MightyGodKing photoshops again… This time, only Star Trek novels! I think I finally understand why the Thrawn trilogy covers are so awful… Someone was looking at all those Next Generation books as a model.
McIntyre on writing Star Trek tie-ins
Author Vonda McIntyre writes about her experience with Star Trek novels at Book View Cafe. It draws some interesting responses at Metafilter, including a lengthy one from John Scalzi.
McIntyre is not well-loved among Star Wars EU fans – her one book in this franchise, 1994’s The Crystal Star, is a regular on worst-of lists. (And let’s face it, we all overuse the Waru jokes.) But her post is certainly worth reading, and an interesting look at the early days of tie-in fiction.
Wacky merchandise cross-fandom special: Scent is Star Trek’s latest frontier
It’s not exactly the Dr. Manhattan condom or even the Force Trainer, but J.J. Abrams’ Trek movie does have some serious WTFery going on in the merchandising department, entering the realm of fragrance:
“Tiberius,” in honor of James Kirk’s middle name; “Pon Far,” touted as the Klingon version of “Passion”; and “Red Shirt,” named after the poor, red-shirted souls who never survive the episode.
A Red Shirt fragance, because there’s nothing quite like the smell of fail in the morning, huh? (And pon farr is Vulcan, not Klingon.) They’re not the first media property to branch out: Twilight did get there (and sued!) first. Still, Trek does seem like a reach.
Of course, should it be successful as more than an internet laughingstock and Lucasfilm chose to peruse this new market for Star Wars, there is really only one possible choice for a theme.
Superbowl spots: Trek, G.I. Joe & Transformers
These have ‘deliberate leak’ written all over them, so I’m fairly confident they’ll hang around at least through noon. The Youtube versions are gone, but TrailerAddict has these three and more besides. Enjoy! (Star Trek above, G.I. Joe and Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen below.)
I see your Trek and make it relevant
A very interesting Q&A with JJ Abrams about the upcoming Star Trek movie.
He’s still trying to find a way to explain how he’s going to keep the original fans happy while keeping casual moviegoers entertained.
At least he appreciates that he’s never going to make the nitpickers happy. There’s just a whole level of Trekdom that no one will ever win over unless The Great Bird rises again. (And probably not even then.)
Keep boldly going, JJ! (via)
Catchup: Holiday weekend link parade
Star Wars: People seemed really excited about the Battlefront III Sith Obi-Wan concept. I’m underwhelmed. Slightly more interesting is this Vader gas mask, which is the first piece revealed from a new round of The Vader Project.
- Battlestar Galactica: Interviews with the final cylon and Friday night’s decoy/casualty.
- Star Trek: Sci Fi Wire has 15 things you might now know about Khan Noonien Singh.
- Trivia: The day jobs of science fiction writers.
- Lists: The 15 greatest science fiction movies of the 70’s.
Ricardo Montalban off to the next great journey
The man who brought us Khan lives no more. Ricardo Montalban passed away yesterday morning at the age of 88.
CJ honors the passing of a great contributor to the geek world, from his roles as Star Trek’s Khan, to movies including Naked Gun and Spy Kids, and of course Fantasy Island. There are also many CJ’ers who are fans of the series Kim Possible which he contributed to recently.
Raise a glass of Romulan ale and toast farewell with us!
Shock and Awe: The 50 best special effects
Den of Geek’s top fifty movie special effects shots is a hell of a list. It willingly embraces all eras, movies that you might not expect (Hitchcock?!?) and hell, I think I learned a thing or two. (And all the scenes have a video. That’s some serious dedication.) It probably goes without saying that A New Hope and Return of the Jedi get entries.
Plus I’ll take any excuse to lead off with Harryhausen.
They also have a list of the 24 worst special effects of all time, which includes that horrible Special Edition Jabba scene. (Which I still hold is worse than Han shooting first.)
Majel Barrett, First Lady of Star Trek, beams up…
Majel Barret Roddenberry, Star Trek actor and wife of Trek creator Gene Roddenberry, passed away on Thursday of leukemia at the age of 76. Known for her roles as Nurse Christine Chapel in the Original Series, Lwaxana Troi in The Next Generation, and the voice of the ship’s computer (of nearly all Starfleet and Federation vessels) in all the series and films of the franchise, including the upcoming JJ Abrams reboot.
Majel Barret on Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki.
Jawa’s note: I met Majel Barrett at a Star Trek convention in 1993, and though I really didn’t know who she was or who Lwaxana Troi was (not much of a Trek fan back then), she was really sweet to me.
Don’t call it a comeback
The Los Angeles Times took a look at the glut of Hollywood genre remakes/revivals this weekend, and Star Wars gets a mention due to The Clone Wars. Star Trek and Battlestar Galactica – among others – also share the spotlight.