Marc Johnson's Blog, page 5

Who Cares if America is “Great Again?”

Believe it or not, but back in the 80s, I was far more patrotic than I am now. Granted, I was a kid, but it might have been the Olympics, 80s movies, the underdog angle, and so on that made me feel that way. Yet in the 90s, something very strange started to happen that I don’t think we’ll ever see again with as much impact and as quickly. It wasn’t the fact that I was becoming a hormonal teenager who questioned everything and was able to formulate my own thoughts.

No, it was the Internet.

I’m not entirely sure what the true purpose of the Internet was, or even is today. It’s technically been around since the 60s, but the way we know it now, birthed in the 90s. I don’t care what people use it for, and I’m not even saying what I use it for (Youtube videos, music, movies, and PORN!). The Internet did something that nothing else has been able to do for the entire world–connect us.

Because of it, the entire world is now connected instantaneously and we’ve transformed into a global economy. What happens to one country affects other parts of the world. People care about the crimes, tragedies and atrocities that happen. Those things are now seen and heard when they weren’t before or were entirely delayed or denied. Sure, throughout history mankind has had things that have connected people such as roads and sailing routes. But that all took time–weeks, months, or years. The Internet did it in seconds and from a person’s home, office, and phone.

People that want to make America “Great Again” actually just want “America for Americans.” I’m not even sure what that means. I think the one thing that makes America great is that it’s a country founded on immigrants. It’s not just any one race, ethnicity, religion, or creed that built her. It’s all of them. Each piece has added their own mark to this country in a good way even if those people were forced to come here. America was and I hope always will be, a melting pot.

America is also a young country. Because of that, she’s not had the baggage–history or traditions–that other places have been shackled with. When things haven’t worked, she’s been able to change and adapt at a far faster pace than anyone else. That’s why it’s such a shame to see this country and some of its people, take a step backwards.

Maybe it’s because I grew up watching Star Trek, but I’ve always had a more optimistic view of things. I like to think that one day we won’t be divided by silly things such as race, ethnicity, religion, sex, money, and so on. That one day we’ll learn and grow as a species, trying to learn and better ourselves. It’s not going to be in my lifetime or even my children’s, children’s, children’s lifetimes. But I believe that one day humanity will get there.

Marc Johnson

The Most Important Thing in a Story–Characters

When I was younger, I used to believe that you had to have a balance diet when it came to a story. You had to have good characters, ideas, setting, description, language and so on. As I’ve come to realize over the years, you really only need one very important thing–characters.

Characters are the most important thing in a story. Nothing else matters as much especially the plot. There’s that quote that goes along the lines of, “All stories have been told before.” Sure, while there are no original stories and people are smart enough to have a general idea of what will happen–like the hero lives and saves the day, people haven’t seen it done with YOUR character. Nor have they seen his journey.

I’m currently watching 24 Legacy and while it’s not as good as it’s predecessor despite having better tech, more relevant story lines, and a black man. The original 24 had great characters. It had Jack, Tony, Michelle, Nina, Chloe, Palmer, George, and so on that I still remember all these years later. I’m not sure what Legacy has. Maybe it’ll get better but so far, there’s nothing to grab me. Unlike Creed, I don’t think I’ll care if this show doesn’t get another season.

Characters also don’t have to be people. Worlds and settings can be characters too. I haven’t read all of Harry Potter as I couldn’t get past the first book, but I did see all eight movies. While I don’t believe the Harry Potter world had good characters except for maybe Hermione, the world itself was fantastic. That vibrant world that Rowling created was a character unto itself. If you think about it, between the time travel and all the overpowered magic with little to no rule set, nothing makes any sense. But on screen and even in real life, with the costumes, ghost in the paintings, movable staircases, Quidditch, etc., it became alive. That’s why it has such a huge fan base.

Whenever you find yourself caring about what happens to a character or imagining yourself in their shoes, that’s when you know a writer has done a great job. Shows that were once great but extended themselves for far too long (cough, Supernatural), you’re still watching for a reason, although you don’t quite know why. You’re invested in those characters and even though they’ve done the same things or have the most non-nonsensical plots, you still watch it because you want to see where it goes. You don’t want to see where the story goes, but you do want to see where the characters end up.

