Buck Rogers and Doctor Who--Contrasting Sci-Fi Heroes

Last Saturday two great sci-fi icons and figures from my past appeared on TV. Turner Classic Movies began running episodes from the 1938 Republic serial Buck Rogers. (They usually show movie serials on Sat. mornings, which is when they were shown in the movie theatres back when my father was a kid.) Most people now know Buck Rogers as a 1980s TV series, but the comic strip and serial were first. That night BBC America had the American premiere of the new series of Doctor Who.

These series both star time-travelling heroes, both vastly different in terms of their problem-solving techniques, and were big parts of my childhood and adoloscence. Buck Rogers was a comic strip started in the late 1920s about a daring pilot trapped in suspended animation for 500 years to emerge in the 25th century. He bravely fights against Killer Kane, a futuristic gangster who has taken over the world, a sort of combination of Hitler and Al Capone. Local Philadelphia station Channel 17 used to run episodes on weekday afternoons with a kiddie TV host named Wee Willie Webber. I remember my uncle Jim in Boston had a big book of the original strips that fascinated me and my parents later bought me a copy for Christmas.

I first encountered Doctor Who, the long-running British sci-fi series about a Time Lord and his companions roaming the universe in a time-space machine disguised as a police box, when Phila. public TV station Channel 12 showed episodes starring Tom Baker, the fourth actor to play the role. The trick of the series was that Time Lords can regenerate themselves into an entirely new body so a new actor would take over the role when the previous one was tired of it. That way the show continued for several decades. My relationship with the Doctor continued into my move to NYC when I left college and became an adult. I actually joined a Doctor Who fan club called UNYT--named after the military branch of the British government the Doctor was allied with.

I even attended a Doctor Who convention in Valley Forge, PA, and met Doctor Who number 3 Jon Pertwee and several Doctor Who companions. I remember they showed episodes all day long. There was a Doctor Who event in Brooklyn College when I lived near there and I got Tom Baker and Colin Baker (Doctor number 6)'s autograph. My ultimate Doctor Who experience was at Infinicon, a weird convention held in NYC at the Institute of Ethical Culture that UNYT pariticipated in. I served as guest escort for George Takei,Sulu of Star Trek, and met Patrick Troughton (Doctor number 2) and Peter Davison (Doctor number 5).

The main difference in these two is Buck Rogers uses his daring and muscle to get out of a situation and the Doctor uses his mind. Both are infinitely brave. The Doctor thinks nothing of facing Daleks, Cybermen, Ice Warriors, or other invincible foes as does Buck Rogers, but the Doctor doesn't even have a raygun like Rogers, just a sonic screwdriver.

The new Doctor Who with Matt Smith is really gripping. So far we've seen two episodes and there is a weird story arc involving the Doctor's death and a little girl inside an Apollo astronaut suit. Amy Pond may be pregnant and her husband Rory doesn't know if his wife loves him or the Doctor, plus maybe we'll finally discover who Dr. River Song is--I think she's Amy's baby grown up from the future. Buck Rogers is up to episode four at TCM and not quite as exciting. Buck is trapped in the open country between Killer Kane's city and the Hidden City where the forces of freedom are keeping themselves. He is protecting Prince Tallen, an emisary from Saturn.

Third Time in Louisville

This is the third time I visited Louisville, Kentucky for the Humana Festival of New American Plays, and it’s the best one yet. Almost all of the plays are of high quality—I’ll be writing about them on the Back Stage website—and I reconnected with theatre professionals I’ve met before and made the acquaintance of new ones. Since I have been to the city twice before, I didn’t feel compelled to rush around and see everything. I did let my curiosity get the better of me and went out of my way once or twice. On the first night, guests were given a welcome reception at the home of one of the trustees. On the bus to the party, we went through Bardstown Road, one of those trendy little neighborhoods all cities seem to have. You know, the kind that have cute little shops selling used books and CDs and nowadays DVDs, etc. The first year I was here, I foolishly walked all the way from the downtown area to Bardstown which had to be at least five miles. (It looked much closer on the map.) Anyway, this time the bus is driving down Bardstown Road, and out of the corner of my eye, I see the Incredible Hulk and Wolverine adorning a storefront, with the sign outside reading “COMIC BOOKS ARE A GOOD SOURCE OF FIBER! HONEST!”

Immediately, I think I’ve got to come back here. I somehow missed this comic book store the last time I was here. In fact, Louisville did not rank high on the comic-book index (outside of NYC, I’d give Chicago and Philly high marks). Anyhoo, the only time I had to take the cab ride to the Bardstown area was the next morning—Friday. The rest of the time was eaten up with going to Humana plays. So I find a cab the next morning and located the store I had seen the night before. It was called Roll of the Die—since it also sold gaming stuff. Once again, cool title, so-so merchandise. Like too many comic places these days, they only had Bronze Age books and later. And that was overpriced. They did have a replica of the captain’s chair from Star Trek. I should have sat in it and asked for a picture—and here’s the reason for that:

In Roll of the Die, there were flyers advertising the Louisville Science Center’s hosting of the traveling Star Trek Exhibition, and it was just a few blocks from the theatre. How could I resist? (There was another place that sold comics in the area of Roll of the Die, but it was just too far away to walk and get back to the festival in time for my next curtain.)

