Galaxy Quest could have been a forgettable Star Trek spoof—but instead, it’s become a beloved science fiction comedy, which has been voted one of the best Star Trek movies of all time. How did this miracle happen? Here’s everything you ever wanted to know about the making of Galaxy Quest.

For this article, we drew on a number of sources, including DVD featurettes and old magazines from the time of the movie’s release—but one source in particular was absolutely indispensible. MTV’s Jordan Hoffman put together the Oral History of Galaxy Quest a couple years ago, and it’s essential reading.

1. Harold Ramis was originally asked to direct the film under the title “Captain Sunshine”.

Ramis wanted Kevin Kline, Steve Martin or Adam Baldwin to star, but when Disney insisted on Tim Allen, he dropped out of the project.

2. Sigourney Weaver wasn’t by any means the first choice to play Tawny/Gwen—because she had already done too much science fiction.

As she told Starburst Magazine in 2000:

“I’d heard about this and I had asked my agent about it,” she recalls. “He’d told me that they didn’t want anyone from Science Fiction in the movie – only Science Fiction virgins as it were. “I said, ‘That’s silly because if anyone can spoof Science Fiction, surely it’s me!’ Then to my surprise I was offered the part. I had always wanted to work with Tim Allen, I was a big fan, and Alan Rickman was somebody I really admired and I fell in love with the script.

“It was really about something more than just the people in it. It was that great sort of Wizard of Oz story of these people feeling so incomplete in the beginning, and then during the course of this adventure they come out almost like the heroes they pretended to be in the first place. “

3. Tim Allen believed Galaxy Quest would launch his second career as a science fiction actor.

He told Starlog Magazine in 2000:

“I love it. It’s my favorite thing. Galaxy Quest was a baby step for me. I like other scripts that are a bit more serious, but I’m doing this first. It’s really funny right up front, then gets more serious. There’s enough SF that they allowed me to do it. While it’s not quite you expect from me. Technically, it isn’t what I would want, which would be a Larry Niven sort of thing. It isn’t right on, but it’s a Saturday afternoon, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine kind of dramatic science fiction”

4. The alien Laliari was cast late in the process

According to casting director Debra Zane in an interview with Backstage:

“The filmmakers had a difficult time finding a woman who could ‘be Thermian in the same way as actors Enrico Colantoni, Rainn Wilson, and Jed Rees. Missi Pyle remembers that Zane showed her the first minute of Rees’ audition, to give her a sense of the tone the filmmakers were looking for. “Missi saw it and got it immediately,” says Zane. “And then we came into the audition room, and we taped her, and she was so great that when I sent the audition tape to Dean Parisot, the director, on her picture and résumé, I put a little Post-it…. I actually made a Xeroxed copy of my Casting Society of America membership card, and I said, ‘If this is not Laliari, I will resign from the CSA.’”

Stephen Spielberg liked Laliari so much he asked that her role be expanded to include a romantic subplot with Tony Shaloub.

5. Tony Shaloub auditioned for Guy Fleegman, but was offered Fred Kwan.

According to MTV, he told them:

“I’m not going to play an Asian guy, but I’ll play a guy that plays an Asian. How about that?”

Director Dean Parisot expounds on this:

“Tony brought up David Carradine in “Kung Fu” [another example of a non-Asian actor playing an Asian character] and the story goes — I don’t know if it’s true — that David Carradine was completely stoned all of the time on that show. Dialogue would just come out of his head and people would just stare at each other and think, “Where did that come from?” We knew we couldn’t do a stoner because we needed to hit a PG-13, but we basically suggested that.”

6. Sam Rockwell nearly dropped out of the project but was convinced by Kevin Spacey to stay onboard.

In a twist of fate, Tim Allen opted to make Galaxy Quest over Bicentennial Man.

7. The “Pig Lizard” was a full body puppet.

See above! Eyeholes for the actor inside were located inside the creature’s mouth, on its soft palette.

8. Sigourney’s “F” bomb during the “chompers” scene in the hallway had to be dubbed over in order to secure a PG-13 rating.

She still clearly mouths, “Fuck that!”, if you look closely.

9. Alan Rickman provided input into the prosthetic that Dr. Lazarus wears.

It was designed by artists at the Stan Winston studio. As he told Starburst Magazine in 2000: “I thought it was important for it to be good enough to convince the aliens who believe we’re the real thing, but also cheesy enough to imagine that it was something he applied himself.”

10. Rickman also felt it would ring hollow if his character had been knighted, and asked for a few script revisions.

In the credits, Dr. Lazarus is still credited as “Sir Alex Dane.”

11. On set, Alan Rickman found Tim Allen incredibly off-putting:

“Tim Allen used to kick the door open to the make-up trailer. We would be all lined up and he would say. ‘Number one is here!’”

12. Tim Allen hectored Sigourney Weaver the entire production to sign his highly coveted piece of the Nostromo from Alien.

She finally did, writing: “Stolen by Tim Allen; Love, Sigourney Weaver”. According to Weaver:

“He was so upset. “Why would you write that?! I was going to put it in my screening room!” Which was such a Hollywood thing to say.”

While filming, the entire cast attended a 20^th Anniversary screening of Alien.

13. Dean Perisot was driven to create a passable episode of Star Trek:

“At the risk of sounding pretentious, there are a whole lot of themes playing in there. The movie needed to begin as a mockery and end as a celebration. That’s a hard thing to do. Part of the mission for me was to make a great “Star Trek” episode.”

14. According to Tim Allen, his performance was based on Yul Brynner:

“When I was in that Captain’s chair I was not mimicking William Shatner, with whom I’m now friends [with] because of this movie. I liked the way Yul Brynner sat in his throne in “The Ten Commandments.” I worked off of that. I studied that. Well, I rented the tape.”

15. Screenwriter Robert Gordon didn’t intend to write a family film:

“There’s talk about the so-called R-rated version of the film. When I originally wrote it, I wasn’t thinking about a family film, just what I wanted to see. So when the ship lands in the convention hall in the original draft it decapitates a bunch of people. There was also stuff we shot where Sigourney tries to seduce some of the aliens. It was cut – and that’s why her shirt is ripped at the end.”

Also, Alan Rickman’s famous catch-phrase “By Grabthar’s Hammer” was a temp line. But it was ultimately kept in when Robert Gordon couldn’t think of anything better, Gordon told MTV.

16. Production designer Linda DeScenna was delighted to work on a film so different from the sci-fi aesthetics of the late 1990s.

·As she told Starlog:

One of the reasons I wanted to do Galaxy Quest was because it didn’t have to be real, hi-tech and vacuformed: it could be, you know, kind of tacky. We were going to use blue and violet, but we ended up with the same color of grey, just three different values. When I start a movie, aside from the things you would normally focus on, like how to lay out a set to accommodate the action, etc., etc., is color. If you look at Mouse Hunt, which I designed, every single prop, every single piece of wardrobe, everything is keyed to three colors. In this movie, we have Sarris’ world, where everything is green. So when Sarris’ men are aboard the ship, they stand out, because everybody else is in grey and they’re green. So when we go into the real world on this movie, everything stays with the steel blues and the greens. My thing is color: That’s what I get most excited about.

17. The film’s aspect ratio switches from 1.85:1 to 2.35:1 when the ship lands on Thermia.

18. The “chompers” scene was not inspired by an old science-fiction series

Instead, it came from the whirring blades of 1997’s Event Horizon.

19. The alien warlord Sarris was reportedly named after film critic Andrew Sarris.

Mr. Sarris had vocally disliked producer Mark Johnson’s previous film, The Natural. Hearing of this, Sarris responded that the movie “probably won’t make enough money for me to sue for $10 million.”

20. Sarris’s eye patch is a nod to General Chang from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

21. Guy Fleegman was named after Guy Vardaman.

Vardaman had played several no-name characters in Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also served as the occasional stand-in for Brent Spiner and Wil Wheaton. After seeing the finished film, Guy Vardaman “just about fell out of the chair”.

22. Roger Dean’s album cover for Yessongs influenced the design of the Thermian station:

23. The Robot on stage with Guy at the beginning of the movie was recycled from 1992’s Toys:

24. The sound for the Protector’s automatic doors was taken from the video game Ultimate Doom.

This is according to IMDB, anyway.

25. It’s a myth that the Rock Monster is thought to be an homage to the “twenty rock men” that William Shatner wanted for the finale of Star Trek V: The Final Frontier , but were cut due to budgetary reasons.

Screenwriter Robert Gordon denies this commonly cited myth:

“The rock monster is not really a reference to [the cut scenes of the rock monsters in the William Shatner-directed “Star Trek V: The Final Frontier.”] I’ve read about it since. But, yeah, I would say the Gorn [the famous lizard creature Shatner fights on a desert planet while the crew watches from the ship] was very much on my mind. Plus the transporter malfunction and taking the ship out of dock, winking at “Star Trek: The Motion Picture.” In fact, the early drafts were called “Galaxy Quest: The Motion Picture.” There are some other direct sci fi things in there. “Westworld,” with Yul Brenner, is one of my favorites. When Quellek [Patrick Breen] says, “I’m shot,” that’s a direct reference to James Brolin in “Westworld.” The little blue babies are a nod “Barbarella,” cute and then mean. When Jason triggers the Omega 13, I was inspired by the end of “Beneath the Planet of the Apes.” And the few clips you see of the original show, what Dean did was so great, he really made the camera moves and the recycled sets look like old, cheap “Star Trek.” I wish you could see more of it in the film.”