Even though characters are the most important thing, some of the most well known stories don’t have the most likable characters. Harry Potter, Fone Bone, Leondardo, Cyclops are all somewhat boring and plain. Maybe it’s because they’re straight laced and “perfect,” and most of us can’t relate to that. I know I myself am drawn more to characters like Cole from Charmed, Vegeta from Dragon Ball Z, or Kaiba from Yugioh. I don’t even want to get into what that says about what type of person I am. Others are more attracted to the nerdy characters or funny ones.

I will try to keep this mind as I continue to write. Unfortunately, I have no idea how to come up with awesome characters. Is it done by writers injecting the characters with more traits of themselves or people they know? Is it done by a wish fulfillment of what you should or shouldn’t have done? Is it something else entirely? One day, I hope to have the answer…

Marc Johnson

Where’d All the Sales Go?

2016 was not been a good year. People have died, Trump was elected president, the book I’ve been reading forever is bad. Yet, one of the things that has stood out at me the most are my book sales specifically my Amazon sales.

As a consumer, I love Amazon. I get cheap prices, they’re usually have what I want, and my products are shipped “free.” But as someone who publishes through them, I don’t like them at all.

Way back in 2011, I first published Catalyst. Sales were surprisingly good for a noob author. Of course, as I foolishing spent money on advertising and it took me awhile to release What Once Was One, sales tapered off. That was to be expected. I was actually fine with my Amazon sales until this last year or so.

Over the past few years, I watched Amazon changed for the indie author, and not for the better. I remember when things had to do with reviews and rankings based on actual, organic sales, but no longer. I feel like part of that is our fault. Not that I personally did it, but a large majority of indie authors tried to scam Amazon. They did everything from price-matching to try and get books to be free on Amazon but still get money for them, exchange reviews, pay for reviews, fake reviews on competing authors, have everyone order their book on launch day, and a myriad of others I’m forgetting.

Now, Amazon wants a person locked into their system. I don’t blame them for it. They got me locked into their system with Amazon Prime yet I’m not completely in as I still have things like Netflix, Hulu, PS4, order things from other sites, and go to actual, physical stores. It’s almost impossible to be 100% in their system because of their competitors like Google, Apple, Microsoft, Sony, and so on. Yet as an author, it’s a lot easier for them to coerce an author into selling their books just for them.

Depending on where you read, Amazon accounts for approximately 65% of the ebook market. That’s huge. They’re still the Big Dog. If you don’t play by their rules, they don’t need to sell or push your book at all.

It’s one thing if I was a big name. The big publishers have some power mainly because they have big name authors. People look for those authors and neither care about where they buy them from or who published them. But if you’re not one of those few, it’s a little bit tougher.

It used to make sense and be fair. Readers generally read in the same genre. For example, if you bought say, my book, and you read Brandon Sanderson, then if enough people bought my books then they would show up on the Also Boughts. That still happens but those books in the Also Boughts are either more popular authors, including indies or ones that were sponsored by Amazon. I’m seeing more and more products are now sponsored. I used to never see books sponsored but now I do. There’s a reason why people and company are sponsoring their products. It makes them visible to the consumer and they sell more.

So what does this all mean for me? Nothing. I’m just starting off the new year venting. I’ve still never been one to pay attention to sales, but after all the works I’ve put out so far, it does still hurt my fragile ego. For some reason, I still sell more books in Canada than in the USA. Thanks Kobo and my Canadian readers! It is a place I may need to move to so maybe it’s prophetic.

Writing’s so solitary. So if you enjoy an author’s work, may I suggest dropping them an email or a Tweet or something if you enjoy their work. That way, they won’t be so alone.

Marc Johnson

My Top 7 New Shows of 2016

Fall is here and you know what time it is, TV Time! Now, like I do every year, I talk about my favorite new shows of the season. Sadly, I will not include whatever new shows are premiering in the Winter. However, I am excited for the return of Prison Break and 24.

