Thursday, December 10, 2009

Into The Void...

Back at the beginning of November, I was feeling really down. And, as I tend to do when I'm in a funk, I was looking for a diversion, something that would take my mind off of my problems for a little while. And the diversion I chose were my DVDs of Space: 1999.

I've written about my ongoing love affair with 70s science fiction occasionally in my personal blog, and whenever I did, it usually garnered a few positive comments from other nostalgic individuals. It's a subject that's obviously near 'n dear to my heart and it occurred to me as I was rewatching Martin Landau and company's titanic struggles against a hostile universe that it might be fun to gather all my previous writings on the subject, along with some other observations about the genre, in one place. Earlier this year, I started a blog about one of my other pop culture obsessions - Sixties spy-fi - and enjoyed having a dedicated venue to write about the topic, so it seemed a good idea to start one about Seventies sci-fi, too.

Also, I was inspired, in part, by artist/comics blogger Rob Kelly, who maintains a bunch of comics and pop culture blogs of his own, including the great Aquaman Shrine, The Phantom Stranger blog, a Power Records blog and even a site devoted to M*A*S*H (among others!). In fact, it was his blog All in Black & White for 75 Cents that originally inspired my own crime comics blog (which I don't update nearly enough) a couple of years ago.

In any case, Rob manages to juggle all these sites and even refers to them as the "Rob Kelly Family of Blogs." With his unknowing inspiration (so don't blame him), I decided there was no reason for me not to start another blog, and so, I did (and thus was born the "Atomic Pulp Network" of blogs!).

Hence, Space: 1970. Not necessarily the greatest of titles, I admit, but as it was Gerry Anderson's TV epic that triggered the idea, it seemed appropriate and didn't require too much explanation. This blog started with a few posts recycled from my old DVD review columns and my personal blog, but I was pleased with the way the site turned out, and was soon knocking out some new, nostalgic posts.

I must have struck a celestial chord with someone - this blog has picked up readers faster than any of my other online efforts. Apparently you folks miss the days of unabashed, non-ironic interstellar adventures, with their robots, rayguns and square-jawed space cowboys, too.

So anyway, thanks for joining me on my nostalgia trip. I've got a lot more memories to explore and share, and I appreciate the company. And don't hesitate to share your own 70s sci-fi memories in the comments. To paraphrase the publicity material for Space: 1999 back in '76:

"The future was fantastic!"

5 comments:

  1. Damn, now you just made me subscribe to two more of your blogs I didn't even know about!

    Thanks so much for Space:1970 and congrats on its success. The stuff you cover here is the kind of stuff we love and we know others love and remember, but it's not like "Jason of Star Command" or the Mattel Eagle come up often in conversation. Nostalgia is a great thing to share, and it's nice to have someone else put forth the effort to trigger those memories unexpectedly.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Christopher your blog has brought back alot of fond memories, and the desire to go find some of my old favorites on DVD! Please keep up the great work! or as Twiggy would say,"bdbdbdbd"

    ReplyDelete
  3. Sweet idea, glad to be an inadvertent inspiration!

    ReplyDelete
  4. "The Future WAS Fantastic!"
    Funny, I've been using THAT for 40s-50s sf/fantasy at...
    http://logo.cafepress.com/0/8088701.3740580.jpg for several years!

    Isn't it interesting that, even though ITC upped the budget for 1999's Year 2, the promo brochure was HALF the size of the one for Year 1!

    http://atocom.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete