R.I.P. King Diner

No more late night chili-cheese fries at 4AM at the corner of beautiful (?) 10th and Mission.
I feel like i've lost a friend.....
Oh well, at least I resurrected the data on my crashed computer, so I shouldn't feel that bad.....

Since we were talking about the end of the world....

To my way of thinking, nobody quite does the whole "End of the World" thing as well as the British SF authors, including (but not limted to) J. G. Ballard (Wind From Nowhere, The Drowned World et al.), Fred Hoyle (The Black Cloud), H. G. Wells and of course John Wyndham.

I just love that "stiff upper lip" way the English confront the apocalypse - in such a nondescript, nonchalant, matter-of-fact way. Here in America, there's usually a lot of hysteria and carrying on when the cataclysm hits. Everybody panics and runs around, generally loosing their heads. To your average Brit, it's just a bit of a sticky wicket and no more...
Don't get me wrong, i'm not disparaging anything or anyone here, i'm just trying to say that the British SF authors have a certain knack for presenting "The End of The World" in such a believable and realistic manner that creates (for me anyway) an incredible suspension of disbelief. But that's just me.



This zip file contains -
DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (1960's) Parts 1 - 6 and
DAY OF THE TRIFFIDS (1990's) Parts 1 & 2.

Since I had this up the sleeve as it were, i'll add some more Wyndham audio....
These illos come from Amazing March '63 -




This zip file contains -
Chocky (1960's version) and
Chocky (1990's version) Parts 1 & 2.

In other news, i'm still dealing with computer problems (hoo hah!) so i'm probably gonna be stuck with doing re-posts for another couple of weeks at least.
The good news is, I might try taking requests, since i'm at a bit of a loss for selections - so if you have something that you really want me to re-post, drop me a comment and i'll see what I can do. Just be polite and don't push your luck... OK?

End of The Moon, A Phoney Meteor and The Man From Planet X!

Vanishing Point - "Meteor" by John Benyon (AKA John Wyndham)




"Visions of world cataclysm constitute one of the most powerful and most mysterious of all categories of SF, and in their classic form predate modern Sf by 1000s of years. In many ways, i believe that SF is itself no more than a minor offshoot of the cataclysmic tale. From the deluge in the Babylonian zodiac myth of Gilgamesh to the contemporary fantasies of 20th century super-science, there has clearly been no limit to man's need to devise new means of destroying the world he inhabits. I would guess that from man's first inkling of this planet as a single entity existing independantly of himself came the determination to bring about its destruction, part of the same impulse we see in a placid infant who wakes alone in his cot and suddenly sets about wrecking his entire nursery.
Psychiatric studies of the fantasies and dream life of the insane show that ideas of world destruction are latent in the unconscious mind. The marvels of 20th century science & technology provide an anthology of destructive techniques unrivalled by even the most bizarre religions.
But are these deluges & droughts, whirlwinds & glaciations no more than overextended metaphors of some kind of suicidal self-hate, the expressions of deep internal conflicts resolvable only in a series of spasmic collisions with an ever yielding external reality?
On the contrary, I believe the catastrophe story, whoever may tell it, represents a constructive & positive act by the imagination rather than a negative one, an attempt to confront the patently meaningless universe by challenging it at its own game, to remake zero by provoking it in every concievable way." - J. G. Ballard

To that end, here is the most excellent article "The End Of The Moon" from the Hugo Gernsback publication SF plus, August 1953, illustrated by Frank R. Paul.

The End Of The Moon! Yow!

As an added bonus - The End of the World - 1920's style: From Hugo Gernsbacks' Science and Invention, October 1928.




Great art on this Fawcett Movie Comic ....and the script (by Otto Binder?) actually makes WAY MORE sense than the movie does - which I watched when I was scanning this book! This pdf comes from many and diverse materials, so you have my apologies for any "funkiness" with it... OK?
Man from Planet X!

Rocket Jockey Alert!

