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Post by brutalis on Jul 28, 2016 10:32:44 GMT -5
What was your gateway which drew you into the cosmic vastness of the universe within science-fiction?
Mine began as a child with television. My mother tells me she would sit up with in her lap as a toddler (all of 5 years)on Friday nights watching Star Trek waiting for my father to get home from work. Then when re-runs began, i was instantly hooked on Star Trek, Lost in Space, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea and Wild Wild West.
Then there were the movies which ran on our local television station every Saturday: The World Beyond. Every week an hour and a half traveling into science fiction and fantasy with old movies or television shows. They would run Godzilla movies, the old japanese Star Man, the old Universal Monsters, the Doctor Who movies and old 1950's movies like Them, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Forbidden Planet and so forth.
Once comic books came into my life there was the glimpses of the Silver Surfer within Thor and Fantastic Four and his yearning to soar the cosmo's and Thor's own semi mythological/science fiction/fantasy universe of action. But the real comic book journey for me began with a visitor from another planet (no, not the one you think) in his green and silver suit. I found a stack of used Captain Marvel comics in a used trading store and was exposed to the travels of Mar-Vell, Captain of the Kree and hero to earth. A total of 7 books i found that enthralled me with their science fiction elements. I had 4 Gene Colan drawn issues and 2 don Heck drawn issues and 1 Gil Kane issue where Marv faced off against the Hulk in his new Red and Blue outfit. These captivated me intensely and from there i was hooked and began searching out science fiction characters within the comic book world and purchasing current or used copies of any and everything that remotely furthered the science fiction and space adventures i craved.
I wound up following those grand space adventurers who took me to places one could only ever dream of. Adam Strange, Thor, Silver Surfer, the Legion of Superheroes, Fantastic Four and so on into the new 70's of Adam Warlock, Quasar and others. But the hero who always was #1 in my book was Captain Mar-Vell, the Kree soldier and eventual Protector of the Universe. It was Jim Starlin who took my breath away and sealed my everlasting following of science fiction with his rethinking of Mar-Vell and the new exploration of space and humanity within the context of a "children's" comic book.
To this day i still adore science fiction and read books, watch movies (praise the force) and trek my imagination into undreamed of worlds, galaxies and universes where i escape from work and life to explore strange new concepts and experiences.
When did you journey to the stars and what took you there?
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shaxper
CCF Site Custodian
Posts: 22,874
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Post by shaxper on Jul 28, 2016 10:37:09 GMT -5
Sci-Fi was just naturally built into my childhood. Growing up in the mid 1980s, virtually all of the cartoons and toys tailored to boys had a sci-fi component (even if they weren't particularly well thought out): Masters of the Universe, Thundercats, Silverhawks, even the Super Friends were now Galactic Guardians battling Darkseid.
But I didn't grow to actively love and seek out science fiction until I started watching Star Trek The Next Generation in 1991. It was entirely by accident that I caught it on re-runs while on a particularly uninteresting vacation where we spent a lot of time in the hotel room with nothing better to do. I was hooked pretty quickly and have never stopped enjoying and seeking out thoughtful science fiction since.
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Post by DE Sinclair on Jul 28, 2016 10:55:27 GMT -5
It started for me with a series of children's books about "Space Cat". It was literally about an anthropomorphic cat in a space suit that had various adventures in space. A quick Google search shows they were written by a Scottish poet & editor, Ruthven Todd. I find that amusing because of my Scottish heritage. Didn't know that until now.
From there I graduated to the original Star Trek, Lost in Space (my brother's favorite, which I had to watch because he was the oldest and we only had one TV), and various sci-fi novels.
I even wrote my High School Senior theme paper in English on "Science Fiction and its Power of Prophecy".
