Plans for a Refocused ‘Super Freek’ and an Atompunk Blog

I originally intended The Super Freek as a blog that discusses or conveys the importance of pop culture history, particularly that of the 1960s through ‘70s. However, for the last three months the blog has been going, I've opened it to other topics. But my main area of expertise is science fiction and fantasy in books, TV and movies. As I mention in Super Freek’s About page, I already have a blog that covers the first of these three medias. Atompunk, a fairly new subgenre of science fiction, is at least partly influenced by the above mentioned decades. But its influences’ time periods really range from the late 1940s to the early ‘90s (which was the end of the Cold War marked by the tearing down of the Berlin Wall and the breakdown of the Soviet Union). Because atompunk is so new, very little info about it can be found on the internet regardless of its form of storytelling such as books and film. Therefore I'm going to refocus The Super Freek on late 1960s and '70s cult movies and TV and will start a new, separate blog dedicated to all things atompunk.

Two precise reasons I'm making these changes are: 1) more focused blogs are easier for readers to follow and so bring more user traffic; 2) I want to help popularise atompunk and bring it to a level that steampunk has come to in the past ten years.

The Super Freek will be remade to focus on the topic of popular movies and TV of the late 1960s and 1970s. It will mostly emphasise TV and movies that fall within the science fiction and fantasy genres of those two decades, but I'm a person who likes to learn about a variety of topics and issues within pop culture. So, every now and then, the blog will include content about subjects that the two eras’ films and television programming have influenced such as comic books and music. Specific examples are the Gold Key comic adaptations of the original Star Trek TV series and 1970s disco group Mecco’s Star Wars theme songs. 

The new atompunk blog will feature everything atompunk, including some of the things The Super Freek will feature since a lot of the subgenre is directly inspired by movies and television of a time span that overlaps with the '60s and '70s. So don't be surprised to see posts here that will feature links to articles on the atompunk blog (which I haven't got a name for yet). Like steampunk, atompunk is that genre of sci fi that is made up of nostalgia and alternative history. Therefore it is history reimagined. It is driven by a passionate interest in a past time period’s culture. So the blog will also feature articles about the Cold War decades’ fictional entertainment that inspired atompunk. 

I'm going to need some time to rethink the focus of The Super Freek and to plan and create the atompunk blog. Because of that, Super Freek may have to go on a short hiatus (about a month or so). So if you don't see any posts here in the next few weeks, don't be alarmed; I'm still on the planet and in existence. If you want to keep in touch, however, feel free to comment in the box below anytime; I'll check in periodically. You can also subscribe for updates towards the top of the right hand column. 

Until the new Super Freek . . .

Photo Credit: Pixabay.com

Video Game News: Fortified: Alien Invasion in an Alternative 1950s

Steampunk has been an in thing for geek culture for the last decade, but many other retro futuristic sci fi subgenres are making their way to popularity. Dieselpunk, raygun gothic and atompunk are just a few of them. That last one can be found in its TV form throughout the web, such as the two series I discussed last post. But atompunk is also becoming a hit in video games.

Fortified is one of many games in this classification. It’s set in an alternative 1950s where players have to defend the earth from invading Martians. Players strategically build a defense base to ward off armies of alien robots. A player chooses the role of one of four archetypal characters: “a jetpack piloting heroine, a shotgun wielding space cowboy, a secret government agent, [or] a battle hardened Marine captain.” You can play single or as a group of up to four players. This sci fi video game is loaded with retro future style high-tech weapons and up-to-date special effects.

Photo Credit: Clapfoot Inc.

Released early last week, Fortified was created by the team at Clapfoot Inc. located in Toronto, Canada. It’s available for Xbox and PC and can be purchased at its official website. For more atompunk video gaming check out the games below, each of which can be purchased at Amazon. Simply click on their images to find out more.

Until next time . . . 

                      

Web TV Review: Two Atompunk Series

Welcome to the first post for The Super Freek! In this blog you’ll find content about everything pop culture, particularly in nerd-dom. We’ll discuss everything from science fiction and fantasy to computer technology. We’ll cover entertainment media in TV, movies, comic books, video games, and even music. As of now, a post will be published here mid-week—Wednesday or Thursday—every other week. If enough people seem interested, I may post every once a week. To find out more about this blog, please check out the About page. If you have any suggestions for the blog, please feel free to post any comments in the box below. To start off, I provided two short reviews of two internet TV sci fi series below.

These two series can be considered atompunk. For those of you who don’t know what atompunk is, it’s a sub-genre of science fiction involving retrofutures like much steampunk does, only instead of these futures being based on Victorian-derived steam technology it’s based on atomic era technology and so technology of the late 1940s through the early half of the ‘60s (though this has been debated like nearly all history). To find out more about atompunk, check out my article at my other blog, A Far Out Fantastic Site. You can also check out the links below:

Atompunk, Wikipedia 

"Here Comes 'Atompunk' . . ." , Wired article by Bruce Sterling

Matt Mercury

This humourous space opera debuted only last year, but is reminiscent of 1930s through ‘50s sci fi TV and movie serials. Yet, it uses today’s special effects (considering it was produced on a string budget, that is). Think Flash Gordon, Buck Rogers and Star Wars. Hell, there’s even an alien hang-out of a cantina scene in the first episode. It stars Rick Corrigan, Doug Drexler, Lauren Galley, and Eric Lobo, (better known as Mr. Lobo, horror host of TV-syndicated Cinema Insomnia). The director is Bill Hughes who also co-writes with Heidi Hughes.

10 Ways to Defeat Aliens

Like Matt Mercury, this series is atompunk only the aliens come to Earth in this one instead of Earthlings going to the aliens. Defeat Aliens, is an alien-invasion series but with twists: children, babies to be precise, defend the adults from the alien invaders (at least in episodes one and two they do) and it is told mockumentary style, or, more precisely, instructional/how-to style. Because of these comical twists, Defeat Aliens is a parody of atomic era sci fi like Matt Mercury but even more hilarious. Starring Karl Champley and my x-girlfriend. Okay, it doesn’t star any x-girlfriend of mine. But the woman it does star, Dorothy Chan, looks a lot like a gal I dated once. But I won’t go on any more about that; bad memories. Produced by Griffith Pictures.

Next time, I’ll talk a little more on Matt Mercury and maybe a new video game premiering this month. So tune in in one-and-a-half weeks, same Freek time . . . well, not really. But in one-and-a-half weeks for sure.