I got a call today. Yes a phone call. In this world of comments on posts, e-mails, and IMs, I got a phone call from a friend of the blog and the podcast calling me on the carpet for some comments made on Geek Out Loud about Star Trek fans a.k.a. Trekkies. I feel I need to clear some things up.

First, I like Star Trek. I appreciate what it brings to the table for Science Fiction fans everywhere. William Shatner, Leonard Nemoy, DeForest Kelley, and the entire cast of the original series along with creator Gen Rodenberry opened the minds of science fiction fans, future engineers, and scientists to ideas about what could be beyond the boundaries of our atmosphere and what we as a race could accomplish if we pull together in spite of our perceived differences. Star Trek truly marks the beginning of the power of the geek that we enjoy in entertainment today. In fact, had it not been for Star Trek, there may very well have never been a Sci Fi channel, or some of the movies and television shows of the genre that we all know and love today.

The show, while short lived by the standards of today left a lasting mark on the culture of the nation. It spawned, as you most likely know, ten movies (with an eleventh coming next Summer), and gave way to four other Star Trek television shows. Truthfully, I have only been more than peripherally interested in one of the spin off shows, that being Voyager.

As a completely devoted Star Wars fan, I am honor bound by the codes of both Jedi and Sith, along with various mandates by the Galactic Republic, The Empire, The New Republic, The Galactic Alliance, and even Glorious Empire of the Vong to give Trekkies a hard time at every oppurtunity.

So, while I like Star Trek on an ok level, I do often feel compelled to poke a little fun at people who quote Shakespeare in Klingon and sit around and debate the validity of the Prime Directive.

And I know, I know, Trekkies can point to some Star Wars fans and make fun of them for dressing up, but to that I just say, I’ve never seen Star Wars fans carrying on conversations in Huttese or speaking Ewok, and while all of us have secretly attempted the Jedi mind trick on some friends, we’ve never walked up and overtly tried to mind meld. I’m just saying.

Finally, the caller made a point about his marital status. He’s married, and I’m single. Well, to that I say…

…

…

I like Star Wars.

Then there’s this…run, Enterprise, run…heh heh heh

He is the Sentinel of Liberty, a man out of time, he is a war hero, a superhero, and a legend. He is Captain America, and he is number 6 on my top ten favorite superheroes list.

Captain America is as iconic as Wonderbread. His shield is as iconic as the character. He’s American as jazz and comic books. He is the conscience of the Marvel Universe, and he can kick butt.

I’ve never been a fan of the “darker” super heroes. I’ve never liked the Punisher types who would consider killing the criminal bringing them to justice. However, a hero who struggles with doing the right thing in tough situations, a hero who inspires other heroes, a hero who will give his all to protect the weak and save the world, that’s the hero for me. Captain America is that hero.

Captain America had his start as the equivalent of war propaganda. A scrawny polio afflicted kid with a heart to serve his country was injected with a super secret super soldier serum. The serum’s formula was known to only one man who was killed by a spy right after administering the serum to young Steve Rogers. Thus it was that there would only be one super soldier…Captain America. Throughout World War II, Cap fought alongside the soldiers in the trenches and his sidekick Bucky Barnes, fighting the forces of the Axis powers and thrilling comic readers everywhere. As the war came to an end, though, there seemed to be no place for Captain America in the world of comics. But leave it to the duo of good ole’ Stan Lee and Jack “The King” Kirby to bring Cap back in a big way and turn him into a classic Marvel character complete with the internal struggle that the very human super heroes of the Marvel U all seem to possess.

In Avengers #4, readers were treated to the return of Captain America. We found out that a bomb that he jumped on to stop, when it exploded, killed his sidekick, and landed cap in icy arctic waters where he was frozen and thanks to the serum running through his veins was able to be revived. His return to the world after being thought dead for twenty plus years affected everyone. Cap most of all. Everyone he knew and loved had either grown old or died.

Dealing with this new time, and new ways of life, Cap did the one thing he knew how to do, he stepped up, he led, he became super again.

That’s Captain America, and that’s why he’s one of my top ten favorites.

Captain America stands for more than just the United States. He stands for doing the right thing. He stands for being the hero. In a day and age where so many people have become disenfranchised with America and the American dream, Captain America still believes that whether or not this is this greatest country in the world, we can still choose to be the greatest people in the world. He believes in people, he believes in his team, and he believes in doing what’s right no matter the cost.

Aside from the super soldier serum, Captain America has no super powers. The serum gives cap enhanced strength and reflexes, but other than that it’s almost simply an inoculation. He’s not bullet proof. He doesn’t have super speed or super strength. He does have a keen, resourceful mind, a resilient spirit, and the heart of the greatest generation. He puts himself in harms way and has found himself in situations of cosmic proportions. Every time he comes out the hero.

Then, there was Marvel’s Civil War.  Cap took the side of the non-registered heroes.  While there was a lot of debate over Marvel’s big crossover event, one thing was agreed on pretty much across the board.  Cap came down on the side of the angels.  Why?  Why would people not see Tony Stark’s side of things?  Why were the lawbreaking unregistered  heroes the good guys in that whole fiasco?  Well, there were some pretty shady things done by Tony Stark, Reed Richards and their side, but I also have to believe that Cap making the huge decision to turn his back on his country and go underground to keep doing what he does caused a lot of people to look and say, “These must be the good guys.”  Why?  Because Captain America does the right thing.  Period.

