The Incomparable Mothership

Comic Book Club returns with a discussion of Kieron Gillan and Jamie McKelvie’s “The Wicked + The Divine.” It’s a story about the temporary return of a pantheon of gods, and touches on issues of fame, youth culture, and—as Wikipedia informs us—pop music. Fortunately, there’s also a murder-mystery plot to drive everything forward. Plus: Lisa tells us what comics to read next!

The worst of the Next Generation “Star Trek” movies, “Insurrection” and “Nemesis”, are in our sights. Why don’t they work? What were the producers thinking? How tenuous was Star Trek’s life as a franchise that two bad movies in a row could kill it? You’ve got to laugh to keep from crying.

Our Book Club returns to read two recent, highly praised science fiction novels. From Kim Stanley Robinson comes “Aurora,” the story of a spaceship sent from Earth to a far-off star in a trip that will take generations. And from Ian McDonald comes “Luna: New Moon,” a sort of “Dallas” (or is it “The Godfather”?) set on and under the surface of the moon. Plus, what else are we reading?

The recently released video game “Firewatch,” by Campo Santo and Panic, is the subject of our discussion this week. This is a game that’s got a plot, but so much of the richness comes from characters and dialogue. Also, there are a lot of trees.

And now for something completely different: A draft of our favorite albums. Live from that metaphorical desert island, we select some favorite collections of music for you to listen to again and again… or to discover for the very first time. Opera, classical, and show tunes are heard from, amid the squalls of electric guitars. Also, we lose our Canadian government funding. But you’re sure to find (or rediscover) some music of interest! [This episode was originally two episodes, 288 and 289. It’s been rejoined into a single, double-length episode.]

What does God need with a starship? We take a look at the two most (justly) maligned films starring the original “Star Trek” cast, “Star Trek: The Motion Picture” and “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.” What do these two films have in common? Do they have any redeeming qualities? We watched them so you didn’t have to, because we need our pain!

It’s taking the culture by storm, the biggest Broadway musical in years—and it’s about… the first U.S. secretary of the treasury, Alexander Hamilton? It seems unlikely, but nothing about the “Hamilton” story is likely. Lin-Manuel Miranda took the biography of a lesser-known early American figure and turned it into a story full of catchy songs and social commentary, including the rapid-fire hip-hop lyrics and the casting of non-white actors in most of the parts. Four of our “Hamilton”-mad panelists discuss the appeal of the show and why it works so incredibly well. (This we’ve also launched an entire podcast devoted to “Hamilton”, so if you want to hear various panels discuss the show song by song, you may want to subscribe to that, too.) Piano intro and outro music from Hamilton played by Christopher Breen.

In this edition of Comic Book Club, we discuss one of Marvel’s newest heroes, Kamala Khan, the star of G. Willow Wilson and Adrian Alphona’s “Ms. Marvel.” She’s a Muslim from New Jersey, so in some ways she’s a very different kind of Marvel super hero, but she’s also a tortured teen trying to come to terms with her identity—so in other ways, she’s very much the model of a Marvel super hero. Plus: What are we reading?

Just as “The X-Files” is revived for a limited-run miniseries, we take time to look back at this classic TV series from the 90s. (With gorgeous new HDTV versions available on Netflix!) We discuss some classic episodes, the dynamic between Scully and Mulder that really made the show work, and a whole lot more. The truth is in here—you just have to want to believe.

We celebrate the amazing life and career of David Bowie, from his stunningly varied music career (yes, including those collaborations with Queen, Mick Jagger, and Bing Crosby) to his film and theater roles. (And between Major Tom and the Spiders From Mars, who was more sci-fi than Bowie?)