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Post by Roquefort Raider on Jul 28, 2016 11:00:40 GMT -5
That's so long ago that I'm not sure I know! I definitely saw SF on TV and at the movies before I knew how to read, so my guess would be that I started with shows like Land of Giants, Star Trek and Lost in Space during the late '60s. There was also a series adapted from Alvin Toffler's Future shock that showed what the future was supposed to look like. I remembered being scared by the monsters in Ultraman; I'd hide behind the couch when they appeared. In comics, well... There were flying saucers and travels to Mars in Dan Cooper and I started reading Valerian a little while later. I do remember that when I started reading novels I read SF almost exclusively; first Bob Morane then Perry Rhodan. The latter was especially important in the way I viewed space opera; much of my pre-conceived ideas still come from that series! Later on, my favourite SF series were Valerian (still!), and a Spanish series that saw print in Tintin : Dani Futuro, drawn by the brilliant Carlos Jimenez. And naturally the one series I basically worshipped for a few years : Philippe Druillet's Lone Sloane.  |
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Post by brutalis on Jul 28, 2016 11:16:35 GMT -5
Sci-Fi was just naturally built into my childhood. Growing up in the mid 1980s, virtually all of the cartoons and toys tailored to boys had a sci-fi component (even if they weren't particularly well thought out): Masters of the Universe, Thundercats, Silverhawks, even the Super Friends were now Galactic Guardians battling Darkseid. But I didn't grow to actively love and seek out science fiction until I started watching Star Trek The Next Generation in 1991. It was entirely by accident that I caught it on re-runs while on a particularly uninteresting vacation where we spent a lot of time in the hotel room with nothing better to do. I was hooked pretty quickly and have never stopped enjoying and seeking out thoughtful science fiction since. The grand 80's of afternoon cartoons. I was a senior in high school in spring of 1980 and was enjoying Thundercats, He-Man, Silverhawks and Robotech and myriad others. Always followed the Saturday morning Super Friends and Filmation's Flash Gordon and Star Trek in animated form.Had a friend who's brother was in military overseas and so I had quite a few copied VHS copies of untranslated Japanese Anime movie's and shows. Found syndicated Ultra-Man and Ultra-Seven and Doctor Who from Pertwee on through McCoy on our local public television station. Followed all of the next generation of Star Trek in the 90's recording onto VHS and watching until the tapes would break. Bless the advent of DVD where i am now rebuilding my science fiction youth in television and movies and anime. Just another in a long line of legal addictions i now get to indulge in. Whether a blessing or curse is yet to be seen  |
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2016 11:30:22 GMT -5
In my teenage years - I was fascinated by Science Fiction growing up watching Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica, Buck Rogers and the 25th Century, and so on. In movies like the Forbidden Planet, War of the Worlds, The Green Slime, and countless others and I was stunned by the visual aspects of those movies and fantastic futuristic appeal that captivates me into wonders of the unknown and later on my fascination grew watching Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Star Wars, and it's sequels.
When ever a science fiction movie comes on ... I always watch it because a bad science fiction movie is better than an average television sitcom and believe me it still is.
Comic Books in the world of Science Fiction is so amazing - I really do not have a favorite one at all but I have great respect for Legion of Super Heroes, Silver Surfer, Marvel Comics Captain Marvel, and dozens and dozens of others that captured my fancies and all that.
Additional Television Shows ... like Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Lost in Space, and others that really puts me in a joyful mood when these shows came on. I was hooked on the Six Million Dollar Man and the Bionic Woman in the 70's and that along with Buck Rogers - the 70's were the 2nd big Decade of the Science Fiction Era.
The 50's were king and it's was unbelievable amount of stuff that they did back then. Too Numerous to list.
I just in awe of Science Fiction and it's wonders never, ever failed me yet and I know that future generations will have it's shares of wonders that will make our wonders of Science Fiction pale by recognition alone.
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Post by Slam_Bradley on Jul 28, 2016 11:38:11 GMT -5
To some extent it was a natural outgrowth of reading comic books. And I did watch reruns of Star Trek on afternoon television.
But I actually got into science fiction through actual science fiction. My Uncle was an SF fan and I read his copies of Heinlein and Leinster and the rest when I would stay at my Grandmother's house. Stranger in a Strange Land was my pathway to the stars.
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Post by Randle-El on Jul 28, 2016 13:33:21 GMT -5
Depends on what you mean by science fiction. I was certainly a fan of space opera type stuff growing up. I have a lot of fond memories watching reruns of Star Trek TOS, the original Battlestar Galactica, the Buck Rogers series with Gil Gerard. I also enjoyed Japanese animation that had space opera elements -- Robotech/Macross, Voltron, Mobile Suit Gundam, Mazinger, etc. And what kid growing up in the 80s wasn't into Star Wars? (Although I would argue Star Wars more properly fits in the fantasy genre). When I got a little older, Star Trek TNG was airing and I watched that pretty religiously. Later during middle and high school, I got into reruns of classic Doctor Who on my local PBS station (Tom Baker will always be THE Doctor for me).
Then there was all the non-space opera stuff. Tron was a big one for me. I also discovered cyberpunk at a fairly early age, with William Gibson's Neuromancer and related novels. I also dabbled a bit with classic sci-fi fiction like HG Wells.
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Post by dupersuper on Jul 28, 2016 15:18:31 GMT -5
Probably reruns of 60s Star Trek.
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Post by Red Oak Kid on Jul 28, 2016 16:27:08 GMT -5
Good question. In my case it might be Lost In Space in it's original airing. I know the previews got me all geeked up. I liked the first few episodes but the Dr. Smith character made me so mad I had to quit watching.
In the 5th grade a friend told me about the John Carter of Mars books by Edgar Rice Burroughs. I began taping two quarters to a 3x5 index card and mailing away to Ballantine Books in NYC for these books.
Don't know if John Carter qualifies as SF or not.
Never saw Star Trek in it's original run. It was probably on opposite something my dad was watching.
