Saturday, August 29, 2009

"Perry Rhodan: Peacelord of the Universe!"



I have to say that one of the things that I really like about doing this blog is the way that it leads me in different directions. Right now I'm in the middle of researching material for three posts dealing with the Dune series, and I'm working on a photocomp image for one of those blog-posts-about-blogging that pop up now and then. Nonetheless, I'm going to drop everything and talk about Perry Rhodan.

Now, I freely admit this is my own fault for setting this up in the previous post with the joke about Rhodan versus Rodan, but I'm surprised that the person who broached the question wasn't one of my (six) regular readers. I'd like to extend my thanks to Zach, down in Utah, for following through:
Very well - who is Perry Rhodan?

The Perry Rhodan series is the brainchild of two German authors, Karl Scheer and Walter Ernsting. The series, which started in Germany in 1961, drew heavily on early science fiction for inspiration, and is written by a rotating stable of authors - possibly by necessity, since there are apparently more than 2500 episodes in the series. I refer to them as "episodes" because the Perry Rhodan stories were originally produced in a weekly serialized format that's more like chapters in a story than stand-alone novels.

The books first appeared in English translation in 1969, but as far as I know only a few hundred of the episodes have been published in English.

I hadn't read a Perry Rhodan book for about thirty years, and my schedule is open until I start my new job next week. So, in the interests of research, I hunted around on the internet and found a downloadable copy of the first book, Enterprise Stardust, and picked up a few of the later paperbacks at Pulp Fiction, my local used bookstore.

Enterprise Stardust: the stage is set with the departure of a four man mission to the Moon, led by Major Perry Rhodan, in 1971. (Interestingly, in spite of the German authorship, it's an American mission.) However, as the expedition prepares to land, unexpected electronic interference causes the ship to go out of control, and it makes a near crash-landing on the surface of the Moon. In the course of investigating the accident, Rhodan and his crew discover that a derelict alien spaceship is responsible.

The massive globular craft is part of the Arkon Imperium, a once mighty intergalactic empire which has fallen into a state of decay and decadence - in fact, only two of the crew are even able to summon up the interest to speak to Rhodan, and one of them is dying from their equivalent of leukemia. However, the dying man sees in Rhodan - and perhaps in humanity as a whole - the dynamic energy once possessed by his race, and convinces the captain of the ship to equip Rhodan with their more advanced technology in the guise of payment for an attempt to cure the sickness.

Thus equipped, Rhodan and his crew return to Earth, but not to America. Instead, they land in the Gobi Desert, and begin planning to use the science of the Arkonides to unite the world and conquer the universe.

After this humble beginning, no science fiction stone is left unturned as the series develops - alien races, intergalactic warfare, world government, mutant powers, immortality, fifth dimensional space drives, time travel, mind parasites, parallel dimensions, and an entire range of technological gimmicks, wonders and inventions.

When I started reading, I was amazed at how quickly it all came back to me: Perry's friend and second in command Reginald Bell, frequent provider of comic relief; the exotically beautiful alien commander Thora, who was also Perry's reluctant love interest; Khrest, the agèd "Arkonide Mastermind"; the Mutant Corps - hey, what ever happened to the mutant Ernst Ellert, who became lost in time at some point?* - and Perry's base in the Gobi Desert, protected by the impenetrable barrier of the Radiant Dome (Episode 3). And, of course, Perry himself, a steely-eyed visionary who sees it as his duty to unite humanity and travel to the stars.

To be honest, I consider Perry Rhodan books to be the science fiction equivalent of potato chips. They're short little books, and provided that they're not the only thing in your diet, they make kind of a fun snack. The writing suffers horribly in translation, I suspect - I had this ongoing desire to edit the text when I was reading the digital copy. That aside, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading them.

Although the books don't seem to be as well-known in North America as they were when I was in high school, the international Perry Rhodan fan base may still give Star Trek and Harry Potter a run for their money. In fact, the Perry Rhodan fan phenomenon may have set the stage for Star Wars fandom, since both require a certain acceptance of any possible shortcomings of the material.

And like Star Wars, the Perry Rhodan universe is painted with a large brush, as the saying goes, but let's be fair: it's painted on a canvas of intergalactic proportions. Wouldn't you want a big brush for that?
- Sid

* Ha, it looks like he got back in issue 83 - just a happy coincidence that I found that particular cover for the opening lineup.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

But they're experts on Tintin.



>> By the way, do you know who Mothra is? <<
You mean the giant moth or is there another one I should be aware of?

Colin Campbell (very nearly half of the Campbell Brothers)
The poll is over, and the results indicate that only members of Laurie's family are unaware of Mothra. However, hardly anyone knows about Ghidrah, the three-headed dragon, and only three of us have to worry about getting Rodan (the giant pteranodon) mixed up with Perry Rhodan.
- Sid


(Okay, I admit it, I only did this post because I found a really great quality Mothra poster JPEG online and couldn't bear not to use it for something. Now to sit back and wait for questions about Perry Rhodan...)

Sunday, August 16, 2009

Understanding Comics


To kill a man between panels is to condemn him to a thousand deaths.
Scott McCloud, Understanding Comics
Just back from breakfast, where my friend Laurie returned my copy of Sin City - the collected comics, that is - which I'd lent to her so that she could see what they were aiming for in the production of the film version. I asked what she thought of the two in relative terms, and she said that she found the movie easier to follow, because it didn't have the fragmented jumps from frame to frame that the comic had.

It's an interesting criticism of the space-bound nature of comics versus the time-bound approach of movies. Movies are designed to flow through time: they start, run for a specific period of time as determined by the director, and take place in one location: the screen. Comics are the opposite - the story's physical existence is spread out in space, with multiple moments in time existing simultaneously on each page and sometimes in a single panel.

For a much more comprehensive discussion of the nature of comics, I unhesitatingly recommend Scott McCloud's Understanding Comics, a clever and thoughtful examination of how and why the medium of comics works.

Understanding Comics is one of those rare books which fully deserves the title "instant classic". Since its publication in 1993, it has become the standard for any discussion regarding comics. Not everyone agrees with its conclusions, but it's impossible to ignore the quality of the consideration which McCloud has given to the topic - presented, of course, in the form of a large comic book.

McCloud, acting as his own black-and-white narrator, offers a complete view of the comic: he defines it, views its historical roots, examines how our minds process the content, looks at the mechanics of the frame and transition between frames, abstraction and realism in style, and the flow of time, and concludes with a comprehensive personal theory on the nature of the creative process in general. But this quick summary does the book an injustice: there is not a single page which does not present the reader with some new or unexpected insight.

For me as a long-time reader of comics, Understanding Comics offers an amazing education in the nature of the medium, but I'm honestly not sure how it would read to a non-fan. I suppose I could lend it to Laurie and get her opinion - although, come to think of it, she'd probably prefer the movie version.
- Sid