Plumbing the Heart of Darkness that is Rick’s Dark Heart

This season of Rick and Morty is diving into extremely squanchy territory. The writing is as good as ever. My question, though, is this: Is Rick and Morty still a comedy or has it morphed into something else. Rick has transformed into something quite a bit more than a perpetually grumpy and drunk smartest creature in the multiverse.  He’s more akin to Kali, a force of universal destruction and creation. This season seems to be focused on intensely (how else?) this aspect of Rick.

Is it a now a dramedy?

Is it a Swiftian satire?

Perhaps it’s just me and my current state of mind. I don’t find myself laughing nearly as much as before. I do, however, still find the series incredibly watchable. I still think it is brilliant. Maybe even better than before. I liken it to M.A.S.H.’s transition during its run, where the sense of the awfulness of war was cranked up season by season and it morphed from comedy to dramedy to drama to tragedy.

As Morty gets smarter, more confident, more competent and less willing to put up with Rick’s rickness, the tension between these two characters is being stretched to the breaking point. Is that what the season finale will be about? How could Morty, any Morty do anything but complain about Rick’s bull-crap. Oh wait… Eye-patch Morty is still out there in the multiverse. Lurking.

Just how dark will this series get? I guess that depends how brave the writers are about examining the existential horror that is Rick’s existence. Since we’ve already seen Rick attempt suicide, I’d say that they’re pretty fearless and therefore we’re in for some extremely dark times indeed. We’ll find out if the writers are brilliant enough to make multiversal nihilism consistently watchable, even enjoyable, if not actually comedic.

Mecha-Leka-Hi, Mecha-Hiney-Ho

I’d never noticed, or at least made note of, the sheer number of giant robots there are floating around in my childhood memories.  One of the first animated cartoons I remember watching was Gigantor.  I can still remember the theme song. It premiered in 1964, so I’m guessing I saw it during it’s first run. It makes plenty of psychological sense. What little kid doesn’t want to be huge and powerful or to command something huge and powerful?

What brought this up? Well, of course the idea of building a giant humanoid robot, climbing into it and fighting another robot is pretty ludicrous and pretty awesome. It is so ludicrous and so awesome that, of course, groups of folks out there are building giant robots. To fight each other. While they’re inside of them. No, these aren’t remotely controlled creations like in other robot fighting leagues like Battlebots®. I’m reminded of Mark Pauline’s Survival Research Laboratories, except I don’t know if Paul the nine (eight? seven?) fingered would be, ummm, extreme enough to climb into one of these in an arena.  He’s given enough of his flesh and bone for his art.

The thing is, I would totally watch this.  I’d be a happy spectator.  There will not, however, be live spectators for the first fight sometime in September 2017.  Why not? Well they’re leery of killing their audience.

GO EAGLE PRIME!

I’ll update this blog post when they formally announce the bout date.

Wubba lubba dub-dub mo fo’s!*

Subtitle: An examination of the third episode of the second season of “Rick and Morty” entitled “Auto Erotic Assimilation” with an eye towards encouraging nominating this episode for the 2016 Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation Short Form, to be presented at MidAmeriCon II, the 74th World Science Fiction Convention.

Note: This is packed full of spoilers.
For the tl;dr folks, it is also not short.
You Have Been Warned.

I’m glad that I held off writing about Rick and Morty until Season 2, Episode 3, “Auto Erotic Assimilation“, which you can watch by clicking right there (or elsewhere), written by Ryan Ridley, produced by J. Michael Mendel, directed by Bryan Newton, created by Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon. I was frankly a little worried. I initially found the first two episodes a bit lacking, probably because the bar had been set so fracking high throughout season 1. My finding was dead wrong. Thinking back to the episodes in season 1 and comparing them to season 2, I think I can safely say that a lot of season 1 was about the creators / writers / directors proving that they had the deep knowledge of science and science fiction to intelligently pull off a series like this without falling into the realm of easy SF clichés, unless it’s done on purpose.

Season 2 was if anything, even more brilliant, because in season 2 the poo hits the squantchy fan. That shizzle got real. And episode 3 was the fracking most real, at least up until that point in the season. I believe I have identified the episode I’ll nominate for this year’s Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form Hugo.

