Alien Vault

Alien Vault

The Complete Story and Legacy
by Ian Nathan

Epic Ink, 2019

Alien Vault first was published in 2011 by Voyageur Press. In 2019, publisher Epic Ink acquired the rights to issue a more elaborate 40th anniversary edition, also titled Alien Vault.

I recently came across the 40th anniversary edition on the shelves of a 'bargain' outlet for less than $10, so I decided to purchase it and provide an overview here at the PorPor Books Blog.

Author Nathan has written 'Vault' books for other franchises, such as The Terminator, as well as books on noted directors such as Ridley Scott, Tim Burton, the Coen Brothers, and the Coppolas. 

At 10.25 x 19 inches, Alien Vault is a thick, well-made book with a slipcase cover. The inside covers of the book are fitted with pockets, within which lodged bits of Alien ephemera, such as stickers, placards, and facsimiles of Ridley Scott's shooting script. It's a nice little exemplar of a multimedia presentation, and indicates that the author and the publisher took this chance to capitalize on the 40th anniversary quite seriously.

Among copious pictures, author Nathan provides an overview of the film. His prose style is relatively smooth and engaging, save for the chapter devoted to Ripley, where he goes into an overly labored exegesis on the innovative nature of the character in terms of the depiction of women in sci-fi films. There's nothing here that hasn't been said before in many other analyses of Alien. 

Elsewhere in Alien Vault Nathan provides anecdotes and observations about the genesis of the film, the cast and crew, the process of filming, and its reception (at a test screening in Dallas in the Spring of 1979, audience members reportedly lurched out of their seats and headed to the restrooms to vomit).

Nathan makes clear that during the filming, none of the actors saw the film as being anything more than a large-budget 'B' movie, and that is how most critics saw the film upon its release in May, 1979. So it's interesting to see how, over the years, the film has come to be seen as one of the greatest films of the 1970s, a touchstone of artistic cinema, and a pop culture icon.

As a 40th anniversary edition, Alien Vault devotes its final chapter to the sequels and prequels of the franchise, including insider anecdotes about Prometheus and an account by the author of an on-site visit to the studio in Australia where Ridley Scott was shooting Alien: Covenant.

The book closes on a note of some uncertainty, as Fox has not green-lit Scott's anticipated third entry in the Prometheus series. It does appear that an Alien TV series is in preproduction, but whether it actually makes to to the small screen remains to be seen.

Summing up, if you're a fan of the film, and you can find Alien Vault for an affordable price, then you may want to pick it up. While it lacks the in-depth nature of J. W. Rinzler's The Making of Alien (2019), it is a serviceable history of the film and franchise.

Nortoncomputerforpeace

Doris Norton
Nortoncomputerforpeace

1983

I don't think Lou Stathis, the hipster 'rok' music critic for Heavy Metal magazine in the early 1980s, ever was so hip as to reference Doris Norton when it came to New Wave sounds. And so, Stathis perhaps was not quite as hip as he imagined himself to be. 

Let's face it, when it came to being hip, Doris Norton made Fad Gadget look like a mainstream act. Although, truth be told, there were times when Stathis was somewhat underwhelmed by Fad Gadget.....

In the early 1980s, Italian musician Norton began recording music made with synthesizers and, later, Apple computers, and nowadays is considered one of the pioneers in the genre of techno. 

if you want to make the New Wave hipster scene, then Norton's 1983 album, Nortoncomputerforpeace, can be listened to in its entirety here. Its cover is a great example of New Wave imagery.

Norton's Facebook page hasn't been updated in a couple years, but it contains information and links to more of her musical adventures.

National Lampoon July 1974

National Lampoon
July, 1974

In modern vernacular, the July, 1974 issue of the National Lampoon can safely be labeled as one of the most 'transgressive' yet issued, although back in '74 it simply would've been regarded as another instance of 'sick' humor from editors Henry Beard, Tony Hendra, Brian McConnachie, and Sean Kelly.

The issue's major theme was food, or more precisely, the lack of it. The main feature is Famine Circle, a satire of the venerable magazine Family Circle. The articles in Famine Circle make fun of starving Indians and Africans. Definitely not politically correct humor !

Things really take a turn for the grotesque with the 'Doggie-Wogs' article by Bruce McCall.

The article showcases a portfolio of fake correspondence from the advertising firm of Yessman, Flummox, and Bolt, Inc., with Aggravated Foods, an American pet food company, that proposes to convert starving Indians ('wogs') into dog food (!). 

