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The Great Conjunction: Fandom Celebrates Fandom

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May 042013

Krypton Radio Publishes ARTICLE 1000 !

I wanted to make this, the 1000th article published by Krypton Radio, something special – and by merest chance it happened on May 4, which is shaping up to be a fantastic day for fans everywhere!

Being a science fiction fan has never been more fun or more exciting. There is so much going on in Fandom, and it’s becoming so much more popular and accepted that there are wonderful things all around us, nearly all the time. Today, though, we’re experiencing a sort of new Renaissance. Being a geek has never been more exciting, and fandom has never been more important a part of our daily lives. And today in specific illustrates the point very nicely.

Today is Star Wars Day. It started out as something of a pun, but now even LucasFilm is playing along with its Star Wars Day attack ad. Yes, as a nation we do love us some Star Wars.

It’s also Free Comic Book Day, founded 12 years ago by comic aficionado Joe Field, owner of Flying Colors Comics in California and co-founder of a nonprofit trade group, Comics Professional Retail Organization (ComicsPRO).

It’s designed to promote a love of comics and expose new readers to this traditional American artform. Comics emphasize the moral compas, the center of right versus wrong. There’s an event near you! Look up the list of participants on the Free Comic Book Day web site.

It’s also the day most people are going to go see Iron Man 3, which debuted in various places around the world two days ago, but late Friday night in the United States, and we have comic books and our own enthusiasm for them to thank for the fact that this exists at all.

Today is also the day that the BBC and the Doctor Who production team announced that they have three million fans on the official Doctor Who Facebook page, or as Strax the Sontaran puts it, “The Book of Face”. (You may have to be on Facebook to see the video).

It’s a great day to be a sci-fi geek today, this May 4, 2013. There’s so much to write about, so much to tell you about, and so much fun to have today that we can’t possibly cover it all in a single article.

Today is your day, but from now on, if you’re a sci-fi / fantasy / comics geek, every day is your day. From me and all your friends at Krypton Radio, welcome to the New Age of Geek. You have arrived.

Krypton Radio Owner & General Manager Gene Turnbow

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From Kickstarter To Reality: Nat Iwata’s Steampunk Alphabet Book

Books, Business, Community, Editorials, Fandom, Fantasy / Horror, Interviews, Kickstarter, Net Culture, Sci / Tech, Steam Powered Cabaret, Steampunk No Responses »

Feb 202013

A Krypton Radio exclusive interview by Senior Editor, PK

A gaming artist with a dream and a Kickstarter campaign going viral – internet dreams can come true

Nat Iwata’s Steampunk Alphabet Book

Back in June of 2012, I was browsing the pages of Kickstarter looking for interesting projects when I stumbled upon Nathanael “Nat” Iwata’s campaign to create a children’s Steampunk alphabet book. Nat who is a professional artist and illustrator working in the video gaming industry, had through his then recent work on a Steampunk themed video game, been inspired to create a Steampunk themed alphabet book to share with his young children.

That idea blossomed into creating a book for all kids and it went from concept to Kickstarter, with the goal to raise $7,500 to help fund production and marketing to a publisher who could bring the book to life in bookstores everywhere. I thought this would be an awesome project to share with our readers/listeners, many of whom are Steampunk fans. So I reached out to Nat for an interview and he was happy to oblige with more details.

From the book’s overview:

“Every family needs an alphabet book. That’s a given. But until now there has not yet been a compelling Steampunk-themed ABC book. Nat Iwata has been doing steampunk art for several years in the video game industry, and now he has illustrated a visually compelling, fun-for-all-ages Steampunk Alphabet book that is approachable both to fans and those unfamiliar with Steampunk. In light of that, while all of the illustrations are total Steampunk, the opening ‘letter sentence’ for each page is a familiar word.”

“For example “A is for Apple.” The idea of taking everyday ordinary things and re-imagining them as Steampunk is sure to be a crowd pleaser, and especially appeal to all of the hipster parents. The second part of each page is a description of the object as set in the Steampunk world. This portion will be more enjoyable to older kids and adults to enjoy, while the book could be read entirely with just the ‘letter sentences’ for younger readers.”

On June 30, 2012 the story went live on Krypton Radio and was well received by our fans, then it went viral. While I can’t be sure it was the main reason, it was an interesting factor in the fundraising that the story of Nat’s book was picked up by a news humor and mocking site called Fark.com, where it spread like wildfire from there. After the initial blast of traffic from Fark, and combined with many people sharing the project via social media, the donations to the Steampunk Alphabet book jumped very quickly. By July 26, 2012, Nat Iwata’s project had not only been funded, but exceeded his original goal by bringing in an impressive $11,391.

I always hear people say that it’s the power of the internet, and they’re right. Social media and related websites have helped change the way we do business and raise money for great projects like Nat’s book.

With part one of the victory being attained, part two was in the works. It wasn’t until recently that I received an update from Nat:

“Hello PK,

I just wanted to share some more info with you, as the book has gone through the final editing phase and is off to the presses this week! It is available in various places for pre-order, but the site offering the largest discount of 32% is Barnes & Noble, here’s a link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/steampunk-alphabet-nat-iwata/1112774056“

Interview after the break: Continue reading »

Krypton Radio is hiring for freelance writers

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Dec 132012

Krypton Radio Human Resources Office

Job Posting Announcement: KRW1-DEC2012 | Freelance Writer

Job Overview

Company:	Krypton Media Group d.b.a: Krypton Radio http://kryptonradio.com	Required Education:	The ability to read, but Masters in English Literature preferred.
Job Type:	Journalism Reporting on Current Events Being nosy	Required Experience:	The ability to write, spell correctly, and use proper grammar.
Base Pay:	The admiration of your friends and random strangers on the internet.	Required Travel:	Only as far as you want to go.
Other Pay:		Location:	The Internet (Map it!)
Employee Type:	Part-Time
Manages Others:	No
Relocation Covered:	No
Industry:	Radio Broadcasting Internet Media News Agencies
Reference ID:	KRW1-DEC2012

Job Description:

Are you looking to develop your career in journalism? If you love superheroes, comic books, science fiction, steampunk, fantasy, gaming, internet radio stations, shiny pieces of metal, sniffing strange objects, getting just the facts on stories, scooping other news outlets on major stories, rescuing damsels in distress, blowing up small towns in the Nevada desert, cackling evilly, wearing tight revealing spandex pants, chest hair, Doctor Who, Star Trek, Star Wars, X-Men, K-9, being a xenophobic weirdo, polishing the Death Star, skydiving, scuba diving, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, horseshoes, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, Apple Jack, Princess Celestia, Spike, plotting to take over the world, building elaborate underwater bases, turning water into wine, drinking mudders milk, wearing browncoats, laying shipwrecked and comatose drinking fresh mango juice with goldfish shoals nibbling at my toes, having fun, fun, fun, In the sun, sun, sun, becoming overlord of the world, interstellar domination, mind melding with dogs, laughing at cats, drink the last bit of milk in the fridge, and thinking no one will notice?

The check into becoming a Freelance Writer. Krypton Radio is one of the fastest growing internet radio stations in the Milky Way Galaxy, with more than 3,000 fans on Facebook and admirers in many Earth countries. We offer tremendous career growth opportunities for our employees that get results.

But wait! There’s more! Continue reading »

Anil Kheda Indicted For Disabling (And Stealing) ‘Outwar’ MMO

Editorials No Responses »

Nov 162012

A display from the illegal copy of Outwar

an Editorial by Gene Turnbow

A display from the illegal version of Outwar operated by Kheda.

An MMO is a remarkable thing. Massively Multiplayer Online games allow large numbers of people to share a common consensual virtual world and play in it. It can be very compelling, and can sometimes substitute for a real world social environment – and that’s where a few people run into trouble. The simulated world seems real enough that people assume it is and start treating it that way.

This is what happened in the strange case of Anil Kheda, age 24. He and a group of his friends, all of whom played the MMO from Rampid Interactive called Outwar allegedly exploited bugs in the server software on which the game runs to commandeer control of the game, and eventually broke into the server itself and stole the entire code and asset database. Normally things like this end there, the point is proven, the “enemy” is defeated and humiliated – but Kheda apparently didn’t stop there. He allegedly used the stolen code and game assets to create a directly competing game called Outcraft. He lured players to his game, and continued to disrupt the original servers and Rampid Interactive.

