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horrorhead

More Terrifying Than Space is Space Madness

Welcome back to Horrorhead, a biweekly column where we explore the intersection of scifi and horror. If there's one thing more terrible than having a zombie eat the tongue out of your head by breaking your jaw, it's imagining that zombies are eating you when they aren't. That's why one of the best veins to mine in scifi-horror is madness. What makes insanity worse in many ways than giant drooling monsters is that you can't kill the monsters in your head with ice or swords or cold viruses. You want to escape the horror of your own crazy? You've got to drill your own brain out, like the protagonist does in Pi. And that, my friends, is what makes scifi-tinged madness so tragic as well as frightening: there's no way to set things right. Without further ado, let's take a dark psychological tour of most horrifying examples of space madness. More »

11:08 AM on Wed May 14 2008
By Annalee Newitz
1,201 views, 43 comments

Latest by elayneriggs: Omigod, thanks for running that Hulk cover that my husband worked on! The original inked board, which we own, is even cooler and creepier. :) more »

new comics we crave

Something For Everyone Who Likes Awesome In This Week's Comics

Stop now, what's that sound? It may just be the stampede of new books hitting comic stores tomorrow - As we get closer to San Diego Comic-Con, publishers are stepping up their game, and tomorrow's haul includes first issues, final issues, deaths and resurrections and all manner of exciting things to make your hump day worthwhile. Join us under the jump, why don't you? More »

9:00 AM on Tue May 13 2008
By Graeme McMillan
2,476 views, 10 comments

what to watch

Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer Is The Black Cat!

The promo frenzy for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull kicks into high gear this week, with Shia LaBoeuf appearing all over the airwaves to explain his Fonzie-esque character Mutt, plus a new Sci Fi Channel special about the real-life crystal skulls. But if you're not obsessing about Indy and his skulls, there's also the season finale of Smallville, which sees the departure of half the show's cast and creators in a hopefully explosive conclusion. And if that doesn't make you want to jump on your TiVo, then how about Battlestar Galactica's Tricia Helfer playing the Black Cat, Spider-Man's baddest girlfriend? More »

9:00 AM on Mon May 12 2008
By Charlie Jane Anders
5,023 views, 26 comments

Latest by txtracer: I think the original American Gladiators was almost certainly inspired by The Running Man (at least in part). RM came out in 1987, AG came out in 1989. It probably also owes a debt to pro wrestling's growing more »

mangobot

The Original Speed Racer

Welcome to MangoBot, a column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. Way before Speed Racer became fodder for one of the season's most highly anticipated blockbusters, it was a simple 60s-style Japanese cartoon. The original Speed Racer was a TV anime series called Mach GoGoGo, aired on Fuji TV—one of Japan's major television networks—in 1967 and 1968. Like many other sources of entertainment in Japan at the time, Go's determination and the superior technology of Mach 5 were symbolic of the country's rapid post-war recovery and the determination that drove it. While you're waiting to head to your multiplex to watch the Hollywood version tonight, let me take you back in time and show you a glimpse of the original. More »

9:00 AM on Fri May 9 2008
By LISA KATAYAMA
2,732 views, 29 comments

Latest by SayAhh: Speed Racer, or Meteoro if you grew up in South America, was one of the must-see Saturday morning cartoons when I was little, as was Mazinger Z, AKA Tranzor Z. This was WAY before Transformers came out, though. If NBC more »

ask a biogeek

Where Is My Uterine Replicator (AKA Artificial Womb)?

Reader Karen asks:

One of my favourite sci-fi conceits in the Vorkosigan works of Lois McMaster Bujold is the uterine replicator. Sticking a fetus in a regulated jar until it's come full term and I can get my new baby boy, girl or hermaphrodite without all the vomiting, constant peeing, strenuous pushing, pooping on the operating table, and possible endangerment to life, reproductive organs and blood sugar levels sounds like fucking bliss. When can you get that to me?

