Author Archives: W. Blaine Dowler

As you may be able to tell, my formal training is not as a writer. My degrees are in physics and education. In my day job, I work in supplemental education, which is why my productivity is lowest when report card season hits.

Weekly Comics Discussion – Wednesday, May 11, 2005

There are a couple of gems coming out this week,
including Star Wars: Empire Vol. 4 from Dark
Horse, Green Arrow #50 from DC, and
Astonishing X-Men #10, Ultimate
Spider-Man #77, X-Men: The End Book Two:
Heroes and Martyrs #3, and a reprint of
Essential Fantastic Four Vol. 1 from Marvel.
I’ll be taking home the final issue of Green
Lantern: Rebirth (which I’ve been very impressed
by so far), and Fantastic Four #526, the last
fill in before J. Michael Straczynski takes over.

Weekly Comics Discussion – Wednesday, May 4, 2005

The shipping
lists for this week include a couple of noteworthy
items, including Essential Defenders Vol. 1
and Ultimate Fantastic Four #18. Items of
interest I won’t be picking up this week include the
trade paperback versions of Ultimate
Adventures, X-Men: Eve of Destruction,
Spectacular Spider-Man Vol. 5: Sins
Remembered, Human Torch Vol. 1,
Captain Britain, Hawkman: Wings of
Fury, JSA: The Golden Age, Preacher
Vol. 3, Swan Volume 3, Thundercats
Vol. 5, and Superman: The Action Archives
Vol. 4.

Orson Scott Card: Trek is dead? It’s about time!

Daemonik
writes, Orson Scott Card, author of Ender’s Game
amongst many outstanding Sci-Fi novels, has thrown
down the gauntlet in the L.A.
Times and said that it’s about time that Trek has
died. What took so long?

Star Trek, as Card claims, is Sci-Fi as Hollywood saw
it, a throwback to the 30’s adventure stories with no
regard for science or deeper ideas and little interest
in plot arcs or character growth.

That writers like Ellison, LeGuin, Silverberg, Niven
and more were pumping out outstanding science fiction
stories with fertile passion makes the public’s near
religious adulation of Star Trek all the more
questionable. Faced today with examples such as
“Lost”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Firefly” and
“Smallville” to put the spotlight on just how bad Trek
really is, people are still fighting to save this
show.

So I ask you, does the death of Trek fill you with
childish glee or are you storming Paramount’s gates,
Batleths drawn?