26. Creature designer Jordu Schell shared his concept art for the “cute-but-deadly” aliens on his now-defunct website.

They are very different from the final form of the creatures, and can be seen here.

27. Liliari is mentioned by name in John Updike’s novel, Rabbit Remembered.

Because Updike was apparently a fan of the movie.

28. To promote the film, E! aired a mockumentary on the cultural impact of the Galaxy Quest TV series

The whole thing is here:

29. An intentionally crappy-looking fansite was used to promote the film.

And to maintain the pretense that there had been a Galaxy Quest TV series. The site contained reviews of the Five Best Episodes of Galaxy Quest, as decided by its Webmaster, the fictitious “Travis Latke”:

30. In a 2000 issue of Starlog, Sigourney Weaver compared Sarris and the Thermians to the Kosovo War:

‘This guy Sarris is so bad,” Weaver exclaims.”He really is a sadist; [he’s committing] genocide against these creatures. What he’s doing to these people is just what we read in the news, with the invasion of Kosovo. Get rid of them, wipe them out, for no other reason than they’re there and he feels like it.”

31. Costume Designer Albert Wolsky posted artwork for another alien character apparently cut from the film

“This alien has claw-like hands and a face with some human features.” Concept art can be seen at the Motion Picture Academy of Arts and Sciences website.

32. The Rock Monster scenes were filmed at Utah’s Goblin Valley State Park.

The area’s eroded sandstone dunes, called “stone babies” provided the inspiration for the planet’s cute-but-killer native aliens. It’s a popular camping area and visitors are known to play laser tag amongst the rocks on full moons.

33. Star Trek may have returned the favor by borrowing from Galaxy Quest.

At least, some fans feel Star Trek: Enterprise plagiarized the look of film’s Fatu-Krey when they introduced a new alien race, the Xindi-Reptilians. The Xindi-Reptilians are green, and retain the spider-like appendages radiating from theirheads.

Sources: Starlog, MTV, Starburst Magazine, DVD featurettes, and other sources as linked

The saga of Jon Snow’s status in Game of Thrones season six continues. Over the past year we’ve heard denials, confirmations and more (and written an unsightly number of words about hair length) about whether or not Jon Snow is returning for season six. Now Kit Harington has chimed in to confirm he is back. Sort of.

Just as a minor warning, spoilers ahead for what is basically the least-spoilery Game of Thrones season six spoiler ever.

http://io9.gizmodo.com/hbo-teases-gam...

Speaking to Time Out, Harington—who is preparing for a run of Doctor Faustus in London’s West End—contradicted his recent statements on the Jon Snow Denial Tour 2k16 that Jon would definitely not appear in the next season of the show by confirming he actually does.

...as a corpse.

Kit Harington: Look, I’m not in the show any more. I’m definitely not in the new series.

Time Out: So you didn’t film any new scenes?

KH: I filmed some scenes of me being dead – [jokily] it’s some of my best work.

TO: Do you know what happens in the series or have you lost your privileges?

KH:‘I don’t have a clue. I know how long I’m a corpse for, but I can’t tell you that!

Oh, you cheeky devil, Kit Harington. But, as cheeky an answer it is, it’s still the first actual acknowledgement that Harington is officially involved with season six—even if astute fans know that the actor has been spotted doing a little more than playing dead for the incoming series.

http://io9.gizmodo.com/everything-we-...

It’s almost sad that the saga of one of the most blatantly gratuitous denials in recent pop culture history is almost coming to a close, but we’ll have a definite answer on Jon Snow’s return from death soon enough when Game of Thrones season six premieres April 24th.

Contact the author at james.whitbrook@io9.com.

If you’re not a hardcore Batman fan, you might not notice—but believe it or not, there are a few subtle differences between DC’s Batman comics and the proto-Bat universe of Fox’s hit show Gotham. Yes, seriously!

In fact, the show’s heroes and villains can be surprisingly different from their counterparts, to varying degrees. Here are all the major characters on Gotham, ranked based on how much the comic book Batman would be able to recognize them, if he met them in a dark Gotham City alley.

1) Hugo Strange

Debuting just last week, B.D. Wong’s Dr. Hugo Strange absolutely floored me. Not only is he the first live-action interpretation of the mad psychiatrist, but I can’t imagine how anyone’s ever going to match him. Wong’s cool demeanor, transparently insincere concern, and utter creepiness are astonishing. And he’s got Strange’s iconic look down—from the round, tinted glasses to his unnaturally sinister chinstrap beard.

2) Harvey Bullock

Donal Logue may be sporting a very un-Bullock-like beard, but other than that the excellent actor is a pitch-perfect interpretation of the bitter, slovenly detective who gave up his idealism long ago. Just like his comic counterpart, Logue’s Bullock still manages to do the right thing on occasion thanks to his more idealistic partner Gordon—albeit it very begrudgingly. Well, at least he used to...

3) Catwoman/Selina Kyle

The young Selina “Cat” Kyle of Gotham is already a reasonably accomplished cat burglar, whose ability to shimmy into places she’s not supposed to be in will serve her well in future years. She’s already lost her sense of property ownership, and she’s fallen in with the criminal element on several occasions. But like her future comic book incarnation, she has a soft heart that leads her invariably help the weak. Really, the biggest different with Gotham’s Selina and Catwoman is that “Cat” doesn’t seem to give a damn about cats at all.

4) Lucius Fox

In the comics, Lucius Fox is head of Wayne Enterpises’ R&D divisions, although sometimes he’s even the CEO or president of the company. He designs pretty much all of Batman’s gear, and avoids asking questions. In Gotham, he’s a junior exec who helps Bruce with computer problems. However, both Luciuses (Lucii?) rail against the more sinister elements operating inside Wayne Enterprises, no matter their position. It’s very easy to imagine Gotham’s Lucius becoming Batman’s brilliant ally in the future.

5) Penguin/Oswald Cobblepot

Just because Gotham’s Oswald Cobblepot doessn’t look that much like his comic counterpart doesn’t mean that Cobblepot isn’t still the breakout character of the show. Really, Gotham’s greatest feat is that it’s given us a proto-Penguin who is quite different from the villain of the comics, but he still feels more similar, even if the reasons are hard to put into words. Trading the comic version’s short, rotund figure for a young, skinny man, with a limb that forces him to waddle is a very different choice, but it’s certainly a fascinating one. Gotham’s Penguin might be traveling another route to supervillainy, but it’s still easy to imagine him developing into the feared ruler of Gotham City’s criminal underworld.

6) Victor Zsasz

In the comics, Victor Zsasz is an insane serial killer who cuts a notch in his skin every time he murders someone (he has a lot of notches). In Gotham, Zsasz is a freelance murderer for the city’s criminal underworld who also tallies his kills on his flesh, but is content to shoot people when ordered to as opposed to running around naked with a knife and stabbing anyone who gets in arms-length. Both are killers, both have a terrible way of keeping count of their victims, and both are bald—but that’s where the similarities end.

7) Mr. Freeze/Victor Fries

This much-anticipated bad guy made his debut in last week’s episode (along with Hugo Strange), and while he shares the character’s tragic underpinnings—they’re both trying to save their wife Nora, although one has frozen her and the other is about to—that’s about it. Gotham’s Freeze exudes no real pathos and no emotional coldness, and he’s definitely not bald or blue-skinned (although that may be coming); this may well change as Gotham continues, but for now about all he has in common with the Mr. Freeze of the comics is that they both have good taste in winter wear and they both carry freeze-rays.

8) Silver St. Cloud

The first love interest of the comic book version of Bruce Wayne is a rich, 20-something socialite, smart enough to deduce that the man she’s dating is Batman. On Gotham, Silver is a rich young pre-socialite who is working for her evil step-uncle Theo Galavan as part of a ludicrously overcomplicated plan to sacrifice Bruce Wayne. So, yeah, she’s a bit different. About all they have in common is that they’re both blonde femme fatales—although this is super-creepy, when you remember that Gotham’s Silver is supposed to be like 13 or something.

9) Dr. Leslie Thompkins

Both Leslie Thompkins are doctors, and… well, that’s where the similarities pretty much end. Comics Leslie uses her medical skills to help Gotham City’s poor, especially kids, and she was a surrogate mom for Bruce Wayne following his parents’ murder. In Gotham, Leslie (Morena Baccarin) has done exactly none of that, although she has been a doctor at Arkham Asylum, a medical examiner at the GCPD, and she’s currently Jim Gordon’s babymama. I think she’s only met Bruce Wayne maybe twice. Briefly. At any rate, no mothering occurred.

10) Joker/Jerome Valeska/???

We still have no idea what Gotham is doing or has done with Batman’s greatest foe, the Joker. All we know is that there was a kid named Jerome Valeska who murdered his carnie mom because she kept having sex with a significant number of her co-workers (oh, Gotham). And then he then turned into a kid who acted exactly like the Joker—insane laugh, murderous tendencies, wild mood swings, the whole deal. Except now Jerome is dead, which kind of rules him out as the Joker. And now we know that Lori Petty will be playing another Joker-esque character later this month (maybe Duella Dent?) who is also clearly not going to be the Joker who eventually faces off against Batman. Whatever the hell is going on here, suffice it to say Gotham does not currently have a comics-accurate version of the Clown Prince of Crime.

11) Poison Ivy/Ivy Pepper

Well, comic Poison Ivy is a nature-lover/eco-terrorist, named Pamela Isley. The eventual Poison Ivy of Gotham is a young girl named Ivy Pepper, who I think briefly held a plant once.