Given the risk - and many months of what can charitably be termed "inconvenience" - what are the alternatives to signing up for nine months of incubator duty? Let's find out. More »

9:00 AM on Thu May 8 2008
By Terry Johnson
2,014 views, 32 comments

Latest by Y Duras: @ndgmtlcd: Actually, in the Bujold books, the placenta is included in the uterine replicator. more »

steal this pitch

Where Is The Posthuman Bertie Wooster?

Sometime soon — maybe in our lifetimes — we humans will finally exceed our design limitations. We'll interface with artificial intelligences, extend our lifespans, and gain the ability to modify our bodies far beyond our current understanding of prosthetics. And when that happens, our capacity to make total idiots out of ourselves will be increased a thousand-fold. But sadly, there's never really been a posthuman Bertie Wooster. Here are a few pointers on how to write the transhuman fool's progress. More »

9:00 AM on Wed May 7 2008
By Charlie Jane Anders
2,887 views, 44 comments

Latest by napthia9: @Lizfu: Ooh, that's very interesting. Especially since the automatic thing most people think about when they think of "Hired Help Of the Future" is robot companions! Yet the humans currently working as servants or otherwise non-idle semi-aristocrats are hardly mindless more »

new comics we crave

Summer Movie Madness Hits This Week's Comics

You'd be forgiven for thinking that the comics industry has gone movie mad this week, judging by the books hitting stores tomorrow. Well, more movie mad than usual, perhaps. If it's not Marvel capitalizing on the success of Iron Man with two new Iron Man series and many other books starring the chrome crusader, it's a sequel to one of last year's summer blockbusters, and the long-awaited conclusion to a story by one of Hollywood's one-time top directors. Celluloid craziness and more, under the jump. More »

9:00 AM on Tue May 6 2008
By Graeme McMillan
4,184 views, 6 comments

Latest by JohnnyZito: Maybe now that the action comics annual is dropping someone will be allowed to do something with the kid. more »

what to watch

Play "Spot The Star Trek Actor" On This Week's Shows

It's when times are lean that you need a really good tracker — someone who can scout through the barren underbrush of the TV schedule and forage for programs worth watching. We're still on a severe diet, thanks to last winter's writers' strike. But there are some worthy programs out there. We have two preview clips from Thursday's all-new Lost episode, plus looks ahead at new episodes of Smallville, Doctor Who, Sarah Jane, Spectacular Spider-Man, Transformers and Ben 10. Plus the Sci Fi Channel finally breaks the cheese-ometer. Listings, with minor spoilers only, below the fold. More »

9:00 AM on Mon May 5 2008
By Charlie Jane Anders
3,356 views, 19 comments

Latest by fluxfire: Is Big Bang Theory Science Fiction? Maybe in the same ways the British comedy Spaced was. No it's not technically scifi, but there is a love and appreciation for all things scifi in it. more »

the jewels of aptor

Stephan Martiniere: The Future Will Be Bio-Mechanical

Welcome to The Jewels of Aptor, a biweekly column about the intersection of art and the fantastic. Never heard of French artist Stephan Martiniere? Well, you've definitely heard of the projects he's been involved with: Star Wars II and III, The Astronaut's Wife, Red Planet, I, Robot, Virus, and several other SF movies. That's in addition to creative work on videogames, animated projects, TV, and book covers. Even better, he's helped design theme parks like Fantastik Pukoland in Japan (and check out the TVLand theme park production paintings in the gallery below). His credits might be glitzy, but we love Martiniere's art because of its organic feel, the sense of the future being as much biological as mechanical—a trait he shares with French genius Moebius. More »

9:00 AM on Fri May 2 2008
By Ann and Jeff VanderMeer
3,778 views, 24 comments

Latest by dhelor: He's also done some artwork for Magic: the Gathering. Great stuff. more »

iron man review

Robert Downey Jr.'s Exposed Torso Is America

There's no way to make an apolitical movie out of Marvel Comics' Iron Man, and director Jon Favreau doesn't try. The story of a weapons manufacturer who's captured by a warlord in Afghanistan is clearly a metaphor for American power overseas. The great strength of Iron Man, which opens tonight, is that it can be read in a variety of ways, in spite of a fair bit of speechifying. And how you read the movie's narrative of weapons proliferation depends on how you view the constantly half-naked cyborg torso of Robert Downey, Jr. Spoilers ahead, Iron-fuckers! More »

