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>From cn577@cleveland.Freenet.Edu Sun May 23 13:45:37 1993
Copyright 1993, Cyberspace Vanguard Magazine
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| C Y B E R S P A C E |
| V A N G U A R D |
| News and Views of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Universe |
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| cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu Cyberspace Vanguard@1:157/564 |
| PO Box 25704, Garfield Hts., OH 44125 USA |
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| TJ Goldstein, Editor Sarah Alexander, Administrator |
| tlg4@po.cwru.edu au001@po.cwru.edu |
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Volume 1 May 20, 1993 Issue 4
The Mini Issue
------------------------------------------------------------------------
TABLE OF CONTENTS
--!1!-- Ramblings of a Deranged Editor
--!21-- DC Comics' Second Massacre: Batman's Crippling and why Editor
DENNY O'NEIL Thinks It's a Good Idea
--!3!-- From Space Opera to the Grateful Dead: LOIS MCMASTER BUJOLD on
Plot, Character, and Other Things on the Way to Perfection
--!4!-- Cancellation Time: How YOU Can Use this Medium to Help Save
QUANTUM LEAP and THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES
--!5!-- AND I HAVE TO ADMIT, THE MAN LOOKS GOOD STANDING NEXT TO
PUPPETS: Joel Hodgson Steps Down From MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER
3000 Role
--!6!-- The Old Comics Curmudgeon
--!7!-- News and SF Calendar: What's Coming Up in the Near Future
--!8!-- SPOILERS AHOY -- Your guide to the rest of the season for
THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES and TIME TRAX
--!9!-- Administrivia
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!1!-- Ramblings of a Deranged Editor
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Why the mini-issue?
Simple. It's because what started out as a little thing to
entertain a few people has grown to something beyond any of our wildest
dreams. In just six months CV has gone from a couple of interviews and
snippets posted in a few places to a virtually complete source of news
read literally around the world on perhaps a dozen networks, never mind
local BBS's. We even have a section of our own on the Free-Net, and
hope to be on the Usenet backbone before long. The volume of
information processed is mind-boggling, and we decided we needed help.
Earlier in the month e-mail subscribers received a list of things we
need help with, and we've been slowly but surely getting reorganized.
We hope to be in full form both electronically and on paper by the end
of the summer.
If you didn't get the e-mail appeal, it's not too late. Just drop
us a note at any of the addresses in the masthead and ask for writers'
guidelines or let us know you're interested and we'll tell you what
we're looking for. No skill is too insignificant.
In the meantime, however, here's what's in this issue. The
suspense has finally ends in the Batman controversy, and DENNY O'NEIL
explains why he thought it would be a good idea to so drastically alter
the Gotham City landscape. Novelist LOIS MCMASTER BUJOLD talks about
what she looks for in her own writing. We have a news flash on the
future of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000. Then, of course, there's the
"reader participation" feature. It's coming down to the wire for
QUANTUM LEAP and THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES. Here's what you
can do to help save them, whether you are in New York or Hong Kong. Our
resident Comics Curmudgeon is back, wondering why comic book companies
want him to feel his age. Then there's just a little bit of news,
including the beginnings of the Calendar, a feature we hope will grow as
time goes by, and Spoilers Ahoy, which in sports a real treat -- all
upcoming episodes for YOUNG INDY and TIME TRAX. (Actually, in terms of
size, it's not really "mini." I just doesn't have all the regular
features.
So let us know what you think, whether you'd like to help out or
just let us know what direction you think we should be taking. As
always we can be reached at
cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu (comments, questions, FREE subscriptions)
xx133@cleveland.freenet.edu (submissions, news, maintenance)
Cyberspace Vanguard@1:157/564 (FidoNet)
CVANGUARD (Delphi)
or
Cyberspace Vanguard
PO Box 25704
Garfield Hts., OH 44125
USA
The paper version is on hold temporarily while we regroup, hence no
subscription rates this issue. (No checks have been or will be cashed
until it gets up and running again.)
WORLD WATCH: We have received letters from readers in: the United
States, Canada, Costa Rica, Argentina, Brazil, England, Republic of
Ireland, Netherlands, France, Spain, Belgium, Germany, Malta, Sweden,
Iceland, Italy, South Africa, Hong Kong, Austria, Australia, New
Zealand, Norway, and from one reader who says that Norway is nice, but
he lives in OSLO. As always, if you're reading this somewhere else,
particularly via FidoNet file request or local BBS, please drop us a
line and let us know.
REPOSTING: Cyberspace Vanguard may be reposted anywhere IN ITS
ENTIRETY, with all headers and warnings intact. News items may be
reposted as long as credit is given. For interviews and articles you
must contact us so that we may obtain permission from the authors, to
whom all rights revert upon publication. (Articles with no byline were
written by TJ Goldstein.) We would also appreciate knowing where you're
reposting, but it's not a necessity.
Cyberspace Vanguard is registered with the United States Copyright
Office.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!21-- DC Comics' Second Massacre: Batman's Crippling and why Editor
DENNY O'NEIL Thinks It's a Good Idea
------------------------------------------------------------------------
(Denny O'Neil's appearance at MARCON 28 was co-sponsored by Central City
Comics, East Main St., Columbus, OH (614) 231-1620 4347)
"You take writing courses and they tell you, 'write what you
know,'" Denny O'Neil told fans at MARCON 28 in Columbus Ohio. "Well, I
have never in my life hung out on a rooftop at midnight waiting for a
maniacal serial killer to show up so I could punch him. Not even once."
So given this lack of experience, Mr. O'Neil thought that perhaps
this philosophy was nonsense -- after all, he'd been writing and editing
the BATMAN comic books for years, and sitting on rooftops occupies a
great deal of the Dark Knight's time. On the other hand, he did have a
lot of trouble writing for DC Comics' other megastar, Superman. "I
finally figured out that it has to do with fantasies. I've never
fantasized about being omnipotent. I've never fantasized about being
God, which is what Superman is, in effect. I've fantasized about human
perfectibility, about running the marathon in less than two hours. I
never would. Nobody ever would. But it's within the realm of human
possibility. So it has to do, I think, with dreams, which characters
you can relate to, and which characters you can't."
Mr. O'Neil was nice enough to give us a bit of time that evening in
the lobby of the hotel, though by then it was getting late, and he
looked like a rooftop might be a little more peaceful. The BATMAN comic
books are in the midst of "Knightfall," a major plot running through all
of them which has some of he same feel as the recent "Doomsday" story,
in which Superman was killed. Aside from wanting to know what happens
(we'll get to that), fans were asking the obvious question at the panel,
and he looked like it was far from the first time he'd heard it.
"Of COURSE it's a marketing ploy," he told them. If there's one
thing you can say about him, it's that he doesn't pull any punches.
"We're in the business of selling comic books. We're in the business of
entertaining as many people as we can. Maybe when I was a long haired
hippie I would have found that reprehensible, but look at it from a
slightly different angle. Every storyteller wants to tell his story to
as many people as possible. We are taking this character, as a
character, and putting him through hell. But that's one of the things
fiction writers do. It's what drama's about. I think people are
responding to the drama, and that pleases me a lot. They're not
responding to marketing ploys or stunts."
But ... "'Knightfall' ends with Batman 500," which will have an
"enhanced cover." Which, of course, brings us back to the subject of
media hype and, as one reader put it, preying on a financially strapped
public. "I don't remember ever putting a gun to anyone's head and
saying 'you've got to by all four covers," he countered in the relative
quiet of the lobby, referring to the debut of LEGENDS OF THE DARK
KNIGHT, which sported four different colored covers. "At least at DC,
we have provided an economical alternative to every enhanced cover. I
mean, those are for the collector's market. If I were a reader, I don't
know that I'd be buying them, but we can't begrudge the people for whom
that is important. Also, we only do it when we're trying to call
attention to a special story. We don't ever do it indiscriminately.
"Sure, Batman 500 is going to have an enhanced cover. You bet!