The next available opening was Sat. after 6. Fortunately, the center was open till 9. So I went hoping to take some photos, but it turns out that was not allowed—copyrights of something. You could get your picture taken on the authentic captain’s chair and have it Photoshopped onto a replica of the bridge and also have yourself Photoshopped on the transporter platform, but they wanted $21 for a DVD of the photos and the same price for prints. It would have been fun to dress up this blog with the photo. But it ain’t worth a double sawbuck. So for the tens of you reading this, just look at my Facebook photo and imagine me sitting where William Shatner’s ass was. There were original props, costumes, histories of the Romulans, Vulcans, Klingons, etc., even a timeline for the entire history of the Star Trek future. But it was out of order! It went from left to right, going from the 24th century back to present, but the new Star Trek movie (2010) which take places right after the 20th century was at the beginning and should have been near the end. It was sorta fun and I’m glad I went. It reminded me of all the sci-fi conventions I used to go which were different from the comic conventions I go to now. I went to the sci-fi shows to meet the actors from Star Trek, Doctor Who, Blake’s Seven, etc. Now I just go for the comic books. If there are celebs at the current conventions, you are charged extra just for an autograph or taking their picture.

Then I returned to the theatre where they presented the Steinberg Award for the best new American play presented outside of NYC in the past year. The award is presented by the American Theatre Critics Association and I was on the committee of critics across the country to choose the winner and the two runners-up which receive each a citation. We read about 30 scripts and exchanged our views on them via email. The president of ATCA, Chris Rawson from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, introduced us from the audience, so that was gratifying. One of the winning playwrights, David Bar Katz, wrote a play about the creation of Superman called The History of Invulnerability, and we talked about comic books and my Jack Kirby collection. I also met people from Dayton, Ohio (a reporter who told me her son makes a living entering video contests on the Internet which he always wins—which is worth repeating), and Washington, DC (the theatre dept. head from the NEA), several playwrights, actors (Small World Dept.: it turns out one knew my college acting teacher), and directors. It’s always exciting to go to Humana because the audiences are all theatre people and you feel like you’re part of a big national community.

Scenes from an Amateur Comic Book Collector's Life (6)--Big Apple Comic Con

I am one sick ticket. I spent Saturday at the Big Apple Comic Con which has recently been bought by Wizard Entertainment and moved from the Pennyslvania Hotel (or whatever it's called now) on 34 th Street all the way down to the ass-end of the West Side on Pier 94 at 12th Avenue. I had a lot of fun. Previously the Big Apple cons were crowded into this one floor at the hotel with dealers and a few second-tier celebs selling their autographs (Bill Daly, Larry Storch, Mason Reese, etc.) Now the event has exploded with panels, talks, video game demonstrations, and literally dozens of celebs. It still doesn't approach the big Comic Con at the Javits Center or the Star Trek conventions I used to go to all the time, but it's a definite step up. (the pix are of two convetion-goers--the Golden Age Green Lantern I've seen before at Comic-Con. The blue alien is from a Star trek Episode. I said to her as she was eating, "Are you a Tellerite?" "No, an Andorian" Both species were on the episode Tower of Babel. Side note: my friend Lydia gave me some Star Trek episodes she got a garage sale. This episode was not on them, but it did have Court-Martial, one of the best ones. Thanks Lydia. Lots of other costumed conventioneers, but not as many as one would see at comic-con)

The day started with two Q&A sessions with Star Trek people: Kate Mulgrew and Brent Spiner. Both were funny and glad to meet their fans. I told Spiner I thought he was fantastic as John Adams in 1776 at the Roundabout a few seasons back.

Then I hit the comic dealers and went bat-shit crazy, buying 41 old comics. Actually that's not so bad. I didn't spend more than $5 for any one book and some I got for as low as $1.

Here's the haul: 2001: A Space Odyssey #7 (Jack Kirby art)

Action #380 (Superman and a really good Legion of Super-Heroes feature)

Adventure #392 (Supergirl)

Atom #9

Blackhawk #237

Capt. Johner and the Aliens No. 1 (formerly a second feature with Magnus Robot Fighter)

Detective #292 (coverless)

House of Mystery #160

Jimmy Olsen #48, 51, 73, 96, 101, 117

Journey Into Mystery #116 (Kirby)--with the Mighty Thor before he became the mag's title character

Legion of Superheroes 273

Lois Lane #25, 35, 46, 62, 80. (#62 looks like a real winner with Lois and Superman running against each other for senator, just like that time Greg and Marcia ran against each other for student body president.)