9:00 AM on Thu May 1 2008
By Charlie Jane Anders
8,286 views, 62 comments

Latest by Bandy: Good write up, apart from a couple of points: Starks heart is not turned into a source of world-beating power - the technology had already been created - albeit in a larger form. He merely miniaturised it. Paltrow doesn't do any more »

horrorhead

Do We Need Graphic Torture in Our Dystopias?

Welcome back to Horrorhead, a column all about the connections between horror and scifi. On Battlestar Galactica, there's an ongoing theme of torture: humans gang-rape an imprisoned Cylon; the Cylons beat a man so badly he loses his eye (not to mention all the humans they kill outright); and there's even a little human-on-Cylon washboarding early in the series. These are not scenes that take place entirely offscreen. We see beatings; we see the bloody, freaked-out face of Six the Cylon after she's been raped so many times she can't stand up and has lost the will to eat. The question is, do we need to see these scenes? Would this series be as powerful without them? And by extension, would any torture-laced scifi flick like The Hills Have Eyes or Cube be as enticing if it lost the mutilations or the razor net that falls from the ceiling and reduces living humans to little cubes of flesh? (Spoilers ahead.) More »

10:43 AM on Wed Apr 30 2008
By Annalee Newitz
3,055 views, 58 comments

Latest by thephotoman: Does BSG need torture? Well, to answer this question, I ask what it would look like without the torture. Then I point out two shows that have similar overarching plots (in one case, the same exact overarching plot) more »

new comics we crave

Fifty Cents Is All You Should Have To Pay For This Week's Comics

There's no way of getting around it: this is both an incredibly slow week for new comics releases, and also an incredibly busy week... just not until the weekend. This Saturday is Free Comic Book Day 2008 (when all manner of books are released for the price of zero dollars exactly in the hope of luring new readers into stores to be tempted by much more expensive items) but I'll wait until Friday before I tell you what you should be picking up for that. But everyone's preparing for Saturday, because what's appearing in stores tomorrow? It kind of sucks. More »

9:00 AM on Tue Apr 29 2008
By Graeme McMillan
2,071 views, 5 comments

Latest by Zenn-Lavian: So far, Secret Invasion has been the balls... I just picked up a run of Nova so I'm looking forward to reading that. I've heard conflicting things about Fraction's Punisher War Journal though. Is it really worth picking up? more »

what to watch

Speed Racer's Son Meets A Robot Chimp

If you had a robot butler scheduling your TV viewing (and maybe showing programs on a Teletubbies-style belly screen) he would have an upbeat lilt in his synth-voice when describing this week's TV options. There are actually some worthwhile items, on days other than Thursday and Friday. For instance, might we suggest mutant ghetto rats and robot apes (not actually appearing in the same show)? Plus, Darth Vader wants to cheat you out of all your money. (Daddy needs a new Death Star!) Oh, and there are new episodes of Lost, Smallville, Doctor Who, Sarah Jane, Ben 10, Transformers, Spider-Man and Battlestar. Listings (with minor spoilers) below. More »

9:00 AM on Mon Apr 28 2008
By Charlie Jane Anders
2,324 views, 32 comments

Latest by Dunny0: @jbq: Now look what you did! You hurt Charlies feelings, now we'll never get our recap! I think we're gonna need a bigger cake... more »

mangobot

Meet the Man Who Predicted Japan's Humanoid Robot Craze

Welcome back to MangoBot, a biweekly column about Asian futurism by TokyoMango blogger Lisa Katayama. In the spring of 1988, Japanese publisher Kodansha released a revealing English-language book titled Inside the Robot Kingdom: Japan, Mechatronics, and the Coming Robotopia. The book predicted a new era when humanoid robots would dominate Japanese society in the same way that industrial robots were then dominating behind-the-scenes manufacturing in the country. It was a topic that nobody in the Western world knew much about at all. The author, Frederik L. Schodt, was a freelance interpreter from Washington, DC who lived in Japan as a kid and traveled extensively between the Japan and the US—often as a private interpreter for Tezuka Osamu, the God of manga (Japanese comic books). And he predicted a social trend that was nearly beyond comprehension in the 1980s. More »