12) Riddler/Edward Nygma

To his credit, Gotham’s proto Riddler does like riddles. A lot! To his detriment, he is a medical examiner in the Gotham City PD, and he keeps asking all the policemen to solve his riddles—which is probably going to be a disadvantage when he embarks upon his riddle-based crime spree, and every single police detective in the city remembers that weirdo who used to work in the morgue.

Gotham’s Nygma has murdered a few people, a couple of them accidentally. Which speaks to the real difference between the TV version and the comic version: The TV Riddler is pretty dumb. Oh sure, he managed to hide the people he killed, but he still accidentally suffocated one of them by holding his hand over her mouth too long. If Batman ever faces this guy, I don’t expect him to be too perplexed by the Riddler’s “baffling” clues.

13) Bruce Wayne

If Gotham’s Bruce Wayne is going to eventually be Batman, he’s going to need to get a move on. He is not particularly interested in training his mind or his body to fight crime (he’s asked Alfred for help a few times, and then totally bailed on his lessons). He’s upset that his parents were brutally murdered, but it doesn’t consume him; he goes many, many episodes without ever seeming to think about it. Also, there was a time when Bruce Wayne made Alfred a sandwich after Alfred had been stabbed, and Bruce got worried he didn’t cut the bread slices the correct thickness, and started crying. It was the least Batman-like thing I have ever seen.

14) Jim Gordon

It’s interesting that the protagonist of the series is the one who has veered so wildly from his comics counterpart. When Gotham began, Jim Gordon was a young, idealistic cop who was determined to clean up the GCPD, make the city safe, and do it while obeying the law. Yet in last week’s episode, he’s flat-out lying to his GCPD superiors and the Gotham district attorney’s office, to cover up a murder he committed.

Actually, Jim has murdered a few people—he killed one guy while operating as an enforcer for Penguin, which is a pretty un-Jim Gordon-like thing to do. But that murder was of Theo Galavan, an admitted bad guy, who was unarmed and bound when Gordon shot him in the face, in order to keep him bringing his way out of the justice system again. Oh, and Gordon shot him after allowing Penguin to mercilessly beat him first. Gotham’s Gordon is a killer with no faith in the system and no sense of what’s right, who doesn’t even much seem to care about Gotham City at all, let alone cleaning it up. He is a man whom the real Batman would hunt down, beat up, and leave strung up on a gargoyle for law-abiding cops to find later. So yeah, pretty different.

15) Alfred Pennyworth

Gotham’s Alfred hit a child in the face. Let’s just get it out there. He thought Selina Kyle was a bad influence on his charge, Bruce—so he punched her in the face. I can say without fear that the comics version of Alfred never included child abuse as one of his duties. This Alfred seems like he’s always spoiling for a fight.

What Gotham’s Alfred is not good at doing is taking care of Master Bruce. Bruce has been kidnapped, chased by assassins, and held hostage by Jerome. And yet, Alfred constantly lets Bruce go unaccompanied to drug dens and criminal hideouts and other incredible dangerous places (Alfred might not know that’s where Bruce is sneaking off to, but that’s kind of the point—Alfred doesn’t keep track of his charge at all. There was also that time where a bully beat up Bruce at school. Alfred’s solution? Give Bruce his father’s watch… for Bruce to use as faux brass knuckles to punch the bully in the face even harder. But that’s some serious parental concern, compared to the time sprained his ankle while hiking outside, and Alfred spent all day watching from a distance to… build character, maybe? Alfred is a total psychopath.

Contact the author at rob@io9.com.

If you were wondering just how far Marvel’s infamous secrecy goes—well, it extends to not telling actors what their cameos even mean until the movies actually come out. That’s why Anthony Mackie learned that Falcon was becoming an Avenger in the movie theater.

IGN interviewed Mackie on the set of Civil War, only a few weeks after Age of Ultron came out, and Mackie had apparently still not found the cool he’d lost:

It’s weird. You never know. They never send you the whole script. Like when they asked me to do [Age of Ultron], they sent me two scenes. There are two hours and seven minutes around those two scenes, but I never got to read it.

When we were at the premiere I was like “Cool.” I’m with my son and he gets to see his daddy in two scenes in The Avengers. By the end of the movie I turn around and they’re like “Avengers Assemble!” I’m like, “Holy shit! I’m an Avenger!!” So I turn around to everybody with me and they were like, “Dude! You’re a fuckin’ Avenger!” “This is fuckin’ amazing.” So, that’s the story of my Marvel life.

As for how Marvel managed to keep that secret from one of the people in the scene where Captain American calls them “Avengers,” well:

I had no idea. I flew in, Chris and Scarlett are up top and the rest of us are standing there. It was like “Cut. Anthony fly in. Action. Hm-hm-hm. Cut. Alright, thanks!” That was pretty much it. Six months later you go to a premiere and you shit yourself.

Everybody was like “Why are you so excited?” I’m like, “Arrhhhahhh... I just found out I’m an Avenger!” That’s pretty much how it happened over and over. That’s how Cap 2 happened, over and over and over again. So, I’m used to it. I’m interested to see what’s going to happen with this movie.

Nothing better sums up the utterly ridiculous nature of these giant tentpoles, where secrecy reigns, as one of the actors in it saying, during filming, “I’m interested to see what’s going to happen with this.”

[IGN]

Contact the author at katharine@io9.com.

Tadashi Mori is a prolific origami artist who’s previously folded replica aircraft and terrifying dragons, but now he’s turned his talents to the Dark Side.

His take on Darth Vader includes the Sith lord’s signature cape and helmet, but be warned, it’s not for origami Padawans. For starters, the expert takes at least 45 minutes to finish the sinister creation. Using a large sheet of paper and following along with his detailed instructions, however, might be enough to get you by if you’re already comfortable with the standard folds. Lightsaber not included.

[YouTube via Laughing Squid]

Contact the author at Bryan.Menegus@gizmodo.com.

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Teleportation is a safe, convenient mode of travel in the Star Trek universe. But what if the Star Trek transporter is essentially a “suicide box” instead? That’s the unnerving conclusion of a new animated video from CGP Grey about the trouble with transporters.

Think about it. All your atoms are scanned and destroyed in the process, because there’s no cloning allowed in quantum mechanics. Then all that information about you is teleported to the new location, where a bunch of new atoms are used to build a whole new you, complete with memories, personality quirks, and that oddly shaped birthmark on your left butt cheek. But is it really you in the truest sense of the word? How could you ever know for sure?

This is hardly the first time someone has pointed out that teleportation—as depicted in Star Trek or otherwise—comes with some serious adverse effects. But this video goes beyond the usual purely scientific discussion to delve into deeper metaphysical questions, like the philosophical puzzler known as the Ship of Theseus, and the problem of consciousness. Check it out.

[Laughing Squid]

I’ve heard that Margaret Shilling was deaf. I’ve heard that she was unable to speak, to call for help. I’ve heard that she was playing hide-and-go-seek, and I’ve heard that she just wanted to die. She has been called Ohio’s most notorious ghost, the lost lady. Teenagers have prayed to her, broken into a building for her, lit candles to her, and lay down on the spot where her body did that famous thing—where it vanished, reportedly, and then reappeared, leaving a stain.

In 1978, Margaret Shilling (sometimes spelled Schilling) was a patient at the mental hospital in my Ohio town. Opened in 1874 as The Athens Lunatic Asylum, the hospital boasted expansive landscaped grounds, lakes and woods, even a Lovers’ Lane. It would later have a flourishing farm and orchard. It’s a beautiful campus, then and today, with a famous Kirkbride design. The main building, five stories high, had “bat wings,” as a staff member called them, flanking the sides, and scalloped porches. The campus perches on top of a hill that overlooks town, and is bordered on all sides by dark trees.

The hospital in its heyday treated thousands of patients. But by the 1970s, the patient population of the asylum in Athens had dwindled, as it had in most state mental hospitals. General hospitals were starting to admit more and more mental health patients, and those who went to state institutions like the one in Athens were often poor, unable to afford private care. As a staff member told me: “Anything could get you sent here back then.” Many patients would just stay. And stay.

One of those patients was Margaret Shilling. Patient records are sealed, inaccessible to non-family members, but this much is known of her: She was likely a long-term patient. And in December 1978, the harshest winter in years, Margaret Shilling disappeared.

Before her disappearance, Shilling had gone to the attic. The unused attic, off at the end of one of the “bat wings,” had a peaked roof and exposed rafters. Maintenance was going on at the time—more than a century old by then, the asylum needed constant upkeep—and the doors to the attic, usually closed, may have been propped open by workers who were laying down insulation. Rumors have Shilling playing a game, hiding from an orderly. Much more likely, she simply saw an open door and went through it.

And then the door closed and locked behind her.

In the 70s, many patients at the asylum had grounds privileges, coming and going freely during daylight hours. Occasionally patients would not come back on time, and they would have to be retrieved from the woods. Often, according to staff, you could see patients sleeping on and under benches on the asylum grounds. They felt comfortable there.

Shilling was reportedly one of the ones in an “open ward,” with permission to come and go, though newspaper reports claimed she had dementia. But that night in December, Shilling didn’t come back. Staff searched the hospital. They searched the woods. They searched the attic. They searched it twice. They called her name. She never answered.

This is the point where a staffer tells me some at the asylum believed Shilling might have been suicidal; she just didn’t come out. She just didn’t want to be found.

And she wasn’t, for more than six weeks. Newspaper accounts list her discoverer as a maintenance worker. Other reports claim several employees found her together; they were sent to find her, and the staff knew where she was by this time, because of the smell.

