Site of the Week -- March 15, 1999
rgon Zark! is an online graphic novel that blasts all its competition into oblivion. The site's centerpiece is a sharply drawn "virtual comic book" that chronicles the adventures of Argon Zark, a computer geek, inventor and all-around fun guy. In the first episode, Zark invents a device that allows him--along with his new friend Zeta Farlight and his robot pal Zybert--to teleport into the Web a la Tron. Once there he and his cohorts run into the horrific monster Bad Nasty Jumpjump, who proceeds to chase them through cyberspace.
What separates Argon Zark! from the rest of the online comic books is its crisp graphics, fun story and snappy dialogue (which is filled with running jokes and science fiction movie references). The artwork also loads quickly considering the content, something that's not often true of similar endeavors. Site creator Charley Parker, a confessed Mac fanatic and computer artist, has created a project that the comic big boys at Marvel and DC could learn a thing or two from.
-- Kenneth Newquist
Site of the Week -- March 8, 1999
t may have started by going where no "man" had gone before, but women have always played an important role in Star Trek too. The Trek Women Web site documents that role, from the mysterious Number One in "The Cage" to Voyager's de-Borged Seven of Nine.
Trek Women treats its subjects like queens, with biographies, Star Fleet career overviews, memorable quotes, images and sound files. It lists most of the female characters that appeared in the four Trek TV series as well as the various motion pictures.
Trek Women's strongest coverage is of the original series, where almost every female character has a detailed entry. The number of entries declines with the newer shows, but most of the principal characters are covered. And rather than just serving up sterile character descriptions, the site's creator writes the reviews from the point-of-view of supervisors and friends. It's a nice touch that makes the site more than just a dry collection of lists and pictures.
-- Kenneth Newquist
Site of the Week -- March. 1, 1999
ooking for a good book? The Reader's Robot can help. The robot--a database-driven Web site--presents visitors with several lists of books and movies. The choices span the speculative fiction spectrum from Robert Heinlein's Stranger in a Strange Land to Ursula K. Le Guin's The Dispossessed: An Ambiguous Utopia.
After visitors choose the titles they like (or recognize), the robot consults its database of more than 400 science fiction novels and comes back with reading recommendations. Visitors who select books they know will get back a list of related novels by that author as well as a few titles they may not have heard of before.
Visitors can also search through the robot's database or browse its lists of books by genre. The larger Reader's Robot site includes similar sections for fantasy, horror, mystery and other genres. All of the robot's reviews are written by visitors, so the success of the site ultimately rests on the willingness of users to keep contributing.
-- Kenneth Newquist
