Return of the 52-Week Illustration Challenge, Week 31

Week 31: Shakespeare

Charcoal sketch of Wil'yam Sheq'spir (and yorIq) on orange La Carta Weave textured paper. Detail in black and metallic gold finepoint Sharpie and opaque white Signo, using two Shakespeare images (found in a Google Image search), and enhanced by me with Klingon features. Klingon Chancellor Gorkon once stated, "You have not experienced Shakespeare until you have read him in the original Klingon..." ["Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country".]

Update:

Week 31: Shakespeare II

"Shakespeare's Globe, London." Watercolour and brown and black Sharpies, with white Puffy Paint and opaque Signo ink highlights. Based on my own photograph.

Kang in da house!

Kor to Kang: "I shall set you free, we shall have our revenge... and it shall be glorious!"

My latest "Star Trek" action figure, via a US penpal, due to its supposed rarity! This one was a US Toys R Us exclusive figure. I had one ordered from the website, but orders went unfilled while the short-packed Kangs were turning up on stores' pegs, but only at a ratio of one Kang per case of figures.

Qapla'!

Left: A meal fit for a Klingon. "Flame-grilled butcher's skewer", a signature dish at the Meat & Wine Co., Cockle Bay, Darling Harbour in Sydney. It literally drips its meaty juices over the French fries underneath.

Right: The Salmon of Doubt? My "Salmon skewer", also from the Meat & Wine Co. I trusted the chef's recommendation of medium rare, but it was a little too underdone higher up on the skewer. An impressive dish, nonetheless. A fishy alternative to the red meat version.

Klingon Kommercialism

I recently found this on Youtube. It dates back to the first-ever themed "Happy Meals" released by McDonald's in the USA, promoting "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"!

A Star Trek Adventure

Digging through some frame grabs to illustrate the last blog post, I realised I never did anything with this set after taking them off a TV screen with a borrowed video camera.

Universal Studios' "A Star Trek Adventure" started in the early 1990s and was a main attraction in a small stadium at the Los Angeles theme park, which taught audiences a bit about how filmmaking worked in Hollywood. It replaced a similar attraction that was based on the silent era and Vaudeville (with camera tricks, a somersaulting airplane cockpit, silly pratfalls and a custard pie fight), which I had seen in 1984.

In January 1992, I travelled to the USA again and saw "A Star Trek Adventure". The action was filmed on videotape, not necessarily in order, and automatically cut together on computer with existing stock footage from Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, to create a mini-movie with lots of silly moments, water stunts, and a running gag with the Klingon dialogue (one line from the Captain was translated to mean several different things). The finished video was available to buy on VHS after the show.

Traditionally, the cast for each session of "A Star Trek Adventure" was selected from attendees to the Studios' tour who rolled up very early to stand on line: the alien Preceptors, the Enterprise bridge extras, Starfleet engineers, landing party and the Klingon "puppy lizard" were all regular park visitors selected on the day. A few parts were for young children, including aome of the engineers and one to play the Klingon Captain's canine/reptilian pet (credited as the "puppy lizard"). I found out too late about the auditions, but four main Klingons were selected each session from the "studio audience".

I was excited to be one of the four men chosen. A Klingon growl-off decided who would be the Captain by measuring the applause from the audience. To my amazement, I actually won! A friend was videotaping me getting filmed so, I have the footage of me competing in the growl-off, plus the actual episode that was created.

Pretty cool, eh? It's fun to watch Kirk's distinctive ST III shirt switch back and forth with his ST II uniform. I really must learn how to upload to Youtube...

Free Maltz!

As I mentioned recently, I've uncovered a cache of old and fading videotapes from my ASTREX Star Trek club days. I've been without a VHS recorder/player for some years now - in this DVD age, when the VHS breaks doown one just... ignores it - but I bought a new VHS machine, hoping to find the time to make DVD copies. One day?

Meanwhile, here are some quick freeze frame images of me from the "Free Maltz" Star Trek fan film, as created, directed and produced by Ian McLean (and the Harpic Productions team) for the "Galactic Senate Elections" campaign at "Eccentricon", 5th National Australian Science Fiction Media Convention (3rd - 6th July, 1987). Maltz, of course, was originally portrayed by John Larroquette in "Star Trek III: The Search for Spock" (pictured left in the trio below), and was the only Klingon left alive at the end of that movie.