You might be asking yourself, “What’s a Hugo?” Simply put, the Hugo Awards are science fiction’s most prestigious award, are awarded annually, and are voted upon by both attending and supporting members of the annual World Science Fiction Convention, a.k.a. Worldcon.

Not sure if you can nominate for this year’s Hugos?

• On or before January 31, 2016 11:59 p.m. PST, were you:
  • an attending or supporting member of MidAmeriCon II, the 2016 World Science Fiction Convention to be held in Kansas City, MO, USA?
  • an attending or supporting member of Worldcon 75, the 2017 World Science Fiction Convention to be held in Helsinki, Finland?
  • an attending or supporting member of Sasquan, the 2015 World Science Fiction Convention which was held in Spokane, WA, USA?

Answer “yes” to any of the above and yes, you can nominate and vote. If you would like to print out and mail your nomination form, download it here. If you want to vote online, contact the MidAmeriCon II Hugo Administrators Dave McCarty and Will Frank.

All of that being said (yes, yes, I know) what to my mind makes”Auto Erotic Assimilation” a Hugo worthy episode? Well, what’s the episode about?

Introduction – While traveling through space in Rick’s home made spaceship, Rick, Morty, and Summer come across a distress signal from an alien starship. Rick intercepts and boards the starship with the intention of looting it, but instead he comes across the ship’s surviving crew members, who explain their planet has been taken over by an assimilating hive-mind, before the aforementioned hive mind attacks and assimilates the rest of the crew.The hive-mind knows Rick, who awkwardly admits that he and the mind, named Unity, used to “date.”

Main Plot – On Unity’s planet, Rick and Unity passionately rekindle their relationship while Summer and Morty ponder questions of free will, sin, redemption and senseless hatred. As the planet descends first into an exotic drug fueled orgy, then into an exotic race hate fueled riot, Unity realized exactly how bad a couple it and Rick make and dumps him.

Sub-plot – Simultaneously, on Earth, Morty and Summer’s parents, Beth (Rick’s daughter) and Jerry (Beth’s husband), discover under their house, Rick’s underground lair. Inside of the lair, they discover Rick’s monstrous imprisoned alien creature. They soon begin vicious bickering, to the point that the creature, fed up with their arguing, breaks free of his restraints and berates them both before leaving.

Epilogue – Losing Unity devastates Rick, leaving him in a state of mind so broken that he attempts suicide. Yes, on screen.

You can read the complete plot here – http://rickandmorty.wikia.com/wiki/Auto_Erotic_Assimilation#Plot

From this single episode we can see that Rick and Morty is steeped in deep science fiction lore. Within the first couple of minutes not only does this episode build upon every book / movie / television episode we’ve seen where the protagonists decide that exploring a derelict spaceship is a good thing to do, we’re also given a very Ricksonian reason for going ahead and doing so. Of course, the proof that no matter the rationalization it’s still a bad idea comes in this case straight out of “Invasion of the Body Snatchers.” Well, that and a telenovela filtered through Futurama.

The concept of hive minds has been examined in science fiction at least as far back as 1930, as seen in Olaf Stapledon’s “Last and First Men: A Story of the Near and Far Future.” We’ve feared them as presented in the book, “The Midwich Cuckoos” later adapted as “Village of the Damned.” Perhaps we envied them a bit as the Over-Mind in “Childhood’s End.” We’ve used their name as a pejorative, like the Borg from “Star Trek.” I’m pretty sure I’ve never considered the possibilities presented by having them (it?) as a lover, especially if it (they?) had no interest in adding me to their collective but was interested in the singular me.

“Auto Erotic Assimilation” continues science fiction’s long tradition of using the genre’s unconventional settings to explore the more and less conventional aspects of the human condition. For example, sexuality. If you’re quick on the uptake, you soon understand that Rick considers the variety of species and genders unified by Unity to be a sexual feature, not a bug. If you don’t get it at first, the screenwriters have included a short, uncomfortable and hilarious scene to make sure you understand. Also explored: utopias, politics, dystopias, parenting, warfare, free will, personal pronouns, capitalism, exo-virology, marriage, p.t.s.d., and many more. All extremely skillfully packed into 23 mind bending minutes.