Shilling was dead in the middle of the floor in the attic room, which had reportedly been searched twice. She was naked, her clothes stacked neatly on the windowsill. It was early January of 1979, in one of the coldest and snowiest winters on record, with an unprecedented 34 inches of snow that month alone.

It took awhile to move the body—the state highway patrol had to be called, the coroner—and after the body was removed, something remained.

Workers scrubbed at the concrete floor. At a certain point, they gave up. You can see in the stain where they gave up. The whiskered marks of a brush just stop, mid-sweep. You can see this because it’s still there, almost 40 years later. The stain—a white, chalky image of a torso: head, back, the beginnings of arms and thighs—is still on the concrete floor of the attic, as obvious today as it was in 1979, when they could not, did not, clean it off.

“What’s the worst rumor you’ve heard about the stain?” I was asked by staff, when I visited in September, 2015.

Easy. That it’s haunted. That a college student broke into the then-abandoned asylum (it closed in 1993), touched the stain, then, plagued by a ghost, went home and killed himself. Or herself. That was a rumor I heard repeated all over town, mostly by the college students.

There are rumors about the stain—and then there are rumors about Shilling, much worse because of their personal, exploitive nature. There were strangulation marks found on the body. She was a chain smoker. She was getting cigarettes from the orderlies in exchange for sex. Staff disputes this particular rumor, saying “she wasn’t like that”—though I am never told what she was like—besides, cigarettes were for sale at the asylum commissary.

When I search archives for newspaper coverage of Shilling’s case, there is nothing on the month of her disappearance. Really, nothing. December 1978 is gone, exercised from the microfilm in multiple copies. The librarian assisting me calls this a “more exciting workday than is typical.”

Articles in the archives do cover the discovery of Shilling’s body. It is front page news on the Ohio University student paper The Post: “Missing Patient Discovered Dead.” The article from January 12, 1979, describes “three days of intensive search of the building and grounds and weekly follow-up searches” since the December 1 disappearance. It also discusses the curfew of patients like Shilling, who could come and go from the hospital, and quotes from Sue Foster, then the hospital superintendent. “It isn’t very often we can’t track down a missing patient,” Foster says. And then she says: “Normally a discharged or AWOL patient’s records are held for only 14 days after they are gone.”

This statement raises the question: Were other patients going AWOL? How many? What was happening at the hospital in 1979? Just a few months after Shilling was found dead, the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees picketed at Ohio mental health hospitals, including the one in Athens. Foster was quoted in another article about the understaffed hospital: “We’re barely making it at the moment.”

But the story about Shilling is dropped. The last article on her is dated January 16, 1979. “Still Looking” is the title. The report says there’s been “little progress,” though an autopsy is being conducted and the attic has been sealed off while the town sheriff considers his own investigation. Foster says in this article, “She was alive when she was up there. That means to me that she wanted to be up there.”

Foster doesn’t mention how the doors in the attic supposedly locked automatically from the outside.

Did the sheriff conduct an investigation? Were the autopsy findings ever released? There’s no follow-up. Because Shilling’s death occurred on state hospital grounds, the Ohio state highway patrol was required by law to investigate—but their office was unable to find the file.

Here’s what I know of Shilling, without being family, without seeing the lost or missing records: She was 53 years-old. She was married. According to one local historian, she was a mother. She was not a young, beautiful dead girl, the type that attracts journalistic attention. She died in a locked room. She died and was left alone.

Her death certificate lists natural causes, yet she was only 53. Exposure to the cold, not listed, also seems likely. Ice storms had crippled the town in the weeks before Shilling was found. The power went out. Students went sledding on cafeteria trays.

Shilling is buried, not on the asylum grounds, where many patients are interred under numbered, nameless stones, but in a small cemetery in a Southern Ohio county. When I tell a staffer, he looks sad and says he’s not surprised. “That’s where we got a lot of people from then.”

Here’s what I know of the stain, without being a scientist: In 2008, chemistry graduate students analyzed it, publishing their findings in the Journal of Forensic Science. The stain is a mixture of chemicals, human tissue. And soap. The ghost impression of Shilling’s body etched itself into the attic floor because the stain was cleaned with toxic products, much harsher than the cleaning products used today. Tissue and soap were found in the stain because a combination of factors—temperature, humidity, and the physical chemistry of her body—caused saponification, a mundane process which means that, rather than decaying, some of the fat in her body simply turned to soap. The ghostly stain in the attic ward is simply cleaning products…and soap.

It’s not exciting. It’s not scary. It’s not even that uncommon. But it’s still there, the stain in the attic ward. It’s a reminder—and the stain has its own life now. It attracts ghost hunting TV shows. It’s featured on website after website, many of the stories inflammatory and inaccurate. People still break into the asylum, wanting to see or touch it (the main hospital building houses classrooms, studio space, and a small art gallery now, but many wards, including the attic, are closed off). A staff member suggested just cutting the damn thing out, and displaying the chunk of concrete in the lobby, in a glass case.

In October 2015, Ohio University, who came into possession of the hospital campus in the late 1980s, announced future plans to demolish several asylum buildings, which they claim are “non-contributing buildings.”

But Ward 20, like it or not, is an accidental memorial. To raze that building, to destroy the stain, would be to deny whatever happened to Margaret Shilling—and the negligence and stigma that allowed her to be lost in the first place.

I have always been drawn to Shilling because of one of the rumors about her, although not the salacious ones. What drew me in was her rumored deafness. I am deaf, born with a profound hearing loss. The deaf filled many asylums, including the one in Athens (as did “shellshock” veterans and women with what we now call postpartum depression). In a different time, with a different family, would I have been sent to an asylum?

And is it possible Shilling didn’t come out of hiding not because she wanted to die, but because she didn’t hear the searchers? I am told there was something different about Shilling’s speech. She had a speech impediment of sorts; she whispered everything. Did she not hear the searchers? Did they not hear her? Did she not come out because she was suicidal, or simply ill or afraid?

Or was she too medicated? This was the age of Thorazine, the first generation of anti-psychotic drugs, which were extremely strong and sometimes had devastating side effects. Many patients were heavily drugged, shuffling around in a fog. Was Shilling?

“She was a relatively quiet patient,” Foster, the superintendent at the time, said.

Here’s what I know, what I know for sure: You don’t need to see the stain in the attic ward. You don’t need to touch it. If you want to feel something, don’t even bother going up the old hospital steps.

Turn to the back of the campus. Stay on the grounds. Go to the graveyards. There are five cemeteries holding the graves of hundreds of people who died in the asylum, most identified only by numbers. If you want to feel afraid, feel sadness for those lives, those lost lives: people whose deaths weren’t investigated, who don’t get newspaper articles written about them, or tours led to them, or stories (even lies) told about them.

These are the people who were left. People who spent their whole lives in an asylum. People who were misunderstood and sometimes, misdiagnosed. If you want to touch something, touch one of their numbers. Leave flowers, light candles for them, the ones nobody came back for, the ones no one will claim.

Alison Stine’s first YA novel SUPERVISION was published by HarperVoyager. Also the author of three books of poetry, she lives in the Appalachian foothills.

Illustration by Bobby Finger, source image via Sarah Hina/Flickr

You don’t own your ebooks with DRM. You’re merely licensing the privilege to read them. Some readers overseas have learned this the hard way (yet again) now that Nook is going out of business in the United Kingdom. But don’t worry, they’re working to let you maybe possibly transfer all those books you bought.

The Register and TechDirt brought this notice from Nook’s UK site to our attention (emphasis mine):

Effective from March 15, 2016, NOOK will no longer sell digital content in the United Kingdom. The NOOK Store on NOOK devices sold in the UK, on the UK NOOK Reading App for Android, and at nook.com/gb will cease operation.

To meet your digital reading needs going forward, NOOK has partnered with award-winning Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand to ensure that you have continued access to the vast majority of your purchased NOOK Books at no new cost to you. Further instructions on how to transfer your NOOK Books to a new or existing Sainsbury’s Entertainment on Demand account will be sent to you by email over the coming weeks. Please ensure that you look out for these emails as they will contain important information on what to do next.

Your action is required.

“...continued access to the vast majority of your purchased NOOK Books...”

They’re not even promising that you’ll be able to transfer all your books!

Digital rights management (DRM) is absolutely crippling our ability to preserve digital knowledge for the future. And it’s half the reason I prefer deadtree books.

Even when it’s an accident (like when Amazon deleted everybody’s copies of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm from their Kindles) it shows just how little control we have over the books we “buy” from digital retailers.

So repeat after me...

You don’t own your ebooks.

You don’t own your ebooks.

You don’t own your ebooks.

Contact the author at novak@gizmodo.com.

Anker chargers, a Logitech Harmony remote, and cheap Bluetooth headphones lead off Monday’s best deals. Bookmark Kinja Deals and follow us on Twitter to never miss a deal. Commerce Content is independent of Editorial and Advertising, and if you buy something through our posts, we may get a small share of the sale. Click here to learn more, and don’t forget to sign up for our email newsletter.

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Top Deals

We see deals on Logitech Harmony remotes fairly frequently, but today, the grand poobah of them all is on sale for $180, an all-time low.

The Logitech Harmony Ultimate has just about every feature you could ever ask for in a universal remote, and then some. It can control 15 of your favorite devices (from a database of 270,000), including ones hiding behind cabinet doors. Its touchscreen gives you quick access to your favorite settings, and its smartphone companion app brings the same options to your iOS or Android device. Plus, it can even control smart home devices like your Philips Hue lights, meaning you can create a “Movie” mode that turns on your TV and Blu-ray player, switches to the right input, and dims the lights, all with one push of a button.