Magnus Robot Fighter 6 (the earliest one I've ever found)

Metal Men, 17, 25, 27

Strange Adventures 131, 151, 152, 231 (the last is a 64-page giant. I wasn't sure if I had it, but I didn't)

Superboy 121

Superman 171, 177 plus Superman Annual 4

Superman Family 176

Thor 138, 140, 153, 171 (all by Kirby)

World's Finest 163, 185

In between buying binges, I visited the autograph area were celebs were selling their autographs and photos. I didn't buy any (at $20 a throw), but it was fun to see Mickey Dolenz (my sister's favorite Monkee), Nichelle Nichols, David Hedison (Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, the handsomest man on TV in the 60s, now totally white-haired and still handsome), Bruce Weitz (Hill Street Blues, who I once interviewed for Theater Week magazine), Carol Cleveland of Monty Python, and of course Julie Newmar, the original Catwoman. I was standing by her booth and said hello. I said "You know I was looking at Youtube and you can find the What's My Line episode where you were the Mystery Guest. That was when you were in The Marriage Go Round on Broadway." She smiled and said "Thank you." Another surprise--Pete Rose was selling his signature too, but for a lot for than Julie Newmar or Todd Bridges.

The whole day was like going into a tunnel and escaping reality, emerging in this alternate universe were the DC and Marvel worlds, Star Trek and Star Wars were all real. Well, back to reality--or reality TV anyway. In future blogs, I'll deconstruct the comics I bought.

Riding the Subway with Mr. Sulu

Friday morning I was riding the subway to work and George Takei, Mr. Sulu from the original Star Trek series got on at 42nd Street. I wasn't sure if it was him since he was wearing dark glasses, but as soon as he started talking to the man with him--I assume it was his partner whom he married in California before the hateful Prop. 8 was passed--I recognized his voice.

"We need to get off at 8th Street--NYU," he said. That was my stop. I figured I would say something to him when we all left the train so he wouldn't have to deal with all the people in the car who would recognize him.

I had a perfect reason to say hello other than just "I'm a big dorky Trekkie fan." About 23 years ago I was a volunteer guest escort--no, not that kind--at a sci-fi convention where Takei was a guest speaker. At the time I was a member of UNYT—The New York-based Doctor Who fan club. Yes, I admit it, God help me. I forget what the initials stood for, but it was a variation on UNIT, the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce that dealt with extraterrestrial stuff in the Doctor Who series. Anyway, the group was involved with organizing this event which took place at the Ethical Cultural Society on the Upper West Side. Also in attendance were the second Doctor Who (Patrick Troughton) and the fifth Doctor Who (Peter Davison) and some British horror movie queen named Caroline Munro.

I wound up serving as George’s guest escort when a friend of mine who was coordinating speaker relations grabbed me at the convention—it was called Infinicon—and told me Sulu’s original guest escort failed to pick him up at the hotel. It turned out the guy overslept. What would I have to do?, I asked. Here’s his schedule, she said, all you have to do is take him from event to event. First he gives his talk and question and answer session, then he signs autographs for an hour, then take him to lunch, there’s a talent show tonight, then tomorrow a special luncheon for people who have paid extra. So I said okay. He was a lot of fun and it was great to be with him as people on the street recognized him.

I haven’t been to one of these things in a long time. Comic Con and the other comic-book conventions I’ve been to aren’t really the same thing; they are too big or they don’t concentrate on intimate interaction between stars of old sci-fi shows and the fans. I used to go all the time. During the course of my convention-going, I met or saw most of the crew of the original Enterprise, most of the Doctor Whos, several of his companions, Jonathan Harris (Dr. Smith from Lost in Space) and Judy from the same show, Joyce Randolph from the Honeymooners, Dawn Wells from Gilligan’s Island, some cast members from V and Blake’s Seven, Adam West (the original Batman from the 1960s series which was my favorite TV show), and Chewbacca from Star Wars.

It would be fun now to go to one, but these days the cons are either enormous media whore shows like Comic Con with little interaction or they are rinky-dink things with D-List people like wrestling stars or Mason Reese (the former commercial child star who looked like a tiny old man) or Larry Storch or Bill Daly from I Dream of Jeannie, The Bob Newhart Show, and Match Game sitting at tables and selling their autographs from $10.

When the train got to 8th Street, Takei and his partner were not making to get up. But I had to in order to make it to work. Should I tell him “I was listening in and heard you say you should get off at this stop”? Instead I just shook his hand and said “George, I just wanted to say hi. Twenty years ago, I was your guest escort at a convention.” He smiled and said “Is that right?” The doors were opening and I said “It’s nice to see you” and left. He was still on the train. There’s wasn’t time for me to say “I thought you wanted to get off here.” So I am guilty of making George Takei miss his stop, I guess he wasn’t a very good helmsman. Get it?