It's the 500th issue of the magazine. It's also going to have a new
artist and a major story point and a new costume, so SURE we do cover
enhancements, but we always have a newsstand edition. Likewise bagged
editions. I just have a lot trouble wrapping my head around those
objections. You don't have to buy those things to get the story, but if
they're important to you we provide them. Again, though, only when
there's something special inside." The costume change is the only one
in Batman's history (unless you count Julie Schwartz adding an oval
around the bat in the 1960's), and the new artist is Mike Manley. "Jim
Aparo will do half the book, then at a logical break in the story, Mike
will pick it up. It's a graceful way to make the transition. It's also
to give Jim some of the royalties on what looks like it will be a
tremendous seller because he's a great guy and a terrific artist."
The rumors are flying. "I haven't heard anything that was
completely true. I've heard rumors that were 70% true, but nobody's
guessed it exactly. The most prevalent rumor is that Batman is going to
die. No, no, a thousand times no. Batman is NOT going to die. Nobody
is going to die. Well, nobody major, anyway."
That was three weeks ago, and when we asked him about the rumor
that Bane was going to cripple Batman his face took on a sort of trapped
quality. He refused to either confirm or deny it then, but a few days
ago he did confirm it to Mike Sangiacomo of the Cleveland Plain Dealer,
explaining that Azreal was going to take over as Batman and that Bruce
Wayne would be in a wheelchair for at least six months, having to "prove
that he really is the world's greatest detective" while letting other
costumed heroes do the legwork as he tries to track down the villains
who have kidnapped the father of Time Drake (Robin) and Bruce's love
interest (who also happens to be the one doctor who might be able to
restore his mobility. What a coincidence.)
After "Knightfall" ends in BATMAN 500, "Knightquest will split into
two parts, with "The Search" in BATMAN and DETECTIVE and "The Quest" in
JUSTICE LEAGUE TASK FORCE, SHADOW OF THE BAT and LEGENDS OF THE DARK
KNIGHT. (CATWOMAN will spin off into her own monthly book from one of
the last issues of "Knightfall.") But why does a comic book company
bounce a story around between so many books? "Um ... because we can?"
He goes on to explain that there were several purposes to the
"Knightfall" storyline. "The genesis of this was my perception that
Batman would be running out of steam at about this point. It turns out
I was wrong. Batman ran out of steam last year. In terms of sales, I
thought the movie and the TV show would kind of carry us through the end
of last year. Not true. So I (with some creative people) thought of
this a couple of years ago on the assumption that Batman would need a
boost in the arm, so all we tried to do was think of a big, major story
we could do, and then like Topsy it kinda growed, partially so that I
could write some of it and put it in magazines that I don't edit. The
other thing it might do for some of those magazines is help them."
Of course, taking on a story that can have consequences of such
magnitude had got huge consequences for the continuity, or "official
history" of the fictional universe. "As a writer, and also as an
editor, I'm a little uncomfortable with the idea that continuity is so
important. However, first of all, it's city hall; we can't fight it.
The audience demands it.
"But in another way, in another sort of revelation/realization,
we're doing something that's never been done before in the history of
narrative. Narrative in western culture goes back 15000 years to
Gilgamesh. Nobody has ever tried to do what Mike [Carlin, editor of
SUPERMAN] and I and some of the other guys are doing, which is to build
this incredibly complex story that coordinates the efforts of a dozen or
more creative people, and then integrate it into the DC universe.
There's this huge megastructure that takes over everything." He adds
that the computer in his office sports a tight timeline for all the
Batman and related books and that on it he can find any event "unless we
specifically label something as out of continuity.
"It's what makes our jobs the most interesting in all of
publishing, and also it's why we have grey hairs and twitch a lot."
The timeline is not, however, ironclad in terms of the future, even
when it comes to the unfinished sections of the "Knightfall" storyline.
"I keep a very loose reign on my guys. I want to leave it open enough
so that if they have a good idea somewhere along the line we can
accommodate it. Also, I work with very good people. Maybe for the
first time in my life I am working with all good writers. I trust them
to write good stories. I don't need to plot everything with them.
They're very good writers. They know what a story is. They won't ever
fail me on that."
And what about his writing? Does he prefer the editing he does
now? "I found out about four years ago when I didn't have to write
after doing it for so long to put food on the table that it's pretty
deep. I've been telling stories since I was maybe seven years old, and
I finally realized that I would define myself as a storyteller. I
didn't realize that until a couple of years ago. I hadn't really
thought about it. It wasn't important to define myself. But I tried to
figure out what the hell it is I've been doing all these years, and
that's what it comes down to."
He also took a little time to answer questions from some of our
readers. One was about something he wishes he could forget: a little
known book by Dennis O'Neil called BITE OF THE MONSTER. "Yeah, I wrote
it," he admits, cringing as a passing fan tells him that he actually has
a copy of it. There have been stories in the past that he has tried to
buy back the remaining copies so he could destroy them. "I wish G-d
would work a small miracle and let me re-write it. I didn't know
anything about science and damn little about fiction when I wrote that.
In fact as a result of this book I said, 'you know, it says right here
that I'm a science fiction writer and I don't know what an atom is.' So
I started reading books like ONE, TWO, THREE -- INFINITY and I've got
BIOGRAPHY OF PHYSICS by George Gamow up in my room. I don't have any of
the math, but I became interested in the part of physics that you can
get from words. So in a way, that was an educational book for me in
that it forced me to realize everything that I don't know and to start
to fill in those gaps."
And what about the movies? Mentioned specifically was the un-
Batman-like violence of BATMAN RETURNS, such as Batman's use of the
Batmobile's jet engine to set a villain aflame. "A lot of people,
particularly parents, commented on that. What can I say? I have
nothing to do with the movies. I see the scripts, but that particular
shot wasn't in the script, so I didn't know about it until I saw the
movie. It's Tim Burton's interpretation of the character. I read the
scripts [not because I had input but] because I did the adaptations.
"Batman is an archetype, and there are different ways to interpret
an archetype. In the comics there have been at least five different
versions, all of which I think were the right version for their time.
Tim Burton is a very bright man who feels that his version is the right
one for his medium and his time."
And things do change. As he told the panel, "DC Comics is at a
very crucial point in its history, and we all recognize that. DC Comics
has made a lot of mistakes in the last 10 years. Done a lot of GOOD
things, but in terms of selling comic books, we've made a lot of
mistakes. Some were mistakes that we could possibly control. But I
would say that our biggest mistake, and I'm going to bite my tongue and
not say what it was, but it wassomething that we possibly had no control
over. ... We've made some enemies in trying to focus those problems.
Specifically, we've canceled the JUSTICE SOCIETY while it was still
selling pretty well. Every show I work there are hard core JUSTICE
SOCIETY fans who want to lynch me, but I'll take one-third
responsibility for that decision. It was made for this reason: DC
Comics are the comics your father -- your GRANDfather read. That series
only reminded people of that.
"We've made a lot of other mistakes in that area, but we're
correcting them in slower, more gradual ways. We have to convince the
13 and 14 year olds that we're not fossils if we're going to survive. We
have taken steps towards doing that."
And as he told us, "We're going to redouble our efforts to do what
DC has traditionally done best, which is to provide the best writing and
the best stories. Let us know if we're doing it."
Thanks to Bill_Keir@kumear.apana.org.au, MORROW@FNAL.FNAL.GOV (Greg
Morrow); ab028@freenet.carleton.ca (Timo H. Jaakkimain);
castle@ug.cs.dal.ca (JULIAN GUTHRIE CASTLE); djohnson@Willamette.EDU
(Dane Johnson); arendt@bme.ri.ccf.org (Joe Arendt) and
vbv@lor.EEAP.CWRU.Edu (Virgilio B. Velasco) for submitting questions.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!3!-- From Space Opera to the Grateful Dead: LOIS MCMASTER BUJOLD
on Plot, Character, and Other Things on the Way to Perfection
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Lois McMaster Bujold is mostly known for her space opera -- and
while for some that is a derogatory term, she doesn't mind using it. "I
call it space opera because it has the trappings of space opera: the
spaceships, that sort of thing." But what IS her science fiction,
really?
Most of those books have been the Miles Vorkosigan adventures,
about a man who doesn't fit the description of a classic space opera
hero, who is usually tall, muscular, a straight shooter with a laser
rifle, able to fight his way out of anything. In contrast, Miles is
reasonably short, and afflicted with a disease that makes his bones
brittle. "So as a result of this, he has to think is way out of a
situation because he can't fight his way out. He can't very well punch
somebody because he'll break his arm.
"I don't do too much pushing the envelope of the genre outward
trying to take space opera and turn it into something else. What I do
is more of a 'down and in,' doing my experimenting on the inside of the
genre, depth of characterisation, that sort of thing, coherent themes.
In a sense, I almost write science fiction as though it were fantasy
because my concern is character, character development, how do people
grow and change, how do they deal with moral dillemmas, these type of
questions rather than technical questions, or futuristic extrapolations.
My space world is a psychological landscape."
For her, it seems, character is more than just an abstract notion,
a necessary evil. It's a goal in and of itself. "I want to make people
who live inside your head the way certain characters live inside my head
long after the book is closed. The supreme example I always use for a
character who has taken on this kind of extra-literary life is Sherlock
Holmes. This is a character who not only out-lived his author but who
takes over other writers and makes them write him."
That may be part of the reason that she writes a series of novels,
as many science fiction and fantasy novelist do, as opposed to isolated
stories. "I would read series like Dorothy Lindsey's Peter Wimsey
stories, or like C.S. Forester's Horatio Hornblower stories. I wanted
to get into these characters, and one book isn't enough to do a
character right. I'm an old series fan from way back."
But, she insists, there's more to a book than just character.
"There's a wonderful book by Dorothy Sayers called THE MIND OF THE
MAKER. It talks about the right relationship of plot, character, and
theme. Basically, not any plot goes with any character. The example
she uses is if you dropped Othello down in Hamlet's plot and Hamlet down
in Othello's plot, in neither case would you get a five act tragedy.
Othello would run the wicked uncle through in act one, and Hamlet would
dither around and dither around until maybe he established Desdemona's
innocence. You might get a mystery out of it, but you wouldn't get
HAMLET.
"So you have to have the right character and the right plot. A
plot should be a test of character, so when I start, as I usually do,
with the character, I'm looking for a plot that shows who this character
is, that tests him right to the edge of destruction to find out what
this guy is made of. It really is 'character torture.' But in the end,
you've created this live person. You are what you do, so plot and
character are like this interlocking figure ground thing. You can't
separate one from the other."
On the other hand, however, there is a kind of "character torture"
that's NOT something a writer should engage in. Asked if she ever felt
bad about what she was doing to her characters, she laughed. "Actually,
there's nothing worse for the poor reader than when the writer's working
out their therapy through their fiction. The writer feels much better
afterwards, but the reader is stuck. You put them on this roller
coaster and strap them down and push them off the top and say, 'have a
nice trip,' whereas you, the writer, have some psychological control
over the material in the course of writing it. So for you it's a
different trip. You get to pick the curves. The poor reader, who is
stuck going along with you, has a much rougher ride."
So, there's character, and there's plot, and that's all there is to
it, right? Wrong. "There's another level to drop down on to try and
figure out what's the BEST one, and that's the level of theme. the
level of what's this story REALLY about, deep down. It's not the plot,
it's about something. In the case of BARRAYAR, we have this young woman
making her way on the planet that she's got to marry into and all these
bizarre political things happen, but the theme of the book is the cost
of being a mother. What does she have to give up in order to perform
the act of parenting and become a mother. And in her case she has to
give up a great deal of what she thought was part of herself. She was a
pacifist, for example, and in the climax of the book she involves
herself in a political execution. This was kind of the last part of her
identity that she had to give up to save the life of her child. There
were a whole bunch of nice illusions about herself that had to go. It
was the cost of being a mother for her. So the book is really about the
cost of being a parent. That would be the theme.
"There's a level even under theme, which I've come to call 'world
view.' It's the basic choice about what kind of story to tell. Every
writer always writes their world view, no matter what else they're
doing. That's even under the level of theme. It's the choice of what
to see and what not to see, and that's REALLY insidious. The perfect
writer would be in control on every level. They would know what theme
they were working in, they would be conscious of their world view, and
everything would work like clockwork. You'd get dynamite results that
way." World view can even, at times, be the reason a reader picks up a
book. Ms. Bujold says that "one of the fantasy writers that I actually
pay money to read is Terry Pratchett. He writes a funny fantasy full of
amusing incidents and funny stuff, but underneath there is this very
humane world view. I read a Terry Pratchett book when I really need to
step into that world view for a while and return refreshed."
So she's obviously no stranger to fantasy, but how is it that she
came to write her own fantasy novel, THE SPIRIT RING, after all these
space operas? "The book that really started the fantasy novel was
something that came down through my family. It was my great uncle's
Ph.D. thesis, a monograph on the legend of the Grateful Dead. It was
published in 1907, and it was the story of a young man who goes out to
seek his fortune and comes across a situation where he finds the body of
a debtor who lays unburied until his debts are paid. So he forks over
his grub stake, gets the guy planted, and goes down the road to further
adventures in which he is helped by the grateful ghost of the dead man.
This is a story that appears in all these versions in all these
cultures, and I thought wow, this is one of these basic stories that can
be told and re-told in a thousand different ways. And it's NOT one that
people have done a bunch. We've done certain of the tales over and over
and over again, but this was a folk tale tropy that has not been
exhausted. So I thought, OK, good, I'll stake this one out and it'll be
all mine.
"It was the most researched book I ever did, because I decided to
make it historical. I originally had the idea that I was going to make
it a fantasy world with a renaissance flavor, and as I got through about
the 10th of my background books I thought, wait a minute, I can do this
too. I'll just make it a real renaissance world, and hopefully I'll
pick up the historical novel readers too. Broaden the audience.
"I've recently decided that mainstream literature is the world's
largest shared universe series. If I'm going to do all that studying
for a shared universe, let it be one that I can recycle. Why study up
on a universe you can only use once when you can learn the history and
use it again?"
Maybe that's the reason that she does so much studying. "I don't
read much fiction anymore because I need the nonfiction because I can
steal it. When I read a nonfiction piece, a historical piece or a
biographical piece I'm getting new ideas that I can put into my bag and
take out later and transmute into my fiction. When I read a piece of
fiction I remove ideas from my bag because somebody else has used it, so
I can't use it too. So reading fiction subtracts from my pool of
available ideas. Unless you're stealing techniques or something. Like,
this is how you handle a flashback. You can take that from other
writers. Then there's the time factor. Time doesn't exist."
It's a give-and-take process that seems to be essential not only in
her work, but in her outlook towards both print and visual media, which
seem to suffer a well-defined division in the science fiction and
fantasy universe. "I'm in print media. I write novels because I like
doing what novels do, which is to get into people's heads. That's what
fascinates me. Movies move. That's movies job. It's an interesting
thing the way the reader or viewer helps partake of the creation of the
story. With print media, you give them what's going on in the person's
head and they project the image of the motion. It's amazing how much
you can make the reader make up in terms of exterior view if you just
give them what's going on in the character's head. That's what the
reader wants, and that's what they get.
"Now, it was a belated insight for me to realize that film is just
like that in reverse. What we see is the visuals and what we make up
and project onto the screen as a viewer is what's going on inside the
characters head. We supply the emotional interpretation and project it
onto this otherwise ambiguous sequence of actions. Something like
background music can supply emotional cues as to how we're supposed to
interpret what we're seeing.
"So both kinds of fiction are interactive, but they're
complementary in the way they're interactive between what the artist
presents and what the reader or viewer brings to it. But it's this
mutual dance, and in neither case do you have art unless you have both
the artist and the viewer or the reader.
"I'd like to see my stuff translated to media simply because it
reaches such a huge audience and it might bring more readers back to my
books. But the book is where it's at for me. This is where I'm in
control. It takes an army to make a movie but with a novel you can
write alone, and I like that."
