Posted by Michael Sacco on Jul 8, 2011 in
Pulp Fiction 
The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction is considered to be the authoritative guide on the genre, but it’s oddly resisted the siren song of the information age. Until now, anyway! The Encyclopedia will be going digital, according to a press release on their website. All text will be free and available online, though admittedly that leaves the question of what won’t be free. Multiplatform users will appreciate that the Encyclopedia staff is investigating ebook and app versions of the tome as well. And for those who still love the feel of a book in their hands, fear not — a gargantuan physical version of the book will still be published. Read more…
Tags: Science Fiction
Posted by Linda Yau on May 9, 2011 in
Fandom,
Hobbies and Collections 
Recently I was at Anime Boston, and met an interesting cosplayer with a rich in potassium banana. I also definitely attended panels hosted by this person of interest. Meet Charles Dunbar aka Anime Antropologiest of Study of Anime. From the time I have met him to now, his panels at conventions will pack rooms. This is a scholar that has made my appreciation toward anime more interesting and academic in a sense that is away from the college environment. I hope to see more of this man speak, so I happened to be able to conduct an email interview with him. Read more…
Tags: Anime, Dr. Who, Fandom, interview, manga, Science Fiction, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Posted by Michael Sacco on Mar 13, 2011 in
Fandom 
You may think you’re a sci-fi expert, but can you navigate this fittingly tentacular map of the history of the genre? Artist Ward Shelley created it for Places and Spaces: Mapping Science. Almost every important event or genre piece is here, though you may find that your pet series or favorite novel isn’t on there if you look hard enough. Click on the image for a super-huge version, well worth the few seconds to download. Read more…
Tags: Sci-Fi, Science Fiction
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 18, 2010 in
Fandom 
ThinkGeek’s prepping for the holiday season with a ton of new merchandise, and I noticed this little gem amongst a slew of new products. It might not be the most attractive t-shirt I’ve ever seen, but it’s certainly one of the coolest. The Sci-Fi Armory, as they’re calling it, boasts an impressive array of weaponry from 1936’s Flash Gordon through 2009’s District 9. They manage to cover quite a bit, any fanboy can probably list off a few notable exceptions — BSG, Stargate, and Predator to name a few. Still, the fact that the shirt doesn’t outright list the origin of each weapon provides you with the opportunity to quiz your friends and family. Just don’t count on it winning your any dates. Read more…
Tags: Science Fiction, t-shirt
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Nov 16, 2010 in
Cinema 
I don’t have very fond memories of the Men in Black films. I’m not sure if it was the campy PG humor, saturation or excessive use of CG, but something about the films always left me wanting less. The first time around, it wasn’t because it was a terrible movie. In fact, I actually liked it until I had to watch it more than once. The sequel, on the other hand, was pretty terrible. Everything about it, save for the excessive CG, felt rushed — as if the producers couldn’t wait to capitalize on the oil they thought they struck. It would also seem that I’m not alone in my opinion. But why, then, would we need another sequel? Read more…
Tags: Science Fiction, Will Smith
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 27, 2010 in
Horror,
Television 
So I made the tragic mistake this weekend of starting to watch Sharktopus on the SyFy channel — and while I enjoyed laughing at the screen I somehow don’t think that’s the “executives” at the SyFy channel quite imagined that they were quickly transforming their network into the Comedy Channel. In case you missed Sharktopus was sort of a cross between Bay Watch and a low budget 50s horror film. The unintentional result of this combo is that you quickly find yourself rooting for Sharktopus instead of the boring superficial actors who seem even more boring than what you’d find in a bad soap opera. Read more…
Tags: Science Fiction, SyFy Channel
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 5, 2010 in
Comic Books 
Could it be that maids are about to go out of style? Shown above is a promotional illustration for Military High School Joshi-Kouhei which will be a new manga series by Matsumoto Zirou in the monthly comic magazine Bunch. The series will harken back to the good old days of manga and anime and prominently feature sci fi themes in the tradition of Leiji Matsumoto (which I think is a good thing).
Tags: Leiji Matsumoto, manga, Science Fiction
Posted by Gia Manry on Aug 28, 2010 in
Science 
No, it’s not yet another Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy– it’s Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency!
…What do you mean you don’t know anything about Dirk Gently? POSER! Read more…
Tags: douglas adams, Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, Science Fiction
Posted by Tim Sheehy on Jul 27, 2010 in
Comic Books 
With the recent passing of Al Williamson, I thought it might be nice to give another nod to one of the series that made him famous, Flash Gordon. Of course, I’m well aware that he didn’t have anything to do with Alex Raymond’s original Sunday strips, but they were indeed the inspiration needed to launch his storied career. IDW recently announced that those original Sunday strips will be completely remastered, alongside Jungle Jim, in a 12 x 16 inch ”champagne” format. Read more…
Tags: Flash Gordon, Science Fiction
Posted by Michael Pinto on Jul 16, 2010 in
Hobbies and Collections 
Too often I see fanboys build amazing tributes to the imagination of others — but this rejects the original thing that made science fiction fandom so cool: It’s the idea that the fanboys who grow up reading something become the authors of the next generation of new things. So I was very happy to come across an original Lego creation called Containment which is the handy work of Tyler Clites (Legohaulic) and Nannan Zhang (Nannan Z.). Read more…
Tags: Lego, Science Fiction, steampunk
