Benjamin Sisko: Starfleet's Finest Officer

As a Star Trek fan I am all too familiar with the eternal debate of Kirk versus Picard. Every fan seems to have their own particular argument on the subject and can give a lengthy diatribe to those who differ in opinion. But I believe that the greatest of Starfleet captains is in fact neither of these two gentlemen. The greatest captain of the Starfleet saga is Benjamin Sisko, captain of the Defiant and commanding officer of the Bajoran space station Deep Space Nine.

To get the most obvious factor out of the way I will just state the obvious. Captain Sisko is a black man. While Star Trek has always been about diversity, very few minorities ever seem to be depicted in the captain’s chair in both the original series and Next Generation. Aboard the Enterprise D the chain of command is two white guys and an android before we get to our first African American officer.

Another thing that gives Sisko additional reverence as an officer is, besides the responsibility of command, Benjamin is also a father. Neither Kirk or Picard ever had to deal with the burden of children while making their command decisions. Captain Sisko keeps the peace among a large and mutli-cultured space station and still has time to cook dinner for his son, as he is a single parent.

More than just being a Starfleet Officer, Benjamin Sisko has an even more important role. He is the Emissary of the Prophets. For those unfamiliar with the series, Deep Space Nine is located in the Bajoran star system. The Bajorans are a deeply religious people and they worship a group of celestial beings known as the Prophets. When Benjamin Sisko takes command of the station many of the Bajorans believe he is the Emissary of the Prophets, an individual important to their belief system. He is essentially a messianic figure. While Picard was briefly believed to be a god by a race of primitive people, that misunderstanding was quickly corrected.

While commanding the Enterprise is an impressive feet, being the flagship of the Federation, Deep Space Nine sits at the mouth of a Wormhole. A wormhole, for the uninitiated, is a hole in space that can bridge great distances in space. In Star Trek mythology it is the only stable one in existence and connects the Alpha quadrant to the distant Gamma quadrant. This makes Captain Sisko’s role as an administrator much more important as the station becomes a busy hub for people wanting to explore and trade in this newly discovered area of space.

Dominion troops

And it turns out that the Gamma quadrant is home to a warlike society known as The Dominion. This makes Benjamin Sisko’s military role that much more important as Deep Space Nine is the beach head for any invasion from The Dominion who seek to conquer the Alpha quadrant as well.

As a final cherry on top of the sundae to show Ben’s amazing leadership skills, Captain Sisko is not just in charge of Deep Space Nine but also captain of the Starship Defiant. The Defiant is an advanced design warship and the only Starfleet vessel that has a cloaking device. It’s main duties are to protect the station, but it has been used for exploration missions as well. No other Captain in the Star Trek series has ever received the honor of two commands at once, but somehow Benjamin Sisko receives such an honor.

"What about me?"

As long as there is Star Trek, I am confident that the debate between Kirk and Picard will never die. But as I have demonstrated in the preceding paragraphs one needs to give consideration to the accomplishments of Benjamin Sisko.

Millionaires: Heroes or Villains

Now the title of this blog entry is not meant to be a criticism of the wealthy. In actuality it is a criticism of the world of comics. It seems in comic books there are no millionaires simply content with making a profit. They are always either costumed vigilantes or criminal masterminds. Are those the only options for the economically prosperous in the world of comics?

I’m sure many who read this think I am putting too much thought into the subject and you’re probably right. Comic books are escapist fantasy so of course anyone who inhabits the fantasy would not be ordinary. In a world full of super heroes and villains, people are going to drift towards a side.

So maybe a better question is what makes a character of wealth choose to be either a good guy or bad guy? What makes a Bruce Wayne as opposed to a Lex Luthor? As established in the original continuity, both Lex Luthor and Bruce Wayne suffered traumas at a young age. Bruce Wayne, as everyone should know by now, saw his parents violently gunned down in front of him. Not quite as traumatic, but still a trauma, Lex Luthor was caught in an explosion that resulted in the permanent loss of his hair. This accident drove him mad and he devoted his life to trying to destroy the person he felt responsible, Superboy (later Superman).

More so than some deep-seeded tragedy it seems like millionaires become super heroes and villains out of a sense of boredom. Being a member of the idle rich can be tedious and while existing in a world of costumed individuals these socialites and debutantes must at some point think “If he/she can do it, why can’t I?” Such notable individuals are Ted Kord (Blue Beetle), Daniel Dreiberg (Nite Owl), Oliver Queen (Green Arrow), Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias), Wilson Fisk (Kingpin), the list goes on.

