View Obscura

  Star Trek Tridimensional Chess Set Prop Replica : $144.99 @ Entertainment Earth - Order Here

Like many science fiction fans, I developed a lifelong love of the genre after being introduced to Star Trek as a child. My older cousin Rick, an avid fan himself, persuaded me to watch the show. The first episode I saw was “Arena,” which featured a fight between Captain Kirk and a Gorn captain orchestrated by an unseen alien race. As a young boy fascinated by dinosaurs, I was initially drawn in by the reptilian Gorn. However, it was the intelligent writing and compelling storylines that kept me coming back for more. The show's spirit of adventure and exploration matched my own longing to travel beyond my backyard. What six-year-old doesn't dream of piloting a starship across the vast expanse of space? After that first taste, I was hooked, becoming a devoted Trekkie and sci-fi enthusiast for life. Although the show had a loyal fan following during its initial prime-time run, Star Trek never achieved strong ratings. NBC, the network that aired it, frequently changed the show...

 About a decade ago I was in a comic book shop when I stumbled upon a folder with several photographs from the original Star Trek television series. The owner of the store told me that he acquired the images in the 90s as part of a collection of items that belonged to a man who worked for a production company that did work for the show. Included in that collection were also some props and episode scripts that were sold years prior, the photographs were all that remained.  I was eager to add these photos to my ever growing collection of memorabilia and the store owner just wanted to get rid of them. Luckily for me, no one had ever shown any interest in the photos so I was able to purchase them for next to nothing. Over the years I have speculated that the images, which were taken from actual episodes as opposed to being staged publicity shots, were probably used in the series of Star Trek Fotonovels that were published in the late 1970s.  Star Trek Fotonovels were a series...

 Tonight I wanted to share one of my favorite photographs that I took of a couple of horseback riders at the base of Vasquez Rocks neat Aqua Dulce, California . If these unique rock formations look familiar to you it's probably because this location just north of Hollywood has been used in literally hundreds of movies and television series. The first time that I ever saw Vasquez Rocks on television was in the episode 'Arena' of Star Trek . Being such a huge Trekkie I was thrilled to be able to explore around the location where Captain Kirk fought the Gorn.  A quick search of IMDB shows that there are a total of 477 movies and television shows that have used Vasquez Rocks as a filming location from Star Trek and Blazing Saddles to The Flintstones Movie. It's a truly amazing place that I recommend you visit if you get the chance. Check Out: Calico Ghost Town California Days are back February 18-19, 2023 An Afternoon At Calico Ghost Town - Yermo, California Beautiful Cal...

Tonight while I was going through some of my files I stumbled upon a group of images of some lobby card and poster designs I created for my online store Atomic Robot Comics (previously View Obscura Comics). I used to sell  prints of these in sizes from 8 x 10 inches to 24 x 36 inches. They actually sold quite well but when my family moved I couldn't find a local printer so that part of my business simply went away. Recently I did find a new printing company but after a four year absence I found that there wasn't much of a market for these anymore so I never added them back to the store. I had a lot of fun creating these and I chose some of my favorite movies as subject matter. On of my favorites is a Creature From The Black Lagoon lobby card that I created from some of the elements the original lobby set that Universal produced in 1954 combined with an publicity image I had. To add some style to the piece I included a green and black rendering of a photo that the late actor Be...

 Kahn and Kirk are at it again and it takes the quick wits of Yakko, Wakko and Dot to save the Enterprise and it's crew. Star Truck was part of the 77th episode of Animaniacs that included segments entitled This Pun for Hire, Go Fish and The Multiplication Song which aired November 4th, 1995. Over the original run of Animaniacs the show's creators produced several well conceived parodies of Star Trek and its actors, namely William Shatner. After Kahn uses poison gas to knock out the crew of the Enterprise the Warner siblings use a secret weapon even Kirk didn't know about, a giant mallet that crushes the enemy ship like a cockroach under a Buster Brown. That little gizmo would have come in handy versus the Romulans, Klingons, Gorn, Tholians, colorful spinning cubes, giant hands, space Nazis and so on. Hey Bill, why don't you sing us out: Check Out: Great Cartoon of the 90s: Pinkey and The Brain in Bubba Bo Bob Brain A Retro Saturday Morning Special: The Top Ten Clas...

20. Sky High (TV Series)(2003-2004) Sky High is a live-action, supernatural Japanese television drama series, starring actress and model, Yumiko Shaku. It aired in Japan, first run, from 2003 to 2004, and was popular enough to spawn the 2003 feature film of the same name (produced while the series was still in production and starring the same actress). Both are based on the Japanese manga, Sky High. Shaku stars as Izuko, the Guardian of the Gate to the afterlife. READ MORE 19. You Really Haven't Lived Until You've Seen The Japanese Spider-Man TV Show This version of the famous web-slinging hero was part of a deal that Marvel made with Toei, namely that for a four-year period, Toei could use Marvel's characters in any way they saw fit. So in 1978, a Spider-Man tokusatsu series was produced for Japanese television by Toei Company Ltd. While Spider-Man's costume was certainly based on the original, the storyline had nothing to do with the Marvel character. The series had...