In a previous Saturday Article Link I pointed to an article about the current treatment of animation attractions at Disney World. Well, I’d be remiss not to point to a follow-up article, again by That Park Place, reporting on a return of the “The Magic Of Disney Animation” to the park. However, this replaces an old Star Wars themed attraction Pixar fans were hoping to get, moving it to the closed Muppetvision 3D area and angering Muppet fans. Plus it means yet more construction as park visitors see a lot more work walls on their vacation that they’d like.
They really don’t know what they’re doing over there.
Someday I want to see Robotech: The Movie. Or at least find time for the original Megazone 23, which I can find. Looks like an interesting bit of science fiction.
Ah, that term. Science. Fiction. The science is fictional. Maybe that’s why it can’t save her. I didn’t even know the terms “science fiction” and “fantasy” were debatable terms outside of the snooty types who insist that “sci-fi” is somehow an insulting shortcut or something. However, here we are.
The source of this commentary comes from author Brian Neumeier, a name that’s come up on this site more than once. Usually it’s in the form of article links as he has some fascinating ideas, being a published author and all, and a chronicler of “cultural ground zero”, the point where our culture stopped changing as media and merchandise failed to advance out of fear of trying. Other times…I have notes. Guess which time this is. In this case we’re looking at a blog from his Kairos Publications site titled “Why ‘Science Fiction’ And ‘Fantasy’ Are Dead“. He doesn’t mean the genres because his whole thesis is that the terms were never real to begin with.
If you want to understand why it’s time to stop pretending these labels matter—and why clinging to them has done irreparable damage to readers, writers, and the art of storytelling—then buckle in. We’re going to take a hard look at how these terms were born, how they were corrupted, and why the age of these arbitrary divisions is over.
Big shout out to author JD Cowan who did the hard work hitting the books on this topic.
I looked up Cowan’s site via that link, an article series titled “Science Fiction Doesn’t Exist”. I considered using that as the source of this discussion but it’s a full series, with article lengths that make mine look tame in comparison. Let’s just say I learned my lesson with Seduction Of The Innocent and I might read that on my own someday. I’ll stick with Neumeier’s take, as I trust his honesty. We don’t always agree but there’s a reason I read and use his articles on this site.
It’s rare that I get to read an Australian comic. The last one was an indie comic and it wasn’t very good. So…no publishing date that I found in the comic. Comic Book Plus gives the name, but while it’s under their “Unknown date/1940” list it also says this one-shot anthology came out in 1945. So I’m not really sure what goes on here. So let’s just read the comic.
One comment stood out for me: “It’s not that they give diverse characters [crappy] stories. It’s that they have [crappy] stories, and use diverse characters to hope to deflect criticism.”
No sooner do I launch a post about Marvel Studio’s latest failure that the comics have to follow suit. They do suffer many of the same issues.
For the record I have never really gotten into the Silver Surfer. I blame too many writers focusing on the “woe is me” nature of his existence, but that’s another conversation. No, we’re here to talk about the latest news, that Norrin Radd isn’t just being replaced in the movies but in the comics…but not with Shalla-Ball
I’ve gone over the history of the Silver Surfer and various heralds of Galactus, most notably the female ones. The women have never taken on the Silver Surfer roll in the main universe comics. There have been other heralds or other continuities, but Silver Surfer is Norrin Radd, a bald space dude.
“Death Of The Silver Surfer” will see Norrin Radd killed off (who knows for how long given the nature of comics–I think everybody’s died at least once by now, even characters only introduced this century) and replaced with Major Kelly Koh, member of the Bureau of Alien Neutralization (or BAN for short because subtlety has yet to get through the revolving door of comic death) according to appearances. I’ll let you read the article if you want the full story thus far on that.
Instead we’re here to look at the media pecking order. The article’s writer suspects this is due to brand synergy, by having a girl Surfer in both continuities, but in that case why make a new character to replace Norrin instead of the gender swap they’re already going with? Even if that is the case, it’s another example of Disney’s Marvel doing it backwards, and it will only further injure comics’ reputation as a storytelling source.
BW Media Spotlight 
Examining The Terms “Science Fiction” And “Fantasy”
Hang on, let me put that song in your head.
Someday I want to see Robotech: The Movie. Or at least find time for the original Megazone 23, which I can find. Looks like an interesting bit of science fiction.
Ah, that term. Science. Fiction. The science is fictional. Maybe that’s why it can’t save her. I didn’t even know the terms “science fiction” and “fantasy” were debatable terms outside of the snooty types who insist that “sci-fi” is somehow an insulting shortcut or something. However, here we are.
The source of this commentary comes from author Brian Neumeier, a name that’s come up on this site more than once. Usually it’s in the form of article links as he has some fascinating ideas, being a published author and all, and a chronicler of “cultural ground zero”, the point where our culture stopped changing as media and merchandise failed to advance out of fear of trying. Other times…I have notes. Guess which time this is. In this case we’re looking at a blog from his Kairos Publications site titled “Why ‘Science Fiction’ And ‘Fantasy’ Are Dead“. He doesn’t mean the genres because his whole thesis is that the terms were never real to begin with.
I looked up Cowan’s site via that link, an article series titled “Science Fiction Doesn’t Exist”. I considered using that as the source of this discussion but it’s a full series, with article lengths that make mine look tame in comparison. Let’s just say I learned my lesson with Seduction Of The Innocent and I might read that on my own someday. I’ll stick with Neumeier’s take, as I trust his honesty. We don’t always agree but there’s a reason I read and use his articles on this site.
Continue reading →
Tell others about the Spotlight:
Posted by ShadowWing Tronix on July 25, 2025 in Art Of Storytelling, Book Spotlight, Comic Spotlight, Movie Spotlight, radio/audio drama, Television Spotlight, Video Game Spotlight, web series and tagged commentary, Fantasy, Sci-Fi, science fantasy, Science fiction, terminology.
2 Comments