Perhaps the most famous wealthy super hero who is a hero almost out of boredom is Tony Stark, aka Iron Man. Initially in the comics, Tony Stark creates the Iron Man suit as a way to stay alive after being struck by pieces of shrapnel dangerously close to his heart. He also uses the armor as a means to escape his captors. But beyond that there really is nothing to further motivate Tony Stark to continue his heroic crusade. His true motivation is that the Iron Man armor is basically the coolest toy on the block. It is the ultimate one man weapons system. Who wouldn’t want a toy like that?

"Wait, I can't get GreenGoblin on Twitter?"

The motivation for being a super villain is much less interesting. For the most part it is greed, plain and simple. Greed and power, which is usually just a means to gain more greed and power, an endless self perpetuating cycle. Doctor Doom, Norman Osborn (Green Goblin), The Penguin, and countless others are constantly seeking ways to expand their own wealth and influence on the world.

It seems as if it is human nature to seek out adventure and excitement beyond our own boring lives. To seek the spotlight and be a leader of men. In our world that leads to the wealthy becoming politicians (and actually Lex Luthor did run and win the Presidency in the comics). In the world of comics, they become heroes and villians.

Lightning: What Can’t it Do?

Electricity. It is one of the greatest discoveries in human history and has allowed us to do so much (for example, power the device you’re reading this blog on). And nothing is a better example of the primal power of electricity than the lightning bolt. Ancient people developed belief systems around it. Nearly forty people in the United States are killed by it every year. It is a powerful force of nature. But when lightning is taken from the real world into the fictional, it gains strange new abilities that seem to be unlimited.

 

The easiest hero to associate with lightning is The Flash. Not only does this character use lightning as his symbol, but also a lightning strike figures directly into the origin of the character. I am of course referring to Barry Allen, the second Flash, and probably the version of the character that is most well known. Barry Allen was a police forensic scientist who while working in his lab is doused with a variety of chemicals and is struck by lightning. This mixture of chemicals and electricity grants Barry super speed. Inspired by Jay Garrick, the original Flash, Barry becomes the new Flash.

Barry Allen would go on to establish a legacy of Flashes. His nephew, Wally West, would experience a similar accident to Barry and take on the identity of Kid Flash. After Barry Allen sacrifices his life during Crisis on Infinite Earths, Wally picks up the mantle of the Flash and honors Barry’s legacy. Barry’s grandson Bart Allen, who inherited his grandfather’s speed, would also take on the mantles of Flash and Kid Flash. Many more of his descendants would also carry on the Flash legacy. All this from just one little lightning strike.

It sometimes seems like in the world of comic books that lightning is almost magic. Or maybe it IS magic. The hero Captain Marvel (DC’s not Marvel’s), another hero whose symbol is a lightning bolt, in reality is actually young orphan Billy Batson. Billy was chosen by the ancient wizard Shazam to be earth’s mightiest mortal. Whenever Billy says the word “Shazam” he is struck by lightning and transforms into Captain Marvel. And like the Flash, Captain Marvel also has a legacy of heroes with Mary Marvel and Captain Marvel Jr., both of whom are powered by the same mystical lightning. 

More than just giving people super powers, lightning seems to have the power to even bring the dead back to life. I’m sure we are all familiar with the tale of Frankenstein. If you haven’t read the book you’ve probably seen one of the dozens of film adaptations or, in my case, one of the many graphic novel retellings of the tale. The character of Doctor Frankenstein and his monster (often mistakenly called Frankenstein by the uninformed) has become a pop culture icon. And in almost all versions of the story, the key ingredient to reanimating the helter-skelter assortment of body parts is a lightning bolt.

Since this entire blog entry is about lightning, I feel I must give mention to the most famous lightning scene in cinematic history. The lightning strike in Back to the Future. Once again a bolt from the heavens is the solution to our heroes’ problem. Using information from the future, Marty McFly and Doc Brown are able to power the time machine with a strategically harnessed lightning strike that will power the flux capacitor. While there is nothing magical or superhuman about this lightning bolt, in fact they are utilizing the lightning as electricity, it is an important plot device, which is a magical thing for fiction writers.

"Batman don't need no lightning"

The world of fiction takes many liberties with the properties of the natural world to suit the purpose of storytelling. Things are embellished and exaggerated for the purpose of grandeur and entertainment. It makes perfect sense that such a raw power as lightning would gain just as sanctified a position in a world populated by amazing beings, god like humans and impossible science.

New Blog Schedule

Due to an increase in work (which is actually a good thing) I am switching my blog from three entries a week to just two entries a week. I will now be updating the blog on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Nothing else about the blog will change. The new entries will still contain my usual amount of geeky obsession and overanalyzing.