9:00 AM on Fri Apr 25 2008
By LISA KATAYAMA
1,517 views, 14 comments

Latest by Channing: @saketini99: Personally, my take on it was that flexiverse was touting the awesome of Japan therefore he was spouting "Nipponese." Nippon being the more nationalistic flavor of Nihon since they're both written the same way (日本). I really thought that more »

steal this pitch

How To Bring The Weird In Your Near-Future Stories

Everybody says we're living in a science fictional era now. Your grandma's poodle is on Facebook, your whole social life is on your iphone, and mega-corps know everything about you. But if you think the world is futuristic now, just wait another twenty years. The weirdness will swarm exponentially, making the world of 2028 easily as jarring as 2008 would seem to a visitor from the Reagan era. So how can we, as writers and storytellers, create a believable medium-near-future world? More »

9:12 AM on Wed Apr 23 2008
By Charlie Jane Anders
2,483 views, 32 comments

Latest by timberwolf4545: @Charlie Jane Anders: Charlie Jane, Do you know what sort of publishing platform the site currently runs on? (It's probably a blogging platform like Wordpress or something) Wordpress up, Timber more »

new comics we crave

Axe-Wielding Schoolgirls Battle Spacemen For Your Comics Dollar

Despite what many of you merry perverts may think, it's not all musclemen in tights and axe-wielding schoolgirls in short skirts in comicbookland. Although, to be fair, both of those categories are represented in this Wednesday's comic shops, as the pre-Summer lull gets filled with reprints and all manner of plot maneuvering to get all the players on- and off-stage before the big storylines take over next month. Click on that "More" button to find out about the four color death, more death and Birth awaiting you in your local comic book store tomorrow. More »

9:00 AM on Tue Apr 22 2008
By Graeme McMillan
4,137 views, 5 comments

Latest by tk.: Dead@17 sounds pretty awesome, thanks for the heads up. more »

what to watch

Lost Returns With Extra-Violent Goodness!

Lost is back once again, wrapping up its fourth season with a block of six hours (over five nights). And the first new installment looks to be the most violent in ages. Plus, PBS has two new documentaries that look to the future: one of which is sunny and optimistic, featuring stars from one of your favorite NPR shows. And the other of which is gloomy and may make you want to slit your wrists. But never fear: your future also includes new episodes of Smallville, Battlestar Galactica and Spectacular Spider-Man! Full listings (with minor spoilers and clips) below. More »

9:00 AM on Mon Apr 21 2008
By Charlie Jane Anders
4,111 views, 22 comments

Latest by MickyK: I'm starting to like the animation on that spiderman show. It's fresh and new, plus the story isn't too bad either more »

ben templesmith

Ben Templesmith Brings You Doctor Who and the Decapitated Corpse

Welcome to a new column about science fiction art by Ann & Jeff VanderMeer. Artist Ben Templesmith's daring, horrific, and sometimes just plain perverse approach in graphic novels like 30 Days of Night and his solo creation Wormwood, Gentleman Corpse is influenced by the science-fantasy cosmos of H.P. Lovecraft's Old Ones and the work of H.R. Giger. However, Templesmith says "The biggest influence on me sci-fi wise has to be the BBC prop and art departments on old classic Doctor Who episodes." More »

9:00 AM on Fri Apr 18 2008
By Ann and Jeff VanderMeer
3,345 views, 16 comments

Latest by tamoko: Templesmith's work just gives me that itch to go all multi-media on someones ass. I love the blend of watercolors, pen work, and digital work. Dead Space just captures this evoked feeling of emptiness, and foreboding that reminds me of more »

More Terrifying Than Space is Space Madness

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