Just note that this is a Gold Box deal, meaning this price is only available today, or until sold out. [Logitech Harmony Ultimate Remote with Customizable Touch Screen and Closed Cabinet RF Control, $195]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00BQ5RY1G/...

Update: There actually is a higher end Harmony remote: The Harmony Elite, which is currently selling for $315.

The excellent Pebble Time Round smart watch was recently dropped from $250 to $200, but Amazon’s gone one step further and shaved off an extra $20. The deal isn’t available on all band options, but you do get to choose from a a 20mm or 14mm strap size. [Pebble Time Round, $180]

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The newest, larger-screen Nest Learning Thermostat 3.0 is down to $200 today on eBay, which is the best cash discount we’ve ever seen, and essentially a match to Amazon’s $50 Black Friday gift card deal. We only see good deals on these thermostats a few times per year, so if you have one on your wishlist, I wouldn’t hesitate. [Nest Learning Thermostat 3.0, $200]

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/Nest-Learn...

It’s nothing fancy, but if you need a cooking thermometer, $7 is a great price. [Habor Cooking Thermometer, $7 with code A8CGPKQY]

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This deal would have been a lot more useful a few months ago, but then again, that’s probably why it’s on sale today. This $100 space heater has Belkin WeMo support built right in, meaning you can control and schedule it right from your smartphone, no matter where you are in the world. [Holmes Smart Wifi-Enabled WeMo X-Large Heater, 1500 watts, $100]

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Anker just unleashed a torrent of new promo codes on their ridiculously popular charging gear, including some brand new Quick Charge 3.0 products.

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Quick Charge 3.0

Quick Charge 3.0, Anker 18W USB Wall Charger ($20) | Amazon | Promo code VZIYQN72. White model also on sale with code 2BK6QLHN.

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Quick Charge 3.0, Anker 24W USB Car Charger ($16) | Amazon | Promo code WTZTB2IH

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Quick Charge 3.0 Anker 42W 2-Port USB Car Charger ($22) | Amazon | Promo code BARTVXI2

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Quick Charge 2.0

Anker PowerCore+ 10050 Premium Aluminum Portable Battery with Quick Charge 2.0 ($25) | Amazon | Promo code K2MN2ST2

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Anker 18W USB Wall Charger PowerPort+ 1 Wall Charger ($12) | Amazon | Promo code AI5UFSKI

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Anker 42W 3-Port USB Charger PowerPort+ 3 ($23) | Amazon | Promo code AMZ8SP9Q

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Anker 60W 6-Port USB Charger PowerPort+ 6 ($32) | Amazon | Promo code VAUYI58P

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Anker 36W Dual USB Car Charger PowerDrive+ 2 ($17) | Amazon | Promo code 52I4MVRX

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Cables

Anker [4-Pack] PowerLine Micro USB (1ft) ($8) | Amazon | Promo code 9TVGPFFF

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6-Pack Anker PowerLine MicroUSB Kevlar-Wrapped Cables ($12) | Amazon

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It’s no secret that you guys love Dyson vacuums, and you can upgrade to a brand new DC39 for just $200 today, courtesy of Dyson’s eBay storefront. That’s about $130-$180 less than you’ll find it elsewhere, and right in line with what we’d expect refurbs to sell for. [Dyson DC39, $200]

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http://www.ebay.com/itm/Dyson-DC39...

Mpow makes some of the most popular cheap Bluetooth earbuds on the market, but if you prefer on-ears (not to mention 12 hours of battery life), you can get a pair of Mpow Phantoms for just $36 $40 today. [Mpow Phantom Wireless Bluetooth On-Ear Headphones, $36 $40 with code XXJY9QHQ]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00X5DDRR2

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Lifehacker readers’ favorite mouse is down to $46 today, which is within $1 of the lowest price we’ve ever seen. The Logitech Performance Mouse MX will work on practically any surface (even glass!), can recharge over microUSB, and includes dedicated forward and back buttons for web surfing. [Logitech - Performance Mouse MX, $46]

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If you ever pay for iOS apps, movies, music, or iCloud storage with your credit card, you’re throwing money down the drain. Instead, stock up on iTunes gift cards at a 20% discount, and grab some to give as gifts while you’re at it. [$100 iTunes Gift Card, $80]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-iTunes...

They’re not going to win any fashion awards, but these sport watches are great for exercising and hiking, and you can pick one up starting under $20 today. Just note that this is a Gold Box deal, meaning these prices are only available today, or until sold out. [50% or More Off A Large Selection of Sport Watches]

http://www.amazon.com/b/ref=lp_13951...

Rubbermaid’s FastTrack garage storage system is Amazon’s top seller in the category, and the proud owner of a 4.4 star review average. If you have a garage or shed, this is a requisite purchase at $26, an all-time low. [Rubbermaid FastTrack Garage Storage System All-in-One Rail & Hook Kit, 5-Piece, $26]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VTZ700/...

Warm weather is on the horizon, which means it’s nearly iced coffee season. This $17 Takeya can brew four servings of the good stuff in your refrigerator overnight, and boasts a solid 4.4 star review average on Amazon. [Takeya Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker, 1-Quart, $19]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FFLY64U/...

We’ve seen deals on air fryers before, but this model from VonShef can pull double duty as a slow cooker, rice cooker, soup maker, and more. And of course, it can also fry french fries and other delicacies with just a tiny fraction of the oil (and fat) you’d need for traditional deep frying. [VonShef Digital Air Fryer & Multi Cooker, $70]

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Mpow’s excellent, minimalist, universal magnetic smartphone vent mount is back down to $5 today. [Mpow Grip Magic Air Vent One Step Mounting Magnetic Car Mount Holder, $5 code YNGL8BMN]

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These ridiculously cheap mounts are among the most popular products we’ve ever listed, and carry both Lifehacker Editorial and Lifehacker Hive Five recommendations.

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Love yours? Tell us why and we’ll include your story in future posts about the product!

The Xbox 360 controller has been the controller of choice for most PC gamers for about a decade now, but if you prefer the Xbox One gamepad, the wired PC model is down to $43 today, the lowest price Amazon’s ever listed. [Microsoft Xbox One Controller + Cable for Windows, $43]

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Corsair makes some of your favorite mechanical gaming keyboards, and their K65 RGB model is marked down to $100 today, the best price we’ve ever seen. [Corsair - Gaming K65 RGB Mechanical Keyboard, $100]

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This deal pops up every couple of months or so, but if you have a Kindle e-reader on your wish list, today’s your chance to save $20.

Kindle Paperwhite ($100) | Amazon

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OQVZDJM/...

Kindle ($60) | Amazon

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Kindle For Kids Bundle ($80) | Amazon

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If you want All-Clad style tri-play cookware, but don’t have $100 to spend on a single pan, this highly-rated Cooks Standard 3 quart sauce pan should be more than adequate for most home chefs. If you’re still using thin, aluminum pans that you bought in college, you won’t believe how great this thing is. [Cooks Standard Multi-Ply Clad Stainless-Steel 3-Quart Covered Sauce Pan, $38]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00421AYIG/...

Everyone with a kitchen should own a Lodge cast iron skillet, but this grill pan certainly has its uses as well. [Lodge Pro-Logic Pre-Seasoned Cast Iron Square Grill Pan, 12-inch, $27]

http://bestsellers.kinja.com/bestsellers-lo...

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0001DJVGA/...

Range extenders can’t work miracles, but if a corner of your house just doesn’t quite get acceptable Wi-Fi reception, this little gadget can probably do enough to help. [TP-LINK AC750 Dual Band Wi-Fi Range Extender, $35]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00NR2VMNC/...

It’s not from a brand you’ve probably heard of, but this is the best price we’ve ever seen on a 30+ ounce, vacuum insulated water bottle. I own something similar, and it’ll keep ice frozen for hours on end, even in the Texas heat. [Fnova 35 oz Insulated Stainless Steel Water Bottle, $18 with code 4V4RMWPH]

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B015388COY

Tech

Storage

• Seagate Backup Plus 4TB Portable External Hard Drive with 200GB of Cloud Storage ($120) | Amazon
• Western Digital My Passport Cinema, 1 TB ($50) | eBay
• SanDisk Ultra Flair USB 3.0 128GB Flash Drive ($28) | Amazon
• Transcend 256GB JetDrive Lite 360 Storage Expansion Card for 15-Inch MacBook Pro with Retina Display ($139) | Amazon
• Samsung 128GB EVO Class 10 Micro SDXC Card with Adapter ($40) | Amazon
• Transcend 32 GB Class 10 SDHC Flash Memory Card ($10) | Amazon
• Inateck 2.5 Inch USB 3.0 Hard Drive Disk HDD External Enclosure/ Case With USB 3.0 Cable ($13) | Amazon | Use code NMJVFLX4

Power

• PNY PowerPack 2600 USB External Battery ($4) | Best Buy
• Quick Charge 3.0, Anker 18W USB Wall Charger ($20) | Amazon | Promo code VZIYQN72. White model also on sale with code 2BK6QLHN.
  
