Site of the Week -- Nov. 20, 2000
he Crater Kid is a Web-based comic strip that hearkens back to the
good old days of science fiction, when young kids could save the universe
and heroes could blow away alien species without worrying about possible
ecological fallout from their pulsar pistols.
The Kid’s a space-hopping, pint-sized Flash Gordon who’s been
snatched from his home and transported to a distant planet. With the help of
Diz, a beatnik alien scientist, and The Sponge, a floating brain, he battles
the forces of evil while learning right from wrong.
The strip’s saturated with a Beat generation feel, from its retro artwork to
its hipster dialogue. The series draws its inspiration from Space
Patrol and other 1950s sci-fi staples, and revels in the black-and-white
values of that earlier time.
The site includes an extensive archive of back issues, printable
pen-and-paper games and a mailing list that’ll drop the Kid’s latest saga
in any web surfer's inbox.
-- Kenneth Newquist
tar Wars fans who wish Yoda had been talking about them when he said
“no--there is another” can finally locate their doppelgangers in that galaxy far, far
away thanks to the “Find Your Star Wars Twin” page.
The page uses a 48+ question quiz to determine which Star Wars
characters the visitor most closely resembles. The questions--which are
based on a standard psychology test--revolve around each participants’
perception of himself and a close friend. It asks them to agree or
disagree with statements such as “I see myself as someone who is talkative” or
“is full of energy.” The quiz takes 5-10 minutes to complete, and at its
end a page appears introducing participants to their “twins.”
Possible matchups include Grand Moff Tarkin (“a highly organized leader
with a keen eye for detail, he occasionally misses a small but crucial
detail”), Wicket (“particularly curious, inventive, and resourceful”),
Tuscan Raiders (“unpredictable, temperamental, and excitable”), Princess
Leia, Luke Skywalker and the rest of the Star Wars pantheon.
-- Kenneth Newquist
Site of the Week -- November 6, 2000
cience Fiction Fact of the Day strives to prove that the truth is much
weirder than fiction. And it manages to succeed.
Each day the site features an article with all sorts of obscure and strange
trivia about shows like Star Trek, Babylon 5 and Doctor
Who. How strange? Most fans know Jeffrey Hunter played Captain
Christopher Pike in the original Star Trek pilot. But unless they’re
die-hards, they probably don’t know that his wife kept him out of the series
because she thought science fiction would torpedo his career. Or that he
tried--and failed--to get the role of architect-dad Mike Brady on The
Brady Bunch. Or that he died at age 42 shortly after being injured in an
onset explosion for his last movie, Viva América.
The site’s is strictly a no-frills affair--there’s no archive of past
features, and messages are posted to its mailing list on an infrequent
basis. These drawbacks aside, its stories are interesting, and it does
provide a nice 30-second diversion from the real world.
-- Kenneth Newquist
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