TRUMPSTIKA- The Fears of Former Foes in Familiar Colors

The Fears of Former Foes in Familiar Colors

Saturday Afternoon Half Measure

The enigmatic Mike Ermentraut from the classic tv dramas Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul

The End Is Out There: Guess the X-Finale

Contains spoilers for two iterations of The X-Files,  a 19^th Century book and a 20^th Century movie 

    

The truth may still be out there, but it won't be there for long. The last of Fox TV's six-episode revival of The X-Files , the cult sci-fi conspiracy television series that made stars of its leads,  David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, airs next Monday night.

How will it all end? Some uninformed guesses, intended for fans of the original series who have seen all but the final episode of the 2016 season (and wrapped in some well-informed spoilers, spoilers, SPOILERS) appear below. They are predicated on the show's tried and true formula of combining a complex, series-spanning plot (which X-philes have come to call the Mythology) with standalone, occasionally humorous digressions, known, affectionately, as the Monster of the Week episodes. You have been warned. Break out your blinding flashlight and proceed, if you dare.

Super Serious Mythology Ending Guess

All roads point to Agent Dana Scully’s demise. This season's reference to her ostensible immortality, allegedly posited in a cryptic line from Clyde Bruckman's Final Repose (Season 3, 1995),  was not a guarantee of safe passage for Doctor Dana. There hasn’t been this big a bullseye painted on the star of a pop culture juggernaut since Kirk asked Spock “Aren’t you dead?” in the opening minutes of Wrath of Khan.  As if her mother’s passing, a vision of the River Styx and the sound of Angel Trumpets over the course of the most recent adventures weren’t suggestive enough, the canine callbacks to Moby Dick only serve to remind us that Scully’s nickname is Starbuck (who died on his captain’s mad quest); not Ishmael, sole survivor of the Pequod.

The heartbroken audience, shattered by and sharing the grief that drives Man on Fire Fox Mulder will follow him on his new series- er, crusade. A new, gritty, earthbound Mythology will arise around the solving /avenging of Scully’s murder. This will be punctuated by new Monster of the Week, episodes featuring paranormal events that, depending on one’s view of Mulder’s sanity, may or may not suggest Scully’s intercession on Mulder’s behalf from beyond the grave.

Wacky Monster of the Week Ending Guess

Mulder and Scully’s grown son, William, in trope-tastic Sci-Fi tradition, uses his otherworldly powers to travel back in time, becoming, through a series of mishaps, his own grandfather, Bill Mulder!

Steve Price is a former newspaper cartoonist turned bi-coastal gallery artist, an award-winning illustrator, a professional author and copywriter, and book designer published by The New Yorker, Newsday, Image Comics, Random House, Dark Horse Comics and Hilowbrow.com

Heel, Hydra!

Honored to have my painting, "Heel, Hydra!" (2015, Watercolor on paper)  included in the group show, "Wild About Harryhausen", dedicated to film legend and Dynamation master Ray Harryhausen, which opens tonight at the Merry Karnowsky Gallery in Los Angeles. Special thanks to that stellar artist and super human being, Travis Louie, curator for this show, whose solo show, "Watch the Skies", opens there tonight as well.

The Horror of HACKULA!

Beware this midnight monster and the terrible temptation to be his thrall!

Procrastination 2.0 - by Steve Price

One day I'd walk from this tiny town

As soon as I’d put that first foot down.

And I’d see wonders the world ‘round

After I’d put that second foot down.

Adventures and treasures would surely abound

After I’d put that third foot down.

And my head might even wear a crown

After I’d put that fourth foot down.

And a love like no other would be what I had found

After I’d put that fifth foot down.

But my timid feet waited here, dreaming of then

Now the clock is clucking “If not now, well, when?”

You can’t chase your dreams if you’re standing around

And you can’t do much walking when you’re six feet down.

©2014 Stephen Price. All Rights Reserved

Ode to Peace - by Steve Price

The problem, as far as I can see,

Is caused by people who aren’t me.

I’m never wrong. I always care.

I’ve never, ever been unfair.

When it comes to point of view,

Thine is murky; mine is true.

If by ego you weren’t blinded,

You wouldn’t be so narrow-minded.

Why say it’s this, when I know it’s that?

It’s people like you who started this spat.

Don’t tell me what’s wrong when I know what’s right.

I know that you’re doing it just for spite.

I’m in this fight because you’re in it.

I reject the idea that no one can win it.

My wrath is righteous, my burden, large.

We’d be better off with me in charge.

I’ve always known just what to do
With people who are just like you.

Happy Hellboy Day!

A typographic salute to Mike Mignola's horror hero, HELLBOY on this, his 20th anniversary.

Let Them Eat CMYKake

Claiming that giving her full attention to her tennis game precluded her taking any additional action on her own behalf, she suggested that I was professional enough to hunt down a (free) high-resolution image comparable to the low-res one that she had previously jacked from someone else's website. I am confident that the inventor of the guillotine once had a similar morning.

"I do bite my thumb, sir." - Romeo & Juliet

When the apes finally do take over, it will be because their thumbs, previously regarded as evolutionarily inferior to those of Homo sapiens, prevented them from relying on texting and instant messaging as substitutes for communication.

Happy St. Pat's

Hashtag Mondrian

I can't BELIEVE that it's taken me this long to think of this.

Apologies if anyone else has already beaten me to it.

HAPPY PANCAKE DAY!

Bringing back two of my favorite homages for Pancake Day!

The Flower Cosmic

An homage to Jack "King" Kirby, Superhero Comic Creator Extraordinaire, who departed for New Genesis 20 years ago today. I am fortunate enough to have met him once, and his work has permeated and enriched my life.

Dr. Whö

With a little help