This was actually a tougher list to write. With the exception of one show, I felt as if all the shows were on relatively equal footing. Things might change on how I feel depending how the season ends. As I write this, I’m only half way through the seasons.

7. FREQUENCY

There is another show that deals with time travel that debuted this season, but that one (Timeless) is terrible. Frequency is the better one. Unfortunately, this show probably won’t get picked up by season’s end. Frequency is based on the movie of the same name. I did watch that movie, but I don’t remember it. Frequency is about a detective who’s able to communicate through her father twenty years in the past through a ham radio. She saves his life and changes history, including getting her mom killed.

Part of me likes this because of Peyton List. She was one of the best things about The Tomorrow People and she’s now stuck in CW contracts, which is OK I guess. While I like this show, I don’t love it. The entire cast does an excellent job but I wish Frequency would delve deeper into the ramifications about changing things. Despite having her mom died, Raimy nor anyone else, doesn’t make a comment that maybe the father should have died or that they shouldn’t have changed history because more people died because of it. Feels like a miss opportunity.

6. LUKE CAGE

Luke Cage is another Marvel Netflix show. The Netflix shows are starting to outshine Marvel’s big screen movies. Whereas the movies have become rather formulaic and boring, Netflix shows are more mature and do different things. Luke Cage is about a bulletproof, black man. Very topical in today’s world.

This show would have been ranked higher if it was shorter. Unfortunately, somewhere around episode six, my favorite character died and the show kinda dragged after that. It picked up again when Rosario Dawson came on board, but the presence of her kind of short changed Misty Knight. Still unlike Jessica Jones and Daredevil, Luke Cage isn’t as mopey and emo as those two. I can’t wait to see him paired with Iron Fist. It will be a Sweet Christmas when that happens.

5. DESIGNATED SURVIVOR

I miss watching Keifer Sutherland on TV. He played one of the all time, great characters in Jack Bauer. While 24 is returning, it’s sadly going to be without him. Before our elections, I honestly wouldn’t have cared if they blew up everyone in Washington DC. I feel like this country needs a fresh start and it may get one soon. Since the elections happened, I still feel the same way, although I do generally like Obama and his family and wouldn’t want them to die.

Anyways, craziness American politics aside, while this show does a good job at portraying what would most likely happen in the scenario, it’s still a little weird to watch. Mainly because it’s like watching Jack Bauer before he was Jack Bauer. Kirkman is a bit of a wimp and it’s all new to him. And while I get that Bauer was a character, Kirkman is a character, and Sutherland is a good actor, it all still feels a little too similar to 24.

Still, as much as I want to do a rewatch of 24, I am enjoying Designated Survivor. But in my mind it’ll always be a prequel to 24.

4. LETHAL WEAPON

Out of all the shows I was looking forward to, Lethal Weapon was the one I was most worried about. I still remember that terrible Rush Hour show. Luckily, this has Damon Wayans in it so I wasn’t too worried about it. If you enjoy the movies and like the buddy cop genre like I do, you’ll like this. It’s not as serious as the first two movies but it’s not as goofy as the third and fourth movies either. I think it strikes a good balance.

The one part I was curious about was Riggs. Despite how crazy Mel Gibson is now, Clayne Crawford had some big shoes to fill. But fill them he does. However, I think the most important thing they had to get right was the chemistry between the two leads. They nailed that too. I hope this show last a decent amount of time because despite all the cop shows on TV, there’s nothing on like this.

3. THE EXORCIST

Now while Lethal Weapon was a surprise of the season, the biggest surprise goes to The Exorcist. I wasn’t expecting much from this. I didn’t know if it was a remake or sequel, but as the weeks went on, I heard nothing but good things about it. So I decided to catch up on it and it’s surprisingly good!

Aside from the shitty CGI sequences that tend to briefly happen once an episode, this show is creepy on all fronts. The acting is good and the mystery is intriguing. It also expounds on the original The Exorcist in a good way unlike the crappy, forgettable sequels. The only downside is that I can’t see this lasting more than one season. Anything else and it’d basically be Supernatural. Granted, it’d be Supernatural in the good years when demons were scary, but I already watched that show, and I watch Teen Wolf so I don’t need another show like those.

