Science Fiction inside the Star Trek universe

[Moviefan2k4]

I remember from 1989 to 1994, there was a short-lived parody book series based on the franchise as a whole, humorously titled Star Wreck. Here's some of the character breakdowns...

• Captain James T. Smirk, the elder statesman of Starfreak Command.
• Captain Jean-Lucy Ricardo, leading officer of the Starship Endocrine.
• Mr. Smock, the crew's resident scientist who discovers that life-giving substance -- yogurt!
• Counselor Dee Troit, object of Captain Smirk's advances.
• Westerley Flusher, child prodigy and cosmic Twinkie addict.

• Commander Bungeeman Crisco, Dodo, Major Vera Obese, Lieutenant Jazzy Fax, & Dr. Julio Brassiere, all inhabitants of the space station Geek Space Nine.

 

[Tim Walker]

As I recall, a Star Freak ship not only had a saucer section, but also a cup section.

 

[somebuddyX]

I made a crap version of that back in the day. I need to remake it proper sometime.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

What about the teaspoon, or the tea bag?

 

[Tim Walker]

In the imagination, I think the Large Magellanic Cloud would come to have a role similar to what Mars had. The focus of dreams....

 

[Ogrebear]

Given the Eugenics Wars happened in the 90’s and about the time the comics bubble burst it is possible comics died there- Marvel bankrupt, DC in trouble etc and a hostile public against anything with ‘enhanced Humans’.

Marvel’s remains are brought by someone for the IP (Paramount?) but like DC the book lines are shuttered and IP’s say on. Some inde stuff like Dark Horse’s fantasy lines might stumble on for a bit, but with the rebuilding and the rise of the Interweb(?) seen in DS9 then the genre dies in the 2000’s.

Post WW3 and the rebuilding there might be attempts to revive superhero comics- probably as ‘street level’ characters and as digital medium only, but given daily encounters with space wonders, streaming media etc it does not really take off.

Eventually comics are. historical relics with many books lost. The stuff that remains becomes exceptionally collectible, particularly among alien visitors to Earth digging into the culture.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

It’s really confusing having @Timewalker and @Tim Walker in one thread.

 

[Timewalker]

It’s really confusing having @Timewalker and @Tim Walker in one thread.

Yep. I was here first, though, by quite a few years. Someone actually made a snide, unfounded crack that he and I were the same person and I was trying to get away with a dual account.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

Yep. I was here first, though, by quite a few years. Someone actually made a snide, unfounded crack that he and I were the same person and I was trying to get away with a dual account.

Apologies. That was not my intention.

Just an observation.

 

[Timewalker]

Apologies. That was not my intention.

Just an observation.

No offense taken. I agree that it could be confusing to have people with such similar usernames in the same conversation. You've never given me any static about it, so we're fine.

 

[Laura Cynthia Chambers]

I expect historical (by their standards) sci-fi would fill in the gaps left behind. So whatever comes after steampunk (fusepunk? telepunk?) - basically people doing the same things, only with lower tech than they would use. Superheroes getting their powers by being electrocuted by a power line, or a weird reaction to penicillin, or accidentally downloading video game files into their pacemaker, etc.

 

[Nerys Myk]

Given the Eugenics Wars happened in the 90’s and about the time the comics bubble burst it is possible comics died there- Marvel bankrupt, DC in trouble etc and a hostile public against anything with ‘enhanced Humans’.

Marvel’s remains are brought by someone for the IP (Paramount?) but like DC the book lines are shuttered and IP’s say on. Some inde stuff like Dark Horse’s fantasy lines might stumble on for a bit, but with the rebuilding and the rise of the Interweb(?) seen in DS9 then the genre dies in the 2000’s.

Post WW3 and the rebuilding there might be attempts to revive superhero comics- probably as ‘street level’ characters and as digital medium only, but given daily encounters with space wonders, streaming media etc it does not really take off.

Eventually comics are. historical relics with many books lost. The stuff that remains becomes exceptionally collectible, particularly among alien visitors to Earth digging into the culture.

I don’t see why. Khan’s brand of “Superman” is a different thing than what was published in comic books. The Augments didn’t get the ability to run at supersonic speed, breathe underwater or read minds. Captain America and similar characters are the closest superheroes come to the Khan style supermen. And they’re on the weaker side of the superhero spectrum.

 

[Sgt_G]

In one of my fictions, a character mentioned recently watching an antique movie ... unnamed but obviously a reference to A New Hope.

In another story, a character loves reading ancient comic books / graphical novels. She created her "Batgirl belt" that she used while fighting pirates.

 

[at Quark's]

Yep. I was here first, though, by quite a few years. Someone actually made a snide, unfounded crack that he and I were the same person and I was trying to get away with a dual account.

If I were trying to get away with a dual account, I certainly wouldn't take two user names that so strongly resemble one another.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

I don’t see why. Khan’s brand of “Superman” is a different thing than what was published in comic books. The Augments didn’t get the ability to run at supersonic speed, breathe underwater or read minds. Captain America and similar characters are the closest superheroes come to the Khan style supermen. And they’re on the weaker side of the superhero spectrum.

Same thought.

People weren’t burning issues of Spider-Man back when they were protesting against the creation of Dolly the Sheep.

The whole idea that superhero fiction would disappear because of an unrelated, entirely dissimilar real world thing doesn’t make a lick of sense.

 

[Darth Thanos]

It happened in Watchmen

 

[somebuddyX]

Dolly the Sheep didn't rule over one quarter of the Earth. Well, at least as far as I am aware.
I don't think comics would go away but I could definitely see the Eugenics Wars making things taboo, even if for just a bit. 9/11 made huge changes to films, TV, songs airplay and I feel like that would be comparatively small to what Khan ended up doing.

 

[Nerys Myk]

It happened in Watchmen

No. IIRC, the conceit in Watchmen was the superhero genre didn’t take off because superheroes were a real thing. I don't recall people in Watchmen protesting against superhero comics. Also in the real world, comic book superheroes were a reaction to the rise "supermen" in places like Nazi Germany. "Space Seed" its self draws from WII. Khan and his cohorts taking control in various countries is a parallel to Hitler, Mussolini and Franco's rise. If anything, Moore was probably wrong about people rejecting fictional superheroes, if real ones showed up. In Trek, I think the response to the supermen would be like in WWII, creating fictional ones to fight them.

Also in the real world, superhero comic came close to dying off following WWII. People's interest waned for various reasons. The kids aged out. The soldiers came home. The rise of television. Fredrick Wertham. Congress. Other genres became popular with the targeted age group. All-Star Comics went from the Justice Society to Westerns. Captain America Comics turned into a horror book. Other books shifted to funny animals or romance. It would take a decade for the pendulum to swing back to superheroes.

 

[Richard S. Ta]

It happened in Watchmen

As Nerys said, no.

In Watchmen it’s a superhero/superhero situation.

When it comes to augments, it’s not the same at all.

I cannot imagine an entire subgenre of fiction would be removed from global culture, due to similarities which are at best tangential.

 

[Darth Thanos]

Actually, yes. It's in the supplemental material seen at the end of each issue for further worldbuilding. The autobiography of Nite Owl, "Under the Hood", explains it in issue 1. The golden age of superheroes did exist, and its later decline existed as well. In the real world, superheroes returned in the Silver Age (with DC making new and updated versions of their old superheroes, and Marvel Comics introducing the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, and all their new characters), and stayed being published from then on. In the world of Watchmen, with superheroes being an actual thing the Silver Age never got started, and the comic book industry stayed focused on other genres, such as pirates. Here's a reference to it, there are others at other points.