At the same time, I was studying for a university media course in a graduate diploma program, and we had to submit a short film to pass the course. I received permission to make this film instead, while my teaching colleagues did something more suited to primary (elementary) teaching. I also had to develop a script and storyboard. For a separate assignment, I did an illustrated procedure on how to make a life-mask out of plaster, which I had to do "for real" to make the Maltz latex forehead appliance.

My premise for this film, and to fit with Eccentricon's theme of the "Galactic Senate elections" being taken over by the anti-heroes, was that Maltz escaped from his Vulcan detention cell, ran away as fast as possible, hitched a ride back to the 20th century with Kirk and his crew ("Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home"), ran into an Eccentricon flier (advertising the Senate elections), caught a jet to Sydney, ran past various Sydney landmarks, and ran all the way to the convention. In other words, Maltz was running for election. It was the ultimate running gag:



Maltz behind bars on Vulcan. He is a Klingon of destiny...



... Saavik slips him a phaser; stock footage from ST IV on rear projection follow's Maltz's
escape to Earth and the 20th century, where a stray convention flier is found.



In the post-9/11 world, one could never get away with filming a rogue Klingon in a convict uniform in an International Air Cargo Terminal, but it was easy in 1987. (We asked permission and they just shrugged, "Sure!") Note the tiny figure, who has just emerged from inside the building, as indicated by the blue arrow. Thus, Maltz is "running" for the Galactic Senate.



Maltz is still running for the Galactic Senate. The yellow arrow indicates
an Eccentricon convention flier taped to the college sign.



Now Maltz runs into trouble with a 20th automobile - note the angry driver's
hand gestures; soon Maltz is again running for the Galactic Senate.



Maltz collapsed with exhaustion (not shown) as we fade to a promotional slide for the campaign; Maltz as Eccentricon compere, in footage of the convention coverage on the Nine Network's "Today" (6th July, 1987).



Maltz meets showbiz reporter Bob de la Lande from the "Today" morning show.

Maltz: I was a prisoner for three months in a Vulcan detention cell, but they let me out..."

Bob de la Lande: Ah, why?

Note that Maltz's unique calling card is a "Malt" cookie. We added the "Z" in black Texta.
People received them with all the "free maltz" (ie. malted milkshakes) they ordered/made donations to obtain.

So, did Maltz win the election? Nah, he came in third. But he did pronounce himself "Charity Queen" after raising the most money - by a huge margin - thanks to his hard-working election team's highly successful milkshake-making operation.

Trek fears

I have none for Star Trek XI, but it seems that there are still many who do.

I say to them, do you like "Lost"? I love it - and have great faith in JJ Abram's attention to detail and clever storytelling.

Have you seen the new "Transformers" movie? I haven't yet and was sure I'd hate it, not being a Transformers fan or collector of transforming robot toys, but friends who've just seen it are raving about how "geeky yet respectful" it is. The trailer looks amazing, and the movie is written by Alex Kurtzman & Roberto Orci, the new Star Trek movie writing team.

Do you like the music for "The Incredibles", "Mission: Impossible III" and "Lost"? The same composer, Michael Giacchino, has been signed up to score "Star Trek".

And George Lucas's ILM has been announced as the SPFX guys.

The new Trek film is gonna be cool.

I think I do have fears, though, for my IDW Star Trek comic collection. Although I'm really enjoying the new mini-series ("Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Space Between" and "Klingons: Blood Will Tell"), the multiple covers are driving me - and Kings Comics - crazy. Each issue comes in three - sometimes four - variant covers, and I decided I wanted to get only the art covers. The photo covers, which supposedly sell better in book stores than comic stores, are usually well-known publicity stills, so the new art on the drawn covers is usually far more compelling (to me).