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!4!-- Cancellation Time: How YOU Can Use this Medium to Help Save
QUANTUM LEAP and THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES
------------------------------------------------------------------------
At least when it came to American television, September, 1992
looked better for science fiction programming than any September had in
years. STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION had established itself as the top
rated syndicated program in the country, DEEP SPACE NINE was on its way,
and a whole slew of programs were set to blast onto the airwaves. Now,
in mid-May, it doesn't look quite as hopeful. SPACE RANGERS was a
dismal failure, lasting less than a month. JOURNEY TO THE CENTER OF THE
EARTH was, in many viewers' estimation, a complete and total waste of
bandwidth, bordering on the embarrassing. George R.R. Martin's
DOORWAYS didn't even make it to the screen, despite strong support from
the few who knew about it.
But still, TIME TRAX has been holding its own, HIGHLANDER is still
in negotiations for next fall, and the word is that BABYLON 5 has been
picked up for next year.
Unfortunately, it's not all wine and roses. The past weeks have
brought news of the cancellation of two of the genre's best loved
programs: QUANTUM LEAP and THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES. Both
suffered from network sabotage, either in terms of time slot or
pre-emptions (or both), and both have the disconcerting handicap of
being ... well, intelligent.
But there's no reason that we have to give up on these shows. In
our last issue we brought you J. Michael Straczynski's broadcasted
request that viewers who liked the show write to their local TV
stations. The appeal was carried over many conduits (not just this
magazine, by any means), and a month later CV was told by Warner Bros.
that they had not made a decision yet, but "the stations really seemed
to have liked it." The official announcement has not yet been made, but
as of now it looks very much like a "go."
YOUR LETTERS DO HAVE AN EFFECT.
So, in the interest of preserving two pieces of the genre, we are
doing two things: 1) We're giving you some background on the programs
and how you can help to save them, and 2) we're accepting your
electronic sentiments and will forward them to the people who need to
see them. At the end of this article you'll find instructions on write-
in campaigns in general and submitting letters for forwarding in
particular.
**********************
QUANTUM LEAP:
Some people found it confusing at first. Here was this scientist
who had "leaped" into somebody else's life. So was he there, or wasn't
he? Eventually, plenty of people either got over their confusion (he
was really there) or decided that it really didn't matter. Here was
intelligent, sensitive television that wasn't afraid to tackle the
issues of both history and the present, from racism to homosexuality.
The show garnered plenty of awards, both from professional organizations
and from viewers.
However, with the ratings this season as bad as they were (having
been moved from 10pm to 8pm, when most of the people likely to watch the
show probably had not yet settled in for the night,) it probably didn't
come as much of a surprise to many people when they heard that QL had
been canceled. Add to this the fact that the show has probably been
pre-empted more than it's actually been shown this season, and it seems
almost inevitable. The feeling was reinforced by shows with a distinct
"ratings grabber" feel to them. As it happens, the "celebrity" episodes
(Marylin Monroe, Elvis, etc.,) were not the idea of the producers, but
the network, which had hoped to improve the ratings.
The fans didn't wait for the official decision to act. At one
point NBC, the network on which QL airs in the United States, was
receiving 50,000 letters a week, many of them postcards asking the
network to "Leap us back to Wednesdays at 10," where the shows ratings
had been great in past years. The show was canceled anyway, and rumors
are that letters and faxes in support of the show are actually being
shredded.
Fans led a march on NBC that was really more of a rally, opting for
professional dress to show NBC that the demographics of the masses
outside their door were what advertisers wanted. They gathered
petitions and lots of attention, but not a change of heart from NBC.
Finally the effort has turned to Belisarius Productions and
Universal, who produce the show. They are currently "shopping the show
around" to find another place for it, either on another network or in
syndication. Your letters will help Universal to see that there really
is an audience for the program, and perhaps more importantly, to prove
it to potential buyers. Here are the addresses to write to:
- ** Harriet, c/o "Quantum Leap", Universal Studios, Universal City, CA
91608 Petitions with lots of names should be mailed or faxed to her at
818-777-0144. This is the production office for QL. They will collect
letters and forward them, as they don't want Universal to be annoyed by
a deluge of letters.
They are collecting letters there because Universal is "shopping
the show around" for another network. The current plan is for postcards
saying "Count on me to help KEEP THE LEAP." To let other networks know
you would like them to pick up the show, write to:
Mr. Ted Harbert, Entertainment President, ABC, 2040 Avenue of the Stars,
Century City, CA 90067
Mr. Sandy Grushow, Entertainment President, FOX, Box 900, Beverly Hills,
CA 90213
Mr. Jeff Sagansky, Entertainment President, CBS, 7800 Beverly Blvd., Los
Angeles, CA 90036
and, if you're REALLY idealistic,
Mr. Warren Littlefield, Entertainment President, NBC, 3000 W. Alameda
Ave., Burbank, CA 91523 -- Viewer Relations (212) 408-9100
**********************
THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES:
You might not know it by that name. Besides the United States and
Canada, the show is being aired in some form in Japan, Spain, Austria,
Ireland, the Netherlands, Turkey, and Argentina. England will be
picking it up on Sky One any time now, and Italy will begin broadcasting
it in June -- and apparently it goes by different names in different
countries.
It's the story of the character made famous by Harrison Ford,
archeologist/adventurer/hero Indiana Jones, before he became any of
those things. Much of the time it's not quite the adventure you'd
expect from one of the movies, but it succeeds at creator George Lucas'
goal of doing for history what STAR WARS did for science -- it's giving
kids a "hook," some reason to take a closer look at, say, the Russian
Revolution, or World War I, with a sensitivity and characterization that
is sadly lacking in most American television, and perhaps even better,
with accurate research into the real history involved. If you've ever
wondered what might have happened if Indy had ever talked to Mata Hari
(or Ho Chi Minh, or ...), this show is for you. Lucasfilm even has a
study guide for the series, which includes a synopsis, pictures, and a
short biography of the real people involved in each episode. The
current guide covers the second season's episodes, and a complete guide,
which will cover every episode produced, will be available soon. The
cost for the guide is extremely reasonable: it's free! Send a letter
requesting your copy to Lucasfilm Ltd., Young Indy Research Dept., P.O.
Box 2009, San Rafael, CA, 94912.
Though the show has not been renewed for the fall, it will not be
disappearing from the airwaves. Put on hiatus during May "sweeps," in
the United States the remaining 11 episodes will air beginning in June.
Soundtracks from the series are available now.
There are two collections available from Varese-Sarabande Records.
They are: 1) Verdun 1916, Peking 1910, Paris 1916, Barcelona 1917, and
2) Vienna 1908, German East Africa 1916, Congo 1917, London 1916,
British East Africa 1909. A third collection will be available June 8.
It is: Chicago 1920 Parts 1 & 2, New York 1920 Parts 1 & 2, Princeton
1916. In addition to Varese Sarabande, these collections are available
on CD and cassette across the United States at stores such as Tower
Records, The Warehouse, Sam Goody, etc. The CD's line notes include
individual musician names as well as synopses and color photos from each
episode. For more information please direct inquiries to: Mr. David
Hamilton, Customer Relations, Varese-Sarabande Records, 13006 Saticoy
Street #2, N. Hollywood, CA 91605, USA.
If you would like to show your continued support of the show, the
best person to direct your correspondence to is:
Mr. Ted Harbert, President of ABC Entertainment
The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
2040 Avenue of the Stars
Los Angeles, CA 90067
(Note that contrary to usual practice, they want you to put the series
name on the envelope so that it will be processed as quickly as
possible.)
The request comes with an acknowledgment that the science fiction
community has probably known for quite a while. "I realize that this is
an unusual request but we are beginning to recognize that keeping
quality programming on the air requires an unusual effort."
It also requires an unusual budget. Some viewers have suggested
taking the show to PBS, the Public Broadcasting System, which
specializes in educational programming, but PBS simply cannot cover the
cost of $1.6 million per episode. And that's using the cost-cutting
techniques of computer animation and editing -- not everything you see
is real.
So the network needs to hear from YOU in support of the show to
convince them that more episodes are worth the effort.
Check SPOILERS AHOY for the episode guide to the rest of the
season.