A leader, a hero, and a man committed to doing the right thing.  These attributes along with the resourcefulness of MacGuyver give Captain America the number 6 spot in my top ten countdown.  What do you think?  Is he worthy?

Sometimes I feel like Uncle Rico.  I want a time a machine to take me back to 1982.   Actually, I’d take a time machine to just about any point in the eighties.   I know the eighties gave us some pretty bad movies.  But the eighties also gave us some great movies.   I would list the good movies, but then I’d have to list the bad movies and the only reason I wrote that is because I know there had to be some.  (I tend to think that the nineties gave us bad sequels to good eighties movies.)

The thing about the eighties when it came to entertainment though, is nothing was off limits.  If a team could imagine it, then a company would make a cartoon out of it.  They threw EVERYTHING against the wall just to see what stuck.

While only a small handful of those cartoons (like the myriad of over-the-top action movies, silly comedies, and crazy science fiction movies) became icons that have stood the test of time, there was a lot of great fun to be had during what I feel is the glory days of cartoons.  Here’s a neat video I stumbled across on YouTube showing a nice portion of some eighties cartoons.  Some are more obscure than others, and they aren’t ALL represented, but the icons are there along with some that I don’t know.  So check it out:

In this episode, we focus on The Incredible Hulk and that awesome trailer we finally got.  We also focus in on some random geek outs thanks to your e-mails and comments.   The home of Geek Out Loud has moved to it’s own location on the web. 

A lot of links for this show:

For more information about Voltron click here

And here is Voltron on DVD for ya:

And here’s a link to that Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs thing. Click here for the wiki and here to watch the opening of the obscure television show, and let me know if you really think it’s the coolest theme song ever.

To watch Star Fleet click here and see what Thunderbirds meet Star Trek looks like.

Also, here a few products you may be interested in:

Don’t forget, Geek Out Loud has moved and you will have to resubscribe as soon, the podast won’t be posted here at geekoutonline.com for very much longer. So, click here to subscribe to the new feed of the podcast via iTunes.

To get your hands on some Incredible Hulk goodies, check out these products:

Standard Podcast [ 1:29:48 ] Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

IN BRIGHTEST DAY

IN BLACKEST NIGHT

NO EVIL SHALL ESCAPE MY SIGHT

LET THOSE WHO WORSHIP EVIL’S MIGHT

BEWARE MY POWER

GREEN LANTERN’S LIGHT!

With those words,  The Green Lantern charges his power ring and rushes into battle.  With his green light, he fights back the darkness of evil. 

The Green Lantern is cool to me on so many levels.  First, the cosmic-ness (Is that even a word?) of the character really appeals to the scifi fan in me.  Then there’s the power that I absoslutely have always enjoyed.   Finally, the staying power of, not only the character who is the Green Lantern, but the mantle of the Green Lantern itself gives the hero his iconic status.

There are two characters who have been the Green Lantern that work their way into my top ten.  Hal Jordan and Kyle Rayner.   Hal Jordan because of the old standard “I grew up with him.” Kyle Rayner because I always liked the internal struggle he brought to the character while at the same time bringing a certain “flare” to the power.

The Green Lanterns (as you probably know) derive their power from green rings that are bequeathed to them by little blue guys from the planet Oa that just happen to be the guardians of the universe. (I know, right?)  These guys find different people from different sectors of the galaxy/universe and give them the power of the Green Lantern (literally a big green lantern) to protect their sectors.  This aspect to the story opens up to the Green Lantern a scope of storytelling potential that breaks the bonds of earthly cops and robbers type stuff.   This type of storytelling, as I have said, really appeals to my love of all things sci fi and Star Warsy.  I love the different alien cultures we get introduced to, and I really enjoy some of the different Lanterns from across space….Kilawog…looking in your direction there.

Couple with the potential scope of stories, the neat power of the Green Lantern.  Here’s this ring that, with a thought and a little will power, will do just about whatever the wearer can imagine.  The ring provides flight, a protective aura so the user can survive in space, and can project a “hard light” type structure of green energy that can be used as a weapon or as protection.  I always liked this power.  Hal Jordan had a way of using simple things a lot and then pulling out something pretty cool every now and then.  One of his favorite shapes was the giant green fist he would use to knock out his opponents.  Then Kyle Rayner was given the power of the Green Lantern….things got ramped up.  Kyle, a starving artist, used his artistic abilities to do all kinds of things with his ring.   From fancy machines to cartoon characters to a giant head slurping flood waters up througha straw, I really enjoyed watching Kyle use his powers.

I always wanted one of those rings as a kid, and there are times in my adult days that when I wouldn’t mind having a green ring that I could use to do just about anything I could imagine.

The Green Lantern is one of the characters in the DC Universe that is readily recognizable.  Even people who aren’t aware of the intracacies of the character and may not even know his name, recognize the character.  This is due to several things including (but not limited to) The Challenge of the Superfriends which featured Hal Jordan as a regular character,  The Justice League cartoon, and even professional wrestling which a couple of years back featured Greg Helms who was a big fan of the Green Lantern.

While John Stewart gained some ground for the Green Lantern, I never really warmed up to the character.  Having grown up with Hal Jordan, and later following the exploits of Kyle Rayner, I missed the humor and (again) “flare” they brought to the team of the Justice League and the power of the Green Lantern.   So, for the purposes of this countdown, stick Kyle or Hal in there and you have my number 7 pick in my top ten favorite superheroes list.  

To check out some Green Lantern exploits, check out these trades: