Michael Lauck's Blog

In many ways the story of Flash Gordon starts with the August 1928 issue of Amazing Stories, which included a novella by Phillip Francis Nowlan titled Armageddon 2419 A.D.. The March 1929 issue of the same magazine included Nowlan’s sequel, The Airlords of Han. The stories caught the attention of many readers, including the head of National Newspaper Syndicate John F. Dille. He contacted Nowlan and negotiated a deal to turn the science fiction stories into comic strips. Illustrator Dick Calkins was brought aboard and the first strip appeared in papers on January 7, 1929. It was a runaway success and the strip’s hero, Buck Rogers, became a household name. 

King Features Syndicate, wanting a science fiction feature of their own, negotiated with Edgar Rice Burroughs for the rights to his John Carter character after United Features (the syndicator of Burroughs’ Tarzan comics) failed to secure the license. Unfortunately, a deal could not be struck (although United Features would eventually produce a  comic strip of John Carter’s Martian adventures from 1941 to 1943). King Features did not give up on the idea of a science fiction yarn if their own, though. Tapping staff artist Alex Raymond, who had been working on Dashiell Hammett’s Secret Agent X-9 strip, to create an original character. 

On January 7, 1934 Raymond unveiled the Flash Gordon Sunday strip. Earth was under threat from a planet on a collision course called Mongo. Brilliant, but possibly insane, scientist Dr. Zarkov constructed a rocket to travel to the rogue planet. Basically kidnapping Flash and a young woman named Dale Arden, the trio blast off for Mongo. The strip was a huge hit.

Flash Gordon, the comic strip, would run every Sunday until 2003. It was joined by a daily strip which first ran from 1940 to 1944 and then again from 1951 until 1992. Just as Flash Gordon could not be held down by Earth’s gravity he could not be constrained by newsprint. 

On April 22, 1935, barely a year after the newspaper strip debut, The Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon hit the airwaves. For 26 episodes the radio show more or less followed Flash’s Sunday newspaper strip adventures. The radio show ended, though, with Flash and Dale returning to Earth and getting married. Landing in the jungle they met another Alex Raymond newspaper strip character, “Jungle” Jim Bradley who took over the weekly time slot of the Flash Gordon radio show. Just two days later, though, Flash, Dale and Dr. Zarkov returned to the radio in a new four day a week serial called The Further Interplanetary Adventures of Flash Gordon which ran until 1936.

1936 also saw Mongo come to the silver screen when Flash Gordon, the movie serial, premiered on April 6. The United Pictures serial ran 13 weeks and starred Olympic swimmer Buster Crabbe in the title role. The gold medalist had transitioned to acting after retiring from competition and had already starred the serial Tarzan the Fearless. Charles B. Middleton portrayed Mongo’s evil ruler Ming the Merciless, Jean Rogers played a blonde Dale Arden, Frank Shannon was a toned down Dr. Zarkov and Priscilla Lawson brought Princess Aura, Ming’s daughter and Dale’s rival for Flash, to life. The serial did its best to capture the exotic trappings of comic strip. The special effects were admirable for the time, ranging from miniatures to create rockets and rocket battles to overlays of real lizards fighting to portray dinosaur-like monsters. The exotic dress of Mongo proved to be a little bit more of an issue, though, as Hollywood legend is several scenes of the first couple installments had to be re-shot with the voluptuous Priscilla Lawson donning more modest costumes!

In 1938, Buster Crabbe, Jean Rogers, Frank Shannon and Charles B. Middleton all returned for a second serial, Flask Gordon’s Trip to Mars. Spoiler alert: Flash and company trace a ray beam threatening Earth to Mars where they find Ming has allied with Azura, Witch Queen of Mars (Beatrice Roberts). The thrills stretched through 15 weekly episodes and was popular enough to lead to a third serial, 1940’s Flash Gordon Conquers the Universe. This 12 episode adventure reunited the familiar cast except for Jean Rogers, who had apparently grown to dread another turn as Dale Arden so Carol Hughes took over the role. All three serials in the Flash Gordon series would see second lives after first being re-edited into movie adventures and eventually re-purposed as television series. It is worth noting Buster Crabbe also starred as the title character in the 1939 Universal movie serial Buck Rogers. Not only did Buck borrow Buster Crabbe, it used some sets and props from the Flash Gordon serials!

Television, as previously mentioned, gave new life to the Flash Gordon serials but also spawned several original Flash Gordon television series. Steve Holland was the first live action Flash for Dumont’s Flash Gordon, a 1954 series which transported Flash and company to the year 3203 AD where the good guys work as agents for the Galactic Bureau of Investigation. It also transported the cast to Europe as most of the series was shot in West Berlin (so most aliens have a distinct German accent) although the final episodes were filmed in France. The show only lasted a single season. It has slipped into public domain (as most of DuMont’s shows have) and 26 episodes are known to exist. Steve Holland, by the way, was the model for the Fawcett Comics cowboy character Bob Colt. He also was the model for several paperback covers in the Doc Savage, The Avenger and Mack Bolan series. After the DuMont series Flash would not return to TV with original episodes until the late 1970s.

Flash did not entirely disappear, though. Buster Crabbe returned to the role of Flash Gordon briefly in 1966 for a record album titled The Official Adventures of Flash Gordon which had a new audio play on each side. The comic strip was still running every Sunday in newspapers across the country (and in paperback collections) and the serials (in their original form or in their movie feature re-edits) played Saturday afternoon and late night TV. In 1973 Avon brought Flash and friends to print with a new novel series. It had been tried before, first in Big Little Books which printed 15 books featuring Flash Gordon between 1934 and 1948, but these were children’s books. There had been an attempt to launch a pulp magazine in late 1936, but only one issue was ever released. Grosset and Dunlap published Flash Gordon in the Caverns of Mongo, the first Flash Gordon novel, the same year although it failed to launch a series. Riding a wave of sword and planet nostalgia, Avon found success. They released six titles (Lion Men of Mongo, Plague of Sound, Space Circus, Time Trap of Ming XIII, Witch Queen of Mongo and War of the Cybernauts) which, like In the Caverns of Mongo, were all credited to Alex Raymond for the stories with Con Steffanson or Carson Bingham co-writing. Ron Goulart actually wrote the first three books and Bruce Cassiday penned the final three. All six Avon novels were released as audio books in 2019.

In 1979 Flash Gordon returned to television in a self titled animated series from Filmation. Running from September 22, 1979 through November 6, 1982, the Saturday morning cartoon captured the look of the comic strips with more monsters and spaceships than any of the previous live action efforts could muster. Towards the end of the run NBC ran a Filmation animated movie in prime time called Flash Gordon: The Greatest Adventure of All, which saw Ming the Merciless supplying weapons to the Nazis in World War II. Filmation would bring Flash back as part of the 1986 animated series Defenders of the Earth along with his son, Rick, and King Features’ other popular newstrip characters the Phantom and Mandrake the Magician.

1980 saw Sam J. Jones star as Flash with Melody Anderson as Dale in Flash Gordon. Remembered for its soundtrack, by Queen, and a campy, colorful, cartoony style, Flash Gordon actually was a strong effort to recreate the exotic look and locales of the comic strips along with the excitement of the movie serials. The cast included Max von Sydow as Ming, Topol as Zarkov Brian Blessed as king of bird men and future James Bond Timothy Dalton as the Robin Hood-like Prince Barin. There was also a movie novelization by Arthur Byron Cover.

Tempo books started a new series of novels in 1980 which was not related to the film and only nominally related to newspaper comic strips. Still, they managed six titles in their series (Massacre in the 22nd Century, War of the Citadels, Crisis on Citadel II, Forces from the Federation, Citadels Under Attack and Citadels on Earth) all written by David Hagberg. There were a video game or two and a role playing game in the 1980s but after Defenders of the Earth Flash faded away for a while. In September of 1996 a new animated Flash Gordon hit syndication. In this version Flash and Dale were hoverboard riding teen-aged children of astronauts accidentally transported to Mongo. A decade later Flash and Dale, played by Eric Johnson and Gina Holden, returned to live action TV in a SyFy series which ran for a season.

There has been talk of a new Flash Gordon project in development for several years. Twentieth Century Fox currently holds the rights and What We Do In Shadows’ Taika Waititi as been attached at times to rumors of a new live action film. Mad Cave Comics is currently producing a Flash Gordon comic book and King Features offers both classic comic strips and a new strip to newspapers and through the Comics Kingdom website so, to quote Brian Blessed’s Prince Vultan, Gordon’s alive. Although there is nothing firm to report it is safe to bet there will be more Flash Gordon projects before the character turns 100.

The recent Red Sonja reboot (which still is not out on Blu-Ray or DVD) inspired the sword and sorcery themed summer at Swords and Rayguns. Now that summer is over it seems fitting to end it with a look at the other Robert E. Howard characters who have jumped from the pulp magazines to other media. Before we do that, though, it is probably worth mentioning Red Sonja is not actually a Robert E. Howard character! The Red Sonja we know from two big screen adaptations, comics and even television was created by Barry Windsor-Smith and Roy Thomas for Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian #23 (February 1973). She was at least partially based on a character name Red Sonya from The Shadow of The Vulture, a Robert E. Howard story published in the January 1934 issue of The Magic Carpet Magazine. Set in the 16th century, features Red Sonya of Rogatino, a pistol shooting Polish-Ukrainian red head with an axe to grind. She has the hair, temperament and a similar name to the more famous comic book swordswoman. Red Sonya of Rogatino, though, is not the “she-devil with a sword.”

Robert E. Howard’s most famous character is, of course, Conan the barbarian. He arguably first appeared in People Of The Dark, which ran in Strange Tales of Mystery and Terror’s June 1932 issue. A story of a man remembering his past lives, a black haired barbarous warrior called Conan is among the previous incarnations. Later that year Weird Tales ran the first official Conan story, The Phoenix on the Sword, (which was a re-work of a rejected Kull story titled By This Axe I Rule!) in December 1932. Conan was a hit and the next month’s issue saw a second Conan tale with four more running by the end of the year. Weird Tales published six Conan stories in 1934, another four in 1935 and one long story spread over three issues in 1936, the year Howard died. The only other magazine to publish a Conan story during Howard’s life was Fantasy Fan in 1934. Later, all Howard’s Conan stories would be published and other authors would complete his unfinished stories, fragments and outlines.

Conan first entered comics with a pair of Spanish language adaptations in the 1950s. The 1950s also saw Gnome Press collecting Howard’s stories into hardcover collections. They published all known works by Howard and a few which had not been previously published. Gnome Press also commissioned a story by Björn Nyberg, the first Conan story written by an author other than Howard. Thanks to a renewed interest in pulp stories in the 1960s Conan’s adventures were released in paperback, first by Lancer/Ace. Conan proved popular enough new stories were added to Howard’s, mainly written by L. Sprague de Camp and Lin Carter. Bantam took over the character in the late 1970s and continued to add new stories. Marvel started publishing Conan comics in 1970 through several titles, including the general barbarian themed anthology series Savage Tales. There was even a newspaper strip in the late 1970s. Tor eventually took over publishing Conan prose and continued to issue new novels, several written by Robert Jordan. On the comics side Dark Horse secured the rights to Conan in 2003 and published comics featuring the barbarian for 15 years. In 2019 Marvel secured the rights to Conan again but Titan picked them up in 2022 and is still publishing Conan comics today. In fact, their latest title Conan: Scourge of the Serpent launched just this past week.

Red Sonja’s comic run began in Marvel’s Conan the Barbarian #23 in 1973. As mentioned previously, she was created for the comics as a females counterpart to Conan and proved incredibly popular. Called the she-devil with a sword, she ran for several issues of Marvel Features in 1975 and in 1977 got her own title. It was revived in 1983 for 13 issues and a double issue movie tie-in was released in 1985. Dynamite took over Red Sonja in 2005. They have released several Red Sonja titles and more than one version of the heroine. They continue to publish Red Sonja titles to the present but because they do not have rights to Conan the character has developed her own story universe and mythology quite separate from both Howard’s and Marvel’s barbarian.