ON THE SENDING OF LETTERS: We at CV recognize that many of you
receiving the magazine fall into the category of those who will respond
to e-mail within seconds but wouldn't know a stamp if it sealed your
mouth shut, so we are providing the following service: Send your letter
of support for either of these shows to cn577@cleveland.freenet.edu or
Cyberspace Vanguard@1:157/564 and we will print them out, gather them
up, and send them to the relevant producers and networks. Please make
sure the Subject: line identifies your letter, and that you include your
name, address, and phone number so that they know you're not just a
randomly generated string of numbers and letters. Also, by popular
request, we are reprinting Bjo Trimble's rules for a successful letter
writing campaign. (You know Bjo -- she's the one who organized the
campaign to save the third season of STAR TREK.)
========== HOW TO WRITE EFFECTIVE LETTERS ===================
1. Write a short, sincere individual letter to EACH network, sponsor,
what-have-you, in support of the television show in question. When mail
is counted, your letter will truly make the difference.
2. Then, ask 10 people to write letters. They write the letters and then
ask 10 people to write letters, and on and on (get the idea?). Don't
be judgmental; there are many "closet" fans out there: fellow workers,
neighbors, church groups, classmates, civic and other clubs, etc.
3. Don't (ever) address a V.I.P. (executive) familiarly, act smart, use
insulting language, or tell a corporation how to run their business.
You are asking for a favor. The wrong attitude will nullify your letter.
4. Be pleasant. Corporations seldom get anything but complaints, so a
cheerful, upbeat letter can make a CEO more receptive.
5. Don't use form letters, mimeographed (photocopied) or multiple
carbons. Such letters give the impression that only a small segment is
doing all the writing--but computer letters are OK.
6. Sign the letter!! Anonymous mail is sleazy and is either thrown away
or put in the "nut" file.
7. Use company letterhead or club stationery if you have a right to.
Corporations are sensitive to potential "Pressure groups." But ...
8. Don't misrepresent yourself. Corporations are geared to ferret out
spurious claims. Such tricks will not help your cause and someone may
check it out for a news story.
9. Use petitions to get the names from those who won't bother to write a
letter themselves. Corporations understand that only a percentage of
people will get off their fat apathy to write letters; signatures on a
petition can show how many MORE people want support a television show.
The petition should have at least one contact address.
[Bjo Trimble also runs a great newsletter called SPACE TIME CONTINUUM,
and can be reached at 713-359-4284. The address is 2059 Fir Springs
Dr., Kingwood TX, 77339-1701, USA. This list of guidelines was
originally published in Issue 2 as part of an article about Bjo's part
in the fight to get the Space, Fantasy, and Adventure Network off the
ground and onto the cable networks. Several phrases have been changed
to reflect the slightly different goal of this campaign, but the rest is
hers.]
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!5!-- AND I HAVE TO ADMIT, THE MAN LOOKS GOOD STANDING NEXT TO
PUPPETS: Joel Hodgson Steps Down From MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER
3000 Role
------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Lisa Jenkins
On May 11, 1993, Comedy Central announced in a press release that
creator and star of the comedy hit series MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000
(MST3K), Joel Hodgson, will step down from his on-screen role of Joel
Robinson. Fans fear not, MST3K's head writer and frequent guest star
Mike Nelson will continue the role starting midway into the fifth
season, now in production. Hodgson will remain behind the scenes
writing, producing and directing.
Hodgson has considered leaving the role for quite some time. "I
just feel like there comes a time when I have to just stop," he said.
"It will live on. I'll still be an executive producer and participate
with it from a writing standpoint, but I won't be on camera."
"We are both excited about the creative possibilities that Mike's
new character will bring to the series and delighted that Joel's
influence on the show will continue," said Mitch Semel, senior vice
president of programming at Comedy Central. "We know this will give the
fans something to look forward to."
Fans have enjoyed nearly 100 episodes of rubber monsters, bad
movies and off-the-wall comedy. The character of Joel Robinson and his
robot companions Tom Servo (voice of Kevin Murphy, associate producer)
and Crow T. Robot (voice of Trace Beaulieu, set designer) have endured
the worst of the worst from Hollywood and around the world with box
office movie bombs such as "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" and
"Fugitive Alien." They are subjected to these cinematic horrors by some
good old-fashioned mad scientists, Dr. Clayton Forrester (also played by
Trace Beaulieu) and "TV's" Frank (Frank Conniff, writer) in some science
fiction-like experiment. Joel and his robots provide witty commentary
throughout their ordeal.
The role of Robinson will be a hard one to fill. However, Nelson
is already well-known to viewers in special appearance characters
including LEAVE IT TO BEAVER's Hugh Beaumont, TIME MACHINE's Jack
Perkins and pianist Michael Feinstein. Nelson also played a visiting
Russian astronaut, Sorri Andropoli, who was very much like Joel, stuck
out into space with no one but his crudely hand-made creations for
company.
"Naturally, I'm excited and more than a little frightened," said
Nelson. "It's my goal to build on what we've done in the past while
exploring new directions for the show and my role as host. Kind of like
the new Monkeys."
"Mike Nelson is a real comic discovery," added Hodgson. "All of us
at Best Brains are enthused and excited about what he'll bring to the
position and I have to admit, the man looks good standing next to
puppets."
As a kind of precognition, Nelson predicted back in February 1992,
"We know our licks on the show well enough now that we could move on to
other things and let someone else take over. MST might even be able to
continue without Joel. I mean, it's possible, if Joel found the right
person. This is a show that could go on forever -- like DOCTOR WHO."
Hodgson has played the role of Joel Robinson since Thanksgiving Day
1988 when the show appeared on an independent UHF station in
Minneapolis. The show was picked up a year later by HBO's Comedy
Channel. MST3K also survived the merger between the Comedy Channel and
Viacom's HA!, making its four years with Comedy Central very stable
indeed. The series has even been nominated for an ACEcable Award for
the past two years, one for best comedy series and another for best
writing in a comedy series.
MST3K's new season starts July 17. The change is expected to take
place during the thirteenth episode to air this fall. MST3K currently
airs Friday nights at Midnight and Saturdays at 10 AM and 7 PM (all
times Eastern/Pacific).
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!6!-- The Old Comics Curmudgeon
------------------------------------------------------------------------
by Bill Henley
"Aren't you too old to be reading comic books?"
I heard that a lot in my younger days. Many adults and even some
of my peers couldn't understand why a reasonably bright kid kept on
reading and collecting comic books -- then widely assumed to be strictly
for young children and idiots -- past the age of 10 or so. I shrugged
the query off, or sometimes tried to explain why I thought the exciting
new kinds of comics appearing in the '60s and early '70s were worth the
attention of a young adult. In the years since then, I never have quite
"outgrown" comic books; as the '70s and '80s went by, there always was
something new coming out that held my interest, in addition to my
nostalgic love for the Silver Age comics that I started with.
But at last, at age 40 minus 6 months and counting, I may finally
have gotten too old to read comic books. After all, I've been told as
much -- at least by implication -- by no less an authority than DC
Comics senior editor Denny O'Neil.
The reference is to a statement O'Neil made during one of the panel
discussions at the recent MARCON 28 science fiction convention in
Columbus, Ohio. He happened to mention the cancellation of JUSTICE
SOCIETY OF AMERICA, which was one of the last few DC titles I was still
reading regularly. The JSA is, of course, the very first superhero team
in comics, dating from 1940; and the most recent take on the characters
by Len Strazewski and Mike Parobeck emphasized their status as "old-
time" characters, paying homage to the Golden and Silver Ages in the
writing and art style, and even depicting the heroes as showing physical
signs of age. (Not as old as they actually would be in real time, but
they've been rejuvenated a couple of times.)
The cancellation of JSA, a fun title, was disappointing, but I had
at least assumed it was justified by low sales. However, Denny O'Neil
reported that in fact it was selling well enough to make money and
justify its publication. But, he said, he and the other senior editors
decided in a conference to kill the book -- because they feared that
having a DC book on the stands with "old" heroes would serve only to
remind DC's 13 and 14 year old "target audience" that "DC comics are the
comics your father, your GRANDfather used to read". Apparently, those
gray hairs on the JSA members were contaminating the whole DC line!