However, the assortment is meant to be 50/50 of art/photo covers, with the rarer variants thrown in as bonuses for the comic store, for buying above a certain number of issues, to sell off at a higher premium. But now that Kings has downgraded their order, they are no longer being given that 50/50 split. Stock of issue #5 of "The Space Between" arrived only as Wesley Crusher photo covers and, so far, Kings' attempts to back order me an art cover is drawing (ha!) a series of blanks. Plus, there is no guarantee that the reorder will have an art cover; they might get sent more Wesley issues. Wah!

I do wonder how many Star Trek fans are madly collecting multiple issues of each comic to get all the cover variants. And how many gave up on the whole thing after issue #1.

Last night, on my way to the latest Star Trek Meet-up, I picked up the third issue of "Blood Will Tell" - art cover! - and it's fantastic! Review coming soon.

Lore and Order by Ian McLean

Professional Star Trek authors beware:

... a "Next Generation" fanzine story, in a poetic style that began to feel very reminiscent of Dr Seuss when I was originally composing it. First published in "Klingons over Kiron III", (c) November 1991. It seems somehow appropriate to reprint it in the week of The Cat in the Hat's 50th birthday - which was, coincidentally, the very same day as my brand new Lore action figure (from Diamond Select toys/Art Asylum) arrived from the USA!

LORE AND ORDER
'Twas a sparkling day on Kiron III *
And Lore was living high;
He'd made ten thousand credits, see,
He didn't have to try.
Lore, he was too clever,
The colonists were dim;
Yes, Lore, he pulled the lever,
And his puppets danced for him.

The colonists all brought their queries
On farming or construction.
They paid him well to hear his theories
On preventing crop destruction.
In every answer Lore did sell
There always was 'Plan B';
If people from Lore's favour fell,
He'd wreck their plans with glee.

Lore wrapped his plots in scientific guise,
The farmers never guessed
That the android with the yellow eyes,
Was Kiron III's worst pest!
A ladies' man was Mr Lore,
The women found him witty;
The menfolk, they could take no more.
Soong thought all this a pity.

That his android loved the good life,
Caused Doctor Soong to wonder
How to cope when Lore caused strife?
Soong's experiments went under!
His idea had been a good one -
To create a robot man;
But he gave the thing emotion
And Soong's troubles they'd began!

Lore, he had rejected 'Dad',
No father figure now;
"I will not let my son go bad",
The doctor made his vow.
Doctor Soong discussed his troubles,
The technician's name was Karl;
"Well catch him at his own game",
The man said with a snarl.

If they devised a riddle,
To which they knew the key;
They'd catch Lore in the middle,
The colonists set free
From Lore's manipulations,
And money-making schemes;
But Karl had other reasons:
The end of all Soong's dreams...


Illustration by Paul Beck, aka "Breeze".

For Karl, he was a Klingon spy,
Infiltrating Kiron III;
To steal the android he would try,
Technology for free!
His years of working for the Doc
Had helped him plan the feat:
To make the android's programs lock;
Karl's get-away was neat.

He walked in upon the android,
Who was busy making love;
The woman screamed, she looked annoyed,
Ran to the street above.
The android shook the bed-clothes free,
No fear he would allow;
"I know your plan's to challenge me.
Let's end it here and now!"

They paced each other 'round the floor,
Today would be the day;
If Karl could last ten minutes more,
A Klingon Bird of Prey
Would transport up the android, and
Leave orbit with its prize;
Then Lore began to crush his hand,
Karl could not believe his eyes!

Lore won by using all his strength,
Held the Klingon spy with ease.
Androids could go to any length -
"Your communicator, please..."
Imitating the Klingon's sound,
Lore admitted Karl's 'mistake',
Then smashed his skull into the ground,
One Klingon's life at stake.

And so Lore lived to lie again,
Men petitioned his creator;
Soong disassembled Lore and then
He manufactured Data.
"This new android won't love or hate;
Won't cause Lore's brand of terror.
His quest for knowledge will be great."
The Doc had learned his error.

By Ian McLean, 1991.

* otherwise known as Omicron Theta ("Datalore"). Planet first named Kiron III in David Gerrold's novelisation of "Encounter at Farpoint".