Continuity: The Most Powerful Word in Comics

For those who don’t read comics, “Continuity” refers to the shared reality in which various characters from a particular publisher share a combined world and history. Basically it means that if one issue of a title says a particular hero or villain died, then other characters in that same continuity will acknowledge that fact in their own titles. It’s basically how things stay organized in the world of comics.

Now while continuity is considered rather rigid and sacred among fans and readers, the publishers who create such continuity seem to have no such respect. In my long career as a comic book fan I have seen numerous changes to continuity on both a company wide and individual character basis. Everything I thought I knew about a character’s history was completely wiped out in a single issue.

The worst offender of the continuity revamp is DC Comics. DC has completely revamped their continuity four times in the last thirty years. The first instance was in 1986 with the mega-crossover Crisis on Infinite Earths. In this storyline, DC went about streamlining its multiple separate continuities into one coherent universe. Prior to this storyline, DC boasted multiple different versions of their characters that each inhabited their own world.

There was a Superman who was an old man and married to Lois Lane having fought crime since his debut in 1938, a Superman who was the modern version of the character, and a Superboy. A world defended by the Justice League and a world defended by the Justice Society. There were also separate worlds inhabited by the Charleston Characters (Blue Beetle, Captain Atom, etc) and Fawcett Comics characters (Captain Marvel), two companies that DC comics had acquired over the years. Plus many, many, other worlds. It was a bit confusing for your average reader.

And so under the direction of Marv Wolfman (writer) and George Perez (artist), DC set about streamlining its many different worlds so that all its characters populated one unified world. After a 12 issue mini-series killing off many of the duplicate characters, DC comics was left with one unified earth.  This storyline marked the beginning of DC comic event comics, which would become a staple of the industry, leading to company wide crossovers becoming a regular event in the comic book industry.

Although Crisis was supposed to fix the problem of continuities in DC comics, there were still some lingering issues. There needed to be an establishment that this new earth was the only earth and all those old multiple earths never existed. And so, eight years after Crisis, DC Comics had Zero Hour. This storyline involved the wiping out of the DC Comics timeline. Essentially it wiped out the previous timeline entirely. None of the stories that occurred pre-Crisis ever happened. There was one earth and there had always been one earth.

In effect Zero Hour was a massive case of retconning. If you’re unfamiliar with the term, “retconning” is the term for when a new storyline affects the established history of a character or characters. Essentially, some new bit of information will be revealed about a character and that will retroactively (the “ret” in “retcon”) change everything we knew about the character.

While DC is notorious for massive continuity changes, it is their professional competitor Marvel that is most guilty of excessive retconning. Marvel has committed retconning on nearly all of its major characters. Just a few notorious retcons are the revelation that Captain America’s sidekick Bucky survived his death in World War II; Wolverine has bone claws; Peter Parker (Spider-Man) and Mary Jane Watson’s marriage never happened (thanks to a deal with the devil); Ghost Rider is not a demon, but an angel; etc. Rather than feeling the need to completely rewrite the entire history of their universe, they simply tweak the characters as they see necessary.

Or, they will establish an entirely new continuity where they can make whatever changes to characters they want without affecting the already established order of things. And that is why Marvel came up with the Ultimate Universe. In the wake of the popularity of the Spider-Man and X-Men films, Marvel decided to start a new line of comics that was not burdened with the decades of history those characters already had. This gave a chance for new readers to experience the X-Men and Spider-Man without the need to read hundred of comics. These were completely new versions of the characters that had no allegiance to their previous incarnations.

Another reason why the Ultimate universe is so important is because much of what is happening in those stories is being used as inspiration for the Avengers film(s). It gives a chance to modernize characters who have been around since the sixties for the most part. And it also allows creators to play around with new and interesting concepts. For instance, in the Ultimate Universe, Peter Parker is dead and a new kid is Spider-Man and he happens to be an African American. So we have both this new and interesting take on the character of Spider-Man, without robbing fans of the classic Spider-Man so many know and love.

Don't ask.

Perhaps in the end, Continuity really only matters to the reader. If the stories still entertain then what does it matter if events deviate from established cannon? Should an adherence to history be more important than entertaining the fans? I find myself torn on this issue. On the one hand, I read comics to be entertained. But at the same time I take pride in my extensive knowledge I have on the comics I read. When the publisher decides to deviate from continuity they are in essence telling me that I wasted time learning about that which has come before.

How Long Should Super Heroes Mourn?