Much like Revenge and Sleepy Hollow, this is probably best done as a one and done. I believe those used to be called mini-series.

2. THE GOOD PLACE

While both The Exorcist and Lethal Weapon surprised me, at least I had heard of those shows. I didn’t hear anything about The Good Place and I had no idea what it was about. I caught a commercial one day and decided to give a go. You know, because I don’t have enough shows to watch, and I do like Veronica Mars.

The Good Place is where you go after you die, if you’re good. However, Kristin Bell’s character is there by a mistake. It’s surprisingly funny and somewhat insightful. It also has the most diverse cast on television. After watching some of Kristin Bell’s bad movies, I had forgotten that I enjoy her on the small screen. She’s better too. Maybe she’s just one of those actors that should stick to TV and not movies…or get better scripts. Who knows? However, the shine of this show is Janet and even Ted Danson. If I ever ask my electronic device for things, I’m naming it Janet!

1. WESTWORLD

The months prior, I had heard of Westworld and the excitement nerds had for it. However, I still didn’t know what exactly Westworld was about until maybe a week before it aired. And while I read what it was about, I thought the premise was rather lame in that we’ve been there and done that before. Still, I gave it a shot.

In the simplest terms, Westworld has to do with the beginnings of artificial intelligence and questions our own humanity. It also feels like a video game or a more mature Holodeck episode as people live out their fantasies usually in violent, graphic, brutal and sexual ways. The acting, the writing, and the set design is top notch though. I think that’s what brings me in more than anything. And I do like the questions it brings up even if I had heard of it before. If there’s one weakness, I want to know if there are more theme parks with different time periods, and if not, why did they settle on the Old West?

Those are my top new shows of this season. Are there any I’ve missed and you would recommend?

Marc Johnson

5 Lessons Learned from My First Table

Recently, I attended Convolution. While I’ve been to many conventions before, it was the first convention that I ever had a table at. It was an interesting experience. Convolution was a small convention as there were only around 700-800 people. But it was big enough for this noob!

1. Bring a Friend

I had an inkling of how boring being at a table would be. After all, I’ve been to a ton of conventions and I’ve seen that bored expression across countless faces as I’ve walked pass tables. There’s a reason why those people are like dogs when you actually pay attention to them. While I enjoyed talking to the people that came by my table, there were long waits of nothing. It was understandable. People go to a convention to meet their friends, take workshops, visit panels, take pictures and so on. They don’t go to talk to one, lonely author that no one’s ever heard of.

Now, I was supposed to be at a table with my friend. Sadly, his book wasn’t out yet so he didn’t end up going. Much shame on you, Jon! If I had a friend, I could have maybe experienced a panel or two, or at the very least, stretch my legs. It was like trying to stay awake in class while waiting for people to come to my table. At a small convention, being by myself was all right. I’m curious as to what larger conventions will be like. I hope to one day find out.

2. Have Signs

I got asked a lot of questions, usually pertaining to what my books were about. Now, while I’m horrible at my elevator pitch, the one thing people didn’t have to ask was how much my books were.

My friend made excellent signs that people could see from 10+ feet away. People need to see the books multiple times before they decide whether or not they want to buy it. But if they know the price, they can mull things over. I also had a sign that gave people a deal if they bought all three books. Having the price also weeded out the people. Those that came up to my table were far more interested than those that would have come and asked what the price was. It made the sale much easier.

3. Bring Goodies

Sure, I brought the standard bookmarks. But I also brought candy. It was a monster themed convention and Halloween was coming up soon. Lastly, I brought the one of a kind card from a fun game, Boss Monster that I Kickstartered. People seemed to enjoy them especially the kids. People love free stuff. Once they looked at their free swag, they might even go online and buy your work then.

