Nick Cuti (writer, artist, editor, and all-around nice guy) has a TV show he's been trying to get off the ground for years now. It's titled Captain Cosmos -- The Last Starveyor and it stars Nick himself in the title role.
Nick Cuti (writer, artist, editor, and all-around nice guy) has a TV show he's been trying to get off the ground for years now. It's titled Captain Cosmos -- The Last Starveyor and it stars Nick himself in the title role.
There was a pilot planned but scrapped but it spawned a comic in 1994 by Nick and his longtime E-Man partner Joe Staton. Later a pilot did get made, but it was with a different cast and a second comic came out featuring some of those alterations. Again Staton was on the artwork. I got the comic, but I'd never seen the pilot episode.
In an e-mail exchange with Nick several years ago, I commented on these comics and he sent the graphic novel version which includes the stories and contents of the first two issues (numbered #0 and #1) and a new story too, and this "graphic novel" is identified as issue #2 of Captain Cosmos. Apparently this also an aschcan version of the comic and a #4 issue of the comic (Nick skipped #3 considering the #0 issue to count as the real #1 -- even now you can't escape that wacky Charlton numbering -- it must get in the bloodstream somehow). I've not got it, but it seems to be another story that previously appeared in Even More Fund Comics, but it does sport a new Cuti cover. I need to get hold of this too.
I found a dvd version of the existing shows titled "The Gray Ghosts" on Amazon and ordered it lickety-split. I got it yesterday and gave it a good lookin' at. It was charming. The pilot and two additonal shows using the character in a more kid-friendly mentoring role called "Cosmic Theater" are blended together in a story that points back to the series origins and the old space operas of TV from the 50's. Space Patrol and Tom Corbet are clear inspirations for these shows. The dvd offers a new episode beyond the Gray Ghosts storyline, though it could be linked in quite easily. There is even in one episode a segment of Space Patrol and a cartoon called Lunar Luger, both vintage items.
I'm not going to tell you these are great shows. They're not. The lack of funds shows up all over. There's an alien planet that looks just like the park the humans start from, with fences and roads and everything. There's some very tepid acting. The main set, the command cabin was apparently set up in Nick's dining room. But there's also some pretty decent acting, and some of the better stuff is from Nick himself. This ain't Shakespeare, but it is charming and fun. The storyline that formed the original pilot is clearly the best of the bunch and more of that would've really made this pretty good.
The sound on the dvd is pretty spotty, but you'll find the virtual backgrounds pretty good at times. The funniest thing about the whole deal is that one character named Zen-Ya is played by at least four different actresses (maybe five) and that's explained by making her a shapeshifter of sorts who changes bodies like we change fashion. It's a clever solution to a hilarious problem.
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Also each issue features material on the old TV shows that inspired the character. There are tons of photos from old 50's TV to feast on as well as a couple of essays on Space Patrol and the like.
And there's a novel out there which I have on order. I'll let you know about that one. And then there's the radio plays. Apparently there are four of those too. I'll have to check those out.
Meanwhile if you're into that sort of thing, you might want to check out Nick's efforts.
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