Conan of course went from Marvel Comics to the movies with Conan the Barbarian (1982), Conan the Destroyer (1984), both starring Arnold Schwarzenegger and a reboot film starring Jason Momoa also titled Conan the Barbarian (2011). The original movies were popular enough to spawn the animated Conan the Adventurer in 1993 produced in partnership between Sunbow and Jetlag Productions. A second season, titled Conan and the Young Warriors, was produced solely by Sunbow Productions, the company which also made GI Joe: A Real American Hero (1983-1986) and Transformers (1984-1987). The Conan movies were also popular enough to inspire a wave of lower budget, and often straight to video, barbarian films. Among them was the theatrically released Red Sonja (1985) starring Brigitte Nielsen and co-written by George Macdonald Fraser, author of the Flashman series of novels. Although not tied to Conan the filmmakers cast both Arnold Schwarzenegger and Sandahl Bergman from Conan the Barbarian to attract moviegoers. A new version of Red Sonja starring Matilda Lutz saw an extremely limited two day release in 2025 with an immediate digital release. It is unclear if it was successful enough to earn a sequel.

Meanwhile, after the animated run Conan jumped into syndicated live action. This was, no doubt, at least partially due to the popularity of Hercules the Legendary Journeys (1995-1999). The live action show was, somewhat confusingly, also titled  Conan the Adventurer. Starring 6 foot 6 inch body builder Rolf Möller as Conan, the series portrayed Conan not as a thief and mercenary but as the hero picked by Crom to free the oppressed and thwart the ambitions of the wizard Hassan Zul. Hampered by cast changes and a low budget, the show only ran for a single season in 1997 although it did introduce Red Sonja, as portrayed by Baywatch alum Angelica Bridges, in a single episode late in the run.

Conan the Adventurer was not the first time Howard’s properties were adapted to television. His short story Pigeons From Hell formed the basis of a 1961 episode of the anthology series Thriller. Other than this one episode and the various Conan series, though, other Howard characters have not made it to television. Two others did make it to the silver screen.

Kull had actually preceded Conan in publication, debuting in The Shadow Kingdom (Weird Tales, August 1929) and returning to the magazine in September of the same year. Kull found his way to comics appearing in Conan titles starting in 1971 and occasionally headlining his own titles, such as 1973’s Kull and the Barbarians. (Quick side note: Kull is in no way related to DC’s King Kull, a monsterish foe of Captain Marvel dating back to his Fawcett Comic days). Dark Horse published Kull comics starting in 2006, also re-publishing Marvel’s Kull stories. IDW briefly ran a Kull title in 2017 and Arrow Comics ran a Kull adaptation in 2024 but Titan Comics now has the rights to the character with a series planned in 2027. A single movie, Kull the Conqueror with Kevin Sorbo and Tia Carrere was released in 1997. Although obviously not quite the big budget blockbuster Conan the Barbarian was, it is a fairly well made movie arguably on par with Conan the Destroyer and definitely better than the average post-Conan inspired barbarian film.

There have been several attempts to produce another Conan film, including an effort to the late 1980s which reportedly eventually became the basis of Kull the Conqueror and a film which would see the mantle of the barbarian being passed from Arnold Schwarzenegger to Dwayne Johnson. There was also an effort by Universal to create a new television series, possibly for a streaming service such as Amazon Prime. All of these projects, though, are currently no longer in development. 

Although Robert E. Howard published a wide range of pieces, including poetry, westerns and boxing stories, he is best known for his sword and sorcery adventures. In addition to Conan and Kull he authored several stories about Pict warrior Bran Mack Morn, Irish rogue Black Turlogh and crusader Cormac Fitzgeoffrey. Set around the turn of the 18th century, the adventures of Solomon Kane (who first appeared in the August 1928 edition of Weird Tales) may or may not be considered sword and sorcery. Although a master swordsman, Kane is living in a world of firearms and usually carries at least two flintlock pistols (which he is not afraid to use). The devout, and surprisingly bloodthirsty, Puritan Solomon Kane wanders the world hunting evil, with many of his stories set in Africa. One or two tales do not include supernatural elements although most do. Still, Solomon Kane moves through a world much more familiar to readers than heroes such as Conan and Kull.

Solomon Kane first entered comics in Marvel’s Monsters Unleashed #1 (August 1973). He frequently ran as a back story in Conan-centered comics and magazines, although he did once meet Dracula in a Marvel comic and had his own six issue comic in the mid-1980s. Dark Horse briefly produced Solomon Kane comics between 2008 and 2010 but the rights to the character were acquired by Titan in 2022, who also publish Conan and Kull stories. Solomon Kane was brought to the big screen in a self-titled movie starring James Purefoy 2009. It was intended to be the first of a trilogy but a relatively poor reception and overall loss of money at the box office kept other films from being produced.

Although there are no other television or film productions featuring Robert E. Howard’s characters there is one other Robert E. Howard film. Vincent D’Onofrio portrayed Robert E. Howard opposite Renée Zellweger in the 1996 film The Whole Wide World. Telling story of the failed romance between Howard and school teacher Novalyne Price (Ellis) prior to Howard’s suicide in 1936. It was based on Novalyne Price Ellis’s memoir The One Who Walked Alone.

In 1982 a bold new line of Mattel action figures hit the toy stores. At 5 1/2 inches tall they towered over Kenner’s 3 3/4 inch Star Wars figures and Hasbro’s more articulated but similarly sized GI Joe reboot. They were not just taller, they were primed for action. No ram-rod straight poses were to be found among the line of ripped warriors. Crouched into action positions, they came armed with swords and axes. Even the name was aggressive: The Masters of the Universe. Led by the mighty He-Man, these toys were obviously ready to fight out the eternal struggle of good versus evil, which was represented by Skeletor, every bit as shredded as He-Man and sporting a ghoulish yellow skull face. The Masters of the Universe (MotU) were like nothing else on the shelves.

They were a huge hit.

There is a bit of confusion at best, disagreement at worst, about the origins of MotU. The Toys That Built America (History, 2022) and The Toys That Made Us (Netflix, 2017) have both featured MotU as did the entertaining documentary By The Power of Grayskull (2024). All three sources agree Mattel was in trouble after passing on opportunity to license Star Wars and then throwing in heavily on Battlestar Galactica. Whether because of poor ratings or the backlash after a child died due to injuries caused when one of the plastic projectiles shot by the Battlestar toys ended up in his lung (https://www.vintagetoyemporium.com/post/the-tiny-red-missile-that-shook-up-the-toy-industry-in-1979), Mattel was not saved by Battlestar Galactica toys.

Looking for something new and different, Mattel settled on a barbarian hero theme although science fiction elements were mixed into the fantasy from the beginning. The barbarian theme may have been stumbled upon because they were avoiding another space or military toy. It is also said by some the development of barbarian toys was due to a preliminary agreement to produce a line of toys based on the upcoming Conan the Barbarian (1982, directed by John Milius). There definitely seems to have been talks to license Conan at some point (which ulitmately broke down when it was learned Conan would be rated R) but whether these talks were before or after MotU was on the drawing boards is unclear. It is agreed Frank Frazetta’s (1928-2010) art was an influence on the development of MotU. Frazetta worked on many projects but his paintings were featured on the cover of Conan paperbacks from the late 1960s through the 1980s.

There are other seemingly obvious inspirations for Masters of the Universe not mentioned in any the documentaries. Conan was the star of a Marvel published adult comic magazine and barbarian stories were often found in the pages of Heavy Metal (probably the influential adult oriented comic magazine). Richard Corben’s Den, for example, ran periodically throughout the 1970s. It was one of the stories selected to appear in the Heavy Metal animated feature (1981). Meanwhile, DC offered sword and planet style barbarian adventures of their own throughout the 1970s with titles such as Warlord. In the realm of children’s entertainment Hanna-Barbera produced several cartoons which seemed to pave the way for He-Man. From 1966-1968, the adventures of Dino Boy (part of Space Ghost and Dino Boy) featured Ugh, a heavily muscled and scantily clad caveman, who teamed with a modern age boy lost in a prehistoric world. Zandor of The Herculoids (which debuted in 1967 and returned with new adventures in 1981) is slimmer, but his pageboy haircut and loincloth were a harbinger of He-Man’s look. The Herculoids also offered a take on sword and planet with the primitive Zandor and his family defending their planet from a slew of technologically superior enemies. Also premiering in 1967, Moby Dick and Mighty Mightor brought the adventures of another caveman, this one named Tor, who would lift his magic club towards the sky and transform into Mightor, the world’s first superhero. A decade and a half later He-Man’s alter-ego Prince Adam raised his magic sword to transform when He-Man and the Master of the Universe cartoon hit the airwaves in 1983. All of these characters’ designs were credited to Alex Toth. He also created the main character designs for an immediate predecessor to MotU which seems a direct inspiration for the series: Thundarr the Barbarian.

Premiering in October of 1981 on ABC and running for two seasons (which were later re-run on NBC), Thundarr brought justice to a post-apocalyptic future Earth with the might of his “fabulous sun sword,” basically a light saber. Most humans and mutants lived a primitive, Stone Age existence under the heel of wizards whose powers blurred the lines between magic and technology. Despite being set on Earth, it was pure sword and planet adventure. Thundarr was another ripped proponent of the page boy hairdo and loincloth later adopted by He-Man (although Thundarr added a fur vest and boots to his look). Although much darker in tone than MotU and not associated with a toy line (at least not until speciality toy makers turned out action figures for adult collectors years later) it is very easy to draw a line from this Ruby-Spears cartoon to Masters of the Universe.

It is worth noting Masters of the Universe did not originally have an after-school cartoon. In fact, the lack of an established storyline was a concern of corporate toy buyers when Mattel first offered He-Man. Mattel countered the action figures would come with mini-comic books. There were no comics planned until spontaneously promised to buyers as a way to provide a storyline for the first release of toys. Once MotU was successful and a second wave of figures was on the drawing board a deal was struck for DC to produce the mini-comics. This led to appearances in DC titles and a limited comic series in 1982. He-Man’s adventures also ran in newspaper comic strip pages from 1986 to 1991. A resurgence of interest brought MotU back to DC for a comic run which lasted from 2012 to 2020. In 2021 Dark Horse picked up the license and continues to produce Masters of the Universe comics to this day.

Of course, most fans recognize He-Man from the He-Man and the Masters of the Universe cartoon which introduced Orko, Prince Adam (He-Man’s pink vest wearing secret identity) and the distinctive voice of He-Man’s nemesis Skeletor. The Filmation produced series ran in first run syndication from September 1983 until November of 1985 although reruns continued to air for years. Ironically, the origin of cartoon came when a toy buyer from a major chain informed Mattel they were concerned the MotU target audience would be too young to read the mini-comics so animated specials were promised to back up the line. By the time the cartoon’s original episodes were coming to an end a second cartoon was introduced to support a new line toys aimed at girls. She-Ra: Princess of Power featured He-Man’s long lost (and previously unknown) twin sister on the planet of Etheria. It ran from 1985 until 1987. 

She-Ra: Princess of Power was not the only Masters of the Universe spin-off. In 1987 The Cannon Group, perhaps best known for producing Death Wish sequels, Chuck Norris movies and ninja flicks, released a live action film with Dolph Lundgren and Frank Langella starring as He-Man (there was no Prince Adam secret identity in the movie) and Skeletor. The film, strangely, had very little in common with the familiar cartoon series (He-Man never even lifted a sword over his head and shouted “By the power of Grayskull”). The live action He-Man, Man at Arms and Teela traveled from Eternia to Earth in their battle with Skeletor and his minions. It is perhaps best remembered today for being the first starring role for a young Courtney Cox.

After a couple years of almost unprecedented popularity Masters of the Universe sales crashed in 1987. A planned prequel series of toys was scrapped. There are a variety of theories as to why this happened so suddenly and dramatically. Were little boys upset She-Ra gave their sisters a reason to play with MotU toys? Did the inability to provide stores with enough product keep new fans from developing? Was there too much competition from other toy lines such as Thundercats? Or did the live action movie poison the franchis? Whatever the reason MotU went from $400 million in sales in 1986 to a mere $7 million the following year.