4. Bring Change…But Not Too Much

Since I no longer bank at Wells Fargo, I had a friend go to the bank for me and bring me back $100 worth of fives. Turns out, I didn’t need that many. More people bought the first three books, which I sold for $40. That I expected. However, I also expected people just picking up the first book, Catalyst, which was $15. Oddly enough, I think all of the people that bought just CAT paid for it by credit card and most of the people that bought the set paid cash. Go figure.

5. Lower Your Expectations and Stay the Entire Time

I sat near another author in my time at the con. Unfortunately, our tables weren’t exactly close enough to chit chat. That was probably because our tables were right outside the vendor’s room. The author and her husband had a really nice table with plenty of books, good covers, and awesome banners. They were nice enough people too and were far better with a sales pitch than I was.

Yet despite all that, they seemed disheartened. They and packed up and left early for a couple of days while I stayed the entire time. I’m not sure what they expected and if they’ve gone to other conventions before. With the way their tables were, I feel like they were pros. So they may have had comparisons from those cons and it may have been a let down for them. They might not have sold as many because people may have already seen them and bought their books because there’s overlap.

I feel like I may have sold more books and that more people stopped at my table. I’m just glad I made enough money to cover my trip to Vegas the following weekend. But that’s not the point. I honestly, had no idea what to expect. Yes, I wanted to sell books, and even network, but even if I didn’t, I felt like the experience would have been worth it. I mean, I’ve always been good at selling things. It’s more to do with connecting with people and being friendly, then it is about your sales pitch or price.

I’m sure that one day I’ll return to Convolution. Not next year though. It moved and I want to try something different. I’m thinking Fogcon or maybe even Baycon. I’d love to be on a panel as I think I’d be entertaining enough, or even have a table at a bigger con where I’d have to fly out. Now that would be something.

We’ll see what 2017 has in store for me…aside from releasing a new book, of course.

Marc Johnson

What Once Was One Is Now Available As An Audiobook

I took a bit longer than I thought, but What Once Was One is now an audiobook! I believe my narrator stepped up his game and did an even better job on this one than Catalyst. So please support this so that I’ll be able to release Reawakening.

Pick it up at Audible, Amazon, or iTunes.

Evolving

Recently, I’ve been listening to Dr. Dre’s latest album, Compton. Now, I know it came out last year but I didn’t like it when I first heard it. It was only until this year that I recognized it for what it is–a great album. It also introduced me to Anderson Paak. When I finally started reading reviews of what other people thought of it, there was a surprisingly amount of people that didn’t like it. And that got me thinking.

I’m currently reading the second volume of Brawl in the Family, which I backed on Kickstarter. I didn’t like the first volume but I loved the webcomic enough to back the hardcover collection. People this past year loved Jurassic World and Star Wars: The Force Awakens although I’m not entirely sure why. Believe it or not, I am going somewhere with this.

Humans are weird. We’ll want more of the same when it comes to our favorite artist, book, movie, comic, etc. Now when they do the exact same thing, we’ll be disappointed as we’ll be like, “They really couldn’t come up with something different?” Yet when they do try something different, we’ll chastise them for it. As Hollywood has recently realized there’s also a middle ground like Jurassic World and The Force Awakens where it’s different but the same.

I think, as an artist, myself. That we grow and evolve. We don’t want to do the same thing over and over. It disappoints me when I see artist do that such as Stephen King, JK Rowling, Orson Scott Card. Those are mega successful people yet even they feel the need to do what they’ve already done. Of course, sometimes when we try something different, people don’t like it. That hurts too. While my Passage of Hellsfire series sells more than my short stories or novella, I feel more excitement when one of those sell over my fantasy series. Might be because those sales are rare.

You may or may not know this, but I’m a huge fan of Kanye West. Well, what he’s done in music. Listening to his albums, he’s done something different every time. He didn’t do it because he was pressured into it. He changed as a person and his tastes and interests did too. He wanted to experiment. I personally may not have liked everything he’s done but I do respect him for trying it and not being forced into it.