• Quick Charge 3.0, Anker 24W USB Car Charger ($16) | Amazon | Promo code WTZTB2IH
  
• Quick Charge 3.0 Anker 42W 2-Port USB Car Charger ($22) | Amazon | Promo code BARTVXI2
• Anker PowerCore+ 10050 Premium Aluminum Portable Battery with Quick Charge 2.0 ($25) | Amazon | Promo code K2MN2ST2
• Anker 18W USB Wall Charger PowerPort+ 1 Wall Charger ($12) | Amazon | Promo code AI5UFSKI
• Anker 42W 3-Port USB Charger PowerPort+ 3 ($23) | Amazon | Promo code AMZ8SP9Q
• Anker 60W 6-Port USB Charger PowerPort+ 6 ($32) | Amazon | Promo code VAUYI58P
• Anker 36W Dual USB Car Charger PowerDrive+ 2 ($17) | Amazon | Promo code 52I4MVRX
• Anker [4-Pack] PowerLine Micro USB (1ft) ($8) | Amazon | Promo code 9TVGPFFF
• Keedox All-in-One International Worldwide Travel Plug Adapter with Dual USB Charger ($16) | Amazon | Use code IGVC9A7J
• AUKEY 54W 5-Port USB Desktop Charging Station and Aukey [5-Pack] Premium Micro USB Cables ($21) | Amazon | Use code WQ8T8LCN
• DBPOWER Power Strip, 6 USB & 6 Outlets ($20) | Amazon | Promo code NUTY88PC

Audio

• Mpow Phantom Wireless Bluetooth On-Ear Headphones ($40) | Amazon | Use code XXJY9QHQ
• Sennheiser Surround Sound Gaming Headset ($185) | Woot
• Senbowe SBW Bluetooth 4.1 Sweatproof Wireless Headset with Microphone ($10) | Amazon | Use code URNBYUDE
• Insignia Portable Bluetooth Speaker w/ Camera Button ($8) | eBay

Home Theater

• Sceptre 49" 4K Ultra HD 2160p 60Hz LED HDTV ($350) | Walmart
• Insignia 50-INch LED 1080p HDTV ($300) | eBay
• Sharp 2.1-Channel Soundbar with Wireless Subwoofer ($200) | eBay
• Logitech Harmony Ultimate Remote with Customizable Touch Screen and Closed Cabinet RF ($180) | Amazon

Computers & Accessories

• Acer 11.6" IPS Chromebook ($150) | Target
• HP Pavilion x360 13.3-Inch Full-HD 2-in-1 Laptop (Core i5, 8GB RAM, 128GB SSD) with Windows 10 ($550) | Amazon
• AOC - 27" Widescreen Flat-Panel LED HD Monitor ($130) | eBay
• AOC 27" Widescreen Flat-Panel IPS LED HD Monitor ($170) | Best Buy
• Acer G236HL Bbd 23-Inch Screen LED-Lit Monitor ($90) | Amazon
• Samsung 31.5-Inch Curved Screen LED-Lit Monitor ($390) | Amazon
• Logitech - Performance Mouse MX ($46) | eBay
• Netis WF2419 Wireless N300 Router ($17) | Amazon
• Norton Security Deluxe - 5 Devices ($20) | Amazon
• USB-C Hub, Keedox Type-C Hub to USB Hub 4-Ports USB-C to USB 3.0 for new MacBook, Chromebook Pixel ($15) | Amazon | Use code WKMTSAB2

PC Parts

• Saints Row IV Re-Elected and Metro Redux Double Pack ($19) | Gamestop
• 2-Pack of Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 2.5" 240GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drives ($120) | Newegg

Mobile Devices

• Apple iPad Air 32GB WiFi ($349) | Walmart
• LG Stylo (Virgin Mobile) Prepaid Phone ($90) | Amazon
• Inateck Multi-in-1 OTG Adapter ($11) | Amazon | Use code HEP4BUOR

Photography

• Refurb Canon Rebel T5 EF-S 18-55mm IS II & EF 75-300mm f/4-5.6 III Kit ($260) | Canon
• Refurb Canon EOS Rebel T5 EF-S 18-55mm IS II Lens Kit ($230) | Canon
• Nikon D3100 DSLR Camera with 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6 Auto Focus-S Nikkor Zoom Lens ($345) | Amazon
• Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G Lens ($197) | Amazon
• Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6G ED Vibration Reduction Zoom Lens ($797) | Amazon
• Nikon 1 NIKKOR 10-100mm f/4.5-5.6 VR Lens ($629) | Amazon
• DBPOWER 5MP 20-300X USB Digital Microscope Magnifier ($56) | Amazon | Use code SEW82LD6

Home

• Rubbermaid FastTrack Garage Storage System All-in-One Rail & Hook Kit, 5-Piece ($26) | Amazon
• Sunbeam Vertical Quilted Heated Mattress Pad with ComfortTech Controller ($55) | Amazon
• 13-Gallon Touch-Free Sensor Automatic Stainless Trash Can ($35) | eBay
• Everyday Essentials Gel Pens - Set of 40 Individual Colors ($10) | Amazon
• Shark Navigator Bagless Upright Vacuum ($100) | eBay
• BLACK+DECKER MAX Lithium Flex Vacuum with Stick Vacuum Floor Head and Pet Hair Brush, 20-volt ($79) | Amazon
• 4-Inch Cob Web Duster ($8) | Amazon
• MyFriday Silicone Packing Bottles (Pack of 3) ($10) | Amazon
• Bionaire Mini Tower Fan ($20) | eBay
• Holmes Smart Wifi-Enabled WeMo X-Large Heater, 1500 watts ($100) | Amazon
• Swann Pro-Series 4-Channel 2-Camera Indoor/Outdoor Surveillance System ($100) | eBay
• Etekcity 110lb/50kg Digital Hanging Postal Luggage Scale, Rubber Paint Technology & Temperature Sensor ($8) | Amazon | Use code WAFW6XQ3

Apparel

• NCAA Team Goodie Bag ($20) | Woot
• 50% or More Off A Large Selection of Sport Watches at Amazon
• Columbia Gotcha Groovin Jacket - Women’s ($50) | REI
• FILA Women’s Venture Long Bonded Jacket ($30) | eBay
• ASICS Women’s GEL-FujiPro Running Shoes ($45) | eBay
• Diesel Men’s Magnum Quayle Fashion Sneaker ($60) | eBay

Beauty & Grooming

• Philips Sonicare 2 Series Electric Toothbrush ($50) | Best Buy
• Helen of Troy 1579 Tangle Free Hot Air Brush, 3/4 Inch Barrel ($20) | Amazon

Kitchen

• Takeya Cold Brew Iced Coffee Maker, 1-Quart ($17) | Amazon
• VonShef Digital Air Fryer & Multi Cooker ($70) | Amazon
• Star Wars Han Solo Carbonite Mini Fridge ($32) | Amazon
• Inateck Multifunction Kitchen Scale for Food/ Ingredients and More, with Tare Function ($10) | Amazon | Use code UXMVYOT2
• Habor Cooking Thermometers ($7) | Amazon | Use code A8CGPKQY
• Deik Wine Saver ($8) | Amazon | Use code 6X3LSLSE

Camping & Outdoors

• Gonex Outdoor Cycling Ski Balaclava Face Mask ($6) | Amazon | Use code EP78KYEY

Fitness

• TriggerPoint GRID Foam Roller with Free Online Instructional Videos ($25) | Amazon

Tools & Auto

• Mpow Grip Magic Air Vent One Step Mounting Magnetic Car Mount Holder ($5) | Amazon | Use code YNGL8BMN
• Michelin 01001 Multi-Tire Rack Storage ($80) | Amazon | After $30 Coupon
• JEGS Fender Cover with Pocket Heavy-Duty Vinyl 23" H x 31-1/2" W ($10) | eBay
• Pair of Folding Sawhorses ($25) | Sears
• Utility / Garden Carts are On Sale Today at Home Depot
• Craftsman 13 in. Tool Bag ($4) | Sears

Media

• $100 iTunes Gift Card ($80) | eBay

Movies & TV

• Watchmen Collector’s Edition: Ultimate Cut + Graphic Novel ($32) | Amazon
• The Usual Suspects ($5) | Amazon
• Soylent Green, Logan’s Run, Omega Man Triple Feature ($12) | Amazon
• United ($5) | Amazon
• John Wick ($8) | Amazon
• Jurassic Park ($8) | Amazon
• Gravity ($8) | Amazon
• Rock of Ages ($6) | Amazon
• Interstellar ($8) | Amazon
• The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo ($8) | Target
• Draft Day ($8) | Target
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Send deal submissions to Deals@Gawker and all other inquiries to Shane@Gawker

NBC’s DC Comics office comedy Powerless apparently has free reign to pick whatever heroes it wants from the vast DC pantheon of heroes. Turns out, what the show’s actually doing, is giving us some of the most obscure characters it can muster, starting with... Crimson Fox?

Yes, the incredibly obscure French member of Justice League Europe (well, technically members—Fox was actually two people, identical twins Vivian and Constance D’Aramis). She’ll make her live-action debut in the comedy, which largely involves the employees of an insurance company in a city populated by DC superheroes. Here’s the first pictures of Crimson Fox in action, which honestly tell us quite a bit about Powerless:

Firstly, this show is already surpassing The Flash in the level of “wait, what, they’re seriously doing that character!?” hilarity already, which is saying something, considering The Flash counts Gorilla Grodd and King Shark as supporting characters. That’s kind of great, actually, because it means there’s a chance for some of the most obscure and goofy comics characters in DC’s long history now have a chance to show up on a TV series that is befitting of their cheesiness (as much as I love that show, I doubt that The Flash is going to get round to a Matter-Eater Lad cameo any time soon).

