Just food for thought

 

Rest in Piece James Elliott Bama

 

Mr. Bama had a long and glorious career in illustration and fine art.  I know him from the cover of Star Trek 1 and then, of course...

 

...Doc Savage!  I won't try and sum up a life I know only from art, but I do know his art inspired me and still does to this day.  A true master and a true legend.

Rest well.

A future Christmas wish...

 ...or just an everyday wish.  Would love to hear the whole soundtrack the way Goldsmith composed it.  I listen to the original way more than I probably should.  This and the Star Trek The Motion Picture scores are a couple of my favorites.

What I'm reading now

 Before I get back to The Shadow adventures I've been taking a little detour.  I just finished "The Return of Tarzan" and am almost through "The Federalist Papers" (a slog but very eye opening to me).  I spent a little time with the book "Be Water My Friend" by Bruce Lee's daughter Shannon Lee.  I have the lastest Clive Cussler (inspired) novel "Fast Ice" sitting on my bed stand but that will have to wait until I have finished

This is the first novel I've read dealing with the post Star Trek The Motion Picture adventures of the crew.  Bennett has done a lot of in-universe research and it's fun to see how he has incorporated TOS with TAS and ST:Enterprise as well as some of the other novels by other authors.  I believe he even referenced a bit of Spock background from ST Discovery, although it could be that Discovery took it from one of the novels.  I don't read a lot of Trek so I'm not up on all of the different backstories that aren't filmed.

After I'm done with this I will be delving back into the murky world of Ying Ko!

Stardate: November 27, 1964

 56 years ago today the first scenes of "The Cage" started filming.  This was the introduction of the Starship Enterprise and her crew to all of humanity.  I dare say the world has never been the same.  The captain may not have been James T. Kirk (or even James R. Kirk) but "The Cage" was great Star Trek and great science fiction.  It ranks as one of my all time favorite episodes and I sometimes wonder what if the show had been picked up as first presented.  Captain Pike, Number One and Mr. Spock.  That version truly was boldly going where no man had gone before.

Happy Star Trek Day

54 years ago today the world was introduced to the crew of the USS Enterprise and their star-spanning adventures.  We've been all the better for it ever since.

Finally calling it a day on Doc Savage

The infamous unpublished Cold War novel.  Can't say I enjoyed it but the post script by Will Murray sure shined a light on how this tale reflected the editorial influences that shaped these pulp characters.  The same can be said about any character that isn't controlled by a single creative mind.  Take Batman.  In the comics he is nigh unto unrecognizable as the hero I grew up idolizing.  Even Star Trek has "evolved" away, in some cases, from the world (or universe) I let consume me for 50 or so years.
So this marks the end of my journey with Doc Savage and his Fabulous Five.  I'm glad I took the trek if only to say I gave it the old college try.  The Shadow is easily the better fit for me.  So I now delve back into the massive backlog of pulp adventures that await me, to transport me to the back alleys of 1930's NYC, or perhaps the hop houses of Chinatown in either San Francisco or NYC.  Not the crazed, vengeance fueled killer that the recent comics have turned him into (again with the editorial influence) but the brilliant detective with the unerring aim and fierce loyalty to those that share his mission.  To once again find out what evil lurks in the hearts of men!

Star Trek Day +2

A little sketch I did to celebrate another obsession of mine, Star Trek (the Original Series, of course) on the 53rd anniversary of its premier.  This is the early version of Mr. Spock from the first pilot episode, The Cage.  It may not be The Shadow but I'm sure The Dark Eagle would appreciate the logical nature of this character.