t is simple, but rich, sort of like shortbread cookies. This site makes little attempt at sleek design, but instead confidently relies on its seemingly inexhaustible data cache of ray gun images, cultural analysis, references and tidbits. Don't be fooled by the simple layout and bargain-basement Xmas color scheme: the site is far more sophisticated than it looks.
Site proprietor and scribe Gene Metcalf is as serious and pure-hearted about ray guns as the Amish are about farming. His site is not merely a virtual merchandise case against which visitors can smash their noses to get a peek at the slinky Strato Gun. Metcalf lucidly delivers quasi-dissertations on the social environments that have given birth to each ray gun generation. As he sagely implies, ray gun forms are less based on the projection of present-day technologies into the future than they are manifestations of our fears and hopes of the future.
General ray gun edification begins with a lengthy, but pithy, introduction. From there visitors can investigate a variety of topics, equally well-illustrated and equally well-essayed: the '30s and '40s (Buck Rogers and Flash Gordon); the '50s and '60s (Tom Corbett, Space Patrol); Japanese ray guns; European ray guns; holster sets; ray gun box art; accessories (e.g., helmets); and references. There is also a section of the site dedicated to horse trading--visitors can put items up for sale or post wish lists. And proving that even the maven doesn't know everything, one section of the site houses images of mystery ray guns. Visitors in the know are encouraged to write Metcalf and identify these enigmatic pieces.
Version 2.0 coming soon...
Metcalf's site is rather unusual. At this date, there is no site other than his so singularly dedicated to ray guns, so insightfully written, and so thoroughly illustrated with an ever-increasing catalog of images. Although the mother lode of ray gun and ray gun-related images alone would make this site an absolute must for aficionados, it is Metcalf's thoughtful essays and histories that put it all in context. This would set his site head and shoulders above its competitors, if it had any.
As informative and comparatively exhaustive as this site is, it is incomplete. Not every entry is accompanied by its own blurb, which seems to be part of this site's mission. But it is hard to fault the site for that. Clearly, this is a labor of love wrought by intelligent, skilled hands. No doubt there is more information to come, and visitors must be patient. A site this large and ambitious does not emerge fully formed; it adds to its library continuously, cataloging its backlog patiently.
Aside from the middle-of-the-road design values, this site is close to reaching its apparent ambition to be the most comprehensive and detailed ray gun resource on the Web. Visitors should be warned that the information here is too expansive to be easily ingested at one sitting, making this site is a rare treat on the Web: a non-professionally-produced page so thorough and comprehensive that it demands multiple visits.