Secondly, it seems like there’s going to be way more action in Powerless than many people expected, judging by those shots of Crimson Fox batting away falling rubble. It seems like we’re going to get some pretty elaborate superhero scenes alongside the office comedy shenanigans, which could be pretty cool. We’ll have to wait and see if the execution hits the right mark, but honestly? These set pictures have made me kind of excited to see more.

Contact the author at james.whitbrook@io9.com.

We already knew that the CW was cooking up an 1880-set show called Transylvania, about “a headstrong young woman” (sigh) who travels from New York to Transylvania in search of her missing father, with the added bonus of encounters with “the most famous monsters and villains in history.”

We now know who’ll be playing said headstrong lass, as well as the “wrongfully disgraced Scotland Yard detective” who becomes her ally, and Igor, a “hunchback who robs graves for his master,” er, “a gentle hunchback known for his technical genius.”

Here’s the full scoop from Deadline:

British actor Luke Allen-Gale (Dominion) has been cast as the male lead opposite Aussie Laura Brent in the CW genre-themed drama pilot Transylvania. Also cast in the pilot, from CBS TV Studios, is Canadian actor Evan Stern. Written by Hugh Sterbakov and directed by Jason Ensler, Transylvania is set in 1880 and centers on Victoria (Brent), a headstrong young woman in search of her missing father who ventures from NYC to Transylvania where she teams with a wrongfully disgraced Scotland Yard Detective, Inspector Godfrey (Allen-Gale), and together they witness the births of the most famous monsters and villains in history. Stern will play Igor, a gentle hunchback known for his technical genius.

The title pretty much guarantees that the famous monsters will include Dracula; having an “Igor” suggests rather strongly we’ll be seeing Dr. Frankenstein/his monster/maybe the Bride as well. Predictions, just for the hell of it: Victoria’s missing father will be a werewolf, and Jack the Ripper will also barge in at some point.

Contact the author at cheryl.eddy@io9.com.

Hmm. Could stock footage basically do the same thing as famous film directors getting paid millions to make a movie? Sort of! (of course not, well, depending on the director and depending on the shot) Here’s a video from VideoBlocks that compares stock footage versus scenes from famous movies like Top Gun and Drive and The Shining. Some of the scenes are pretty much exactly the same.

Obviously, these sort of establishing shots can only be done in so many ways in the first place but it’s interesting how directors can stitch together a story with footage that “anyone” could take.

SPLOID is delicious brain candy. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube.

Over at Reddit, there’s a terrific discussion among real scientists, talking about the books they love—and the things that drive them nuts. Peeves include fake “chaos theory” magic, “You only use 10 percent of your brain,” futures without advanced computers, and the genetics in Neal Stephenson’s Seveneves.

Charlie Jane Anders is the author of All The Birds in the Sky, which is available now. Here’s what people have been saying about it. Follow her on Twitter, and email her.

This is the cover art for In the Labyrinth of Drakes by Marie Brennan, the latest in her Lady Trent series of supernatural naturalist books. And this art is helping me deal with the Monday-ness of everything.

http://www.amazon.com/In-Labyrinth-D...

[via SFSignal on Instagram]

Charlie Jane Anders is the author of All The Birds in the Sky, which is available now. Here’s what people have been saying about it. Follow her on Twitter, and email her.

A new recruit joins a top-secret organization devoted to taking down extraterrestrial terrorists in Hunters, Syfy’s new series based on Whitley Strieber’s novel Alien Hunter. These promos suggest plenty of scifi action, though perhaps also a bit of heavy-handedness with the whole “terrorism” metaphor.

Our interest is piqued. Hunters kicks off April 11 on Syfy.

[Via Blastr]

Contact the author at cheryl.eddy@io9.com.

REO Speedwagon were a staple of super-squishy soft rock in the 80s, and I guess they were among the pioneers of high-concept music videos. But yeesh. I had never fully realized how skin-crawling their video for “I Can’t Fight This Feeling” actually is. Yeeeeeesh.

OK, let’s recap.

So some aliens have kidnapped a baby, and put him into some kind of black void, where he’s going to be surrounded by holographic representations of a normal human life, so they can experiment on him. So far, so good. The experiment is supervised by a group of people with terrible mullets and comedy-Canadian mustaches, who I’m guessing are REO Speedwagon.

The trouble begins when the Experimental Subject (aka the human child) has his tiny bed suspended over the void, and has to watch all his toys and stuffed animals fall into a burning sun to be destroyed. The child, too, falls out of the bed into the burning sun. This boy, understandably disturbed by this experience, grows up to become a sociopath.

Meanwhile the staring eyes. The staring eyes.

Oh, and at some point it rains candles.

OK. So then at one point, the kid (who has grown to what looks like adolescence) tries to escape. He opens a window and is confronted by a group of nightmarish screen-faces. The expression on his face after he closes the shutters on them is actually quite skin-crawling. He looks... weirdly calm. Happy. Almost exalted. As if all his suspicious have been confirmed, and he feels liberated.

Then there’s the highly symbolic “watching credit cards and cake-toppers fly around in black space, while trapped inside a tiny box” experience, which is a common stage in the development of young serial killers.

From this point on, the video follows a standard “growing up and growing old inside a virtual fake world” scenario, not unlike what Captain Picard goes through in that one Star Trek: The Next Generation episode where learns to play the flute on a doomed planet. The boy gets married to a woman who is either not real, or does not care that all of the open flames are scary video screens and objects tend to just drop into her husband’s hands at the right moment. They have a child, who just sits on the floor looking up at them, until he’s suddenly grown to adulthood and walks away into the void. Eventually, the woman disintegrates under the concentrated male gaze of REO Speedwagon, and the man is left alone until he is finally eaten by Matt Smith’s “old man” makeup from Doctor Who, “The Time of the Doctor.”

I do not recommend watching the entire video above. It will give you daymares AND nightmares.

Charlie Jane Anders is the author of All The Birds in the Sky, which is available now. Here’s what people have been saying about it. Follow her on Twitter, and email her.

David Gallaher and Steve Ellis’ ongoing scifi webcomic The Only Living Boy follows Erik Farrell, a 12-year-old lost on a strange alien world after he runs away from home. Writing for io9, Gallaher reveals the personal tragedy that inspired Erik’s story—and how being diagnosed with epilepsy transformed the way he wrote comics.

My Winter Beard had gone from “sexy lumberjack” to “backwoods survivalist” in a manner of days. When I used to work a steady office job, my beard was like a giant sweater, it would protect my delicate face from the savage city winds and arctic temperatures. These days, I work from home and have no need for such robust facial follicle-ry. But since the Groundhog predicted an early Spring, I opted to go to the barbershop to rid myself of the beard before it ventured into “sea captain” territory.

The shop I go to is a very traditional, family-owned place that serves a glass of bourbon with every hot towel shave. I walk in, say my hellos, and take a seat. “Shave the beard,” I tell the guy before he even asks. I pause to take off my hat. “And shave everything up top too,” I tell him, pointing to my head. The barber stands silent for a minute. “This scar? How did you get it?”

I hate it.

What do I say about a scar that runs the entire width of my skull? Do I lie? Say something adventurous and clever? Parachute accident? CIA experimenting gone wrong? Do I say nothing? Try and ignore it? Casually, people have come up to me assuming it was a cancer wound.

“My brother has a scar like that, from a landmine,” he confesses.

“Skull surgery,” I relent as I let him take a straight razor to my face.

It wasn’t just a simple skull surgery. Doctors call it “craniosynostosis.” It’s a birth defect that left my head malformed. I had life-saving corrective surgery, but it left me with lifelong scars, developmental delays, and brain damage. It also left me with a seizure disorder—temporal lobe epilepsy—that colors and informs so many of the stories I tell for a living.

Before my epilepsy was diagnosed, I did my best to keep the symptoms secret from other people. My inattentiveness was blamed on daydreaming or ADHD. My nausea was blamed on a spastic colon or food allergies. I’d have to pack spare underwear in my book bag because I never knew when I would accidentally crap my pants or pee myself. To avoid the mocking and the name-calling, I’d do my best to try and cover things up. I was too ashamed to admit that I had no control over my body. I let the shame alienate me from forming any lasting friendships.

As I grew up, I learned how to better bluff my way through blackouts, accidents, or unexplained behavior. I’d stumble my way through schoolwork, get frustrated at my teachers, and get angry at myself for forgetting assignments or spacing out on a test. Administrators would threaten my parents with placing me in Special Ed classes or trying to get me place somewhere else entirely.

But, everybody has a tough time in high school, right? Puberty does strange things to all of us. I did my best to rationalize my inconsistent behavior, but never felt comfortable talking about how it made me feel on the inside.

As an undergraduate, I majored in neurology and education. I became fascinated by authors like Oliver Sacks, who helped put a face on neurological disorders with books like An Anthologist on Mars and The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat. I took upper-level classes on biopsychology, psychopharmacology, behavior modification, and abnormal psychology. I learned a lot about how the brain worked and even got to cut a few of them open to study the effects of tardive dyskinesia. Classes in education lead me to teach Special Education classes to children with autism, childhood schizophrenia, and disintegrative psychosis. I spent five years teaching before deciding to follow another passion of mine—writing.

“Write what you know,” is the clichéd piece of advice first-time writers get. The truth was I never felt like I knew or understood myself. And I was certainly in no place to write about it. My stomach pains and cramps worsened. Doctors suspected Crohn’s Disease, ulcers, and food allergies. I had intestinal surgery to treat the suspected problem. I had hallucinations, visions, and impulse control problems that I’d attribute to having too much coffee. There’s this mythology that writers are supposed to be a little peculiar or eccentric, but it was all a little too much for me, but I kept on keeping on.