Mattel was not ready to give up on He-Man and his comrades, though.

A new cartoon series, The New Adventures of He-Man (1990) attempted to reboot the toy line by launching a slimmer, pony-tail sporting He-Man into space to fight mutants and Skeletor. It was ultimately not successful. In 2002, when the original fans of MotU were young adults, a new He-Man and the Masters of the Universe series and toy line launched. The cartoon, which ran on Cartoon Network’s Toonami, brought the adventures of Prince Adam and He-Man back to Eternia. Although the new series ran for only a season MotU was not completely defeated. Noted comic book nerd Kevin Smith (Clerks, Chasing Amy) produced a CGI series for Netflix in 2021. His version of Masters of the Universe ran for three seasons, sometimes using the subtitle Revelation and switching to Revolution for the final season. Many of the original fans still follow MotU and new, younger fans have found the franchise. Toys are no longer just being aimed at the adult collecting market. MotU figures are once again on sale in the toy aisles of Walmart and Target. Masters of the Universe will return to live action in 2026 with a new film scheduled for June. 

Starting from a toy line over four decades ago, Masters of the Universe has become a billion dollar multimedia franchise. It has not only been the gateway into fantasy and science fiction fandom for generations of kids MotU has cemented its place among the great sword and planet franchises.

Born on May 22, 1859 in Edinburgh, Scotland Arthur Ignatius Conan Doyle would go on to create the literature’s most celebrated detective and even be knighted in Italy and England. Although the mention of his name instantly brings his famous character Sherlock Holmes to mind, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle wrote several stories which straddle the line between science fiction, fantasy and horror including the adventures of the Victorian scientist Professor Challenger. He also investigated claims of the supernatural with Harry Houdini, before Doyle’s acceptance of spiritualism drove a wedge between the men.

Although his early family life was difficult, due to his father’s mental health issues and alcoholism, young Arthur was supported by his extended family and received an education thanks to his well off uncles. He even studied in Austria as a teenager before attending the University of Edinburgh Medical School. It was at university when he first began to write seriously. His first story, The Mystery of Sasassa Valley, was published in the September 6, 1879 edition of Chamber’s Edinburgh Journal just a couple weeks before his first scholarly work (a piece on poison) was published. The Mystery of Sasassa Valley was the story of a demonic creature plaguing the South African countryside. Shortly after he spent time as a ship’s doctor, traveling to the north on a whaler and around Africa. He continued to write while trying to found his medical practice. 

January, 1884 saw the publication of J. Habakuk Jephson’s Statement in The Cornhill Magazine. This highly fictional account described the disappearance of the passengers and crew of the Marie Celeste, which was inspired by the real Mary Celeste. Although the story was obviously fiction (which incorporated at least the suggestion of supernatural elements) it popularized the story of the actual vessel and, frankly, served to muddle the facts in the popular mythology surrounding the ship. For example, the real Mary Celeste was found waterlogged with its single life boat missing while many popular accounts mirror Doyle’s Marie Celeste, found in pristine condition with her life boats still attached.

Doyle continued to establish his medical practice, even dabbling in ophthalmology, and continued writing. In November of 1886 Ward Lock and Co accepted A Study in Scarlet for publication. The next year Sherlock Holmes was introduced to readers when the story was published in Beeton’s Christmas Annual. Ward Lock and Co commissioned a second Sherlock Holmes story (The Sign of Four) but after its publication Doyle grew dissatisfied with the publisher and moved Holmes to The Strand, the magazine most associated with the detective’s adventures.

Despite his success with Sherlock Holmes and Watson, Doyle continued to write a variety of short stories. The Mystery of Coombes (serialized in Pall Mall Budget in 1888) told of a supernatural revenge unleashed by Buddhist priests on a British officer for his offenses in India.  In 1892 Harper’s Magazine presented Lot No. 249. This was perhaps the first appearance of the type of murderous, reanimated mummy which would terrorize Hollywood stars starting the in the 1930s. The July 1898 edition of The Windsor Magazine printed King of Foxes, Doyle’s tale of a supernatural encounter during a sporting fox hunt. Throughout this time, of course, Doyle continued to present Sherlock Holmes stories.

In the late 1880s, perhaps influenced by his friend Major-General Drayson, Doyle began to investigate claims of psychic phenomenon. He grew very interested in the topic, joining both the Society for Psychical Research and the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Sherlock Holmes continued to grow in popularity and Doyle wrote several well received historical novels. By the early 20th century he was both wealthy and extremely interested in spiritualism. Around World War I he published his first book on spiritualism and struck up a friendship with Harry Houdini. The pair even undertook some investigations together (which have even been dramatized in both movies and television) before Houdini’s rejection of spiritualism created a tension, perhaps even a rivalry, between the two celebrities.

In 1912, beginning in April, The Strand serialized a novel featuring Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s newest character: Professor Challenger. As brilliant as Sherlock Holmes, Challenger was no detective but instead a man of science and emotion. Challenger is a medical doctor, anthropologist and inventor. In his first published adventure, The Lost World, he leads an expedition to a mysterious South American plateau where dinosaurs still live and Stone Age man struggles against our even more primitive ancestors. It could be argued Challenger’s land which time forgot is more fantasy than science fiction, although his next adventure (The Posion Belt, 1913) sees him discovering Earth is moving through a deadly cloud of poison gas which has much less of a fantasy feel (although the science is questionable). Challenger returned in the 1926 novel The Land Of Mist which incorporated many of Doyle’s spiritualist beliefs and is undeniably more fantasy than science. Challenger’s final two adventures, both short stories, returned to science fiction with When The World Screamed (1926), which sees Challenger theorizing the Earth is a living being, and in 1929’s The Disintegration Machine, Challenger’s final adventure. Doyle would pass away the following year.

In addition to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s literary contributions to the fantasy and science fiction genres he has also contributed as a character in several novels, television series and films. Most, as one may imagine, are mysteries. He did appear in an episode of time travel show Voyagers! (NBC, 1982-1983), the Doctor Who spin off audio series Jago and Litefoot, the Jackie Chan film Shanghai Knights (2003) and even one of the Assassin’s Creed video games. His contributions to modern science fiction and fantasy may not be as well known as Jules Verne or H.G. Wells, but they are undeniable.

Behind the Screens: Johnny Byrne

This month is the first of a semi-regular series of articles which will see the Swords and Rayguns Newsletter turning its Sensor Scan on the folks behind the some of our favorite science fiction, fantasy and horror scripts. They’ll be tagged Behind the Screens because the writers featured have scripted the things filling movie, TV and even video game screens. 

John Byrne is a very familiar name to comic book fans. The British born comic book writer and artist has worked on everything from X-Men and She-Hulk to Superman. He was, however not to be confused with Johnny Byrne, a name known to many Premier League fans of Crystal Palace and West Ham. Neither are to be confused with he other Johnny Byrne, though. He was not a striker for Crystal Palace and did not create comic book heroes like Kitty Pryde, Sabretooth or the second incarnation of Wonder Girl. The Johnny Byrne born in Dublin on November 27, 1935 would become a television writer and script editor. Although best known for his work on the original run of All Creatures Great and Small (BBC, 1976-1990) he had roots in science fiction which led to penning multiple Doctor Who (1963-1989) scripts and major contributions to Space: 1999 (1975-1977).

The oldest of thirteen children, Johnny Byrne moved from Ireland to England in 1959 at the age of 24. He worked as a teacher, become involved with the poetry scene and even worked as a tour manager for an American music manager whose clients included The Kinks and The Who. He also started submitting science fiction stories to magazines, eventually finding publication in Science Fantasy (later Impulse). Teaming with Jenny Fabian, a real life groupie in the London music scene, he co-wrote the novel Groupie (1969). The novel’s success led to Byrne’s first forays into script writing. After a just one or two television productions he was able to work with legendary British comedian Spike Milligan on the screenplay of Milligan’s World War II memoir Adolf Hitler: My Part In His Downfall (1972).

Soon after Byrne started an association with Gerry Anderson, the British producer of Supermarionation shows such as Thunderbirds and Fireball XL-5. Anderson’s live action science fiction show UFO (1970-1971) stalled before its second season. Instead of continuing UFO Anderson began work on a new science fiction series. Building on the international distribution of UFO and promising a series with no Earth bound episodes Anderson launched Space 1999 (1975-1977) and brought Johnny Byrne on as script editor.

Martin Landau, Barbara Bain (both veterans of Mission Impossible, 1966-1973) and Barry Morse (the British actor best known for portraying Lt. Gerard in The Fugitive, 1963-1967) led the crew of Moonbase Alpha, castaways wandering the universe after an accident tears the Moon out of Earth’s orbit and propels it into the galaxy. In addition to serving as the series’ script editor Byrne penned eight of the 24 season one episodes. Although he was set to move into a creative consultant role in season two Byrne lost the position to Fred Freiberger. It was hoped Freiberger’s recognition from his time on Star Trek would boost the series in the American market. Despite the loss of the creative consultant position Byrne still contributed three scripts to season two including its opening episode. Unfortunately, Space 1999 would not have a third season.

During the run of Space 1999 Anderson produced a pilot episode for an educational science fiction series aimed at younger viewers. Starring Nick Tate, who was also part of the Space 1999 cast, and Brian Blessed The Day After Tomorrow (1975) followed two families on the Antares, Earth’s first near lightspeed space ship in its mission of exploration. The show followed the crew as they dealt with the consequences of relatively and an encounter with a black hole, carefully explaining prevailing scientific theory to a teenage demographic. Although the pilot was not picked up it did find life in the US as a part of NBC’s afterschool special series Special Treat.

After his work with Anderson Johnny Byrne took on the role of script editor for All Creatures Great and Small (1976-1990), the television adaptation of James Herriot’s memoir about his veterinarian practice. It is this work for which he is probably best remembered, which is not surprising given the show’s longevity and international success (it was, in fact, recently rebooted). After All Creatures Byrne would also act as script editor for One by One (1984-1987), another BBC veterinarian drama, and would go onto to create a third veterinarian drama, Noah’s Ark (1997-1998) for ITV. He also co-created Heartbeat (1992-2010) based on Nichola Rhea’s book series about police and medical staff in 1960s Yorkshire. Despite his success in more mainstream drama over the years, though, Johnny Byrne made another important foray into science fiction.

Johnny Byrne wrote three produced Doctor Who (1963-1989) scripts beginning with 1981’s The Keeper of Traken. This Fourth Doctor adventure introduced new companion Nyssa (Sarah Sutton) and reintroduced The Master. He would reintroduce another villian when he brought back the insane Time Lord Omega in Arc of Infinity (1983), last seen in The Three Doctors (1972-1973), to face the Fifth Doctor. He would reintroduce another set of adversaries in his film produced Doctor Who scripts beginning with Warriors of the Deep (1984). Last seen in 1972’s The Sea Devils, Earth’s original sentient species returned for another unfortunate conflict with humanity and a meeting with the Fifth Doctor.

Johnny Byrne wrote a sequel to The Keeper of Traken which, for whatever reason, was not produced. However Big Finish, producers of the Doctor Who audio series, resurrected The Guardians of Prophecy for their Lost Stories range in 2012. He was involved with another unproduced Doctor Who script beginning in 1988 before the original series was canceled by the BBC. A production company (at times known as Daltenreys, Coast to Coast and Green Light) had acquired film rights to the show and planned a stand alone film, similar to the Peter Cushing led films from the 1960s. He began by editing a script penned by Mark Ezra. By 1991 the original script was scrapped and Byrne wrote an entirely new script titled Doctor Who: Last of the Time Lords. Reportedly, Leonard Nimoy was tapped to direct and Alan Rickman was cast as the film’s Doctor. Rumors Spielberg was interested in producing a Who film through his Amblin Entertainment added to other problems facing the project. Unable to start production before an April 1994 deadline film rights were lost and Doctor Who: Last of the Time Lords was never made. (https://www.cbr.com/doctor-who-movie-last-of-the-time-lords-fell-apart/)

Johnny Byrne passed away on April 2, 2008 at the age of 72. His contributions to British television were widely celebrated. He also was an important influence on 1970s and 1980s science fiction television whose works are still being enjoyed today. 

film… but it did not enter production by a contractual deadline of April 1994 and they lost rights (and in 1993 it was being reported Spielberg and Amblin were interested in making a Who film)

Honesty, Lies*

This month’s Sensor Scan will be a little different. Instead of researching an article on some important figure, event or product in science fiction and fantasy I am going to answer a couple of questions you guys commonly ask. Not that I mind; I love talking with you all. However, typing has been difficult the last couple of weeks (thanks to the broken fingers) and I already had the bulk of this stuff written down in one form or another. It is a range of stuff from martial arts to opinions on genre giants to writing and self publishing. But given the usual topics are science fiction and/or fantasy related and September is basically Star Trek month…

What is your problem with the new Star Trek shows?