Denny, I'm starting to show a few gray hairs myself. Would you
rather I stayed out of the comics shops and did not let myself be seen
buying DC comics, lest I scare away the younger readers?
Now, this column should not be taken as a personal attack on Denny
O'Neil, who was very gracious in his panel appearances and personal
interview with the CV staff at Marcon, and who in fact seems to have
much more sensible ideas of which way comics should go than a lot of
other management folks at DC and other comic companies.
To tell the truth, I myself thought it was possibly a mistake to
make the JSA members in the recent series physically aged. Since they
had been rejuvenated anyway (after being rescued from Ragnarok in the
"Armageddon" crossover series) it might have been just as well to go all
the way and make them physically young again, while leaving them with
their years of experience and memories.
But this decision by the DC editors still shows a disturbing
attitude. DC used to take pride in attracting older readers and even
used the slogan "DC Comics: They're Not Just for Kids Anymore". Has the
company now decided to write off both its older characters and its older
readers? Someone will perhaps point out that DC still has its Vertigo
line "for mature readers". May I suggest that "adult" is not
necessarily synonymous with "cynical, despairing, ultraviolent and near-
incomprehensible"?
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!7!-- News and SF Calendar: What's Coming Up in the Near Future
------------------------------------------------------------------------
1993 Hugo and Campbell Award Nominees
ConFrancisco, the 51st World Science Fiction Convention, has
released the nominees for the 1993 Hugo Awards and John W. Campbell
Memorial Award. This year is the 40th anniversary of the Hugo Awards,
which will be presented at a ceremony in the Moscone Convention Center,
San Francisco, California, on Sunday, September 5, 1993.
The nominees that follow were chosen by popular vote by 397
members of ConFrancisco or MagiCon (the 50th World Science Fiction
Convention) who submitted valid nominating ballots. In some categories
more than 5 nominations appear due to tie votes.
The nomination ballots were counted and verified by the
ConFrancisco Hugo Administrators, David Bratman and Seth Goldberg. The
final ballots will be sent to ConFrancisco members in Progress Report
no. 6, due to be mailed in late May. Only attending and supporting
members of ConFrancisco are eligible to vote. Ballots must be
postmarked by July 31 and received by August 6 to be counted, and must
be mailed to: 1993 Hugo Awards, Seth Goldberg, Voting Administrator,
P.O. Box 271986, Concord, California, 94527-1986. Until July 16,
ConFrancisco memberships are available for $125 attending or $25
supporting from ConFrancisco, 712 Bancroft Road, Suite 1993, Walnut
Creek CA 94598.
BEST NOVEL: CHINA MOUNTAIN ZHANG by Maureen McHugh (Tor)/RED MARS
by Kim Stanley Robinson (HarperCollins (UK), Bantam Spectra)/STEEL BEACH
by John Varley (Ace/Putnam)/A FIRE UPON THE DEEP by Vernor Vinge
(Tor)/DOOMSDAY BOOK by Connie Willis (Bantam)/No Award
BEST NOVELLA: "Uh-Oh City" by Jonathan Carroll (F&SF June 92)/"The
Territory" by Bradley Denton (F&SF July 92)/"Protection" by Maureen
McHugh (Asimov's Apr 92)/"Stopping at Slowyear" by Frederik Pohl
(Axolotl/Pulphouse, Bantam)/"Barnacle Bill the Spacer" by Lucius Shepard
(Asimov's July 92)/No Award
BEST NOVELETTE: "True Faces" by Pat Cadigan (F&SF Apr 92)/"The
Nutcracker Coup" by Janet Kagan (Asimov's Dec 92)/"In the Stone House"
by Barry N. Malzberg (Alternate Kennedys)/"Danny Goes to Mars" by Pamela
Sargent (Asimov's Oct 92)/"Suppose They Gave a Peace ..." by Susan
Shwartz (Alternate Presidents)/No Award
BEST SHORT STORY: "The Winterberry" by Nicholas A. DiChario
(Alternate Kennedys)/"The Mountain to Mohammed" by Nancy Kress (Asimov's
Apr 92)/"The Lotus and the Spear" by Mike Resnick (Asimov's Aug 92)/"The
Arbitrary Placement of Walls" by Martha Soukup (Asimov's Apr 92)/"Even
the Queen" by Connie Willis (Asimov's Apr 92)/No Award
BEST NON-FICTION BOOK: ENTERPRISING WOMEN: TELEVISION FANDOM AND
THE CREATION OF POPULAR MYTH by Camille Bacon-Smith (Univ. of
Pennsylvania Press)/THE COSTUMEMAKER'S ART edited by Thom Boswell
(Lark)/VIRGIL FINLAY'S WOMEN OF THE AGES by Virgil Finlay (Underwood-
Miller)/MONAD NUMBER TWO edited by Damon Knight (Pulphouse)/LET'S HEAR
IT FOR THE DEAF MAN by Dave Langford (NESFA)/A WEALTH OF FABLE by Harry
Warner Jr (SCIFI)/No Award
BEST DRAMATIC PRESENTATION: ALADDIN (Walt Disney Pictures)/ALIEN 3
(20th Century Fox)/BATMAN RETURNS (Warner Brothers)/BRAM STOKER'S
DRACULA (Columbia Pictures)/"The Inner Light" (STAR TREK: THE NEXT
GENERATION) (Paramount Television)
BEST PROFESSIONAL EDITOR: Ellen Datlow; Gardner Dozois; Beth
Meacham; Kristine Kathryn Rusch; Stanley Schmidt; No Award
BEST PROFESSIONAL ARTIST: Thomas Canty; David A. Cherry; Bob
Eggleton; James Gurney; Don Maitz; No Award
BEST ORIGINAL ARTWORK: Cover of ARISTOI (W.J. Williams) by Jim
Burns (Tor)/DINOTOPIA by James Gurney (Turner)/Cover of F&SF, October-
November 1992 (illustrating "Bridges", by C. de Lint), by Ron
Walotsky/Cover of ILLUSION (P. Volsky) by Michael Whelan (Bantam)/Cover
of ASIMOV'S, November 1992 (Asimov portrait), by Michael Whelan/No Award
BEST SEMI-PROZINE: INTERZONE, edited by David Pringle/LOCUS, edited
by Charles N. Brown/THE NEW YORK REVIEW OF SCIENCE FICTION, edited by
David G. Hartwell, Donald G. Keller, Robert K.J. Kilheffer, and Gordon
Van Gelder/PULPHOUSE, edited by Dean Wesley Smith/SCIENCE FICTION
CHRONICLE, edited by Andrew Porter/No Award
BEST FANZINE: FILE 770, edited by Mike Glyer/FOSFAX, edited by
Timothy Lane and Janice Moore/LAN'S LANTERN, edited by George J.
Laskowski Jr./MIMOSA, edited by Dick and Nicki Lynch/STET, edited by
Leah Smith/No Award
BEST FAN WRITER: Mike Glyer; Andy Hooper; Dave Langford; Evelyn C.
Leeper; Harry Warner Jr.; No Award
BEST FAN ARTIST: Teddy Harvia; Merle Insinga; Linda Michaels; Peggy
Ranson; Stu Shiffman; Diana Harlan Stein; No Award
JOHN W. CAMPBELL AWARD FOR BEST NEW WRITER OF 1991-1992 (sponsored
by DELL MAGAZINES): Barbara Delaplace (2nd year of eligibility);
Nicholas A. DiChario (2nd year of eligibility); Holly Lisle (1st year of
eligibility); Laura Resnick (2nd year of eligibility); Carrie Richerson
(1st year of eligibility); Michelle Sagara (2nd year of eligibility); No
Award
The category "Best Translator" included on the nominating ballot
was eliminated due to lack of interest. A few voters commented that a
knowledgeable vote in this category would require linguistic expertise
beyond what can reasonably be expected of Hugo voters.