One night, after a date, I passed out. My head smashed up against the window of the Gramercy Dinner. I woke up several days later at NYU Medical Center. Doctors and nurses shaved my head, wired me up to a machine, plugged me into a bunch of monitors, strapped me to a bed, and placed me in the Epilepsy Ward, where I was monitored for over a week for abnormal brain activity. Because of HIPAA laws and hospital regulations, my family, my roommate, and my friends had no idea where I was or what had become of me. I was declared a missing person.

Inside my hospital room, I felt like a missing person. As the Manchurian Candidate played on public television, I found myself filled with delusions and crippling anxiety. What was happening to my body? What was happening to my mind?

When the nurses moved me from the Epilepsy Ward to the Cardiac Ward, I was able to reconnect with my family and friends. Thankfully, most of the wires and straps were gone, but the anxiety was still there. My experiences left me changed.

For the next two weeks, I wrote from my hospital bed. I scribbled down the overwhelming sense of isolation and paranoia I felt. I wrote about the uncertainty. I wrote about the horrible food. The rapid weight-loss. The silent nurses that would parade around my bed during twilight hours. And about the time I flatlined in my room. Those experiences became the foundation of BOX 13—the neo-noir thriller that Steve Ellis and I developed for comiXology.

I entered the hospital on August 1st, 2004; I was released 25 days later. I entered weighing 200 pounds. I left weighing 130 pounds. I came in wearing the clothes on my back, I left with a backpack full of narcotics and pharmaceuticals and a copy of Ender’s Game that was given to me as a gift. I was banned from swimming, video games, driving, alcohol, and coffee. I was given a diagnosis sheet that was 17 pages long. I would have felt broken if it wasn’t for one man, Oliver Sacks, who came to speak with me a few days before I was discharged. I don’t even remember what all we talked about, but he said something nice that stuck with me, “I think you’ll do great things.” Maybe he said that to every patient. Maybe I’m misremembering. All I know is that it made me smile.

Two weeks after I was discharged, I was back in the hospital. Two days after that I was in the hospital. Four days after that I was in the hospital. From August of 2004 to September of 2005, I spent a total 155 days in the hospital. When my epilepsy was at its worst, I was having up to nine seizures a day. I wasn’t expected to see my 30th birthday. Things got very bad for me.

My recovery didn’t happen overnight. It happened over the course of several years. Physical therapy helped with the pain management from the damage the seizures did to my body. Cognitive therapy helped improve my judgment and executive functions. Counseling helped me deal with the emotional challenges I would face trying to adapt to my condition.

The side-effect of multiple traumatic brain injuries was a loss of long-term memories, including nearly all of my childhood memories. While I could remember certain names and landmarks, I had difficulty recalling events surrounding those people and those places.

When it came to continuing my writing career, I found myself making more mistakes, typing slower, and often miscommunicating. I found it difficult to hold multiple ideas in my head at once. I became depressed and heartbroken at how my life had become so disrupted. I wrestled with tremendous physical, emotional, and mental setbacks, some comical… others not so much. It was hard to find any meaning or purpose in life.

Journaling my progress became the beacon to my recovery. I started capturing, through words, the moments when I was memory-less. Without the burden of memories, I found myself enjoying life a little more. My recovery stopped being a slog and became more like a video game, where I’d spend every day leveling up.

A month after a major hospital stint, I found myself well enough to rejoin the working world. I took a position at an advertising firm, where the day-to-day structure facilitated my recovery. As my health recovered, I found myself working hand-in-hand with the New York City Police Department. On my way from the NYPD focus group, I found myself wondering through the film set of I Am Legend. I found myself lost trying to piece together my memories of the story. Was it related to the Vincent Price movie or the Charlton Heston films? As I tried to make sense of my environment, Paul Simon’s “The Only Living Boy in New York” popped up on my iPod.

The song triggered something profound in me. I found myself lost in my imagination, in a world that was equal parts Jungle Book, The Island of Doctor Moreau, and Flash Gordon. A fantastical landscape littered with monsters, exotic locales, and esoteric alien races. And the hero? The Only Living Boy left in the world.

When thinking about Erik Farrell—the protagonist of the series—Steve Ellis and I went back and forth on his age. After a series of conversations, we settled on 12, which we felt would be the right age developmentally for many of the story challenges we had in store for our hero. Being a pre-teen is tough — you’re constantly filled with anxiety about growing up and feel torn between being mature and still being a kid. And when a child experiences something traumatic at this age? It can pull their whole world apart.

Getting deeper into The Only Living Boy we recognized the importance of having a villain, who was riddled with scars of his own. Doctor Once became that character—a medical monstrosity who transforms others into tormented monsters. He’s gnarly in appearance, and plays into our fear of doctors and the scars they leave behind.

When people ask me about my own scar, I try to not dwell. I try not to feel broken. I try not to feel like a monster. People don’t want to hear unpleasant things. So, I deflect, downplay, laugh or squirm my way out of talking about it when I can. I avoid talking about the depression, the frustration, and the anger I have over my own medical condition. When I don’t talk about my scar, these are the things I don’t talk about.

I write about them instead.

The Only Living Boy: Prisoner of the Patchwork Planet will be released in bookstores today. You can read a preview here.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...

David Gallaher is the author of The Only Living Boy and Box 13, and has previously worked on projects writing and editing for Marvel, DC, and Kodansha. Follow him on Twitter on @DavidGallaher.

There’s something glimmering on Titan’s surface, and the truth behind the cause could be crazier than we expected.

The strangeness began in 2013. The Cassini spacecraft had just spotted glimmers on the surface of Ligeia Mare, a vast hydrocarbon sea located near Titan’s north pole. The glimmers weren’t there in 2007, and by 2014, they had disappeared again. Then, in January 2015, Cassini skirted the north pole of Saturn’s cloudy moon once more, and the glimmers were back. We’re still not sure what they are, but scientists are now proposing an amazing hypothesis. They could be tremendous methane waves.

What we do know about the glimmers—recently dubbed “magic islands”—is that they must represent topographic changes. Cassini “sees” through Titan’s thick atmosphere by bouncing radio signals off the moon’s surface and timing their return. In this analysis, flat areas appear perfectly dark and smooth, while rough, bright regions indicate bumpier surfaces.

Beyond that, we have very little information on the ephemeral glimmers. But if scientists had to guess, they’d say we’re looking at waves. Writing recently in the journal Icarus, Jason Hofgartner and colleagues demonstrate that it would only take a faint breeze to ruffle Titan’s glassy oceans.

“If it is waves, it could be because of the change of seasons,” Hofgartner told New Scientist. “Titan’s year is 30 years long, and it is going toward summer in the northern hemisphere. We would expect that winds would be picking up and it could get more common.”

The glimmers could also represent bubbles of sea foam or some sort of floating solid. Not much floats on liquid methane, though who’s to say there isn’t some wacky alien biology perfectly adapted to the -179 degree Celsius surf? We may have to wait until April 2017, when Cassini makes its final close flyby of the Saturnian moon, for the full answer.

In the meanwhile, surfers can now dream about catching a wave on an endless sea illuminated by Saturnshine, that tremendous ringed gas giant suspended just over the horizon.

[APOD via New Scientist]

Contact the author at maddie.stone@gizmodo.com.

This news is as entirely unexpected as it is great: Boom! Studios has announced that its wildly successful teen comic series Lumberjanes is going to crossover with DC Comics’ very own Gotham Academy, creating what might just be the hippest teen mystery team-up in comic book history.

Announced through Village Voice, the six-part series from Chynna Clugston-Flores and Lumberjanes: Beyond Bay Leaf artist Rosemary Valero-O’Connell will see the gang of campers from Miss Quinzella Thiskwin Penniquiqul Thistle Crumpet’s Camp for Hardcore Lady Types team up with the boarding students of Gotham Academy. They’ll presumably do what both groups do best in Lumberjanes and Gotham Academy: have absurd amount of fun and investigate weird going-on, be they members of Batman’s rogue gallery or strange forest monsters.

This makes perfect sense. These are both fun, lighthearted adventure series that feature great storytelling with a cast of diverse young characters. There’s a reason these books are held up alongside the likes of Ms. Marvel as essential comics reading for teenagers (you know, on top of being bloody good reads in the first place). The thought of both series being mashed up together, if only for six issues, is almost too delightful to imagine.

The untitled series will begin in June.

Contact the author at james.whitbrook@io9.com.

As recognizable as the characters in our favorite scifi movies are, the landscapes are what completes the vision. A new poster set by artist Jordan Buckner focuses on these familiar cinematic vistas, and each one is more gorgeous than the next.

Buckner’s 12-print series is called “Visions of a Past, Present and Future” and it just went up for sale at the Hero Complex Gallery. We’re excited to exclusively debut over half the set. We think you’ll recognize these...

That’s Akira, Alien, Blade Runner, Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Moon, Star Wars, and The Fly, in case you were curious. And there are five more too.

Buckner’s series is reminiscent of several other popular pop culture artists: Dan McCarthy, J.C. Richard and Mark Englert come to mind. But the ethereal colors on these pieces, the almost paint-like aesthetic, and the zoomed out, desolate point of view, make them stand out in a world of movie themed, landscape art prints.

Each piece is a 36 x 12-inch giclee in an edition of 75. You can get them individually for $45, in a matched set of three, or in a full set of 12. All the info is at this link.

[Hero Complex Gallery]

Contact the author at germain@io9.com.