Of course, no amount of bloviation on my part can replace watching the episode with your own five eyes and judging for yourself. You can either wait until the series goes into re-runs or watch the episode on the Cartoon Network’s [adult swim] website if you are a cable or satellite subscriber. If you’re web savvy, you might even be able to stream it by grabbing a handy link from somewhere.

Please comment and tell me. Have I made a good start on making the case for nominating this episode of “Rick and Morty” for a Hugo? If not, what am I missing? If so, after you’ve watched the episode yourself, will you consider nominating it?

*The title of this post is intimately (see what I did there?) tied into the themes explored in “Auto Erotic Assimilation” in ways not obvious unless you’ve carefully watched Season 1. In particular, season 1, episode 11 “Ricksy Business.”

Rick and Morty: Harmon & Roiland’s Many Worlds Interpretation

Rick Sanchez

Mortimer Smith

What the hell is Rick and Morty?

Thank you for asking. In short, it’s an animated series showing on Cartoon Network’s Adult Swim block of animation that is thoroughly not for children, telling the story of super-scientist Rick Sanchez who takes his grandson Mortimer Smith on adventures in spacetime and across dimensions. Of course, this description while accurate, is totally, thoroughly and absolutely inadequate.

Imagine Dr. Emmet Brown from Back to the Future. Now imagine him insatiably inquisitive, perpetually drunk (though not an alcoholic, I’m sure he has a pill for that somewhere) and unrepentedly tactless, cynical, even nihilistic, but not a bad guy. After all, he loves his daughter and his grandchildren. That’s Rick Sanchez. As for Morty, imagine Marty McFly, but younger (14), dorkier, dimmer, shorter, more timid, far more insecure, and as sex-obsessed as real 14 year old boys are. That’s Morty.

Rick can travel through spacetime and across dimensions. He takes his grandson Morty along. Science-fictional hijinks ensue.

Science Fiction Convention Fix Needed

I haven’ t been to an F&SF convention since January’s Arisia. I didn’t attend Boskone.

I’m not pre-registered for the upcoming Balticon, LonCon (the 2014 Worldcon),  or any other conventions between now and August, where I’m pre-registered to attend Shamrokon (my first ever Eurocon). Which reminds me, I need to arrange accommodations and purchase airline tickets.

That is, if I go.

So, I’d like to find a local con I can commute to. Just for a day.  A few hours.

At least I’m not jonesing to hard as so have the shakes.

You Want To Work on an Original Science Fiction Musical!

Greetings Everyone:

My friend orawnzva, a.k.a Ben Newman is building a creative team for his intriguing and highly original science fiction, action adventure musical, Walk In The Day – http://orawnzva.livejournal.com/66594.html – You can read the specifics of his request here.  Basically, he’s looking for an assistant production manager, cast members, musicians, composers, etc, etc.

Ben is an incredibly intelligent and creative gentleman. If I were you, I’d contact him.

Contact him directly for more info.

Arisia 2011 – My Panel Schedule

So, this coming January, I will once again be a program participant in Arisia 2011 – http://2011.arisia.org, self described as, “New England’s largest and most diverse science fiction and fantasy convention”.  In my humble opinion, the “most diverse” part of the descriptor could easily be expanded to nationwide.  But I digress.
I will be participating in 4 panels:

• Introduction to SF Criticism – What is it, what is it for, and what is its terminology? Where do we find it? How do we apply it? And, ultimately, how do we contribute to it?
• Queer SF&F – Queer topics and characters are becoming more common in science fiction and fantasy–or are they? Do modern authors really do a better job addressing these concerns than in the past? How has the field changed? And what effect has it had on the fans?
• I Married a Non-Fan – She/he is only at Arisia because I’m here. How can we make the con a better experience for those who aren’t part of fan culture? Is conversion possible? If so, what’s the best approach? Mixed relationships can be difficult, so let’s share some ways to make them work. And how will we raise the kids–as fans, or not?
• Age and Treachery: The Older Fan – How does growing older impact one’s experiences as a member of fandom? How do our experiences color how we enjoy the ideas, the stories, and the media? Did we think, a decade (or three) ago, we’d still be going to conventions and seeing the same friends? Are we worried about the future of fandom?