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Post by Ish Kabbible on Jul 28, 2016 18:30:50 GMT -5
Early to mid 1960s I was a big fan of SF films shown on TV. Things Forbidden Planet, Gorgo, Worlds Without End, Day The Earth Stood Still, The Giant Claw... if there was a giant dino trampling through a city then I was there. Probably seen The Giant Behemoth 40 times when I was young,
DC comics in the early 60s had plenty of SF in their stories. I loved the Julie Schwarz edited Strange Adventures with The Atomic Knights and others as well as Mystery In Space with Adam Strange. Superman and the other DC superheroes had loads of SF themes too
Then of course there was The Twilight Zone, The Time Tunnel, Lost In Space, Land Of The Giants. The race to the moon was big news and astronauts were all the rage. It's About Time, the TV show of astronauts going through the time barrier and stuck in prehistoric times, astronauts landing on Gilligan's Island, I Dream Of Jeannie's Tony, astronauts were everywhere
I too for some reason didn't watch Star trek in it's original run for some reason. Something else was on opposite it that I must have been loyal too. But once it went to syndicated reruns I watched them plenty of times
Finally by 1968 I began to read real SF in paperback. Started with Asimov's Foundation books, Heinlein's short story collections, Herbert's Dune and some great anthologies. To this day, SF is maybe 33% of what I read in book form
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Post by Deleted on Jul 28, 2016 20:37:35 GMT -5
My love of SciFi came from being a child of the 60's caught up in the space race. Then the moon landing. All the great TV shows like Star Trek, Lost in Space, etc. Then in the 70's the Six Million Dollar Man & others plus tons of novels.
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Post by Nowhere Man on Jul 28, 2016 20:49:03 GMT -5
Like many here, my first exposure to Sci-Fi was certainly old Star Trek reruns and the Star Wars films. The earliest memory I can still recall is watching The Empire Strikes Back in the theater in 1980 (I was born in December of 1977, and it had to be the Summer, so I wouldn't have been 3 yet) with the Hoth snow battle being the main thing that I remember. Through the 80's I'd continue to love Star Trek, but I also remember enjoying Buck Rogers and any cartoon that featured science fiction elements like Thundercats, Voltron and Silverhawks. I was a big fan of the Silver Surfer series in the late 80's and early 90's and followed that title until it was canceled around...1998? It wasn't until my late teens and early 20's that I finally read some of the classics like Dune and some of the works of Arthur C. Clarke.
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Post by brutalis on Jul 29, 2016 7:59:58 GMT -5
Captain Mar-Vell's early issues so captured the earliest attractions of science fiction for me. Start with classic 1950's interstellar invasion: Kree Captain sent to evaluate earth for eventual conquest, love story: loves his medical officer (dammit Jim, i'm a doctor not a sex toy) and cannot be with her, personal anguish: torn between his orders and his heart and his growing admiration of earthlings, the alien scare: there are now Kree, Skrulls and other aliens appearing at a quickly growing rate, and the good old action/adventure super heroics going on as the good Captain fights other alien's, the earth's military, the earth's superhero's and finally even his own race.
What's not to love in this series? Everything you could want and even more. Beautiful Gene Colan and Don Heck art which to me perfectly suits the 50's and 60's tone and style of this science fiction(y) comic book. Then with the advent of the late 60's and early 70's along comes Jim Starlin and turns this science fiction adventure upside down and sideways into interstellar existentialism and pure psychological soap opera while dialing up the action and intergalactic world building. Along comes the perfect and ultimate galactic Villain grounded in mythological terms and structure who to this day is still causing trouble, wreaking havoc and making our brain's hurt in thinking outside the boundaries of our own idea's.
If Captain Marvel didn't make you wish to find some way to launch yourself into outer space for the thrills, terror, action and love of it all then you must be one of those keep your feet on the ground afraid of heights folk!
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Post by DE Sinclair on Jul 29, 2016 8:22:57 GMT -5
Early to mid 1960s I was a big fan of SF films shown on TV. Things Forbidden Planet, Gorgo, Worlds Without End, Day The Earth Stood Still, The Giant Claw... if there was a giant dino trampling through a city then I was there. Probably seen The Giant Behemoth 40 times when I was young, DC comics in the early 60s had plenty of SF in their stories. I loved the Julie Schwarz edited Strange Adventures with The Atomic Knights and others as well as Mystery In Space with Adam Strange. Superman and the other DC superheroes had loads of SF themes too Then of course there was The Twilight Zone, The Time Tunnel, Lost In Space, Land Of The Giants. The race to the moon was big news and astronauts were all the rage. It's About Time, the TV show of astronauts going through the time barrier and stuck in prehistoric times, astronauts landing on Gilligan's Island, I Dream Of Jeannie's Tony, astronauts were everywhere I too for some reason didn't watch Star trek in it's original run for some reason. Something else was on opposite it that I must have been loyal too. But once it went to syndicated reruns I watched them plenty of times Finally by 1968 I began to read real SF in paperback. Started with Asimov's Foundation books, Heinlein's short story collections, Herbert's Dune and some great anthologies. To this day, SF is maybe 33% of what I read in book form I agree absolutely on the space race in the 60s. I loved the real life sci-fi that was playing out on the news every night. I still love the early manned rockets, the Mercury series (a bit before my time), the Gemini, and most of all the Apollo. We were watching the Bond movie You Only Live Twice last night and I was thrilled to see a Gemini capsule in space prominently featured. I even had an astronaut coloring book when I was kid, right before the Apollo 11 moon landing. And I devoured the Frank Herbert Dune books. They lost me when his son took over the series, but the 1st several books were awesome. |
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