Along with the comic content, we get advertisements to remind us that Kris Kristofferson is a gritty and true-to-life singer-songwriter. And there's a new band on the scene, called 'Kansas', made up of six 'Topeka Jayhawks'.

There you have it. Transgressive humor that would certainly not ever see print nowadays....... 

Book Review: Earth in Twilight

Book Review: 'Earth in Twilight' by Doris Piserchia

2 / 5 Stars

'Earth in Twilight' (156 pp.) was published by DAW Books as Book No. 458. The cover art is by Wayne D. Barlowe.

This is the first time I've read a novel by Doris Piserchia (1928 - 2021), who was quite prolific during the 1970s and 1980s.

'Twilight' is a comedic homage to Brian Aldiss's 1962 novel 'Hothouse' (aka 'The Long Afternoon of Earth'). It's unclear if Aldiss was aware of this, or gave it his approval. Having read 'Hothouse', I found the plot of 'Twilight' to be a bit more intelligible than if I was unfamiliar with Aldiss's novel.

'Twilight' is set on the far-future Earth of 'Hothouse'. The entire terrestrial surface is swathed in vegetation, including trees miles high. A small population of mutant humans, relying on stone-age weapons, struggles for survival against the hostile plants and animals infesting the jungles. Protruding from the forests are immense, miles-high 'spires' that once housed the Earth's 'genuine' humans, who moved to the stars eons ago. Now the spires, once the repositories of an advanced civilization comprised of millions of people, lie abandoned and coated with dust.

As the novel opens an astronaut named Ferrer Burgoyne lands atop one such spire; he has been sent from the colony world of Laredo with instructions to survey the state of the planet. Things do not go well for Burgoyne and he finds himself stranded on this steaming and fecund Earth, reliant on the aborigines for his life and welfare.

But Burgoyne can't wallow in self-pity, for Laredo, intent on colonizing the Earth, is going to spray the entire planet with a potent herbicide. Can Burgoyne and his allies stop the insidious plan for global extinction ? Time is running out............and the journey to the communications spire will be a hazardous one........

I'm not a fan of comedic sci-fi, so I found 'Earth in Twilight' to be underwhelming. In the novel's favor it's only 156 pages in length, which makes for a very quick read. But the need by the author to keep the gags and chuckles coming at a high rate of speed means that the plot has a frenetic quality, and I never felt much of a connection with any of the characters, the most interesting of which is a sentient amoeba (!?) with a nihilistic mindset (!?). When the story's denouement arrives, it is reasonably satisfying, but I finished 'Twilight' with no great desire to read Pichercia's other novels, particularly if they, like 'Twilight', are excursions into humor.

Summing up, if you are a fan of Robert Sheckley, Ron Goulart, and Douglas Adams, then you may find 'Earth in Twilight' entertaining. All others can pass on this novel. 

Huntsman from Bizarre Adventures

Huntsman

by Archie Goodwin (script), Michael Golden (art), and Steve Mitchell (inks)

from Bizarre Adventures No. 28, October 1981

During its run in the late 70s and early 80s Marvel Preview and Bizarre Adventures customarily published standalone, tryout stories. So it was that the October, 1981 issue gave us 'Huntsman', written by Archie Goodwin, with art and inks by Michael Golden and Steve Mitchell.

Goodwin borrowed elements from the 1976 film Logan's Run, with the 'huntsmen' substituting for the 'sandmen' who were featured in the film. For all that, the storyline holds together, and the artwork showcases lots of Zip-A-Tone, which I'm always fond of........

Tired of Slaving Over a Hot Stove ?

Tired of Slaving Over a Hot Stove ?

from the July, 1974 issue of National Lampoon

Litton Industries, Inc, introduced here yesterday a new microwave oven with a variable cooking control that matches power levels with various cooking tasks. It enables the user to vary power from 65 to 650 watts. The new counter top unit, produced by Litton's Microwave Cooking Products division, will carry a price tag of $469.

-The New York Times, September 20, 1974

In '74, microwave ovens still were too pricey for most households ($469 was a lot of money in 1974 dollars. A gallon of gas was 53 cents, a gallon of milk $1.57, and a first-class postage stamp 8 cents), but dropping prices would make them commonplace in many households by the decade's end.

Leave it to the National Lampoon to satirize this new cooking technology, in a gruesome fashion...........