I do subscribe to Paramount Plus, or whatever it is currently called, just for Star Trek and I have since the very beginning (like as soon as the new shows were announced). I have an episode of Enterprise on in the background as I write! I am a die hard, lifelong Star Trek fan. I have DVDs, games, toys and loads of books, both fiction and non-fiction. I do not consider myself a super fan though. I mean, some people out there have learned to speak Klingon or turned their living rooms into the bridge of their favorite Enterprise. Although I have not made it a point to study trivia or the fictional history of the Federation I have seen every episode of every series (except Prodigy) and most more than once. 

I really wanted to like Discovery. In a way I did like it. The characters were compelling and interesting, the individual episodes told great stories. My problem started with the Klingons, which has changed again for no apparent reason. I have defended the redesign of the Klingons in Star Trek: The Motion Picture because the whole point of that film is to show what Star Trek could be like with money and modernized special effects. Star Trek has enjoyed decent budgets and top tier special effects ever since. It was pointless in Discovery, except to try to differentiate itself from other entries in the franchise. The result was Discovery seems to exist apart from the main franchise canon. Problem is the producers went into the show swearing Discovery was not an alternate universe, like the last few movies, or timeline. I can only think the production team simply decided to ignore the story telling which came before them.

To me that is pure laziness. The look of the show reinforced my opinion. The Discovery was supposed to have been built about the same time as the Enterprise of the original show. Instead of taking the time to create sets which share the design aesthetic of Star Trek the show decided to make their ship look much more advanced. Enterprise (the series) was made decades after the original Star Trek but set earlier in the fictional timeline and managed to create a ship with technology which was familiar but looked more primitive than the first series. Honestly there are ways The Orville are more Star Trek than Discovery.

I had high hopes (again) with Picard. But the same problems seemed to crop up. It was as if the writers never bothered to watch Star Trek: The Next Generation. There were mysterious references to Data’s daughter and a painting created by Data which looked like a character in the show but never a mention of Lal, the ill fated daughter Data created during The Next Generation. When Picard’s past and his relationship with his family was explored his brother (who was in an episode of The Next Generation) was never mentioned. Later, as the theme of the crew and their children became more central,  the crew reunited and everyone seemed to have new children. Strangely no mention was made of Worf’s son Alexander despite his time on the Enterprise. I am not even sure Wesley was discussed!

I watched both shows but, honestly, it seemed like a chore at times. Discovery was touted as groundbreaking but many aspects of it seemed recycled. The lad character was Spock’s previously unknown adopted sister. But Spock already had a sibling nobody knew about in a one of the films (actually, come to think of it, this might have been my first issue with Discovery). The whole jump to the future to rebuild the Federation echoed Gene Roddenberry’s Andromeda). Picard, to me, just was not very good and that is partially because I compared its version of the crew’s story after the last The Next Generation film Nemesis to the version presented in the “relaunch” novels and, frankly, the books are much better.

A couple of stray points before the next question. I expected to hate Star Trek: Lower Decks but it is easily my favorite of what I call “new Trek.” I love that show and will be sorry to see it end. I watched the first episode or two of Prodigy, the other “new Trek” animated series which is aimed at kids, but was fairly busy and did not give it much of a chance. I will probably try again soon. I might add it to my current Saturday morning viewing (which includes Batman: Caped Crusader and Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles because I believe Saturday is made for cartoons).

Why don’t you like Star Wars ?

Well, to be fair I like Star Wars… meaning the first movie as it came out back when I was a kid. Like Indiana Jones or the 1980 Flash Gordon it is a fun and loving tribute to earlier works. But after Star Wars the series started to take itself a little too seriously for what it is… at least that is how I see it. As much as I love space opera, Star Wars just isn’t my kind of space opera after the first film. By the time Return of the Jedi came out when I was 11, well, I just wasn’t interested anymore. I certainly don’t think less of anyone who likes Star Wars. If you have been reading the newsletter long enough you might remember a year or two ago when I covered the Star Wars radio plays and kind of reconnected with my childhood Star Wars fandom.

Who is you favorite Doctor?

The first episode of Doctor Who I ever saw was the omnibus version (all episodes edited into one single presentation) of The Brain of Morbius. My local PBS station, which showed Doctor Who every Sunday night at 10 PM, was showing the series more or less in order so Tom Baker and Elizabeth Sladen were my introduction to the series over the next few weeks. Because of that I consider Tom Baker’s Fourth Doctor to be “my Doctor.” I am lukewarm to the revival series for several reasons but a big part of it is because my first taste of Doctor Who was the longer form story telling tinged with gothic horror. Now that I am able to watch the show as it originally aired (I am not aware of any streaming or home video releases of the omnibus edits some PBS stations used) I appreciate its old school movie serial feel. A single hour episode, even a two parter, does not “feel” like Doctor Who to me.

I am a big fan of the audio productions from Big Finish, by the way, and have to say they have elevated Colin Baker’s Sixth Doctor and Paul McGann’s Eighth Doctor to close out my top three Doctors.

What are you watching?

I am kind of between shows lately… I have been mainly watching YouTube videos on Mandarin slang and how to play the recorder (I am trying to learn how to read music) or documentaries to fill in some things I am researching. I have been watching Amazon Prime’s Batman Caped Crusader and Paramount’s Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles but only on Saturdays. I am only allowing myself one episode each every week to stretch them out. I frequently turn on random classic Doctor Who episodes (especially on Sundays, which was when Doctor Who aired in St. Louis back in the day) or a news channel when I need background noise. Truth is I do most of my “dedicated” TV/movie watching on planes. The only show I regularly watch is Toon in with Me, the morning classic cartoon show on MeTV. 

Why don’t you like The Hobbit/Lord of the Rings ?

Because I find Tolkien’s style a little hard to read… it kind of bores me. Might as well admit I feel the same way about H.P. Lovecraft. If I am going to put that much effort into reading I would, personally, rather read Die Nibelungenlied, Don Quixote, Viking sagas or the like. When it comes to fantasy (and by and large to science fiction as well) I am pretty low class. Give me a rousing pulp adventure and I am happy. Howard, Fritz Lieber and Michael Moorcock are more my speed. I am a big fan of Manly Wade Wellman’s folksy fantasy horror novels. Honestly, now that it is finally being translated into English wuxia is my favorite type of fantasy. 

What exactly is this wuxia stuff you are always on about?

Wuxia is a genre of Chinese fantasy literature which has been highly under-represented in the English speaking world. Basically it tells stories of martial arts heroes upholding traditional Confucian values and navigating the complicated martial society. Often the martial arts are presented as almost a kind of magic. Manipulation of one’s internal energies (or qi, which is the basis of things like acupuncture and some of the very real world martial arts techniques I use) allows skilled practitioners to make themselves lighter and leap from tree to tree or even skim over water. It also allows a fighter to inflict serious damage to opponents, often from a distance. Skilled use of acupuncture points and qi in many wuxia stories mean fighters can often paralyze their opponents (literally freezing them in place).

Because very few books have been translated into English, wuxia is best known in the West through the films based on its most famous works. Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was based on a wuxia novel (that book has never been translated into English). Several popular television shows are based on wuxia novels, too. I recently recommended Legend of Heroes: Hot Blooded in the Two Sentence Reviews (which can be found streaming legally for free with English subtitles on YouTube). It is based on Jin Yong’s Legend of the Condor Heroes. This epic has been recently translated into English (over four volumes coming in at something like 1500 pages) and is very much considered China’s answer to Lord of the Rings. I will take Condor Heroes any day! Someday I hope to be literate enough to read Jin Yong in the original Chinese.

My martial arts fantasies, by the way, I do not consider wuxia. They are inspired by wuxia stories (and 1970s “kung fu” movies as well as American pulp fantasies) but I view true wuxia as a uniquely Chinese form of literature.

What martial art should I (or my kid) study?

I get asked this question fairly often… sometimes because I write books with martial arts or because I review martial arts movies. The only real reason I feel remotely qualified to answer this is because I have been studying martial arts for over 35 years. The bulk of the answer is the same whether I am being asked by someone interested for themselves or for their kids. First of all, figure out which martial arts are available to you! If you live in rural Michigan and the only martial art near you is Shotokan karate then there is a good chance the best choice for you is Shotokan karate! Be realistic about what you can access. I knew I wanted to study martial arts when I was fairly young but (for whatever reason) could not convince my parents to pay for it or take me. My first martial art was high school wrestling. It was free and I had to go to school anyway. I was not very good at it (sport applications of martial arts are not my thing in general, although I enjoy watching them) but it was a start. We even studied some karate along the way.  By the time I was a sophomore I had money of my own and some friends were going to study with a kung fu teacher so I started to catch rides with them. Chinese martial arts always held an attraction to me. I got along with the instructor; he was a biker and that fit in with my punk rock attitude. The Wu family Shaolin Black Dragon system’s philosophy of studying many animal styles to create a personalized fighting system (“making your own dragon”) made a great deal of sense to me and I never looked back. Unlike many traditional Chinese martial arts its philosophy encourages exploring other styles and techniques so I have dabbled in Muay Thai, Okinawan karate, boxing, kenpo and a few other things.

If you have several options I highly suggest checking out a few styles and schools to see if the style of fighting being taught and the atmosphere of the school work for you. Ask yourself why you want to study martial arts (self defense, fitness, connection with tradition, competition, you want to swing swords around…). Try to find a program which falls in line with your goals. You might want to be in a more cardio and exercise oriented environment. You might want to do sport martial arts like judo or tae kwon do. If you really want weapons you might want to skip to kendo (Japanese fencing) or escrima (Filipino stick fighting). Most schools will let you at least observe a class or two for free so take them up on it.

Some schools, unfortunately, put money over tradition so do a little investigation. If you don’t like the attitude of the teacher or students (which is a reflection of the teacher) then run. Over the years I have decided I do not want to mix money and martial arts but that is a personal decision. It means when I teach I do it outside. Because operating a school costs money I do not automatically condemn those charging for lessons because they have rent, insurance, etc. and if they have dedicated their life to the school full time they need to eat! I have little respect, though, for those putting profits over their responsibility to train respectful, skilled martial artists. 

I always suggest trying out a martial art class at a local Y or community center if you can. This tends to be a cheap way to “get your feet wet.” Judo, although sport oriented, is a good starting point. It is fairly easy to find all over the world, gives you a good base and teaches you how to fall without getting hurt which is always handy. You might realize judo is not for you but it should help you determine what it is you are looking for in martial arts while giving you a good foundation for other studies.

Finally, if you are looking for something for your kids you must be extra diligent. I hate to be blunt but your kids will be touched at a martial arts class, there is simply no avoiding it. They may end up changing clothes there, too. You have to trust the people at the school. Do not be afraid to ask if the instructors and employees have had background checks! Also talk to potential schools about how children are disciplined during class. If you can try to speak with some of the other parents too. That being said, martial arts can be great for kids. It can keep them active, help develop their sense of discipline and even give them a fighting chance if the darker parts of the world come their way.

Can I learn martial arts online/from videos/from books?