New directions for Star Trek

Will it be a "reboot", a "relaunch", or just an untold tale of a new beginning? It depends on individuals' interpretations of terms, I guess, but the ST BBSs are buzzing with the news that JJ Abrams has announced that he's definitely going to be directing the new Kirk & Spock-era Star Trek movie project his production company has been working on. Exciting stuff!

ABRAMS TAKES THE HELM OF 'STAR TREK'
By Tatiana Siegel

Feb 24, 2007
"The Starship Enterprise finally has a new captain.

"After months of speculation, J.J. Abrams has signed on to direct the next installment of the 'Star Trek' feature franchise, sources said late Friday. 'Star Trek XI' revolves around a young James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, chronicling their first meeting at Starfleet Academy and their first space mission.

"Abrams, the prolific co-creator/executive producer of 'Lost' and director of 'Mission: Impossible 3' has been developing the project through his Paramount-based Bad Robot shingle as a producer and writer. But Abrams never committed to directing the project until Friday evening, when the deal was finalized, sources say. Abrams reps at WMA declined comment on the matter." (The Hollywood Reporter)

Not everyone races to an Internet glossary of terms when they hear "reboot" and/or "relaunch" being bandied about by the media and the fans so, for some, this "reboot" simply implies that TOS is back after 40 years, and with different, young actors. For others, it sounds like various canonical facts from TOS may be reshaped or tweaked by the new project, such as has happened with TOS-Remastered. For others, it's the end of the universe as they know it, because a new movie with young Kirk and Spock means a possibility of a whole new Kirk 5YM feature films, telemovies, TV series or holodeck interactives one day attempting to overshadow TOS.

I'm excited by whatever comes of the upcoming Abrams' project, reboot or no reboot. I'm enjoying "Lost" very much, and if he can bring that fun, complex storytelling, likeable characters and SPFX to ST, and have more people anticipating new ST adventures again, I'm all for it.

William Shatner is supposedly excited about the new film, and has had talks with Abrams about how the story might be shaped. Shatner, and Leonard Nimoy, have a measure of contractual approval on the actors who will portray young Kirk and Spock. Shatner (with the Reeves-Stevens) also has his own "Starfleet Academy" novel series coming out with Pocket Books, so the two projects will buoy each other along.

Meanwhile, IDW Publishing is advertising the forthcoming Star Trek comic mini-series, "Klingons: Blood Will Tell", with a very nice 45cm x 60cm poster (below) featuring Joe Corroney's cover art for issue #1, due April 2007. (If I recall correctly, the issue of the comic that will have this particular artwork is actually a storekeeper's exclusive. They only get one copy per 10 regular issues ordered; even more exclusive is the same issue without words obliterating the artwork.) Issue #1 will also be available translated into the Klingon language.

I may stick with the regular art cover and try to cajole a free poster from my local comic shop.

I've got it covered. I think.

Mark Martinez has set up web pages cataloguing all the new "Star Trek" comics being published by IDW Publishing.

Wow. It's getting harder and harder to decide which cover version to go with for each issue. When issue #1 of "The Space Between" was imminent, I told my comic shop I'd be getting art covers, not photo covers. They did have the retailer incentive covers when I called in to collect my issue, but they hadn't priced those yet, so I was happy to go with the regular one.

For "Blood Will Tell" #1, I really like the first retailer incentive cover, which is the one IDW had been using to promote the mini-series in recent weeks, but I much prefer the Kor photo cover for the Klingon Language Variant than the incentive red-foiled logo cover.

Mmmm, decisions, decisions. I'm afraid my ST collection reached critical mass again a few years ago, so I really can't afford the luxury of (moving house again or) buying four and more copies of every issue just to say I have every cover in my collection.

Isn't also a tad wasteful for IDW to commission so much artwork and then make it so exclusive? I thought these comics would look great, side by side, on the shelves at my local comic store, but standing orders must have exceeded the size of their shipment because none of the issues of #1 even made it to the shelves, as far as I noticed.

On the sixth day of Christmas

While cleaning up some file boxes in the garage this week, I found a batch of my "Star Trek" movie scripts, which I haven't seen since I moved house in 2000. I'd forgotten that I owned three versions of the ST III script, in addition to Harve Bennett's slim bootlegged premise, ST III: "Return to Genesis".