A grand jury in New Hampshire has indicted a Dutch man for allegedly conspiring to hack into and disable servers belonging to Rampid Interactive. It is alleged that Kheda and his cybergang then sent repeated interstate threats to Rampid, threatening to re-hack Rampid’s computer systems, unless Rampid agreed to pay them money or provide them with other benefits.

Tony Carter Reviews: CW’s Arrow… Not your father’s Green Arrow

Editorials, Marvel / DC, Science Fiction, Television 1 Response »

Oct 122012

The Green Arrow for a new generation

by Vagabond ‘Tony’ Carter

Image courtesy/copyright The CW

Well, CW’s new show Arrow has hit the tv screens and it’s promising, but it’s not your father’s Green Arrow, or even mine.

Let us begin with the similarities, it’s a short list.

Rich kid playboy wants to make good – check
Phenomenal skills with a bow – check
Penchant for green attire when in ‘persona’ – check

That’s about where it ends. This Arrow is a troubled, troubled lad with more in common with Batman and Tony Stark than the familiar Oliver Queen of D.C. Comics.

For those who have not seen it, Here there be spoilers:

Father, son (Oliver), son’s girlfriend’s best friend with whom he is cheating, and entourage are all on a yacht which mysteriously capsizes killing all but Father , son and bodyguard. (Still with me so far? Because this is where it gets …. drama. )

Krypton Radio Reviews: Batman: Puppet Master

Comics, Editorials, Fan Films, Fandom, Hero Community, Marvel / DC, Movies No Responses »

Aug 172012

Krypton Radio Film Review by Senior Editor, PK

“How do you bring the Dark Knight out into the Light?”

Edward Nigma, otherwise known as The Riddler, asks that question as he unveils his plot to draw out Batman and turn Gotham City against him. I rarely say this, but this is one fan made film that really blows me away on not just film quality but the acting and story. If you’re familiar with the amazing phenomenon of fan made movies and television shows, then it’s possible you’ve already come across this wonderful piece of cinematic art BATMAN: PUPPET MASTER, by Director Bryan Nest and writer Chris Wiltz.

Synopsis:

In the wake of the summer’s most anticipated film, The Dark Knight Rises ,comes a new short fan film that expands on and enhances the universe of The Dark Knight.

Following the events of The Dark Knight, Batman has become a wanted criminal after assuming responsibility for both Harvey Dent’s crimes and Dent’s murder. When Gotham P.D.’s manhunt yields no results it attracts national attention and outside law enforcement decides to step in.

FBI Special Agent Edward Nigma is brought in to assist Gotham P.D. Nigma is the best of the best – a man who has caught many of the world’s most notorious criminals, fugitives, and terrorists. He’s a man that lives for the hunt-for solving the case. Nigma’s investigation soon leads him to believe that Batman may be innocent of the charges against him, but Nigma also discovers a much greater challenge than catching Harvey Dent’s murderer. He wants to unmask the Batman. But for Nigma it won’t be enough to just catch Batman, he wants to outsmart him, he needs to be the one to figure out Batman’s secret identity – it’s the only way to prove he’s the world’s greatest detective.

For Nigma, the ends justify the means and he soon sets about playing both sides of the law in a deadly bid to wear Batman down and reveal the man behind the mask. Nigma enlists the help of a number of Arkham Asylum escapees, turning Gotham city into his own private chessboard. As Nigma’s obsession grows Batman finds himself forced to confront Nigma on his own terms in a dangerous game that could leave Gotham burned to the ground…

Batman: Puppet Master is a short fan film set in Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight universe. The story is meant as a sequel to The Dark Knight and that takes place between that film andThe Dark Knight Rises. This is a film created by fans for fans and it delivers an exciting storyline that will introduce fans to new versions of Mr. Zsasz, The Ventriloquist, and Edward Nigma (aka The Riddler), who fans were expecting to appear in Nolan’s third Batman film.