You can not learn proper martial art technique on your own. You need an instructor, feedback and training partners. A beginner may be able to supplement what they are being taught by an instructor with video lessons or books. To be specific, if you are studying Style X with an instructor supplemental materials specifically about Style X may provide you with additional helpful drills or insight into Style X. It is best to view books, videos, online sessions, etc as extra information not as a viable course of study.

I do believe an advanced student of martial arts can learn a great deal from these types of supplemental materials. Once you firmly grasp the core concepts of your chosen style may help you not only explore your own technique but also understand the philosophies and strategies of other styles. You are not, however, going to become a black belt through DVDS, books, YouTube, magazines, correspondence courses or Zoom. I take that back… I bet someone is willing to charge you a couple hundred dollars and present you with a black belt, or teaching certifications or some such. You are not going to become a legitimate black belt through DVDS, YouTube or Zoom!

What martial arts do you study? Who is your teacher? What rank are you?

I have trained in the Wu family teaching of Shaolin’s Black Dragon Sect since I was a teenager (I think 15). Traditionally Chinese martial arts do not use a colored belt ranking system as found in many other martial arts. When wearing a “proper” uniform I wear either a black, red or black and red sash to denote my school colors, not ranking. For various reasons (including participation in national and international martial arts organizations) the Wu family Shaolin Black Dragon system has “adopted” a belt system which I more or less ignore! I have obtained a rank which allows me to instruct others and, if I choose to again, open my own school. Unfortunately my travel schedule does not afford me the time to work with others regularly or even train in the manner I would prefer. My instructor, “Ike” Bear, is back in the St. Louis area.

What are you reading?

So complicated… I usually am reading a physical book (but often this does not travel with me), something through Kindle and something through Apple Books. Sometimes I also have a comic book going through another program and/or an audiobook from the library for when I am driving. Some of this is for pleasure, some of this is for research. I really like physical books but the convenience of ebooks is hard to beat! One handed reading, self illumination and adjustable text sizes are super convenient (and allow me to read in bed every night without glasses).

At time of writing I am reading a Star Trek novel titled Cold Equations III: The Body Electric, Flying Saucers Are Real by Donald Keyhoe, the second English language volume of Legend of the Condor Heroes by Jin Yong (A Bond Undone translated by Gigi Chang) and I am going through the Dungeon Crawl Classics rule book because I recently joined a game. My comic book tastes of late have been leaning towards vintage issues of Vampirella and its sister horror comic publications from Warren Publishing but I am feeling some DC super hero stuff in my near future!

Luis Elizondo’s Imminent and Frederick Kohner’s Gidget are sitting next to my chair ready to be read. Because I am minutes away from finishing that Star Trek book it will probably be replaced by P.G. Wodehouse’s Little Nugget and/or Picadilly Jim by the time you are reading this!

I want to write a book. How do I do it?

This is going to sound flippant but hear me out: don’t!

Look, if you feel like you are full of stories to tell and want to write, great. Do it! But don’t start with a book. Start with a short story and build from there.

I thought I would be a writer some day when I was a kid but over time that vision switched to artist. I even majored in art in college (until they cancelled that program). About the same time, celiac disease crept into my life. It went undiagnosed for years and slowly caused me to have issues with fine motor control among other problems. Drawing became not only difficult but painful so I stopped. The same thing happened, by the way, with performing magic. I turned back to writing… but first I was writing technical manuals for my day job. I was also writing for an early magic e-zine. After losing that day job I turned to freelance writing for a couple of years as my main way to support my family. I wrote (or ghost wrote) website content, advertisements, research articles, company histories, how to books, a couple golf guides (I don’t golf) and even porn reviews. It taught me a great deal (all of it, not just the prom reviews), especially about meeting deadlines. I ended up getting a day job again once the economy got shaky but kept writing on the side, including news for both Podcast UFO and the magicians’ site iTricks. In fact, it was the owner of iTricks Andrew Mayne, an author himself, who convinced me to jump into the deep end and write the novel I always wanted to write. “Get your ass off the couch and write your book. Nobody is going to do it for you.” He was also who told me to go the self publishing route (magic is a very do-it-yourself culture). Thank you Andrew! 

I jumped in and wrote a book “first” but I had all that writing behind me. Thousands of pages. Still when I go back to my first book there are still many, many things I would change now. 

So many people want to write a book but they find it intimidating. If you have never written anything tackling a full length novel should be intimidating. YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU ARE DOING! In that previous question, the one about learning martial arts, notice I did not suggest you just jump in the first octagon you find and start throwing punches! Do you start jogging by running a marathon? I have always told my martial arts students and my kids: first you can’t do something, then you suck at it, then you can kind of do it, then you are okay before you are good and maybe, someday, really good or even great. You walk every single day now without a second thought. You don’t remember the days when you could not even stand up on your own or the 8,000 falls you took as a toddler. You couldn’t walk at first. Then you sucked at it. Now you can walk and watch YouTube videos on your phone at the same time.

What I am saying is take the time to learn how to write. You probably need to learn about structure and theme and tone and all that stuff but that is not what I mean. You do not need to go out and get an English degree or anything. You really need to learn how you work, though. No two writers follow the same workflow. You can’t write the way I work but I can’t write the way that will work for you, either. 

How do you write a book? Start with a story. No ideas? Fine. Watch your favorite TV show (fiction show) and turn the last episode into a four or five page story. Grab a comic book (single issue) and write it up as a prose story. Write about something that really happened to you. It does not have to be exciting or interesting. In a way it is better to not care terribly about it. Just figure out how to get words on paper. Figure out how to make sense. Then try to make things interesting, When you can write a few good pages novelizing the last episode of The Beverly Hillbillies or Star Trek you saw on TV then try writing a short story of your own. It can still be fan fiction if you want, just try your hand at an original story. Once you have stories in hand then work to getting comfortable with people reading them because that is a whole battle in itself for most people.

Along the way you will figure out how you tick… Do you write lots and need to pare it down and simplify things? Do you start with dialogue and fill in details later? Do you plan everything out in your head before you type a single word? Do you sit down and see what happens when you turn the characters loose? Can you commit to X amount of minutes or pages of writing a day or do you need to write when the spirit grabs you? Do you need a dedicated work space with a specific keyboard or can you lay on the couch and knock out chapters with your thumbs on your phone? What works for you is only going to work for you and you have to discover it!

At some point after you have been writing short stories writing a novel won’t seem so damned scary. It should still seem a little scary, trust me! But once it seems like something you have half an idea how to tackle then you get your ass off the couch and write your book. Nobody is going to do it for you.

I wrote a book… Should I self publish? Why do you self publish?

Should you self publish? That is a tough one. It really kind of depends on your goals and your reason for writing. Some people don’t feel like a “real” writer if they have not been published by a traditional publisher. Some people want to get into “best seller” lists. The nice thing about publishers, I hear, is that they worry about getting your book out there in the world. But then again I am hearing from some traditionally published authors a great deal of the book promotion is now being left to them.

Personally, I am in a weird place in my life where I don’t really like to mix money with my books (kind of like I don’t want to mix money with my martial arts). Maybe art school made me a little too much of a “tortured artist” type or maybe I am just a conceited jerk but I really don’t want anyone to tell me what I can and can’t write. “Sorry, we are only taking middle school level fantasy novels with teenaged female protagonists involving magic and an urban environment. And a cat would be nice too.”

I have made a living writing in the past. I have seen my name in a by-line. I am pretty sure there was not a publisher out there who would have touched The Grand Tournament. You can not convince me anyone would have ever shown the slightest interest in Vanguard Task Force 138: We Are 138! but I just wanted them out there. I realize my tokusatsu based story with a heavy tongue in cheek influence from the punk band The Misfits is for very, very few of the billions of people out there on Earth. I just want it out there for the handful who will appreciate it. Soon after I put out The Grand Tournament a guy I had never met contacted me just to tell me how much he enjoyed it and how the characters seemed so real to him he wanted to take a minute and thank me. That is why I write… in hopes that this story is going to make a difference to someone by exciting them or inspiring them or maybe giving them some new imaginary friends for a while.

Since I don’t really care if my books sell or not, I don’t feel the need to spend money to advertise them. If you self publish, especially if your goal is to someday support yourself with your books, then you need to be aware you are going to have to learn how to market your stuff in an incredibly crowded market. Something like 50,000 ebooks are added to Amazon every month! That is more than one a minute. 

If you are self publishing you are starting a business and probably need to treat it as such. There are lots of sources of information on how to go about that (from ‘writing to market’ to advertising to additional sources of revenue related to your books) but I am not one of them. I just don’t care to go that route. I want to tell stories and then talk about cool books and movies with other fans.

If you don’t care about money then why don’t you give away all your books?

Good question. Fair question. It is something I wrestle with often… even after putting out multiple books. 

I think the most honest answer is that while money is not a motivating factor for my writing it is a factor in my life. My books are my intellectual property, they are my creations and I do not want to simply throw them out into the digital world without any measure of control. If someone wants to make a movie or comic book based on my books, great. I will take the payday. It goes back to that thing with martial arts schools… it takes money to operate a school and it takes money to create and distribute books. Amazon and other e-retailers expect money for every book downloaded or printed. Most will not allow authors to make books permanently free anymore. Even when I allow readers to download free books from me (and skip the retailers) I have to pay for the web services involved. So, yes, I charge money (not too much, I hope) for my books. If someday I have enough of a catalogue to see book sales supplementing my income in a meaningful way that will be great… it will probably keep me from being a Walmart greeter in my old age. If not, I am fine with that too (it seems like I am at Walmart all the time anyway). 

I do take as many opportunities as I can to make my books free and I always have free offerings for my readers. I also submit all my books to library ebook services. At the end of the day that is something I think I can live with and hope all you readers can too. 

* Those are song lyrics from Sham 69’s Questions and Answers…

On August 28, 1993 a phenomenon appeared on American television: The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. Shown as part of the the Fox Kids afternoon (and after-school) children’s programming block across the country, Power Rangers was an instant success. Suddenly, kids across the country wanted to learn karate and pilot giant robots. Everyone seemed caught off guard by the show’s huge impact as toys, apparel and all the other ways to cash in on any successful kids shows were not to be found (at least at first).

The show, created by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy, took footage from the Japanese action show Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger and combined it with new English language footage starring American actors. Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger was part of the long running Super Sentai series of shows, all of which featuring a team of agents who could transform into super heroes. The sixteenth entry in the series, Kyōryū Sentai Zyuranger carried on many of the traditions of Super Sentai such as five team members (four male and one female) with color coded identities, martial arts battles over gunfights, monstrous adversaries and robot vehicles, which could often combine into a giant warrior, to face giant sized threats. 

Over thirty seasons, twenty two distinct series and a couple feature films, Power Rangers has continued to be a mainstay of American children’s programming despite having migrated networks from Fox to The CW to Nickelodeon to Netflix and navigating ownership changes (including Disney and finally Hasbro). The planned reboot of the series is now up in the air after the dissolution of a partnership between Hasbro and Netflix but there is little doubt there will be a new Power Rangers show. Even though Power Rangers has arguably been the biggest when it comes to live action Japanese television in the US it is the only live action tokusatsu (special effects) show to hit American airwaves. It is not even the first.

After the premiere of The Mighty Morphin Power Rangers there were several attempts to capture the lightning in a bottle a second time with other English language shows borrowing effects footage from live action Japanese programs. Haim Saban and Shuki Levy were, in fact, among the first with VR Troopers (1994-1996) which drew from Toei’s Metal Heroes shows. In Japan there were (and still are to this day) four long running tokusatsu franchises: Super Sentai, Metal Heroes (which tended to feature law enforcement officers with cybernetic bodies), Kamen Rider (motorcycle riding transforming heroes with cybernetic insect themed powers) and Ultraman. The pair would turn to Metal Heroes again in 1996 to create Big Bad Beetleborgs, which ran for two seasons on Fox Kids. They also tried their hand at a Kamen Rider adaptation with Masked Rider (which also ran on Fox Kids for two seasons from 1995 to 1997). DIC turned Japan’s Gridman The Hyper Agent into Superhuman Samurai Syber Squad, which ran from 1994 to 1995 in syndication and in a brief run on ABC. CW Kids adapted Kamen Rider Ryuki for the the US in 2009 as Kamen Rider: Dragon Knight. It ran for a year and even won a Daytime Emmy for its stunt work.