I can’t tell if it’s easier or harder if you release something sooner rather than later. Dr. Dre’s albums were each 7 or more years apart. Kanye’s albums were sooner than that. If you release something sooner and gradually change, the people won’t notice. If you change abruptly years later, they’ll definitely notice.

What do people expect from Dre? He’s a billionaire(?) now. He’s older, wiser, rich, famous, his kids are grown, lives in a different age, people he grew up with are dead, etc. He’s not going to rap about the same things now that he did then. His sound isn’t even going to be the same. I think, for the most part, that’s a good thing.

We became artists because we had something on our minds, souls, and hearts that we had to set free. We don’t want to be confined nor do we want to conform. We want to do our own thing. I enjoy reading/listening/watching an artist not only evolve but get better. Listening to the Chronic now is a little tough because my mindset is different and even back then I wasn’t about that life. Reading the first Brawl in the Family was also very hard, but I loved seeing where he started from and how great he got.

The things we grew up loving change. Sometimes, it’s not for the better, but I believe that most of the time it is. And we ourselves change. The core of us may be the same, but our likes and dislikes, our maturity, our interests, it all changes. We change because of our experiences, because of things we’ve done or not done–of things we wish we could take back. I don’t know if it makes us a better person, but it does make us a different person. And we have to keep on growing, otherwise we’ll be stuck in the same place.

Marc Johnson

My First Appearance

On September 30th to October 2nd, I will have my first appearance at Convolution. Now it’s just a table, no panels or anything else for me…yet. If you’re in the area, please drop on by. Not sure if I’ll go to it again as a vendor or try a different con in the Bay Area. I’ll see how it goes. I’m not entirely sure what to expect. I must warn you, I’m not a morning person, but I do make for great conversations and interviews with my nonsense. They’ll also be free swag and I’m always up for a little gaming afterwards.

My Top 5 Star Trek Voyager Episodes

Those of you that know me or follow me, know that I’m a bit of a Trekkie. What you may, or may not know, is that I’m not the biggest fan of Star Trek Voyager. In fact, subjectively or objectively, it’s the worst Star Trek show. The chemistry between the characters and the majority of characters themselves are flat. There some interesting plots but by the end of the episode, it was basically just a dream as things get reset. The ship ends up stronger and more powerful by the end of the series for being alone in a hostile part of the galaxy.

Yet despite all that, it amazes me is how much people love it. I don’t know what they see in it. For some reason, the best Star Trek show, Deep Space Nine, gets very little love, but VOY gets a ton.

Recently, I’ve been randomly watching Star Trek episodes, and this includes VOY. Netflix, if you’re listening, you’ve got to put a random feature for your TV shows. Come on now. I would watch The Twilight Zone, Star Trek, and Friends for years.

Anyways, that got me thinking to what my favorite VOY episodes are. To be honest, it was kinda easy to narrow down as most of the show was crap. However, what surprised me was that most of the episodes are pre-season 4 when VOY “got gud.” Non surprisingly, none of them reset when it’s all over.

5. MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

This episode involves The Doctor being transmitted to the Alpha Quadrant on an experimental Federation ship, taken over by Romulans! He, along with fellow Emergency Medical Hologram, Andy Dick, must save the crew and the ship from the Romulans.

Now, I’m not a fan of Andy Dick, but he was excellent in here. The Doctor was by far, the best thing about VOY. Any episode featuring him is usually good. Even that terrible holodeck episode dealing with Beowolf. Yet, what I love here was interaction between the Doctor and Andy Dick. We’ve watched the Doctor grow beyond his programming over the years. Andy Dick has not so everything is new to him. Plus, he’s the more recent, “better” version of the EMH so there’s a smugness to him.

We also got to see some old the classic villains of Star Trek in the Romulans. The episode makes it feel as if VOY is in the Star Trek universe instead of on some side of the galaxy no one cares about. And did I mention there was a kick ass ship in the Prometheus that splits into three!

4. DISTANT ORIGIN

Who doesn’t love dinosaurs? You would think that with millions of years that at least one species of dinosaurs would have been evolved enough to leave Earth. Well, according to “Distant Origin” there was one.