I found this to be particularly engrossing, in that The Riddler has in most screen adaptations been portrayed as a games master, or a computer programer whose genius intellect and ego drive him mad when he’s wronged by some big corporation. This is a refreshing take on Nigma’s character who is expertly played by actor Wil Daniels, combined with an excellent performance by Frank Birney who stars as Arnold Wesker the infamous Ventriloquist behind Scarface, voiced by John DiCrosta. The film is not without it’s minor faults, as I didn’t find myself all that enamored with Puppet Master’s version of Batman, portrayed by Michael Connolly. I could tell that Mr. Connolly was giving a very heartfelt performance as Batman, and perhaps it’s just some bias on my part but my beloved version of Batman has always been the stone-faced type who speaks with the Kevin Conroy voice.

I’ll admit as wonderful as an actor as Christian Bale is, even his performance as Batman irked me slightly when he speaks in his version of Batman’s gruff disguised voice. Connolly’s Batman doesn’t disappoint on action at all, and shows perhaps a side of the Dark Knight that we’re not always used to seeing, Batman at his breaking point. And if you haven’t seen The Dark Knight Rises yet, that’s something you’ll get plenty of, when you witness Bane’s near destruction of Batman. Overall, Director Bryan Nest and his crew deliver a wonderful performance that I would highly recommend to any Batman fan; and I know that I would absolutely love to see Wil Daniels reprise his role of Edward Nigma with Frank Birney as Arnold Wesker in a big budget adaptation to follow Christopher Nolan’s trilogy.

I have to say that in Batman: Puppet Master, the villains really steal the show. Five out of Five Stars!

http://batmanpuppetmaster.com

Is Marvel Taking A Gamble On “Guardians Of The Galaxy” & “Ant Man”?

Animation, Comics, Editorials, Fandom, Marvel / DC, Movies No Responses »

Jul 252012

Guardians of the Galaxy Concept Art 2012

Suspension of disbelief is being pushed to the limits.

An Editorial By, Senior Editor and loud mouthed critic, PK

2014 Guardians of the Galaxy Concept Art

When I was recently asked for my thoughts on Marvel’s upcoming movies, Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant Man, my reply was, “who and or what?” Which raised an interesting question regarding Marvel’s choices for stories for their next feature films; are they taking a huge gamble on stories and characters that the average person may not know about or embrace because they’re too different? I’m a fellow superhero nerd, yet I’ve never embraced it to the point where I’m reading comics regularly or keeping up with storylines outside of TV and movies for the mainstream heroes like DC’s Batman and Superman, and Marvel’s Captain America and Iron Man. I enjoy the stories and content but I’m not beholden to it, so much that I can’t be impartial. So I usually try to approach reviews of movies and other media from the outsider’s point of view, since I feel it helps the review seem more fair than a fan-boy lavishing praise or some non-fan criticizing a culture they don’t fully understand.

Marvel has taken several of their well known properties such as Iron Man and Thor, turning them into a new world-wide sensation with wonderful actors and storylines which have captured new generations of fans. I mean hey, who doesn’t enjoy a drunken billionaire in a cybernetic suit blowing up the bad guys? The movies were so well done, that it didn’t matter if you had ever read a comic book in your life. Iron Man, Captain America, Thor, The Incredible Hulk, Spider Man; these are characters that captured people’s hearts and enthralled audiences of all ages. Marvel had finally found that cinematic formula to bring these characters to life in a way that would capture the minds and more importantly the dollars of people who originally wouldn’t have given comic book movies a first or second look. Marvel is riding a huge high right now from the rapidly expanding fan community, and now they’re looking to use stories that the average person may not have heard of.

That’s not a bad thing at all, and don’t get me wrong, I’m very much in favor of bringing stories and characters from comics that the majority haven’t heard of to the big screen. I love my mainstream heroes, but they’ve been rebooted and their stories retold so many times it makes me groan in pain. After doing some research on Guardians of the Galaxy and Ant Man, I see they have a strong following from dedicated comics fans, but my concern is, will they inspire the average non-comics fan movie-goer to spend their hard earned money for a ticket?