But in the so-called FIRST DRAFT script of "ST III: The Search for Spock", dated March 23, 1983 -- well after the Romulan crew of "Return to Genesis" has officially morphed into a Klingon crew -- Mr Bennett has this to say about the controversial makeup change from TOS:

"Present are the 1ST LORD of the Klingons, and his command staff. The variety of Klingons will be fully explored. Elders have been seen in STAR TREK I. Forehead bumps are marks of age and wisdom, not common. What is common is that they are a dark race of large and frightening appearance."

The "elderly" Klingon idea has obviously been nixed by the REV. FINAL DRAFT script of September 13, 1983, because Valkris wears a half-veil to hide her own bumps, and Captain Kruge is described as a "handsome but frightening presence, and relative youth".

(Since those early days, of course, we've seen Alexander, Worf's son in "The Next Generation" series, as a toddler with a matching bumpy forehead to his Dad's. Then we had Worf's enigmatic comment in DS9's "Trials and Tribble-ations", and a two-part explanatory episode about the origins of smooth-foreheaded Klingons in "Star Trek: Enterprise".)

The early script also specifies a flotilla of Klingon heavy cruisers, and Kruge's cloakable Romulan Bird of Prey that "Trek buffs will recognize" from its "distinctive bird & wing motif". After they watch the Bird of Prey turn visible, the script goes on:

1ST LORD: What is this? None of you knew?

3RD LORD (hastily): It is his toy, sir. A Romulan prize. He has perfected their Cloaking Device.

1ST LORD: Commander Kruge, I want you here... Now!

INT. BIRD OF PREY BRIDGE - ON KRUGE

KRUGE: Always your servant, my Lord.

(He turns and CAMERA reveals his CREW, the most awesome collection of large, cruel and piratical men since the Pittsburgh Steelers of the Seventies. We will see more of them later.)

KRUGE: Well, my jolly lads, a few more triumphs like this and we'll all be back in prison.

(then turning)

Try to behave yourselves while I'm gone.

My take on it all? I reckon this Kruge probably should have had a Klingon parrot on his shoulder (but perhaps the lizard/dog from the REV. FINAL script ate it?)

A major character difference is the addition of vulcanoid (Romulan?) defector, Galt, who essentially fills the role taken by Maltz the Klingon in the final film. Galt is actually welcomed back to Vulcan by Sarek at the end of the movie.

Towards the end, instead of the REV. FINAL DRAFT and FINAL SHOOTING script version of Kirk saying to Kruge, "I... have had... enough... of you!" the FIRST DRAFT script has Kruge saying, "The last face you see, Kirk. The last face you ever see."

He then grabs Kirk in a choke hold, they struggle, and Kirk seems doomed - but when the zombie-like Spock grabs Kruge from behind, Kirk is able to break free, retrieve the Klingon dagger and throw it into Kruge's back. Then he asks Galt to beam them up, abandoning several remaining Klingons to their fate on the doomed Genesis.

Bennett's script notes also say: "The writer suggests to the producer and director that no acting credit be given for the role of SPOCK until the END CREDITS. (And that's what they actually did. There's a blank space in the opening credits of ST III, where Nimoy's acting screen credit should normally be.)

Cool, eh? Anyway, here are today's Christmas ornaments:

Above left: For 1996, the Coca-Cola polar bear mascot, sitting in the stocking to chug down his Coke straight from the bottle, was bought just after that Christmas, from a countertop display in a roadhouse (on the way to wherever I was holidaying in January 1997). Marvin the Martian, from "Looney Tunes", was a Hallmark boxed ornament. He has a Santa sack of (Acme?) dynamite over his shoulder and is, no doubt, trying to clear his view of Venus for Christmas. As Marvin would say, "Isn't that lovely?" Purchased from Grace Bros. in Roselands.

Above right: For 1995, the cute mouse on a swing has a hard head and a soft, stuffed body. He's actually standing up on a swing, and the swing's rope is what attaches to the tree. Another purchase from the Lakemba pharmacy/newsagency. The haloed angel cow is made of some form of clay and looks like it's been homemade, but was from Grace Bros. in Roselands.