The Golden Age of Space

This is one of those topics that make me smile - the Golden Age of Space. This concept was conceived back when people had little to no understanding of the real rigors of space travel and scientific understanding was poor. Other worlds bred incredible cultures, a rich variety of alien civilizations grew but required human input and empathy, and the flora and fauna ripe for hunting and civilizing influences. Little did humanity actually realize that space was disease and danger wrapped up in darkness and silence.

However, the ideas that came about from space being a fun way to spend an afternoon brought about some wonderful titles from people who imagined that Alpha Centauri was no less difficult to get to than Johannesburg. And although the bulk of these titles fell out of favor, they do tend to come back as retro-appreciation and even in some cases, modernized to catch up to our more cynical times.

JOHN CARTER - by Edgar Rice Burroughs, and brought back to life by Alan Moore in the second volume of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen. He's a good ole Southerner who has been transported to Barsoom (the name Martians give their own planet). Because of the lighter gravity of Mars, he is much stronger and tougher than its native inhabitants - whether they are the hulking many-armed savage green Martians or the naked and voluptuous randy red Martians with whom Carter tends to mate, go figure. What is cool about the John Carter stories is not only were they written by Burroughs to begin with, but the fact that he took the time to expand upon the Barsoom universe - developing many races, cultures, and habitats that flesh out the Martian experience despite being as fantastical and grounded in science as a H.P. Lovecraft story. There is always talks of a John Carter movie and it could be fair to say that Avatar by James Cameron is inspired by it. John McTiernan and Jon Favreau have made attempts, but it looks like Andrew Stanton (Finding Nemo and Wall-E) is the current option holder. If that's the case, then John Carter will be a CG flick.

GULLIVAR JONES - I would never have heard of him if it weren't for the fact that he too was included in the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen as a fighting compatriot for Carter on the battlefields of Mars. Sort of like Carter's much less successful kid brother, Jones didn't always get the girl or defeat his enemies. In this sense, he could have been developed as a much more complex character if anyone felt the need to take his stories and develop them further. Roy Thomas and Marvel Comics gave it a stab (they probably could not get the rights for John Carter) in the 1970s but that didn't last long. It was only Alan Moore who brought him back and only as a bit player.

FLASH GORDON - I think most people remember blonde football player god Sam Jones wearing that red tanktop fighting Max Von Sydow, who himself was majorly slumming it as Ming the Merciless to a soundtrack by Queen. Actually, I think everything was red in that movie. First published in 1934, there was a TV show broadcast in 2008 on the Sci Fi channel which thankfully didn't last long. The porn movie, Flesh Gordon, probably nailed (no pun intended) the idea of Flash Gordon the best - garish, cheap-ish, kind of racist, but overall something that you absolutely could not take seriously. However, there is a current Flash Gordon title written by Brendan Deneen which understands the overall Flash Gordon sensibility probably should only exist on the pages of comics.

BUCK ROGERS - most of us probably remember this as the Gil Gerard TV show where everyone wore skin tight white flightsuits and that stupid robot Twikki walking around with no purpose whatsoever - the show itself was a rip-off of Flash Gordon. He was originally created in 1929 by John Flint Dille and was named after Dille's dog. Conveniently falling into a coma, former air corps veteran Rogers wakes up in the 25th century to fight for advanced civilization humanity with some 20th century gusto against the "Mongol" hordes, which again makes for some pretty nasty racist metaphors - particularly as Buck Rogers grew in popularity during the Cold War versus the Red Menace. Dynamite Comics brought him back in 2009 with a completely new and unique visual style as part of the current theme of bringing space retro-back.

ADAM STRANGE - created by Gardner Fox in 1958, Adam Strange was DC Comics' version of John Carter, with similar origins but instead of Barsoom, the planet in question was Rann. He had his peak in the Cold War with simplistic stories but was brought back in a big way in 2005 during the Rann - Thanagar War, a precursor to the even larger Infinite Crisis crossover event. He was updated, given a real personality, and made a staple character in the DC scheme of things - eventually teaming up with Animal Man and Starfire of the Teen Titans against elements of Jack Kirby's New Gods.