DINOTOPIA by James Gurney received enough votes to be nominated in
both the Original Artwork and Nonfiction Book categories. The
administrators judged that it is a single sequential work of art, and
thus best placed in Original Artwork.
Two nominations were withdrawn from the ballot. Michael Whelan
declined nomination as Best Professional Artist for this year. Boris
Vallejo declined the nomination for Best Original Artwork for his cover
of Vernor Vinge's A FIRE UPON THE DEEP, saying that it is against his
principles to enter in a competition among professionals. Both artists
thank the voters who nominated them, and feel honored to have been
chosen.
Maureen F. McHugh and Poppy Z. Brite received enough votes to be
nominated for the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer, but were
ruled ineligible due to professional publications of fiction in the
science fiction and fantasy field prior to 1991.
-!-
And from the other side ... The 1992 Science Fiction and Fantasy
Writers of America Nebula Awards:
Novel: Connie Willis, Doomsday Book (Bantam) Novella: James Morrow, City
of Truth (St. Martin's Press) Novelette: Pamela Sargent, Danny Goes to
Mars (Asimov's SF) Short Story: Connie Willis, Even the Queen
(Asimov's)Grand Master: Frederik Pohl
--!-- SF Calendar: What's Coming Up in the Near Future
This Upcoming Movies list is an abbreviated version of the list compiled
and maintained by Bryan D. Jones (bdj@engr.uark.edu). Unless we know
the plot, films are included or excluded by their titles or by actors
who make them relevant to the genre (ie Harrison Ford in THE FUGITIVE).
May 28: CLIFFHANGER, MADE IN AMERICA, SUPER MARIO BROS.
Spring: BODY SNATCHERS, DEADFALL, THE GIVING, NEMESIS, STARFIRE
Jun 11: JURASSIC PARK, THUMBELINA
Jun 18: DENNIS THE MENACE, THE LAST ACTION HERO, ONCE UPON A FOREST
(animated)
Jun 25: METEOR MAN
June : THE WITCHING HOUR
Jul 2: ROBIN HOOD: MEN IN TIGHTS, SNOW WHITE AND THE SEVEN DWARVES (re-
release), SURF NINJAS
Jul 9: GHOST IN THE MACHINE
Jul 23: THE CONEHEADS, TOM & JERRY: THE MOVIE (animated)
Jul 30: A TROLL IN CENTRAL PARK (animated)
Aug 6: THE FUGITIVE, HEART AND SOULS, SO I MARRIED AN AXE MURDERER
Aug 13: JASON GOES TO HELL: THE FINAL FRIDAY (WAS FRIDAY THE 13TH PART
IX), NEEDFUL THINGS
Aug 20: THE CROW, JUDGMENT NIGHT, THE MAN WITHOUT A FACE
Aug : FATHER HOOD, JOHNNY ZOMBIE
Summer: CARNOSAUR, ENCHANTED FOREST, WIZARDS 2, THE SPEED RACER MOVIE
SHOW
Oct 1: WILDER NAPALM
Upcoming Books:
All books in the list at this time are from DEL REY:
June: THE FALSE MIRROR [The Damned], by Alan Dean Foster (SF); LADY OF
MERCY [The Sundered], by Michelle Sagara (F); DEPARTURES by Harry
Turtledove (SF); KNIGHTS OF DARK RENOWN, by David Gemmell (F)
July: POWERS THAT BE, by Anne McCaffery & Elizabeth Ann Scarborough
(SF); THE LOST PRINCE [Wolfking], by Bridget Wood (F); DOMES OF FIRE
[The Tamuli], by David Eddings (F); MINING THE CORT, by Frederik Pohl
(SF); THE SPELL OF THE BLACK DAGGER, by Lawrence Watt-Evans (F); STAR
TREK LOG 4/LOG 5/LOG 6, by Alan Dean Foster (SF); DEL REY DISCOVERY:
BRIGHT ISLANDS IN A DARK SEA, by L. Warren Douglas (SF)
--!-- Space News -- by Micael McAfee
* JPL has announced the Clementine mission, which will orbit the
moon and visit an asteroid. In January, 1994, the small spacecraft will
be launched, then orbit the moon for a couple of months, then make its
way to the asteroid Geographos, reaching it in late August 1994.
* The Japanese moon probe Hiten apparently crashed onto the moon's
surface on April 10, 1993. Further information as to the cause has not
yet been posted.
* Data from NASA satellites show that gamma ray bursts may originate
far beyond the Milky Way galaxy. The Ames Research Center reports that
the bursts seem to be evenly distributed in space. One of these bursts,
dubbed the Super Bowl Burst since it was seen on Super Bowl Sunday, had
10 times as much energy and was 100 times brighter than any known source
outside our galaxy. This data has put two popular theories of gamma
burst origin in question. The first, that bursts come from neutron
stars, would not explain the even distribution. The second, that
explosions, collisions, or black holes are responsible, would not
explain the kinds of energy from the Super Bowl Burst. The data is
being shared by scientists around the world to help unravel the puzzle.
* Some preliminary results of the ATLAS-1 probe are available from
NASA. Increases in hydrogen fluoride and hydrogen chloride match
predictions of the effects of chlorofluorocarbons in the stratosphere.
Predictions about solar radiation output and the number of sunspots
observed also matched up with the data. Results concerning movement of
molecules will be compared with the Venus and Mars missions. Some
artificial aurorae were created by the shuttle which carried out the
ATLAS mission, which the probe recorded. Most of the data will be
correlated with other projects, the results of which will be available
at a later date.
* The Tucson Amateur Astronomy Association has announced the third
annual Grand Canyon Star Party, to be held June 12-19, 1993. They will
be setting up on the South Rim near the Yavapai Museum. For more
information call (602) 293-2855 between 8 and 10pm Mountain Standard
Time, or e-mailing ketelsen@as.arizona.edu.
* From an article in the Astronomical Society of the Atlantic comes
an article by Robert Bunge about the need for control of "light
pollution." Much of the lighting used for security and safety reasons
is "wasteful," in that much of the light escapes upward without
providing useful illumination. This not only uses up fossil fuels, but
ruins views of the night sky in many urban areas. This can also affect
telescopes located in desolate areas far from cities, causing some
telescopes to be shut down as they can no longer ignore the constant
glow. Fortunately, communities are starting to combat this problem
through educating companies of alternatives in lighting. Unnecessary
lighting is discouraged, and better light fixtures, such as the
"shoebox," are becoming more popular as they reflect more of the light
downward to where light is needed. Also, monochromatic low pressure
sodium lamps are recommended unless it is necessary to differentiate
colors. Lights are also often installed improperly, so a quality
consultant should inspect lighting systems. Those who are interested in
more information can contact:
International Dark-Sky Association
Dave Crawford, Executive Director
3545 N. Stewart
Tucson, Arizona 85716
U.S.A.
Telephone: 602-325-9346 Fax: 602-325-9360
Internet Address: crawford@noao.edu or dcrawford@noao.edu
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!8!-- SPOILERS AHOY -- Your guide to the rest of the season for
THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES and TIME TRAX
------------------------------------------------------------------------
As promised ...
THE YOUNG INDIANA JONES CHRONICLES
Movie of the Week: "Young Indiana Jones and the Mystery of the Blues":
As a student at the University of Chicago in 1920, Indy is more
interested in the world of jazz than in his studies. He meets jazz
greats Sidney Bechet and Louis Armstrong in the legendary jazz clubs of
Chicago, and gains insight into the racial problems of the times.
In the second part of this two hour movie of the week, while Indy
is working his way through college as a waiter in a famous Chicago
restaurant, its owner, Jim Colosimo, is murdered. Indy, along with his
college roommate Eliot Ness and fledgling reporter Ernest Hemingway,
tries to solve the case.
Paris, 1908: Ten-year-old Indy meets a young American art student named
Norman Rockwell at the Louvre. While sneaking out to comb the cafes of
Paris, they find themselves caught up in an elaborate scheme devised by
a brash new artist, Pablo Picasso, to prove a point to Edgar Degas.
