Lt. Gene Roddenberry in Roswell, Texas

[mmtz]

Ran across an interesting graphic novel with a Trek twist. Roswell, Texas by L. Neil Smith, Rex F. May, Scott Beiser, and Jen Zach was just published by Big Head Press.

March 5, 1836: Davy Crockett kills General Santa Anna with a single 600-yard rifle shot. The Alamo still falls to the Mexican Army, but Crockett escapes to join Sam Houston. The delay at the Alamo gives Houston time to prepare.

July 4, 1947: Lt. Gene Roddenberry, a young Texas Air Militia pilot, shoots down an unidentified flying disk near Roswell, western-most city in the Federated States of Texas. Agents from the United States, the California Republic, the Franco-Mexican Empire, and the Third-and-a-Half Reich all want to learn the flying disk's secrets.

Roddenberry is one of many familiar people in this alternate history tale. The book is printed in black & white, which is disappointing, but it turns out you can read the entire story, in color, online or just read a few of the pages featuring Lt. Roddenberry.

 

[JD]

I flipped through a little, and that's pretty funny. I only at the artwork on a few pages in the begging and the Roddenberry bit so I don't know if I know of any of the other characters.

 

[captcalhoun]

you never heard of Audie Murphy?!

 

[Therin of Andor]

Ran across an interesting graphic novel with a Trek twist. Roswell, Texas by L. Neil Smith, Rex F. May, Scott Beiser, and Jen Zach was just published by Big Head Press.

Looks great! I just ordered an as-new b/w book version, for a great price, from an Amazon second hand market seller, as Amazon itself is still awaiting stock.

 

[Christopher]

The problem, of course, is that Roddenberry didn't write "science fiction stories" prior to ST, certainly not in 1947. The whole sequence was very stilted and corny. If all the strip's celebrity historical-figure cameos are that awkward, then no thank you.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

In our world, that's true, Christopher. Roddenberry wasn't a science fiction writer in 1947.

However, the graphic novel presents an alternate history where Texas never became part of the United States. For that history, then, Roddenberry was a science fiction writer. *shrug*

It's L. Neil Smith, so I'll probably avoid. His libertarian alternate histories tend to be unrealistic.

 

[Therin of Andor]

The problem, of course, is that Roddenberry didn't write "science fiction stories" prior to ST, certainly not in 1947.

It's an alternate universe!

Ever seen the film "Roddenberry On Patrol", directed by Tim Russ? It does have Roddenberry being inspired about his future ST characters much later in life, while working as a cop, but it wasn't a perfect facsimile of his "real life" either.

 

[Christopher]

It's L. Neil Smith, so I'll probably avoid. His libertarian alternate histories tend to be unrealistic.

Hmm, yeah... from my brief sampling of the series a month or two ago, I did get sort of a libertarian vibe from it, which was part of why I lost interest.

By the way, people who are curious about the comic should be advised that it isn't entirely work-safe and has occasional nudity and adult content.

 

[mmtz]

By the way, people who are curious about the comic should be advised that it isn't entirely work-safe and has occasional nudity and adult content.

Thanks for pointing this out. I was going to make the same comment in my original post and forgot. By the way, the nudity in the b&w print version is almost unnoticeable given the gray-scale rendering of the characters.

It's been a long time since I read any of Smith's novels. All I remember is that everyone totes a gun. In today's newspaper there was an article about folks in Utah carrying handguns openly. Maybe it's time for me to apply for a permit. You never know what kind of trouble you might run into down at the local comic shop.

 

[Christopher]

^^Phasers on stun, Mr. Mmtz.

 

[captcalhoun]

the thing i couldn't fathom was why Roddenberry was flying for the FST when IIRC, he's from California which is depicted as being an independent republic...

but what i read of it was second-rate crap.

 

[JD]

Sounds like I didn't miss much when I just skimmed the pics.

 

[Therin of Andor]

the thing i couldn't fathom was why Roddenberry was flying for the FST

Because it's an alternate reality? As advertised.

 

[Christopher]

the thing i couldn't fathom was why Roddenberry was flying for the FST

Because it's an alternate reality? As advertised.

He means that within the context of the alternative reality, it's unexplained why a native of California (a separate nation within that reality) would be serving Texas. Just saying "it's an alternative reality" isn't a universal answer for everything. A story needs to be consistent within its own reality, regardless of how different that reality is from ours. (Which isn't to say that it's impossible that he could've immigrated to Texas for some reason -- simply that your response is not meaningful for this particular question.)

 

[Therin of Andor]

A story needs to be consistent within its own reality, regardless of how different that reality is from ours. (Which isn't to say that it's impossible that he could've immigrated to Texas for some reason -- simply that your response is not meaningful for this particular question.)

Well, I haven't read the whole story yet, but it seems weird to quibble about supposed inaccuracies in an alternate reality story. Of course any story needs to be consistent in its own reality, but it seems swift judgment to seemingly dismiss the whole thing. My responses may not be meaningful (are they ever?), but I also don't see that the question is that much of a problem, especially in this case when it's an alternate reality. Maybe the author intended to elaborate on the California/Texas thing, or maybe he wanted people to wonder about it?

Someone else complained that the author of this graphic novel likes his characters to always carry guns. Well, if that's his quirk, so be it. In this particular case, it's an alternative universe.

(I fear I've innocently/naively stumbled onto yet another of those debates where certain US citizens complain about a writer's hidden political agenda...) I just thought the GR scenes makes it a cool ST collectible, one I would have missed except for the sharp eyes of the diligent mmtz. I'm not really caring at the moment whether the graphic novel's author is politically left or right, or if GR comes from LA or Texas.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

I fear I've innocently/naively stumbled onto yet another of those debates where certain US citizens complain about a writer's hidden political agenda...

I wouldn't say that libertarianism is L. Neil Smith's "hidden agenda" -- he started the newsletter The Libertarian Enterprise, after all. His Probability Broach novels posit an alternate history where the Constitution failed and the United States was governed by the Articles of Confederation, which gave the federal government zero power. (I seem to recall that the history also turned on George Washington's execution as a traitor, but I could be mistaken.) It's pretty reactionary stuff. It's also patently stupid; I recall that one book involves an unorganized militia defeating the Soviet Union's military machine.

 

[Christopher]

It's also patently stupid; I recall that one book involves an unorganized militia defeating the Soviet Union's military machine.

Yeah, that only works with Ewoks...

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I liked Colonel Morrison.

 

[William Leisner]

the thing i couldn't fathom was why Roddenberry was flying for the FST when IIRC, he's from California which is depicted as being an independent republic...

According to Wikipedia, GR was born in El Paso, Texas.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gene_Roddenberry

 

[Trent Roman]

"Out in the old western town of El Paso
I fell in love with an Andorian girl.
Nighttime would find me in Quark's cantina..."

Fictitiously yours, Trent Roman