AETHERIC MECHANICS, MINISTRY OF SPACE and IGNITION CITY - it seems a little wierd that Warren Ellis jumped on this genre but he did indeed with these three titles, starting with 1) Aetheric Mechanics, a steam punk space-age Victorian adventure starring Sherlocke Holmes and James Watson, 2) Ministry of Space, which ran in the mid-2000s and 3) Ignition City, which is still ongoing. I include a panel page of Aetheric Mechanics rather than a cover shot as its the inside artwork that is more impressive.

I'll focus on Ministry of Space and Ignition City as they were less a presentation of ideas like Aetheric Mechanics and more actual narratives - Ignition City focuses on pastiches of characters of Dan Dare, 2001, Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, and many more source materials. Basically, Earth has closed off space travel and its many astronauts and space explorers are now vagrants drinking their lives away in the last remaining space park, trying to figure out why it all happened and cut off from the truth. In contrast, Ministry of Space shows the high age of space exploration from the UK's point of view - as it races to the reaches of astral colonization and imperialism against other superpowers.

Fables of Deconstruction Part 1 - Planetary

I may revisit this posting in the future, Planetary is one of those titles that like Watchmen, is so multi-layered and referential that it makes it extremely difficult to nail down all the nuances in one sitting. But in the meantime, for those who don't know - Planetary is one of Warren Ellis' two magnum opii (along with Transmetropolitan) that put him on the map. It's a metaphorical sci fi opera with enough comic Golden and Silver Age references that the only comparison is Alan Moore's League of Extraordinary Gentlemen (of which I will be covering soon enough). The fact that it's so well-written and hooks you into the mystery of comic history is a testament to the writing skills of Mr. Ellis and it makes up for some of his more lacklustre efforts.

On the surface, Planetary is a shadowy organization that dubs itself as "Archeologists of the Impossible", finding the secret history of humanity - whether it includes giant monsters, superhumans, alien visits, magical phenomena, bizarre cults, extra-dimensional crossovers, etc etc - ie., everything that takes place in modern sci fi and fantasy. If it existed, it's the job of Elijah Snow, Jakita Wagner and the Drummer to find it, log it, and if unable to use for the betterment of humanity, keep it hidden from those who would use it for evil gain.

But that's the surface, and it's what is happening underneath that truly creates all the complexities that make this a difficult entry. For below the cover story is the tale of the superhumans that have always existed. Those gifted individuals whose powers were the wellspring of most of the great works of fiction: pastiches of Fu Manchu, Tarzan, Doc Savage, the Shadow, Sherlock Holmes, Dracula, John Carter, and others famous in history or even contemporary, like Vertigo's John Constantine and Chow Yun Fat's Hard Boiled cop Tequila. Ellis touched on these icons of fiction in another title, The Authority, with the character of Jenny Sparks who shares this bloodline - but here we see that these people were the beginning of the secret history and a great conflict continues between those who are their descendants, and those who covet the title.

Like I said, I can't even begin to cover the narrative and the themes that play themselves out. But take my word for it, it's a long series that continues to this day but worth the time spent.

Crossover Works of Warren Ellis

Despite being more known for Planetary and Transmetropolitan (and to a certain degree, G.I. Joe Resolute), it's actually Warren Ellis' smaller works that got optioned for movies and television. No doubt because the story arcs are more self-contained or in one series case, the whole thing was written as television scripts in mind.

RED:

Paul Moses is a retired CIA agent who specialized in "foreign acquisitions", which is spook shorthand for "assassination" who is quietly and happily retired and living a secluded life where the most exciting thing he opts to do is speak to his Agency handler about family and other banal things. However, his record of service is still on file at the CIA and the new incoming Director is given a summary of actions. Typically as per any political nominee without real experience, he freaks out and immediately demands Moses be killed to prevent any political fallout. A team of assassins visits who he promptly dispatches. Once he recognizes them and clocks on what is happening, he goes berserk and sets off for vengeance with extreme prejudice against his former employers. A solid revenge shoot-em-up tale that shows just how dark the human soul can get. Although the writing is sparse, the artwork by Cully Hamner is stunning as it is concise.