One of the many downsides of VOY is that because of it’s premise, it always felt disconnected from the rest of the ST universe. Not only that but it never really added anything on its own. This episode added a lot. It told the origin of a species of dinosaur and what happened to them. The Voth were one of the strongest aliens VOY ever accounted. With the exception of the Borg, the Delta Quadrant always felt like a ghetto. Everything was just so technologically weak. Maybe that’s why it was easy to assimilate everything.

VOY always managed to get out of every situation due to…well, them being awesome, I guess. Yet here was an enemy that they couldn’t get out of and if they didn’t capitulate, they were going to lose their ship and be thrown in prison. And the dinosaurs weren’t even enemies per say. They had their own issues to deal with and really didn’t care about VOY one little bit. It’s just that they were a huge road block that VOY couldn’t get around or move.

It’s a shame there wasn’t a follow up episode to it. Star Trek Online does a decent job at it, and while that’s a good video game, it’s just not the same.

3. DEATH WISH

Ah, Q. One of the best things to come out of The Next Generation. While Q is a trickster, there are a few of his episodes that are more philosophical like “Tapestry” and “All Good Things.” “Death Wish” is one of those. Another Q, named Quinn, wants to die. Why would an omnipotent being want to die? Now Q, oddly enough, represents those in the Q Continuum that don’t want him to die. Voyager plays the part of arbiter in this courtroom drama.

It’s a very well, thought provoking episode. Plus, it raises a few questions about the Q and their place in the universe. It’s also the first time we glimpse the Q Continuum. It’s a shame, there were more Q episodes in VOY that were all terrible as this one was almost perfect.

2. THE THAW

When I was a kid, Freddy Kruger used to scare the shit out of me. However, because of him and the A Nightmare on Elm Street movies, I learned to control my dreams, my emotions, and my fear. “The Thaw” has a bunch of aliens dealing with their own Freddy Kruger and Ensign Harry Kim gets to experience it first hand.

Like all the good ST episodes, it asks some thought provoking questions, plus Fear is played by the wonderful Michael McKean. The Doctor also gets a rare chance to shine because pre mobile emitter, he didn’t have much to do. What’s weird is that the aliens who were responsible for everything, kind of play second fiddle. I can barely remember they’re even there. Which is the complete opposite of The Voth in “Distant Origin.”

In the fantasy world, things may be a little silly with the circus performers, but as everyone knows, clowns are scary.

See?

1. CONCERNING FLIGHT

Some of my favorite ST episodes are basically “dumb” episodes. Whether they’re playing baseball, learning to dance, going to Risa, or whatever the case may be, I enjoy them. Not everything needs to be life or death or full of drama. Sometimes things can just be fun.

In this episode, Janeway’s hologram, Leonardo Da Vinci, is somehow kidnapped off the ship, along with a bunch of other Federation technology. The captain and Da Vinci must get it back as they explore the New World!

John Rhys Davies is one of my favorite actors. He will always be known to me as The Professor. The Professor shines here and I love the interplay between him and Janeway as they explore the New World. CATALINA! I wish he was on for more than two episodes. Sadly, he wasn’t. Instead, they had one of Tom Paris’s terrible holoprograms always running. The Professor basically played the fresh character with no experience, but because he was Da Vinci, he was a genius and looked through things with those eyes. Even if he was a few centuries late.

Those are my top five Voyager episodes. It felt good to rewatch them again as I don’t plan to rewatch the entire series anytime soon. What are your favorite VOY episodes and what do you feel I’m missing?

Marc Johnson

From Books into the Screen: Five Adaptations

Adaptations are all the rage today especially on TV. What surprises me is what they’re adapting. I’ve been a geek for pretty much all my life, but it’s only until very recently where being a geek has become a good thing. I’m used to adaptations of classic books that I had to study in school, people that have transcended pop culture like Stephen King, and so forth. Yet in all that time, did they rarely adapt anything in my “geek culture.” And when they did it was usually crap.

But that was then, and this is now.