Marvel’s Ant Man

Ant Man for example, involves the S.H.I.E.L.D storyline as we’ve seen during the current line of Marvel movies. S.H.I.E.L.D agent Eric O’Grady becomes the superhero known as Ant Man when he dons a shrinking suit which well, shrinks him to the size of an ant and lets him even talk to and control the actual insects, with a mention in his back-story that he even sneaks into women’s shower rooms. Keeping in mind the great digital effects we have these days, the idea of spending 90 minutes watching an ant sized superhero with the expected gratuitous short jokes just doesn’t grab my attention. The shrinking suit is great for spying in theory, and I can imagine some situations where you’d have your army of ants eat some bad guy alive (but I don’t see Marvel getting that gory), but unless he wants to team up with Jerry O’Connell from Joe’s Apartment, I think I’ll pass on this movie.

Guardians of the Galaxy is our next conundrum, and I actually want this movie to work. Although when I tried reading through the back-story of the comic, I ended up just kind of shaking my head and wondering if this won’t be a straight to video flick. Guardians of the Galaxy hails from Marvel Comics circa 1969, but the movie will be focusing on the 2008 rendition of the popular superhero interstellar team which battles evildoers in an alternate reality of the 31^st century.

The rumored current story focuses on characters such as Star-Lord, Drax the Destroyer, and Rocket Racoon

This section from Wikipedia covers the comics version of the story better than I could describe it:

2008 Guardians of the Galaxy Comic

In the aftermath of the Phalanx invasion of the Kree, Star-Lord^[13] decides to form a team of interstellar heroes that will be proactive in protecting the galaxy, rather than reacting to crises as they happen. To this end, he recruits Adam Warlock,^[14] Drax the Destroyer,^[15] Gamora,^[15] Phyla-Vell (the new Quasar),^[16] Rocket Raccoon,^[17] and Groot,^[17] with Mantis as support staff.^[18] On the recommendation of their ally, Nova, the group establishes a base of operations on the space station Knowhere, which possesses a teleportation system with near-universal range.^[19] An intelligent, telepathic dog named Cosmo is Knowhere’s chief of security and works closely with the new team. After a confrontation with the Universal Church of Truth,^[1] the team’s meets a semi-amnesiac man who identifies himself as Vance Astro - Major Victory of the original Guardians of the Galaxy.^[20] Astro’s declaration inspires the as-yet-unnamed team to adopt the “Guardians of the Galaxy” name for their own.^[21] When the team learns Star-Lord directed Mantis to telepathically coerce the heroes into joining the team, they disband.^[22]

Rocket Raccoon decided to continue Star-Lord’s mission and started a search for the missing members. He asked Bug to join the team, as well Groot’s return to full size and the addition of Mantis and Major Victory as field members.

Meanwhile Star-Lord was banished to the Negative Zone by Ronan the Accuser for his actions during the Phanlanx’s attempted conquest of the Kree Empire. There, he finds himself in the middle of King Blastaar‘s fight to break into 42 and use its portal to invade Earth. Star-Lord allies with Jack Flag to defend the prison and contact the other Guardians for rescue. Rocket’s new team successfully brings both of them back, and Flag becomes a Guardian.

Elsewhere, Drax and Phylla begin looking for Cammi, but on their search they talk to a seer who tells them about an oncoming war. Phylla was able to wake Moondragon from the dead, but lost her Quantum Bands in the process. The consequence for Phyla is that she is now the new avatar of death. They went back to Knowhere and did not follow up on the search for Cammi.

Despite being the outsider looking in, I’m a life long science fiction and superhero fan with an open mind. But reading that description and the associated information I’ve found, makes even me concerned that it’s going to be harder than it looks to make this story work as a full fledged live action-CGI movie. Admittedly I could be over thinking this, they may make it work and the average person not looking beyond what’s on the screen will just enjoy the characters and the sci-fi action. Once I got past the wtf factor, the thought of characters like an interstellar talking racoon with a heavy weapons fetish could make for an amusing theatrical experience. Guardians of the Galaxy comes across as a mash up of Lord Of the Rings, X-Men, and Nintendo’s StarFox, but I have to say I’m interested in seeing if Marvel can make a big screen adaptation actually work.

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