The movie will apparently be starring Bruce Willis as Paul Moses, and directed by Robert Schwentke.

GLOBAL FREQUENCY:

Are you on the Global Frequency? One of the more high concept ideas of comics, Global Frequency was written in episodic format, perfect for a television show. The idea is that a private covert intelligence operation solves the world's hidden problems. With 1,001 operatives at its disposal, the lead characters of Miranda Zero and central operator Aleph can call upon any one of them to take on an assignment. Each operative is a master of his or her field, be it a special tactic, personal skill, science or feat of engineering. They run from ex-soldiers, scientists, thieves, professors, athletes, police, spies, or those who defy description. Each assignment is equally hard to describe - a village in Norway that has succumbed to the arrival of an angel, an alien virus hits New York city and spreads like an idea, old Cold War weapons that have degraded and posed a threat. One case involves a Russian ex-Spetznaz man who has the ability to generate worm holes and because he took part in quantum experiments long ago, is connected to a nuclear device in Siberia that when detonated there, ground zero is wherever he is standing. In this case his retirement choice of San Francisco. All assignments and operatives are non-governmental despite being G8 funded - for if a government officially acknowledges any of it, they are also automatically responsible for most of the problems. The final story where a global population reduction device from the 1960s in orbit goes awry is particularly heinous. A combination of the X-Files, the old 1980s TV show Masquerade, and Mission: Impossible.

Each story was done by a different artist, but the covers were spectacular - each one a composite by Brian Wood (creator DMZ and Supermarket). They capture the sophistication of the writing and the grass-roots flair of each story. While not every story works, as some merely degrade in depictions of ultra-violence (one story even only focuses on an exceptionally brutal hand to hand fight), the ones involving high concept ideas are truly worth reading.

There WAS a television pilot made, with Michelle Forbes (Ensign Ro Laren of Star Trek: TNG) as Miranda Zero and Aimee Garcia as Aleph. However, WB didn't pick it up for whatever reason they had at the time. I can imagine that the special effects and location shooting were probably pretty cost-prohibitive. Global Frequency works best as an episode-based TV show, maybe even as a mini-series as although there is no central narrative, there are far too many ideas and abilities to create a movie out of it.

The many incarnations of Batman via Warren Ellis' Planetary

This is the first post of the Spacetime Dossier, and what better way to herald the birth of a fairly ambitious blog than to focus on the history of Batman from his different visual incarnations! You may ask why I find this interesting - in truth, I love comic book/sci fi/fantasy history and can talk shit with comic book shop staff for hours on topics as arcane as...well, arcane as comic book topics can get. So the goal of this blog is to visually chart the incarnations of a fantasy icon,cultural figure or just outright oddity as it jumps through the myriad of incarnations through history or media.

One of the best visual representatives is how Batman has looked throughout the ages - and a special edition of Planetary by Warren Ellis has the intrepid "Archeologists of the Impossible" tracking the secret history of their world (kind of like mixing the X-Files with the Fantastic Four) going to their Gotham City to track down a wanted fugitive with quantum shaping powers. Now in their world, there is no Batman. But thanks to the out-of-control abilities of their quarry, they find themselves facing different versions of Bruce Wayne as how different writers and artists have interpreted him over the last 50 years or so. You can't help but smile at the current version of Batman that you would see written by 1) Grant Morrison or Jeph Loeb, grim, intolerant and paranoid, 2) fascist and monstrously brutal a la Frank Miller's The Dark Night Returns, 3) the patient and lawful Batman of Neal Adams of the 1970s, the one comic book geeks probably remember the most fondly, 4) the gun-welding original version by the creator of Batman, Bob Kane, and even 5) Adam West, complete with pudge and Anti-Female Villain Spray. Lastly, I think the artist (John Cassaday) decided to throw in his own version of Batman, as is his right.

I'll do a follow-up of how people interpret Batman in real life in terms of what Batman costumes there are out there another day. But in the meantime, if you want to read this story, it's a real catch, the writing is top-notch (come on, it's written by Warren Ellis!) and it's full title is Planetary/Batman: Night on Earth