Although it was not based on a Japanese show, special mention should probably be made of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Next Mutation. This live action TMNT series was produced by Haim Saban and Shuki Levy and introduced many elements similar to Power Rangers/Super Sentai shows, including expanding the team to five by adding the female turtle Venus de Milo. In fact, this version of the Ninja Turtles even appeared in a crossover with the Power Rangers during the Power Rangers In Space series.

Unlike the Super Sentai, Metal Heroes and Kamen Rider franchises Ultraman did not come to US television after the Power Rangers boom. It had already been on American airwaves for almost 30 years and it was not the only tokusatsu series in the US to predate the Power Rangers! United Artists purchased the broadcast rights to Ultraman in 1966 and syndicated a translated version in the US that same year (using some of the same talent who translated and voiced the animated Speed Racer series for US television). It would continue to run throughout the 1970s and into the 1980s. Ultraseven was licensed by Turner Broadcasting in 1985 and translated into English but did not air the show until 1994. The 1990 series Ultraman Great, which had originally been released straight to laserdisc in Japan, also aired in US syndication in 1992 as Ultraman: Towards the Future. In 2002, Fox aired a dubbed version of Ultraman Tiga in the US as part of their FoxBox kids programming block. Unlike Power Rangers and its imitators the Ultraman shows did not shoot new footage for the English versions but instead presented straight translations of the originals.

After the initial release of Ultraman a few other live action tokusatsu programs saw limited release in the United States. Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot, a translation of Giant Robo, was syndicated in the US starting with the 1969 television season. It followed the adventures of a young boy who joins a government agency fighting alien terrorists after he is bonded to a giant (flying) robot. Space Giants, adapted from Ambassador Magma, was based on a comic by Astro Boy creator Osamu Tezuka. It was syndicated sparsely from 1970 onwards by Lakeside Television Company. In the late 1970s picked up by Turner Broadcasting’s WTBS and ran for a few years. The USA alternative music programming block Night Flight also dabbled in Japanese tokusatsu programming in 1987 when they translated Super Sentai series Kagaku Sentai Dynaman as the parody show Dynaman, which also aired on Nickelodeon around the same time.

Thanks to the enduring popularity of Power Rangers, English speaking audiences now have access to a wide range of tokusatsu programming. Several of the original Super Sentai shows used to create Power Rangers seasons are available with subtitles on DVD from Mill Creek Entertainment and on the Shout Factory streaming channels (as well as Tubi). The bulk of the Ultraman and Kamen Rider series can also be found through Shout Factory! and Tubi although newer Ultraman shows are streamed (with multiple subtitle options and English dubbing) on the Tsuburaya Productions official YouTube channel. While various Power Rangers series can be found on Netflix and Pluto, several seasons are also available to stream for free on the Power Rangers Official YouTube channel. 

Free Resources For Science Fiction and Fantasy Fans

This month’s Sensor Scan is going to be a little different than others. Instead of introducing the career of an author or artist or exploring a little science fiction and fantasy history this month I am sharing a bunch of free resources for genre fans looking for content. When I say free resources, by the way, I mean free and legal. I have no desire to share sites posting content they don’t have the rights to share. I know most of y’all are in the US although some of the newsletter signups are from Europe, South America and even Australia. This will be a United States centered list (because it is where most of you are and where I am, too) but some of these services reach other countries. I am also leaving off all streaming services connected to a specific TV network (BBC iPlayer, CW, Peacock, etc) even if they are free.

Let’s start with places to stream video content. Let me note a few things about streaming channels. First, free means ad supported… deal with it! In many cases a named channel, such as Shout Factory’s TokuSHOUTsu or Hi-Yah, will be showing the same schedule on various carriers (for example Tubi or Pluto) but others, such as Classic Doctor Who, may vary content from provider to provider. 

TUBI

tubitv.com and apps for iOS, Android, Roku, FireTV, AppleTV, XBox and PlayStation 

Available in US, Canada and Australia

Tubi is an on-demand streaming service which also repeats several streaming channels. It does not allow downloads for off-line viewing. It is a division of Fox with content from Lionsgate, MGM, Paramount and more.

Content highlights include: all of the Classic Doctor Who episodes for Doctors 1-7, Andromeda, Dresden Files, Space 1999, many classic Ultraman and Super Sentai series, Sanctuary, Babylon 5, Robin of Sherwood, Merlin, Farscape, Kamen Rider and a selection of anime.

Tubi is, by far, my favorite streaming service at the moment if only for the classic Doctor Who offerings. Truth be told, though, whether I am in the mood for British comedy, kaiju mayhem, kung fu movies or UFO documentaries I tend to find it on Tubi. Thanks to my free account I can easily move between my iPad, iPhone and Roku enabled TVs and pick up where I last left off. 

Although I have no firm data to back this up it seems to me Tubi is less likely to show you ads when using mobile apps than it is when using a smart TV app.

The search feature could be better and it is often easier to find something you want and then pay attention to the suggestions it generates rather than try to search for specific actors or subgenre. Tubi is rather limited when it comes to live channels, they do include the Classic Doctor Who stream, but not nearly as many fantasy, horror or science fiction choices as other live stream TV services. At this point there is no way to mark favorites or arrange channels either. 

PLUTO 

pluto.tv with apps for iOS, Android, Roku, FireTV, AppleTV, XBox, Playstation

Available in North and South America, most of Europe and Australia

When it comes to live streaming channels, Pluto is my current favorite. To be honest, I have been watching Pluto since its beta days. If you are a Star Trek fan then Pluto is your best friend when it comes free streaming because it is a division of Paramount. They offer multiple Star Trek streams, Classic Doctor Who, TokuSHOUTsu, Godzilla, Stargate, Pluto Monsters, Pluto Sci-Fi, Crunchyroll, Anime All Day, dedicated Sailor Moon, One Piece, Naruto and Yu-Gi-Oh channels as well as news, sports, music, drama, game shows and more. With a free account you are able to mark favorites and organize channels and there are some on-demand options as well.

PLEX

plex.tv with apps for Windows, Mac, Linux, iOS, Android. Available worldwide, but I am not sure of its functionality outside the US.

Plex is an interesting service because it actually started as a media server platform so you can insert your own content (pictures, music, etc). It now offers on demand, rental and streaming content. While it does not have the wide range of content some of the other services offer genre channels include Classic Doctor Who, Midnight Pulp, Lionsgate’s OuterSphere, a BBC Sci Fi channel, several anime channels and Dungeons and Dragons Adventures (which is not offered on many other services, if any at all). It boasts a robust search, which is not surprising given its origins and feature as well as Chinese and Spanish content and music.

XUMO

play.xumo.com and apps

Available in the US, Mexico, Brazil, some European countries.

Channels include OuterSphere, Classic Doctor Who, XUMO Sci Fi and Fantasy, Crunchyroll, Shout TV, MST3K and international content.

I have to admit I have barely used XUMO. By and large it seems to offer much of what other streamers are offering so when space got tight on my phone it was the first to go. That being said, if you are in South America or Europe and can’t access other streamers I have mentioned xUMO might be the choice for you.

The next set of general video content providers are all, as far as I can tell, only available in the United States. If you are outside of the continental US you may just want to skip ahead to YouTube pages.

FREEVEE (formerly IMdBTV)

This service is available though Amazon’s website or with apps for iOS, Android, Roku, FireTV, AppleTV, XBox and PlayStation.

Mainly on demand but also offers live TV, including a Stargate channel, Universal Monsters, MGM Sci Fi, BBC Sci-Fi, Farscape, Outer Limits, Monsters (kaiju stuff), MST3K, Classic Doctor Who and much more. They appear to have partnerships with the BBC and WB as they offer streaming channels branded by these networks which do not appear on many other platforms. Although I sometimes watch on demand content through FreeVee I have found their live TV to be extremely unreliable through my Roku Amazon Prime Video app.

Sling Freestream

Http://www.Sling.com or iOS, Android, Roku, FireTV, AppleTV, XBox and PlayStation apps

A free streaming TV service from pay stream TV provider Sling, I probably use this more than I realize since I am a Sling customer and the Freestream channels are integrated with my not-free streaming channels. That also limits my ability to say what is offered to non-paying customers but as far as I can tell content includes the Walking Dead channel, MST3K, ShoutTv, Farscape, Scream TV, Sci Fi, Filmrise Sci-Fi, Retro Crush, Anime Hy Dive, Yu Gi Oh, TokuSHOUTsu, Filmrise Anime, Midnight Pulp and Stash Sci Fi.

FILMRISE

Apps on iOS, Android, Roku, XBox, genre/theme specific channels on other streaming platforms.

Filmrise is a little different than the other streamers I have discussed. First of all, its content is mainly indie produced with some foreign offerings. Second, although it has on demand apps of its own Filmrise often appears on other providers as a genre specific streaming channel (ie Filmrise Anime or Filmrise Science Fiction). I do occasionally watch content offered by Filmrise buy, honestly, always on other providers.

STASH

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCuE6xnCgaG0LvEGAbvn8MEg

Stash is much like Filmrise in that it collects content from various foreign and indie producers and you may find it as a streaming channel on other platforms. In addition to streaming channels it has a strong YouTube presence with specific Fantasy (Youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs3GEC-XMO...) and Science Fiction (Youtube.com/playlist?list=PLs3GEC-XMO...) playlists.

CRACKLE

Http://www.Crackle.com, apps for all major operating systems as well as appearing on other streaming platforms.

This venerable US only streaming service is actually now owned by Sony. Although Crackle was once a showcase for original web content it now offers several familiar series including Robin of Sherwood, Dark Knight, Farscape, Space Rangers, Star Hunter Redux, Space 1999 and original Salvage Marines.

ROKU CHANNEL

This platform, as you may expect, is only available to Roku users. It is a hub of both on demand and streaming content for the streaming device. Although I have never found anything on Roku Channel unavailable in other places (at least anything I cared to watch), it is tied into my Roku search feature and I often end up using its version of the Classic Doctor Who TV stream or on demand offering of some show I was searching out since it is the preferred content provider on the Roku search.

YOUTUBE

A few highlights of free, legal content on YouTube. Most of this, be warned, is Asian. Also, when exploring YouTube don’t forget Stash (see above).

TSUBURAYA PRODUCTION’S ULTRAMAN OFFICIAL

https://www.youtube.com/@ULTRAMAN_OFFICIAL

The official Ultraman channel from Tsuburaya Productions, the makers of the venerable science fiction series. For the last few years they have been posting new episodes of the current Ultraman series a day or two after they air in Japan with multi-language subtitles and an English audio option. They have also posted a couple older series, special events and some original web series. The newest series, Ultraman Arc, is premiering on July 6 so it is a great time to pick up a weekly tokusatsu habit.

TENCENT VIDEO

https://www.youtube.com/@TencentVideo and the WeTV app available for Android and iOS.

You might not know the company TenCent. They are a Chinese software and entertainment company who have held major stakes in Riot Games (League of Legends), Epic Games (Fortnite) and Supercell (Clash of Clans) and others. They are also involved in streaming content, mainly in Asia, where they were the first official streamer of the NBA in China. Of particiular interest to science fiction fans will be Three Body Problem and fantasy fans really should check out their new series Legend of Heroes, which was produced to celebrate the 100th anniversary of author Jin Yong’s (aka Louis Cha) birth. Jin Yong has been called the “Tolkien of China” and “the godfather of wuxia,” the genre which sees martial artists wielding magical powers in their quests. 

YOUKU

https://www.youtube.com/@youkuenglish

Another Chinese streaming service, YouKu has several original series on Netflix, including the martial arts fantasies Word of Honor and Judge Dee’s Mysteries, which they also offer on their YouTube page. In fact, they have multiple YouTube pages offering English subtitles with dedicated pages for their movies and animation. Given the recent popularity of “monster hunter” and “tomb raider” style stories in China there are several movies for fantasy fans looking for something new… plus some good old fashioned zombie movies.