I have a real soft spot for that whole Rocket-jockey continuum thingy... and these Thrills Inc. (from Australia!) are just over the top in that regard.
50 pages of sheer atom-age nonsense!
The writing style is "ripping adventure" to the hilt, and the illustrations are just great... plus the covers are to die for!
THRILLS Inc. #2


Thrills Inc. #17 (compliments of some F. J. Ackerman guy.... now where have I heard that name before??? ....hmmm, don't tell me... it'll come to me....)
THRILLS INC. #17

More "Cowboys in Outer Space" action with seven episodes of "Challenge of Space" -
"Where Is Atlantis?", "Mission:Abort", "Screwy Satellite", "Climb Up To Safety", "Ten Miles To The Moon", "Far Centaurus" & "Another Galaxy".

For your convenience : 7 episodes of Challenge of Space as a zip file.

Plus, what the hell, some nice Charlton SF Covers....






PS. I know this stuff is all repost, but my computer is still kaput.....
Oh dear, how sad, never mind.....

Out of This World #2 & Spaceman #6 (Re-Post)

Now this SF pulp from Avon had a great 32 page comic insert featuring Kenton of the Star Patrol by Joe Kubert and Crom the Barbarian by John Guinta!
Out of This World #2 (comic insert only) by Joe Kubert and John Guinta!


Spaceman #6 by Jack Sparling!

PS. Caves of Steel file links seem to work OK (in case you asked).

Steel Caverns

ASIMOV'S THREE LAWS OF ROBOTICS:
1.A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm
2.A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law
3.A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law
HANDBOOK OF ROBOTICS
56th Edition, 2058A.D.

"(My novel) The Caves of Steel.... was a good science fiction novel and, at the same time, a straightforward mystery. It was the first time (in my opinion) that anyone had brought the two genres into quite so perfect a fusion."
-from I. Asimov (1994).


Part 1





"Caves of Steel" Pt 1
"Caves of Steel" Pt 2


Plus, what's this I find on the IMBD about an adaption (by Terry [Dalek] Nation) from the UK broadcast 5th June 1964 with Peter Cushing as Elijah Baley. Directed by Peter Sasdy - who, apart from the Nigel Kneale-scripted "The Stone Tape" '70's TV drama, also directed several horror films for Hammer Studios, including Taste the Blood of Dracula (1969), Countess Dracula (1970), Hands of the Ripper (1971) and Nothing But the Night (1972). Hmm?

Here's some more robots -












PS. This is a truncated re-post (since Picasa ate the bulk of my images, and my computer is also less than co-operative - therefore I can't re-upload them any time soon).
Sorry....

PPS. Please don't hot-link to my files, just link to the relevant post..
OK?
If I wanted hot links, i'd go to a Bar-B-Que.....

I'm a Bloch-Head!

My copy is missing the cover, so this is all I could find....

Selections from Thrilling Mystery - May 1940. More pulpy thrills (including the story below) from your creepy host, the datajunkie!


More Bloch info and illustrations -








From the Golden Days of Radio are the only two adaptions I could find -
"Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper" and
"Almost Human" by Robert Bloch.

The Weird World of Basil Wolverton (Re-Post)

It should come as no surprise to anyone that i'm a big fan of Basil Wolverton, right? Right!
Anyway, here's a neat-o little file with three stories I culled from various issues of digest-sized pin-up mags from the 1950's. The first page of one of the stories is missing, so i fudged up a title page to make it a little less jarring, rather than have the story start abruptly with page 2.
You may not like "bigfoot" cartooning, but i'm sure you'll love "Uranium in his Cranium", "Fewer Chewers", and "Nightmare Scare"!

Powerhouse Pepper

Plus, here's some Basil Wolverton covers from PLOP!


When Plop! first started, they would run the front covers on the back, no text!

Nice huh?


Now there's one that DC could collect ( and probably make some money on).
¡Viva Plop!

But after a while, they just ran them on the front.


PS. My computer is still dead as a doornail - boo hoo!