Vienna, 1908: Ten-year-old Indy feels the pangs of first love when he
meets Sophie, the daughter of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria. When
the royal family prevents Indy from seeing Sophie, he turns to two of
his father's acquaintances, noted psychoanalysts Jung and Adler, to help
him understand his strange new feelings.
France, 1916: Sixteen-year-old Indy visits Paris on leave from the
front in World War I and learns about the erotic side of love from the
infamous dancer, Mata Hari. He becomes acquainted with the subtleties
of self-deception through his relationship with her.
Benares, 1910: Ten-year-old Indy meets Krishnamurti, then a boy of
Indy's age, at a cricket match in India and travels with him throughout
the sacred city of Benares. Along the way, Indy gains profound insight
into several of the world's great religions.
Paris, 1919: Indy serves as a translator at the Paris Peace Conference
and witnesses history being made through his own eyes and those of
several notable participants, including T.E. Lawrence and fellow Arabist
Gertrude Bell, historian Arnold Toynbee, and Prince Faisal of Arabia.
Indy is taken with a Vietnamese waiter he encounters, a young Ho Chi
Minh, and uses his connections to enable Ho to make a presentation to
the conference on behalf of his people for their civil rights.
Prague, 1917: Indy goes undercover as a women's lingerie salesman to
Prague where he is to await an important phone call from a double agent.
Upon arrival, Indy discovers there is no phone in the apartment and he
must arrange for a new phone to be installed before the deadline. His
quest for the phone turns into a bureaucratic nightmare, a comedy of
errors, in which he meets an insurance clerk named Franz Kafka.
Peking, 1910: While visiting the Great Wall with his mother and tutor,
ten-year-old Indy falls deathly ill. They are forced to seek shelter
with a peasant family isolated in the countryside, and Indy's mother
must rely on Chinese medicine.
Petrograd, 1917: At a time when the Allies are trying desperately to
learn if and when the Czar will be overthrown in war-torn Russia, Indy
is working for Allied intelligence. In Petrograd, Indy is living with a
group of friends active in the Bolshevik movement, dramatically dividing
his loyalties.
Princeton, 1916: While in high school, Indy and his girlfriend -- the
daughter of pulp adolescent fiction author Edward Stratemeyer, famous
for his Tom Swift and Nancy Drew novels -- witness a kidnapping at
Thomas Edison's laboratory and find themselves in the middle of a
mystery adventure worthy of Nancy Drew herself. Clues lead them to
discover a plot involving secret government documents.
New York, 1920: During Summer vacation from college, Indy travels to
New York where he finds work as an assistant stage manager on Broadway.
He mixes in theatre, bohemian, and high society circles, bringing him
into contact with the young George Gershwin. His life becomes
increasingly complicated when his falls in love with three different
women and tries to deal with the consequences.
Ireland, 1916: Indy and Remy have arrived off the boat from Mexico with
no money and find themselves stranded in Dublin. While working in a
local pub, Indy meets Sean Lemass, a young member of Irish Volunteers.
The two idealistic 16-year-olds argue over political philosophies, and
Indy witnesses the Easter Rebellion for Irish independence in which
Sean was involved.
Northern Italy, 1918: While working as a spy in the mountains of Italy,
Indy falls in love with a local girl and soon discovers he has serious
competition. His pal Ernest Hemingway, then an American Red Cross
ambulance driver, explains how love is a battle and encourages Indy to
fight for her affections. A comical situation arises when the two
suitors are mistakenly invited to the same dinner party and each tries
to outdo the other to prove his love.
Florence, 1908: During a tour of Florence, Italy, nine-year-old Indy is
fascinated by opera composer Giacomo Puccini and his generous attention
to the family. Indy becomes frightened and confused when he realizes
his mother is receptive to Puccini's romantic overtures.
British East Africa, 1916: Indy and Remy arrive in Mombasa and are told
to report to the location of the Belgian Army about 1000 miles inland.
The two get lost in transit and find themselves in the camp of Frederick
Selous and the British 25th Royal Fusiliers, a colorful group of elderly
adventurers known as the "Old and the Bold." Selous recruits Indy for a
mission to find two large phantom German guns which are inflicting
serious damage to British positions.
German East Africa, 1916: After their adventure with Selous, Indy and
Remy must now cross German lines to reach their unit. Selous suggests
they disguise themselves as Boer settlers and travel cross-country in
covered wagons. They are taken by the Germans and then discover it was
all a plot by Selous to capture the brilliant and undefeated German
General Von Lettow-Vorbeck.
Istanbul, 1918: While working undercover for French intelligence as a
Scandinavian journalist in Istanbul, Indy falls in love with a stranded
American schoolteacher named Molly. After a series of murders, Indy
finds a missing file and discovers a Turkish plot to kill all of his
French agents. He meets the future leader of Turkey, Mustapha Kemal.
Beersheba, 1917: Indy receives orders to assist the British in an
attack on the ancient mid-east town of Beersheba, known as the Place of
Seven Wells. His undercover mission includes escorting Mia, a beautiful
spy disguised as a belly dancer, to Beersheba to obtain vital
information from the Turks who hold the town. The story culminates in a
daring cavalry attack by Australian Light Horsemen, a key turning point
in the downfall of the Ottoman forces. [Editor's note: Science fiction
fans may recognize one of the Turkish officers as COLIN BAKER, formerly
of DR. WHO.]
Transylvania, 1918: On a spy mission in the eastern part of the Austro-
Hungarian Empire, Indy comes upon a castle in Transylvania filled with a
strange army of soldiers from different nations. When Vlad the Impaler,
the leader of this army and master of the castle, tries to force Indy to
join his army, Indy realizes Vlad rules by an evil power, the spell of
which can only be broken by driving a stake through Vlad's heart.
TIME TRAX
Show 11: DARROW FOR THE DEFENSE: A female lawyer from 2193 comes back
to tell Darien that a fugitive has been found innocent and she wants to
find him and make sure he gets "home" alive.
Show 18: BEAUTIFUL SONGBIRD: Darien discovers that beautiful country
singer Kaitlin Carlyle, a legend in his time, is gaining her popularity
faster than history indicates. He and Selma learn that Kaitlin is
getting unexpected help from a mysterious "guardian angel" who also
happens to be a murderous fan of hers from the future who wants to
control her career and life.
Show 19: PHOTO FINISH: When Darien detects tampering on a successful
string of wins for a racehorse, he learns that a fugitive has been
injecting horses with a futuristic steroid which gives them an
incredible -- yet fatal -- burst of energy.
Show 20: ONE ON ONE: Darien catches up with his arch nemesis, Dr.
Mordicai Sahmbi, who has invented a dangerous mind controlling device
and is intent on using it on Darien, forcing the two into a deadly
showdown.
Show 21: A WANTED MAN: Darien is framed for the murder of a noted FBI
agent by a dangerous fugitive, who is planning to take over the Bureau.
Show 22: THE IMPOSTER: Darien is led in circles by an unemployed actor
from the future who wreaks havoc upon unsuspecting marks in the 20th
century with intricate con games and elaborate disguises.
STAR TREK
The season finale of STAR TREK: THE NEXT GENERATION will have a very
special guest star: physicist STEVEN HAWKING. He will play himself, in
the holodeck, playing poker with Data, Albert Einstein, and Isaac
Newton. A fitting tribute to his genius. Hawking has been a Star Trek
fan for years, and the producers were only too happy to give him a part
on the show. It will reportedly involved the return of the Borg, who
have been somewhat humanized since the Hugh incident from "I Borg."
Instead of softening them, however, they become even MORE dangerous, as
they have discovered the power of rage. Unfortunately, Data suffers the
same fate, and eventually sides with a returned Lore against the
Enterprise.
On DEEP SPACE NINE, look for episodes involving crew conflict
between supporters of Sisko and Kira, Odo stuck in a turbolift with
Lwaxana, and Keiko having problems with Bajoran religious
fundamentalists over what she teaches.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
--!9!-- Administrivia
------------------------------------------------------------------------
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-- couldn't have done it without you!
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--
CYBERSPACE VANGUARD MAGAZINE
News and Views from the Science Fiction Universe
TJ Goldstein, Editor | Send submissions, questions, comments to
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