I’m here to talk about five shows that have been adapted from that geeky world and thrust into the mainstream one. I’d list it as my Top 5, but honestly, I don’t like some of them.

5. THE WALKING DEAD

If you’ve been a reader of this blog for any length of time, or a follower of mine, you’d know that I love horror and I love comics. And I had been reading The Walking Dead for a couple of years when it came out. At first, I thought this was a good adaptation. It captured the feeling of the comic and a good horror movie. However, as the seasons went by it got worse. Coincidentally, I stopped reading the comics because it kept having the same problems, mainly in being repetitive. This Gutters strip sums it up nicely.

I didn’t even mind the changes they made or the new characters they introduced like Daryl. One of the show’s strengths is that it does a far more better job at capturing the feel of a horror movie. Plus, you get some excellent acting from time to time. Yet the show is starting to fall into the same traps as the comics. Luckily, unlike the comic, the show will have an ending in mind.

4. IZOMBIE

Whereas The Walking Dead was a mostly faithful adaptation of the comic, iZombie had very little to do with the comic. Might have been why I quit watching it after only two episodes.

iZombie is yet another police procedural, but this time the main character eats brains to survive. Not only that, but when she does, she gets their memories and abilities!

The comic was about a zombie who gains the memories of the brains she eats. But she also had a ghost for a best friend, a gay werewolf friend, there were vampires and an organization who hunted monsters. I have no idea how they turned all of that into what’s on TV. In fact, the comic was more akin to another of CW’s shows, Supernatural. I would love for Supernatural to end and have iZombie take its place. None of that is happening.

3. LUCIFER

Speaking of police procedurals, there’s Lucifer. Now much like iZombie, Lucifer is nothing like the comic. Yet unlike iZombie, I thoroughly enjoy Lucifer. The main lead is really charming and he carries the show. That and I love the interaction between him and Trixie.

Why does this show not bother me as some of the others despite being a HUGE departure from the source material? I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’ve seen so many different interpretations of Lucifer that one more doesn’t bother me? Or maybe I just realized that I’m in for a fun ride.

2. PREACHER

This show probably angers me the most out of all of them. That might have to do with the fact that I’m a big Preacher fan, but I also think it’s because it half asses it. It’s one of those things that kind of feels like the source material as most of the characters look the same, but it’s hollow as they don’t act or feel the same.

I can get behind an adaptation that has the same spirit of the source material but do things differently and in it’s own way. Like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory vs. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But everything about this show feels so wrong. Tulip’s a murdering psycho, Jesse’s a “bad man,” and Cassidy…well, he’s almost the same but for some reason he can fight and doesn’t wear his sunglasses all the time. Plus, everyone is in Annville. It’s like one of those sitcoms where everyone knows each other but that doesn’t happen until years later. Here, it happens in episode one. I quit after episode two, but I’m pretty sure both Starr and Gran’ma live there too.

Makes me wonder what the hell Seth Rogen was smoking when he read Preacher because he sure didn’t take away the same things I did.

1. A GAME OF THRONES

This is an interesting one especially since season six just wrapped up. It’s probably closer to The Walking Dead in that it has some things from the source material but then also strays from it.

This last season has been excellent unlike the crappy season five. I think it has to do with the fact that it’s no longer bound by the books and can go at a much faster pace with complete television arcs. I’m sure I will read the books…whenever they come out, but I kind of don’t want to. I know they won’t be as good. The show has done a much better job at giving me characters I actually care about, whereas in the books I only cared about a handful and only three of them are left.

There are a few things the books will do better. Arya’s training, actually having direwolves, Lady Stoneheart…and I think that’s it. The show has made me care about Jorah, actually know the Red Viper, and has made me hate Ramsey Snow.

I honestly think one of two things will happen. The most likely thing is George RR Martin will die before completing his works and someone else will finish it. Though they might not need to with the show. The second thing is I see GRRM changing things to actually fit with the show. Whether he’ll admit that is another thing.

Those are the adaptations I’ve watched within the last year. Are there any I’ve missed or who’s source material is vastly superior/inferior to what they showed on screen?

Marc Johnson