Death is an important motivator in comics, and in fact, in all literature. It can also be a powerful motivator in real life. But in life, unlike the comics, there comes a point where people get over their grief. We (or at least most of us) learn to deal with the loss of our loved ones and proceed with the act of living. But it seems super heroes are simply incapable of doing so. The five stages of grief never get past anger and they strive to avenge their fallen loved ones.

The most notorious super hero mourner is Batman. Batman is driven by the pain he feels over his parents’ deaths. Now according to the comics, Bruce Wayne is supposed to be in his early to mid thirties. His parents are supposed to have died when he was around eight. So more than twenty years have passed since his parents died and yet he still feels the need to atone for their deaths. As seen in my previous entries (see here and here ), Batman has amassed a huge arsenal of gadgets to fight crime. He has trained in multiple martial arts. He has recruited allies all around the world to help him fight crime.

Bruce Wayne, in the guise of Batman, has turned his entire life into a shrine to the death of his parents. This one tragic event continues to motivate him and everything he does. There was a brilliant storyline in JLA where the entire Justice League is separated from their alter-egos. Essentially Superman and Clark Kent become two individual people. As does Bruce Wayne and Batman. However in the story it is revealed that without the tragic memory of Bruce Wayne’s childhood motivating him, Batman is not a very effective hero.

It seems Bruce Wayne suffers from the world’s worst case of survivor’s guilt. But it is unfair for him to feel any guilt at all. He was a child when his parents were killed. There was nothing he could have done to stop them from being murdered. If Bruce Wayne existed in the real world, he would have received proper psychiatric treatment, gotten himself some prescription anti-depressants, and gotten on with his life, perhaps putting his intelligence and fortune to endeavors that would benefit mankind far greater than just a one man war on crime.

Another hero who is also motivated by the death of a loved one, however, does not have the same option as Bruce Wayne. Peter Parker (Spider-Man) through his own inability to act directly led to the death of his Uncle Ben. When Peter Parker first got bitten by a radioactive spider and developed super powers, he didn’t immediately decide to be a super hero. His first thought was how can he use his abilities to make money. Essentially he thought what I would think if I developed super powers.

In the comics, Spider-Man makes a few television appearances, showing off his awesome powers. He has money and fame and quite the inflated ego. Prior to gaining super powers, Peter Parker was a nerd. He was picked on and socially awkward, essentially everything comic book fans tend to be. So of course when people start cheering and praising Peter, in the guise of Spider-Man, he lets the praise go to his head. After his big debut a crook being chased by a police officer runs by him and he just lets the guy go by. He doesn’t think such a thing should concern him.

Because of this moment of inaction, that criminal would later go on to shoot Peter’s Uncle Ben. This one moment from the comics gave birth to the most famous phrase in comics, and one I quote everyday in my life. “With Great Power, Comes Great Responsibility.” This becomes the mantra of Spider-Man, and really of all super heroes. If you have the power to act and stop a crime then you should act. Using the persona he originally intended to use to make money, Peter Parker fights crime and makes sure no one else dies due to his inaction.

Whereas Batman’s guilt is misplaced, Spider-Man’s guilt is truly earned. However, Spider-Man never seems to be as tortured by the death of his uncle as Batman is over the death of his parents. Despite the guilt, Peter Parker enjoys being Spider-Man. He treats it almost as therapeutic. But to Bruce Wayne, being Batman is a sacred duty. He treats the mantle of the Bat almost like a medieval knight’s vows of fealty. Gotham City is the kingdom he serves and protects. He even makes Robin(s) swear an oath in a bizarre ritual in the bat cave.

Grief is an odd thing. Everyone has a different way of dealing with it. In truth, death is a part of life and we all must deal with it at some point. What would it take to motivate a normal individual to put on a mask and fight crime? It certainly wouldn’t be my first option to deal with the death of a loved one. But then again, I’m not a billionaire and have never been bitten by a radioactive spider.

Star Trek: A Legacy of Obsolete Technology

Like most geeks, I’m a big fan of science fiction. Books, films and especially TV. And of all the Sci-fi TV shows (both good and bad) there is none more famous than Star Trek. I am proud to say I have watched every series of Star Trek from the original to Enterprise and thoroughly enjoyed them all. But there is one thing I have noticed about life in the 22^nd (Enterprise), 23^rd (original series) and 24^th (TNG, DS9, VGR) centuries. They still love useless technology.

Enterprise or Apple Genius Bar?

Now what exactly do I mean by “useless technology”? I mean technology that only appears in one or a few episodes that has nearly no useful purpose other than to make the story more interesting. Trek episodes are rife with just this kind of technology.  Essentially they’re the iPhone apps of the future. They look cool and flashy in the episode but as soon as you watch another episode in the series it seems the entire crew has forgotten that it ever existed.