What else will I be doing there?  Perhaps some live streaming video of an event or two. Perhaps taking lots of pictures. Perhaps a blog post or two.  Definitely lots of reconnecting with friends, old and new.

Fanac, lots of fanac.

As usual, this will be a whole lot of fun, but in a different way than conventions were fun when I was 1/2 my current age.

Who knew?

Science Fiction for Scientists & Engineers

Even as you’re reading this, Readercon is bearing down upon the world of F&SF literature like an express train.  Is that the light at the end of the tunnel I see? Perhaps.  It is definitely the light of sweet reason.

I’ve noticed that plenty of scientists and engineers do not like science fiction, even when they grew up on the genre and it was a major contributing factor to their chosen profession?  Why?  All too often, they find themselves unable to excuse the scientific and/or engineering inaccuracies in a text whose genre presupposes a basis in scientific fact.  They end up reading fantasy instead, which is unhindered by claims of ties to the real.

Are there authors currently producing science fiction where the science is as rigorous as the prose in beautiful?  I suggest the following and welcome suggestions for additions and subtractions, comments and criticisms.

• Rudy Rucker
• Ken MacLeod
• Charlie Stross

Who else would you suggest?

Gaylaxicon 2009 Report for Con-News.Com, 2 of 2

The following was originally published on http://con-news.com on 11/02/2009

Well, as promised, or threatened, I’m back for part two of my Gaylaxicon 2009 recapitulation. Thank you for returning for more. You know, perhaps this isn’t really a recap, because, part of the definition of a recap is “concise”, which this isn’t. Synopsis doesn’t fit either, for the same reason. Call it a wordy review. In any case, on with the whole ADHD soaked show!

Gaylactic Jeopardy! 1 of 2 – Drew Post with contestants David Kaplan and two others still to be identified.

Gaylaxicon has it’s own game show, Gaylactic Jeopardy, played just like the television show, except that the answers are all at the very least, genre related, though not necessarily BGLT related. Drew Post was ebullient as the master of ceremonies, exuding that bit of Canadian-ness required to be a Jeopardy! host. Nersi Nikakhtar kept everyone honest by keeping score and a young gentleman named Richard Martin who gracefully revealed the answers. Dave Kaplan and others (please help me out with names) were faced with topics like; Author! Author!, ABC (Asimov, Bradbury, Clarke), Twilight and Comic Book Movies. And what was the general consensus?
A) The whole thing was damned funny.
B) Gentlemen, you need to read more.
C) Sparkly vampires suck, and not in a good way.
D) Shy geeks who read need to not be so shy, so get up and participate.

Just sayin’.

Spectrum Awards – Rob Gates [M], Carl Cipra, Warren Rochelle
The Gaylactic Spectrum Awards honor outstanding works of science fiction, fantasy and horror, that include significant positive explorations of gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered characters, themes, or issues.

My Gaylaxicon Report for Con-News.Com – 1 of 2

This convention re-cap originally appeared in Con-News.Com (http://con-news.com) on 10/26/2009.

The 11^th Gaylaxicon was a convention with a difference… and what a difference! Even Marlin was surprised, and he’s used to REAL conventions. With apologies to Monty Python.

This is, of course, not quite fair. Gaylaxicon – http://www.gaylaxicon.org – is a real convention, a small but well run convention, which travels about North America, and is run by local chapters of the Gaylactic Network, an organization of BGLT (or LGBT, or GLBT (I’ll use the alphabetical)) science fiction /fantasy/horror/gaming clubs. And that, my friends, is quite a difference, a difference which makes me tingle all over, makes me willing to brave airport security, makes me shiver with… anticipation. There was no way I wasn’t going to go. Hey, this was a meeting of my tribe within a tribe.

