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According to the count, this should be the 119th post of the blog, which I am using to celebrate my 100th post.
You see, not all of those 118 previous posts had something really to do with the whole Hypnosis in Media collection, so I wasn’t counting them. Except maybe for the ones that kind of cross over into the collection, which made trying to figure out which exactly of the posts was the century mark difficult, so I made the decision that the last post would be the century mark, no matter what.
That’s a pretty decent amount, given that I started blogging just under a year ago. That’s more than two posts about the collection alone per week, let alone the almost double dozen ones that weren’t. I’d say it was a pretty good run.
So far.
And I’m not stopping.
I’ve only started on the collection: there are a book and a magazine beside the computer waiting to be read for upcoming posts, plus another book someplace else in the house, plus a post I’m working on about what I got last weekend, and the start of a series of interesting posts, not to mention at least 9 posts already finished in case I don’t have anything for my regular schedule. And there are still a lot more in the bookcase next door and the video / DVD collection to work on.
So stay tuned: this ride is only just started.
When Dave Arneson showed Gary Gygax the new game he and his friends were playing, it probably didn’t occurr to either that they were on the brink of creating not only a new game but an entirely new type of game, resulting in a revolutionary new gaming industry.
Dave Arneson took the traditional miniature game, where miniatures represented groups of individuals and started using them to represent individuals. He also added the elements of character classes and experience levels, allowing for character specialization and growith. This was a revolution, in that players could project themselves into the character, developing them over time and play. Since both he and Gary Gygax were avid minature ship game players, he shjowed Gary his game and together they created Dungeons & Dragons.
⇒ Continue reading ““Dungeons & Dragons” — The Hypnotic Side”
IDW Publications, publishers of a number of SF properties including Doctor Who and Ghostbusters, announced at the San Diego Comic Convention a comic series that combines the premiere SF series Star Trek and one of the longest-running and fan favorite comic series, The Legion of Super-Heroes. This is not their first such event: earlier this year, there was a massive crossover story that affected (or should I say ‘infected’) every title of their current line with a zombie plague, but this is the first that involves properties from another company.
STAR TREK/LEGION OF SUPERHEROES tells the tale of the original crew of the Starship Enterprise, who beam down to a planet only to discover that the planet isn’t their intended destination, or even in the right universe. At the same time, a group of “Great Darkness Saga” Legionnaires inside a time sphere find themselves cast into the 23rd century, but it’s not the 23rd century as they know it, either. STAR TREK/LEGION OF SUPERHEROES is a galaxy-spanning adventure that draws both teams together to face a menace that includes Khunds, Klingons, Borg, and other threats that aren’t quite as they should be. The egalitarian United Planets in one universe and a United Federation of Planets in another is now the Imperial Planets of Terra, a dark empire focused on war and conquest, and that’s just the beginning for this special series.
According to this interview with the writer Chris Robertson (who is a major Star Trek and Legion fan), the series will combine the original Star Trek series crew (Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Sulu, Uruhu, Chekov and Bones) and the major powers of the Legion (Cosmic Boy, Saturn Girl, Lightning Lad, Brainiac 5, Shadow Lass and Chameleon Boy). The numbers are limited, he says, because there are only 6 transporter pads on a Constitution-class starship.
The talent involved is impressive:
Weaving these disparate universes and characters into a dark, foreboding and mysterious saga is Eisner-nominated writer Chris Roberson (iZombie, Superman), with art by Jeffrey and Philip Moy, both of whom have tackled the Legion and Star Trek in other forms. Phil Jimenez, will provide covers for the entire series, while each issue will also feature variant covers from classic Legion of Superheroes artists such as Keith Giffen, Steve Lightle, and Mike Grell, as well as IDW mainstay and Best Artist Eisner-nominee Gabriel Rodriguez (Locke & Key) and others.
And why do I think this is significant? Other than being a very big Legion and Star Trek fan, I love cross-over stories, especially of such differing universes. The egalitarian Legion will have to work with the military crew of the Enterprise, who are not to be out-awed by the display of super-powers, as they have faced down gods and demons themselves. Also, the talents invovled here are pretty impressive: I am so looking forward to seeing what Mike Grell has to contribute.
The series is scheduled to start in October, 2011.
Word is that Marvel Comics, fresh off the success of such movies as Iron Man and Thor is now looking at another character for a possible movie. That character is Doctor Stephen Strange, otherwise known as Doctor Strange, Master of the Mystic Arts and Sorcerer Surpreme.
Doctor Strange is one Marvel’s lesser-known (which puts him in the same class as Iron Man and Thor, come to think of it) and oldest (Strange Tales #110. July, 1963) characters, created by writer Stan Lee and artist Steve Ditko. Doctor Strange was once Doctor Stephen Strange, a successful but arrogant surgeon, until an accident damaged his hands such that he couldn’t practice. His only hope was the mysterious figure known as the Ancient One, but Doctor Strange soon realized his path was away from his surgical practice and instead the practice of the mystic arts. The good Doctor has survived many changes and many trials in his comic career, and given his back story, could make for a good movie.
And that is apparently what is happening. According to the Twtich Film website, here, Marvel already has a script in hand, from screenwriters Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, who were responsible for the recent Conan reboot movie, and are reportedly in the process of contracting a director and seeking the right actor to play the part. (Of course, there was a Doctor Strange movie, a MFTV production from 1978. We won’t talk about it right now.)
I for one would love to see the good Doctor on the big screen, properly done, of course. I’ve been a fan of the character for many years, and many of the stories (and some of the artwork) is classic material. That he has a number of hypnotic spells in his arsenal, not to mention his amulet, the Eye of Aggamoto, which has the power to hypnotize, only adds to the appeal.
“Wayward Sons: Legends” is an involved web comic chronicling the battle between the Ulympians and the Tytans. They’re both refugees from another galaxy, thrown to Earth by a cosmic mishap and forced to begin their lives over. That the mishap has made them immortal and given them all immense powers that seem godlike (especially to the humans who already worshiped various images that could easily be applied to the various individuals) and since they were already enemies means that both are building for war.
Since many of the Ulympeans are surrogates of the Greek / Roman gods, it would only be natural that someone among therm would be the surrogate of Morpheus, the god of dreams. In fact, there are two of them: Somnoz, who has the power to put his opponents to sleep, although it seems he has to use some kind of goggles to keep his powers in check, and Morfeaz, who has the power to m,anipulate the dreams of sleeping or onconscious people.
Overall, these are just a couple of minor characters: I find the whole grand scope of the story interesting, especially since it looks like it is reaching the big battle, but it is also interesting how the various mythologies of the area are incorporated into the characters and story.
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