie, and my friend’s mom was cool enough to not only let us all watch a rated R film, but it was also a sleepover where she rented a whole bunch of video game consoles for us to play on all night—including the topically relevant but sadly short-lived Virtual Boy. I’m pretty sure that was the first and only time that any of us actually played Virtual Boy, but whether that’s because the movie made us all terrified of virtual reality, or because the headpiece-goggle-console thing was incredibly uncomfortable to play, I can’t recall. But I do remember that it was pretty much the coolest movie ever, and virtual reality was totally awesome and it was going to change everything ‘cause it was so cool. Plus, the SNES video game had these neat VR scenes where you got to enter “virtual reality” even though it was still technically 16-bit graphics on a TV screen.

[Read more]

In the wake of the big “Marvel NOW!” relaunch, Marvel Comics’ resident mad genius Jonathan Hickman has taken over the reigns of Avengers—you remember, those guys from that movie?—and its sister (brother?) book, New Avengers. First exploding onto the comic book scene with The Nightly News in 2008 (which he both wrote and did the artwork for), Jonathan Hickman quickly established himself as a unique creative force, melding elements of infographics and epic poetry into his elaborate stories, with beautifully rendered charts and obsessively systematic plot complications. But there’s something about Hickman’s voice as a writer that stands out, an incredibly distinct pattern that I’ve noticed in his work that goes against many of the traditional rules of dramatic storytelling—or at least, the rules as I’ve learned them, according to Aristotle’s Poetics.

[Read more]

“And this his majesty will think we have reason to expect when he reflects that he is no more than the chief officer of the people, appointed by the laws, and circumscribed with definite powers, to assist in working the great machine of government erected for their use, and consequently subject to their superintendence.” - Thomas Jefferson

What if a superhero became the Mayor of New York City? That’s the central question at the heart of Brian K. Vaughan’s 50-issue maxi-series Ex Machina with artist Tony Harris, which tells the story of Mitchell Hundred, a former civil engineer who gains the ability to communicate with machines in a freak accident and is later elected to office after saving the second tower from going down on 9/11 (the series is very clearly set in an alternate reality, a detail which is integral to the plot). The series follows Hundred’s four years in office, and while it does feature plenty of superheroics in flashbacks to Hundred’s time as “The Great Machine” as well as the ongoing mystery of his powers, the central focus of the story is on Hundred’s career as a politician, and the trials and tribulations that he faces as the governing figure of the largest city in America.

[Read more. Spoilers ahead for a good chunk of the series.]

In SFF Onstage, we’ll be exploring the roots and representations of science fiction and fantasy elements in plays throughout history, focusing of the scripts and literature of the theatre, rather than specific productions or performances.

I’ll be totally honest with you: I had never actually heard of, much less read, RUR until I watched Joss Whedon’s kind-of-a-mess-but-totally-underappreciated Dollhouse. In the second season episode “Getting Closer,” Clyde 2.0 explains that the Rossum Corporation took their name from some obscure play. As a playwright who also works for one of the largest regional theaters in the country, this came as a surprise to me. A quick search lead me to Karel Capek’s RUR, or “Rossum’s Universal Robots.” The play had its premiere in Prague in 1921, and allegedly introduced the word “robot” into the vernacular (although words such as “automaton” and “android” had previously been used). It was also the first piece of science fiction television ever broadcast, in a 35-minute made-for-TV adaptation on the BBC in 1938.

[Read more]

Beginning in 2006, acclaimed comic scribe/chaos magician/occasional fictional character Grant Morrison embarked on an epic and ambitious Batman story that would take nearly seven years across several different comic book titles to complete. As with much of Morrison’s work, his extended run on Batman was full of several recurring motifs, but perhaps the most interesting throughline in this story has been the constant presence of Bat-analogs – wannabes and replacements, heroes who, by will or requirement, have attempted to become the Dark Knight themselves, and villains who have aspired to supplant him. Morrison uses this device to deconstruct the identity of the Dark Knight and explore precisely what it is that makes Bruce Wayne tick. What does he have that other heroes don’t? Why does this man of all people get to be the Batman?

[Read more]

With the Republican and Democratic National Conventions now behind us, we are officially thrust into the tumultuous midsts of the Presidential election season. For the next few weeks, it will consume our timelines, newsfeeds, hearts, and minds.

Or, maybe not. But either way, I think we can all agree that what we really need right now more than anything right is a man—or woman—who will stand up for us. Someone who represents our vision of America as it’s truly meant to be. Someone who can plant the seeds that will blossom into the luscious political fields of our dreams. Someone who will stomp out all remaining opposition and rule the galaxy with an iron fist. Someone we can believe in.

And so, without any further ado, I present you with my top 10 alternative choices for the 2012 U.S. Presidential election. What’s that? Oh, who cares that they’re all fictional. So is the rest of politics.

[Read more]

“Superman or Batman?” is the Red Sox vs. Yankees of the comic book world, a vicious rivalry between fans that has carried on for decades, with no end in sight. Both sides have their valid arguments, and both sides tend to feel pretty adamantly about whichever side of the issue they fall on (keeping it within the DC family, I guess that makes Blue Beetle the Mets). Personally, I’ve always been Team Batman. Dark, brooding, badass billionaire who used his vast resources to become pretty much the perfect the human specimen, a fact which he uses to wage a never ending war on crime? That beats a stuffy alien Boy Scout in red underoos with a matching cape any day. Superman’s a great archetype for deconstructing (and even that’s been overdone), but what fun is he on his own? There’s no dramatic tension when your protagonist is perfect and indestructible. Whereas other superheroes might fear for their loved ones should their secret identities be publicly revealed, Superman has a freaking ice fortress. Lois is in danger? I think she’s safe there. Problem solved!

[Read more]

Is there anything more science fictional, more fantastical, than rock’n’roll? From Puff the Magic Dragon to Ziggy Stardust, from Coheed & Cambria to the classical mythologies that inspire countless Heavy Metal subgenres (who needs Satan when you have Viking Power Metal?), rock’n’roll has often taken its cues from genre fiction, because only the larger-than-life worlds of science fiction and fantasy can compete with (and/or compliment) its larger-than-life bravado.

Naturally, because art imitates life imitates art and so on, it was only a matter of time before fiction started taking its cues from rock’n’roll in turn. Below are some of my (personal) favorite pop/rock groups from the realms of science fiction and fantasy (in no discernible order), whether it’s TV, comic books, film, or novels.

[Read more]