The first example I am going to give of this comes from my favorite of the Star Trek series, Deep Space Nine. In the episode “For the Uniform”, Captain Sisko is hunting down a former Starfleet officer who betrayed his trust. During this hunt, the two men engage in a continuing dialogue via a holographic projection system. This bit of technology allows the two actors to talk to each other face to face and gives a lot of dramatic tension to their conversation. However this little bit of technology is never seen in a single episode after this one. The show goes on for another two years and Captain Sisko never has another conversation via holographic projection. The technology is solely there for this one episode.*

Another Deep Space Nine episode that has a one time example of technology is “Looking for par’Mach in all the wrong places”. In that episode, Quark, the Ferengi bartender, uses a Virtual Control Device. This device allows Worf, a Klignon warrior and Starfleet officer, to control Quark’s body so he can help the Ferengi win a bat’leth (a traditional Klignon sword) fight. Once again, this is a piece of technology that never makes another appearance in the series. The only time this type of technology is used is so Quark can impress a girl.

But while Deep Space Nine has technologies that mysteriously appear and vanish, they are no where near as bad as the technology in the shows that premiered both before and after it. In Star Trek: The Next Generation, the amazing Enterprise D has the ability to separate it’s saucer section from its drive section, allowing the ship to essentially become two ships. This is not some one-shot bit of technology. This is an integral part of the ship’s design. And yet we the audience only ever see the ship do this four times. Three times during the actual series and once during the film Star Trek: Generations. 

 

Although Star Trek: Voyager, had double the amount of episodes its ship’s special feature was used, it is still a bit of a waste. In Voyager, the titular starship actually had the ability to land on a planet, something that no starship in Star Trek history had ever done before. Mechanical legs would actually extend from the bottom of the vessel and the ship would land. Again, like the Enterprise, this is a design feature of the ship. Voyager is built so it can do this all the time. But it is hardly ever used.

Essentially Starfleet paid (“even though the economics of the 24^th century are vastly different”- JLP) for an option they never use. Apparently the 24^th century still has car salesmen and they are still as unscrupulous as they are today.


(WRITER'S NOTE: I was rewatching episodes and they do in fact bring back the holographic projection system in at least one future episode, "Doctor Bashir, I Presume". But still, it's only used for a brief scene.)

Boring Super Powers: The Problem With Superman

Superman is the very first super hero. Created by Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster, he burst onto the scene like an explosion. Of course, there were costumed characters in pop culture before him (characters like The Lone Ranger and The Shadow both made their radio debuts in the early thirties whereas Superman didn’t appear until 1938) but it is commonly accepted that Superman is when we started calling characters super heroes.

There was something about Superman that elevated him from those other characters who had appeared in radio serials and pulp novels before him. Superman was the first such character birthed from the comics and he would dominate the medium from his inception to today.

But there lies the problem. Superman is so closely associated with comics that there seems to be an innate belief that in order for a character to succeed he or she must somehow bare a resemblance to this progenitor archetype. Sometimes the duplications have been subtle, other times they have been overt, and in some cases the similarities between Superman and the new creation are almost indistinguishable. Some famous Superman ripoffs are Captain Marvel, The Sentry, Miracle Man (aka Marvel Man in the UK), Supreme, Samaritan, Apollo, The Plutonian, The Homelander and a host of others in various titles from multiple publishers.

 

What makes those above characters ripoffs of Superman? For some it is the costume, for others it is the origin, but the real thing that makes them so similar to the first super hero is their powers. All these characters have flight, strength, speed, enhanced senses, and invulnerability. Some have additional abilities like energy blasts/vision but the core powers are all the same. So these powers have been established as the basic powers a super hero must have. Basic meaning boring in this case.

Now I am not saying Superman is a boring character. After a run of close to seventy five years the character has been in many amazing stories. I am saying his powers are boring. Since the inception of Superman only a handful of additional super powers have been added to the repertoire of writers working in the genre. And I would certainly consider shapeshifting and telepathy to be just as boring as flight. It’s just become pedestrian.

Having read so many comics over the years, the only times I truly get excited about a story or character is when they complete break the rules. When a writer decides to go against the tropes of the super hero genre and twist things in a new direction. Superman is in essence the box that comic book writers need to think outside of.

The secret identity, the cape, the major metropolitan city, these ingredients seem to be present in so many characters. Even the secret identities of these characters seem to resemble Clark Kent, with their foppish clumsiness designed so no one will suspect that they are anything but ordinary. Even characters like Underdog and Hong Kong Fooey (Number One Super Guy!) owe a debt to Superman.