YouKu movies: https://www.youtube.com/@youkumovie/featured

YouKu Animation: https://www.youtube.com/@youkuanimation

iQIYI

https://www.youtube.com/@iQIYIofficial

Another Chinese streaming service, something like Netflix. They offer all kinds of martial arts fantasy stories and monster films, most with English subtitles. I suggest The Mutations and Our Parallel Universes for fantasy fans.

TOKUSHOUTSU

https://www.youtube.com/@TokuSHOUTsu

Although Shout Factory’s TokuSHOUTsu channel (which features Japanese “special effects” series such as Ultraman, Kamen Rider, various shows which were turned into the US Power Rangers shows and some kaiju films, too) is available on several free streaming platforms it is also offered on their official YouTube page. 

ORIGINAL CREATURE FEATURES

https://www.youtube.com/@Creature_Features

Creature Features was used by a few local horror movie programs showing the package of Universal horror films and associated drive in fare being offered TV stations. The 1971 Oakland series spawned a couple of spiritual successors who still use the name (including this one and the next entry). As far as I know this version is a TV show too so everything shown should be legal. Although the hosted portions are sometimes a little dry for my taste this host manages to get films (and sometimes television episodes) which other online horror hosts do not and many presentations include cartoons in a nod to the old drive ins.

CREATURE FEATURES

https://www.youtube.com/@CreatureFeatures3

This version of Creature Features is hosted by aging rockstar turned haunted house owner Vincent Van Dahl, his butler Mr Livingston and adorably murderous ward Tangella. Their YouTube page features recent episodes and some special features. They also air on a few select stations scattered around the country (and South Africa) and have a subscription service for Roku, AppleTV and Android TV, which you can learn more about at their main website http://www.creaturefeatures.tv

DUST and ALTER

http:///www.watchdust.com

http://www.watchalter.com

Production company Gunpowder & Sky owns both of these short form video and podcast services with DUST focusing on science fiction and ALTER being geared towards horror content. Both have YouTube feeds and I known they were available as channels on some streamers, although they seem to have both recently been removed from Sling’s FreeView.

SCI FI CENTRAL

https://www.youtube.com/@Sci-FiCentral

This YouTube page of “modest budget” science fiction films and UFO documentaries states that all its contents have been licensed, so I am including it!

TOHO GODZILLA OFFICIAL

https://www.youtube.com/@GodzillaToho/playlists

Toho, the Japanese film company behind Godzilla, has a few interesting things on their YouTube page for hardcore Godzilla fans, including the American Saturday morning cartoon series, the whimsical webtoon Chibi Godzilla and the very odd late 90s series Godzilla Island, the MST3K meets Robot Chicken comedy series of three minute episodes with all the kaiju action created using Bandai Godzilla action figures.

DOCTOR WHO OFFICIAL

https://www.youtube.com/@DoctorWho

While there are no full episodes, the official Doctor Who YouTube page collects behind the scenes features, podcasts, some interesting ads and the CGI Daleks webseries.

FIRST ACTION BUREAU

Youtube.com/watch?v=vlHRDodiyeI&list=PL0NXq1NHbJMLn_TnfcHA38S29lavzJs_H

Audio podcast on YouTube from the Gerry Anderson estate and current voice of the Daleks Nick Briggs (who also produces Doctor Who audio adventures for Big Finish) about a special against (read: assassin) in the world of 2068.

YOUTUBE MOVIES AND TV

Finally, you probably already know YouTube offers not a pay TV service but the ability to buy/rent licensed content. What you might not know is the official YouTube Movies and TV section has “free with ads” content which you can access through this link:

https://www.youtube.com/feed/storefront?bp=ogUCKAY=

GAMES

Sometimes you want to do something a little more interactive than watching TV. Sometimes you want to play a game, maybe with your friends or maybe on your own. One of my favorite solo games is Kaiju War which lets you take on the task of destroying Japan… It is a “print and play,” a tabletop game designed so you can print almost everything you need (although you might need to provide pencils, some kind of counters and/or dice depending on the game but truth be told there are free dice apps for every phone). You can find links to the original Kaiju War and its later expansions (including a Pacific Rim themed version) at https://thesoloboardgamer.com/k-day-kaiju-war-pnp/.

There are all kinds of print and play games out there although most are not free. PNPArcade is probably my favorite source (and publisher of two of my favorite solo, but not free, print and play games: Dangerous Space and Dungeon Pages). You can find simulators, war games, word games and even full on role playing games but keeping with our “Summer of Free” theme you can find their collection of free games at this link: https://www.pnparcade.com/collections/free-games. My second favorite source for print and play games is itch.io which also offers downloadable video games from indie game producers. They have a pretty good search feature which will let you easily add “Free” to whatever else you are searching.

BOOKS AND MAGAZINES

Now you have plenty to watch, maybe some games to play while you are binging your new or old favorite shows… what else could you want? How about something to read? I am an author after all… and this seems like a good time to do a little shameless self promoting. The entire month of July all of my ebooks are free on Smashwords.com. They are having their annual summer sale (I assume they are doing it to celebrate my birthday at the end of the month) so their entire catalog is loaded with deals. Plenty of books are free, you just have to start searching (after you grab copies of all my books). After July is over, though, you might need some more reading so I have a few more resources for you.

CLARKESWORLD ONLINE

http://www.clarkesworldmagazine.com

This is the online version of Clarkesworld Magazine with free content updated with every new issue (which I believe is every other month). They may just be your new short story fix.

LIGHTSPEED MAGAZINE ONLINE

https://www.lightspeedmagazine.com

Lightspeed has become a real player over the last couple of years offering modern, enlightened science fiction. They have free stories online, a podcast with audio versions of many of the stories they have published and sister publications (Fantasy and Nightmare) serve up new fantasy and horror stories (I will let you figure out which magazine is which).

REACTOR MAGAZINE ONLINE

http://www.reactormag.com

The house organ of Tor Publishing includes free stories, novelettes, news and more. It is best, in my experience, to go ahead and sign up for their newsletters, too.

BAEN FREE LIBRARY

The Baen Free Library is exactly what its name promises: a selection of free ebooks from Baen. For the last dozen years of so they have been adding collections of short stories, reading guides and some years even collections of non-fiction pieces. They also offer dozens of full novels from well known authors such as David Drake, David Weber and others not named David.

https://www.baen.com/allbooks/category/index/id/2012

PROJECT GUTENBERG

https://www.gutenberg.org

This Internet library (for lack of a better word) collects digitized versions of public domain works of all types and does a pretty good job keeping only legitimately public domain titles on the site. This means a huge amount of the collection is over 100 years old and has nothing to do with fantasy or science fiction BUT a huge amount of the science fiction and fantasy adventures published during the glory days of the pulp magazines is now in the public domain and available from Gutenberg in a variety of file types. 

LIBRIVOX

http://www.librivox.org

I don’t think Librivox is actually connected to Project Gutenberg, but they are at least spiritual cousins. Like Gutenberg, Librivox specializes in offering public domain works but in audiobook format. The main complaint I hear about Librivox is their works are all volunteer productions and often not quite the same quality as a purchased audiobook… but they are free and most of them are well recorded even if they are lacking bits of theme music and other extras.

TAPAS

Despite having a name like a trendy downtown Mexican bar/restaurant this web comics and novels plateform is owned by TenCent (remember them?) It should not be a surprise, then, that a great deal of its contents comes from China. Most of their stuff is not free, but here is a link to free section: https://tapas.io/menu/1/subtab/40

AMAZON FREE KINDLE eBOOKS

Amazon always has free ebooks available. Some are public domain (and almost all of these can also be found on Gutenberg but it might be easier to get them on your Kindle app or device from Amazon). Simply search for “Kindle free books” but be warned! Some books are free and some books will say “free with Kindle Unlimited” which means they are “free” if you are paying for the Kindle Unlimited service.

BARNES AND NOBLE FREE NOOK eBOOKS

Barnes and Noble also offers free books for their Nook readers. And don’t worry if you don’t have a Nook because you can get the free Nook reading app on any tablet, phone or PC. You can find their current free fantasy and science fiction books here:

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/b/free-ebooks/ebooks-nook/science-fiction-fantasy/_/N- ry0Z8qaZ180l

SMASHWORDS FREE eBOOKS

Http://www.Smashwords.com

Smashwords also has free books (and as you may recall all of my ebooks are free on this service throughout July; just search for Michael Lauck). Once you get to their site you can click on the “Free” tab in the top of the page search parameters and from there you can search by genre using the search term list down the left side of the page. They even have free comics. I will be honest: I am not sure if the “Free” search tab only pulls up permanently free offerings or everything which is currently free.

AND DON’T FORGET…

Finally, don’t forget your local library. They have free books, magazines, comics and probably movies and music. These days most libraries seem to have an app to let you instantly check out digital content, too. The most common in the US are Overdrive (aka Libby) and Hoopla. Both are good but they work a little differently behind the scenes. Hoopla is actually a subscription service for libraries which means the library pays a fee to have access to everything offered on Hoopla (so my books are available to any Hoopla user) while libraries purchase digital copies of works from Overdrive (so my books are available on Overdrive but you can only check them out if your local library bought a digital copy from me). I personally use both; Hoopla has more options but honestly Libby seems a little more stable, especially for audiobooks through my car.

That is my look at free content providers for fantasy and science fiction fans. It is not an exhaustive list, I know, but it is enough to get you started. If you have a favorite source for free, legal science fiction and fantasy content I missed please let me know… Now go out and enjoy the next couple of months!

Born William F Jenkins on June 16, 1896 in Virginia, the man who would be known to generations of science fiction fans as Murray Leinster came into a world without mass media (except newspapers). Pulp magazines, which were more or less born along with baby William, would give him a start as a writer but by his death on June 8, 1975 his career would make important contributions to radio, television and film.

Although Jenkins did not finish high school, his first story was published in 1916. His career took a pause while he served during World War I but early work included mysteries and romances, sometimes under the name Louisa Carter Lee. A chance sighting of a clock running backwards inspired his first science fiction, a time travel yarn called The Runaway Skyscraper (Argosy, Feb 1919). It also inspired a new pseudonym after it was suggested some magazines may not publish William Jenkins if he became too widely associated with science fiction adventures. Almost twenty-three years after William Jenkins, Murray Leinster was born. The next year his story The Purple Hieroglyph (published under his real name in Snappy Stories) was adapted into the silent film The Purple Cipher. Unfortunately, the film appears to be lost. In 1927 his story The Owner of the Aztec was adapted into the silent western Good as Gold starring Buck Jones. 1930 saw a second adaptation of The Purple Cipher, Murder Will Out starring Jack Mulhall, Noah Berry and Hedda Hopper. It, too, is lost. In 1932 a second western based on his work, Border Devils starring Harry Carey and Gabby Hayes, was released. In 1939  a third version of The Purple Cipher was released as part of the popular Torchy Blane series (Torchy Blane in Chinatown 1939 starring Glenda Farrell). Although this was his last Hollywood adaptation for a while it was not Murray Leinster’s last brush with the movies.

The explosion of pulps led to more science fiction from Leinster and an association with Astounding Stories (during its long run, which continues to this day, it has also been known as Astounding Stories of Super Science, Astounding Science Fiction, Astounding Stories and, eventually, Analog the name it keeps to this day). It was here he published Sideways in Time (June 1934), First Contact (May 1945), A Logic Named Joe (March 1946) and Exploration Team (March 1956) which won the Hugo Award for Best Novelette.

World War II saw Willam Jenkins returning to service, this time as a researcher for the War Department. In later years he was known to occasionally mention doing some technical work for the Navy as well, but it is unclear exactly what this was. However, it is known Jenkins, despite his lack of formal education, was an inventor. According to his daughter Billee Stallings, Jenkins built a collapsible glider in 1909. He definitely made contributions to the special effect technique known as rear projection. This allowed film to be shown behind the on screen talent to create the illusion of movement (for example, a film of traffic shown with a static automobile interior set) or large landscapes and required synchronization of the film being projected and the cameras in operation to avoid flickering. 

