The Off Topic Topic

[HisMajestyBOB]

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/ArchivePanic

Perry Rhodan (well, the German original at least) has, as of mid-2009, one hundred and six 400+ pages books of the main plot (covering the first 911 of over 2500 60+ page booklets, with around 20% already left out), fifty-something books of half-independent story arks, 34 books of the Atlan-spinoff and 415 independent pocket books. Not to mention the tons of anniversary re-prints, story collections, fact books, star atlases and so on. You can fill a library just with Perry Rhodan stuff.

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/PerryRhodan

Perry Rhodan is a weekly German Science Fiction Pulp Magazine series that has run uninterrupted since 1961, with over two thousand five hundred issues released so far not counting reprints, books, and spinoffs. It was originally founded by two German science fiction writers (who have since passed away) and initially only conceived to run for thirty volumes. It is being developed and written by a ever-changing team of authors.

The series begins in an alternate reality with the first manned moon landing (in 1971) led by U.S. Space Force Major Perry Rhodan. However, things do not go as planned and the astronauts discover a stranded alien spaceship from a star system called Arkon and its crew who need medical help. The realization that mankind is not alone in space and access to the aliens' advanced technology lead to the (not entirely trouble-free) political unification of Earth under the eponymous hero-protagonist Rhodan, first expeditions into the cosmic neighborhood, and the eventual founding of first colonies on other planets, all the while trying to keep the more powerful established factions out there (especially the decadent Empire of Arkon, which had dominated local space for twenty millenia) from finding out just where the newcomers hail from.

Over time (over the course of the entire series so far, more than three thousand years pass in-universe), Earth and its colonies evolve into a major power in their own right while other space-faring races lose some of their traditional influence. It is revealed that all the various human races of the Milky Way galaxy - such as Terrans and Arkonides (who had founded a short-lived colony called Atlantis on Earth roughly 8,000 B.C.) - are closely related and technically part of one species. They are descendants of the Lemurians, the First Mankind, who fled Earth 50,000 years ago during a galactic war with an alien species and settled in Andromeda.

Several major outside threats are faced and eventually defeated, alien races are discovered and befriended as allies, then a successful invasion of extragalactic origin forces the Terrans to flee along with their homeworld. The attempt doesn't go exactly as planned and Earth ends up in a faraway region of space for over a century. It does, however, eventually return to its original position. That event kind of marks the turning point towards events of more 'cosmic' significance and contact with high-tech civilizations and cosmic entities far ahead on the Kardashev Scale...and I've only covered the issues up to about #700-#800 yet.

I had the audio plays as kid (covering maybe the first ten books), and always considered getting into the series later. You can subscribe to the book versions for 2/month, for example, but it would still take you a couple years to catch up to half of it.

There's quite a few webcomics and other things that I've thought would be interesting to get into, but I'd have to spend so much time catching up it's not worth it.

[Jaron]

Speaking of  , what exactly is this smilie supposed to convey?

[Eddie Teach]

And that character is noted for... ?

[Jaron]

Dunno, Languish must have been a fan or something.

I think Vinraith was. Must be an HOMAGE to him.

[sbr]

Oh christ I almost died laughing.

[Jaron]

Oh christ I almost died laughing.

Let me see if that does the trick.

[sbr]

Oh christ I almost died laughing.

Let me see if that does the trick.

Nope, but I still burst out laughing even though I knew it was coming.

Not sure what it says about a 40 year old who thinks internet forum smilies are the highest forum of humor. 

This is my own creation:

[Sophie Scholl]

Just saw this on a random website.  Katmai's brother?!

[Josephus]

Someone set fire to my parish church on Xmas morning, and I blame Martinus.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/12/26/12272001-torsun.html#/news/torontoandgta/2009/12/25/pf-12268936.html

The comments are actually funny:

"Likely was committed by militant rabbis and fringe orthodox hebrews that despise Christianity."

[Razgovory]

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2009/12/26/ky.urban.chickens.wave

I wonder if Cal knows about this.

[Razgovory]

Someone set fire to my parish church on Xmas morning, and I blame Martinus.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/12/26/12272001-torsun.html#/news/torontoandgta/2009/12/25/pf-12268936.html

The comments are actually funny:

"Likely was committed by militant rabbis and fringe orthodox hebrews that despise Christianity."

I didn't know you were Catholic.  Also didn't know you were Canadian.  For some reason I thought you were British.

[Josephus]

Someone set fire to my parish church on Xmas morning, and I blame Martinus.

http://www.torontosun.com/news/torontoandgta/2009/12/26/12272001-torsun.html#/news/torontoandgta/2009/12/25/pf-12268936.html

The comments are actually funny:

"Likely was committed by militant rabbis and fringe orthodox hebrews that despise Christianity."

I didn't know you were Catholic.  Also didn't know you were Canadian.  For some reason I thought you were British.

People say I sound British. :-)

No, I was born in Malta, and moved to Canada at the age of 13.

[Grey Fox]

Club Nintendo's website is a piece of crap.

[Ed Anger]

Watching a UFO show on History about Wright Patterson AFB. Utterly hilarious.

[Razgovory]

Watching a UFO show on History about Wright Patterson AFB. Utterly hilarious.

I was just watching something on the civil war on the History channel.  Cause it had Missouri in it.