Stopped at Action Cards & Comics yesterday because my buddy wanted to see if the new hockey-card catalog had arrived. While he was talking with the owner, I browsed the comics section and was both horrified and amused to see this:

Star Trek: The Manga. I suppose there is a market for such “integration,” but I fall way outside of that market. The appeal of anime and manga to anyone other than teenage girls has always baffled me.

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Yes, we all know that last Friday marked the 40th anniversary of the first broadcast episode of “Star Trek” - and I’m a huge Trek fan. Mostly TOS and TNG, but the whole enterprise (!) is great overall. But in all the excitement and hoopla over Trek, let’s not forget a significant milestone that occurs today: September 12, 1966, marks the 40th anniversary of the first broadcast episode of “The Monkees!” Good, good stuff — the music, the humor, the whimsy — the world is a much better place for having The Monkees.

Apparently the Star Trek universe is getting ready for some sort of re-birth. As a longtime Trek fan, I’m cautiously optimistic. Here’s my ST history: loved TOS from the first time that I recall watching syndicated episodes (ca. 1980), mostly loved TNG, never got into DS9, mildly amused by Voyager, and loathed Enterprise.

And the movies: well, the even/odd theory is mostly true: 2, 4, 6, 8, 10 were all better than 1, 3, 5, 7, 9. But #1 gets major cool points due to the simple fact that it was made and enabled the series to live on. #3 gets dissed an awful lot, but it gets slightly better each time I see it. And ST: First Contact was, for me, one of the best, even though I usually hate hate hate time-travel plots. The setting in a “missile complex in central Montana” makes ST:FC an absolute favorite of mine that goes beyond just enjoying a movie.

And I will plunk down my $7.50 see the next ST movie in a theatre, almost certainly - as long as it’s not something like “Star Trek: Dawson’s Creek 90210.” If there’s even a chance of ST being “reborn” and breathing new life into The Federation, I’m all for it. Cross your fingers.

Watched a several-minutes long interview with James Doohan — aka Montgomery Scott, aka “Scotty” — on Google Video, courtesy of a tip from Craig. Quite touching to see Doohan reminisce…as Craig noted, he just seemed like a genuinely nice man. And a few hours after watching that video clip, I was watching the Twilight Zone marathon on Sci-Fi (New Year’s tradition), and was pleasantly surprised to see James Doohan in this episode.