When radio began to produce science fiction anthologies such as Dimension X (NBC, 1950-1951) and X Minus One (NBC, 1955-1958) several Murray Leinster stories were adapted into 30 minute radio plays. Radio is, perhaps, where Murray Leinster cemented his place among science fiction luminaries. His story First Contact (Astounding Science Fiction, May 1945) tells of the first meeting between man and an unknown civilization in the far reaches of space. It introduced the now-staple science fiction idea of the ‘universal translator’ and was produced by Dimension X (September 8, 1951), X Minus One (October 6, 1955) and again by Mutual’s Exploring Tomorrow radio series (January 15, 1958). First Contact was awarded a Retro Hugo for Best Novelette in 1996. Years later Leinster’s heirs sued Paramount because of First Contact. It was Star Trek’s use of the universal translator, as is sometimes reported, which spurred the legal action but the use of the title First Contact. The suit was dismissed.

A Logic Named Joe (Astounding Science Fiction March 1946 under his real name) was also adapted by both Dimension X (July 1, 1950) and later by X Minus One (December 28, 1955). This is an important story essentially about computers (called “logics), the Internet and the threat of a spontaneous, sentient AI springing from the complex network of logics. Although somewhat tongue in cheek, it is undeniably prophetic in many ways and even touches on the concerns about children and the Internet!

The science fiction boom of the 1960s finally brought Murray Leinster’s science fiction to the big screen. First was The Navy VS The Night Monsters (Standard Club/Realarts,1966) based on the Monsters From Earth’s End (1959). Reputedly produced (but not credited to) Roger Corman and starring Mamie van Doren and Anthony Eisley, this film pitted a small Air Force refueling station against monsters unearthed by an Antarctic expedition. The next year British studio Amicus, famous for horror movies such as Scream and Scream Again (1970) and the Peter Cushing led Doctor Who films, adapted the 1960 novel The Wailing Asteroid as The Terrornauts (1967).

Even though Murray Leinster’s stories inspired both film and radio adaptations there have been very few television versions of his stories. The Lights Out anthology series (NBC, 1949-1952), based on the radio show of the same name, presented The Strange Case of John Kingman (March 6, 1950 and restaged it in July) and mystery anthology series The Web (CBS, 1950-1954) adapted one of his non-science fiction tales. The short lived CBS science fiction anthology series Out There also presented an episode credited to Leinster, titled Seven Temporary Moons, in December of 1951.

Still, Leinster was definitely known to television producers. He wrote the novelization of Men Into Space (CBS, 1959-1960, novel of same name published by Berkeley Medallion, 1960) the first “serious” or “adult oriented” non-anthology science fiction series on US television. Later he wrote two novelizations of the Irwin Allen TV series Time Tunnel (ABC, 1966-1967) titled Time Tunnel (Pyramid Books, 1967) and Timeslip: Time Tunnel Adventure #2 (Pyramid books, 1968). Although he published a 1964 novel also titled Time Tunnel his work was not the basis of the ABC show. Later he wrote three novelizations for the Land of the Giants (ABC, 1968-1970), another Irwin Allen series.  A 1968 adaptation of the pilot simply titled Land of the Giants was followed in 1969 by The Hot Spot and Unknown Danger, all from Pyramid Books. Ironically, his novel Operation Outer Space (Fantasy Press, 1954) told the (somewhat tongue in cheek) story of a public relations agency financing Man’s first interstellar space voyage to turn it into a television show!

William F. Jenkins passed away in 1975. Unfortunately, many of today’s fans are not familiar with the man who first suggested children should not spend too much time with computers, gave us the universal translator and suggested some day mental health professionals would treat patients by working marketing firms to rehabilitate their public personas. Luckily, many of his works are still widely available and easily found on any home logic unit.

Recently I took a brief look at the history science fiction television series on US television. Honestly it was more of a survey of the programs offered over the years. It seemed appropriate to look at fantasy as well… and it turns out to be a much larger task! Even setting aside superhero shows on the argument they are a sub-genre of science fiction as opposed to fantasy (and their are strong arguments for both sides) or they are their own genre, you are left with scores of shows which aired on American broadcast television. Definitely more fantasy has aired than science fiction. So I am going to have to pare down the subject a bit. First, I will restrict myself to American television. I will include cable but not streaming services. Next I think it is important to pick a specific type of fantasy.

Fantasy is a huge genre; in terms of television programming very different shows such as Fantasy Island, Ghost Whisperer, Highlander and Dark Shadows all fall under the fantasy flag and yet none of them are the classic, JRR Tolkien style tale many people think of when it comes to defining fantasy. Thanks to Lloyd Alexander, author of the Chronicles of Prydain and much more, Tolkien’s tales are now considered “high fantasy” or “epic fantasy.” Basically, these are tales set in a fictional world whereas “low fantasy” stories are set in our own world. Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings stories are high fantasy as are Howard’s Conan stories (which are set in the fictional, pre-historic Hyborean Age) while a quest throughout Europe by Arthur’s knights for the Grail (despite the mythological origins) is low fantasy by virtue of its setting. This is a useful distinction but incredibly broad. Dracula, for example, also falls under the flag of low fantasy as does Jim Butcher’s Dresden series, television’s Bewitched. It seems obvious in many ways the stories of Tolkien’s hobbits and elves and Howard’s Conan have more in common with the adventure of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight than Gawain shares with the witches of Charmed or Bewitched despite the fact Arthur’s trusted knight and Darrin Stephens’ magical wife technically inhabit the same world. Further division is useful.

Urban fantasy is another broad but useful term for a subgenre which places in the elements of fantasy, such as the supernatural and magic, in a modern setting. This is a term which nicely fits Butcher’s Dresden series, Stoker’s Dracula (it was set in the modern world when it was written in 1897) as well as television’s Supernatural, Beauty and the Beast and even Highlander. I admit all of these terms, as I am using them, have a great deal of room for refinement. I agree; in fact I will admit high fantasy, low fantasy and urban fantasy, as I am using them today, are not necessarily the precise definitions of literary critics or scholars. I have no desire to create a precise cataloguing system for the countless sub genres of fantasy. I only want to clarify a few terms I will use as a determine which television programs to discuss.

So I will restrict my scope to US television shows, cable and broadcast, in the low fantasy category. As I mentioned, there are just too many urban fantasy shows to cover. Conversely, there are too few high fantasy programs. Honestly, I can only think of a few although I will admit HBO’s Game of Thrones fits firmly in this category and has been one of the most successful and influential fantasy series of the last few years. I am not sure there was any high fantasy on television, though, until the boom of syndicated fantasy in the late 1990s which brought Conan the Adventurer (1997-1998), Mortal Kombat (1998-1999) and Beastmaster (1999-2002). To further simplify matters, I am also excluding television movies, mini-series and children’s shows (especially animation).

The 1950s were still the early days of television, especially in the United States. The BBC brought Robin Hood to the airwaves in 1953 (starring future Doctor Who Patrick Troughton). I am not sure this series was ever brought to the United States but ITV’s Adventures of Robin Hood (1956-1960) starring Richard Green did air on CBS (streaming free on FREEVEE and the Roku Channel). The BBC then brought The Adventures of Lancelot (1956-1957, streaming free on Tubi, FREEVEE and the Roku Channel) to viewers. This series was also quite popular in the US. It starred William Russell as the galant knight of the Round Table a few years before he would take the role as school teacher Ian Chesterton in the first seasons of Doctor Who. A final entry of swashbuckling swordsman adventure came with The Adventures of Ivanhoe (ITV, 1958) starring Roger Moore.  I believe this series eventually saw syndication in the US after Moore took over the main role on the western adventure series Maverick.

The 1960s would be dominated by westerns and urban fantasy programs but brave swordsman would return to television in 1970 with BBC’s Ivanhoe (which was shown later on PBS). HTV brought a new take on Great Britain’s most famous legend with Arthur of the Britons (1972-1973). This was perhaps the first television or film project to present the famous king as a post-Roman warlord. Although it takes on mythological figures the show attempts to keep the legends grounded. For example, Arthur does not withdraw the familiar sword from the stone but instead, preaching unity among the British tribes, has the warlords of all the factions each place a hand on the boulder pinning the sword in place and work together to push it away. Arthur of the Britons is any interesting show in many ways. Stars Oliver Tobias and Michael Gothard have a glam-rock vibe but overall the show feels much like a ‘60s American western with Celtic Arthur and his Saxon sidekick Kai having a Lone Ranger and Tonto feel, every 30 minute episode featuring an obvious moral and a rousing theme by Magnificent Seven composer Elmer Bernstein. The BBC returned to Sherwood in 1975 with The Legend of Robin Hood (featuring Blake’s 7 star Paul Darrow as the Sheriff of Nottingham) while in the States ABC also brought Robin Hood to the small screen. Years before Men in Tights Mel Brooks created When Things Were Rotten for the network which was essentially Robin Hood: The Sitcom!

The 1980s did not bring a great deal of new low fantasy programming and what came was firmly inspired by familiar tales. CBS offered Mr. Merlin, a sitcom which saw Arthur’s wizard living in modern America. ITV brought Robin Hood to the screen once more with Robin of Sherwood, which aired in the US on the Showtime cable network (currently streaming free on the Roku Channel, FreeVee and Tubi). A grittier spiritual successor to Arthur of the Britons starring first Michael Praed and later Jason Connery, Robin of Locksley was cast as the protector of traditional Celtic Britain. In addition to providing for the poor he was also a semi-religious champion known as “Herne’s Son.” The relatively high production values, including an incredible soundtrack by Clannad, and innovative story has made the series very influential on subsequent Robin Hood stories.

Merlin returned to the screen again in 1991 with Merlin of the Crystal Cave,  the BBC’s adaptation of Mary Stewart’s book of the same name. Fantasy then went quiet for a couple of years but would soon return in in force thanks to a syndication package from Universal called The Action Pack. First movies, later series, it featured adaptations of William Shatner’s science fiction TekWar books, a Knight Rider reboot and a few modern sword and sandal movies featuring Hercules. Although several series were launched, none took off quite like Hercules: The Legendary Series (1995-1999) starring Kevin Sorbo. It soon spawned a spin-off, Xenia: Warrior Princess (syndicated, 1995-2001) and a boom to syndicated fantasy. It was soon joined in American syndication by Tarzan: The Legendary Adventures (1996-1997), The Adventures of Sinbad (1996-1998), The New Adventures of Robin Hood (1997-1998), The Lost World (1999-2002), Sheena (2000-2002) and Dark Knight (2000-2002, now streaming on the Roku Channel) which did not feature Batman but Sir Walter Scott’s Ivanhoe battling necromancers and CGI monsters. Meanwhile, the BBC had attempted to bring back Ivanhoe (1997, now free on Tubi) as well with a series more faithful to the original book starring Steven Wattington. 

NBC dabbled with fantasy the mini-series Merlin (1998, streaming free on Tubi, the Roku Channel, Plex, Pluto and more) but Fox jumped in fill force with the Heath Ledger series Roar (1997) which followed a young Celtic warlord fighting against the invading Romans.

The BBC returned to tried and true legends in the early 2000s with Robin Hood (2006-2009), which also ran on BBC America, and Merlin (2008-2012, now free on Tubi, Roku Channel, Pluto and more), which was picked up by NBC. The American cable network Starz followed suit with Camelot (2011) and then branched off with the fantastic adventures of Leonardo DaVinci in DaVinci’s Demons (2013-2015). The BBC brought Sinbad (2012) to the screen again, which was also run by SyFy. ABC returned to fantasy comedy with Galavant (2015-2016) and various networks ran the three seasons of Britannia (2018-2021), a psychedelic tale of the warlords and druids resisting the Roman occupation of Britain.

The problem plaguing low fantasy, whether straight sword and sorcery style or something more derivative such as a Tarzan or Lost World style series, is the cost. It has proven to be a popular genre throughout the history of television, though, so it will undoubtedly return.