The trip to Minneapolis from Manchester, NH was uneventful. I have come to believe that that working out, having a buzz cut, and wearing a tee shirt with an NYPD patch on it (purchased right after 9/11) helps. Plus, you get to surreptitiously check out who’s surreptitiously checking you out. I have reason to believe that this will work for women too. Just sayin’. During the ride, I put a serious dent in Iain M. Bank’s The Algebraist, which a seriously engaging but seriously dense space opera. I still have about 100 pages to go.

Anyway, I arrived in Minneapolis MN (my first time ever in the state and city) the day before the convention tired but happy. My roommate for the convention, artist and bon vivant, Rob Allison, soon joined me. Now, normally travelling leaves me tired and grumpy, but I am unable to watch people struggle with lugging heavy objects, like a giant, gold ribbon covered rocket, without lending a hand. Suddenly, I was volunteering. I slept very well that night. Yes, I turned in early & did not join the evening’s (or any evening’s for that matter) bar crawl through what some thought was the best of what gay Minneapolis had to offer. As far as I was concerned, Gaylaxicon 2009 was the best of what gay Minneapolis had to offer.

A lot more after the break.

Gaylaxicion 2009 – 2 of 2

Well, I’ve posted the second 1/2 of my Gaylaxicon 2009 review. I’m missing a few bits, but I should get them shortly.

Star Trek (2009)

The film has only been out a few days, so I’ll try my best to let you know what I thought, without spoiling the surprises.  I might write more when I can do so without fear of spoiling things for others.

The First Impressions:
Star Trek (2009) is an extremely enjoyable reboot of the franchise, with a fresh approach and a fresh cast the franchise owners can build upon for the foreseeable future. The writers have figured out a way to create an origins story well grounded in the canon, while simultaneously giving themselves absolutely clear territory into which they can move forward. That which was, is relatively safe from meddling. That which will be, is a tabla rasa. Quite a neat trick when you think about it, which is when the trouble starts… thinking about it.

The Genre:
So, how and where does Star Trek 2009 fit into the realm of cinematic science fiction? This episode occupies a region I find interesting because it moves Star Trek further from its ostensible grounding in scientific plausibility and further into the realm occupied by franchises like Star Wars, which gleefully make use of the tropes and symbols of science fiction, but leave the science behind as unwanted baggage. Of course, Star Trek has always been suffused with techno-babble and regularly careened into the patently ridiculous, but, you always felt that science was viewed as an asset instead of a hindrance to good storytelling.

Wait.  Is this truly a shift in positioning?  A search through IMDb seems to indicate that other than the first Star Trek film (where Issac Asimov filled the position) , science advisers or consultants haven’t been credited members of the crew, as opposed to the televised series where folks like André Bormanis, David Paige, and Dave Krieger are included in the credits for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Enterprise, Deep Space Nine and Voyager as scientific consultants.

I think I just contradicted myself.  So be it. “I contradict myself. I am large. I contain multitudes.”

It seems then, that there is a differentiation in the importance of scientific accuracy as a production element between the televised series and the films.  By the way, a quick web search reveals that as recently as early 2008 Carolyn Porco was acting in, and giving interviews in this role, but she is missing from the movie’s credits (at least on IMDb). An oversight? Perhaps. It’s one of the little things I’ll look for when I see the movie again.

Yes, I’ll see it again. Gladly.

The Wrap-Up:
So, where to now? Paramount has an unqualified hit on their hands which has breathed new life into a profitable piece of intellectual property. But, we might ask, what kind of life? Has Star Trek become even more unhinged from science fiction and moved ever more fully into the realm of magic clothed in technical jargon? Nyaaa.  The cinematic half of the franchise was there already.

What Abrams and co. have undeniably done is re-invigorated the relationships between the core characters.  The chemistry among and between them is new, lively, surprising and emotionally charged.

In the end, it is probably a mistake to expect a Star Trek film to be great science fiction, not to mention, a great film.  If that’s what you’re looking for, rent Blade Runner or Ghost in the Shell or A Clockwork Orange or 2001 or Primer or  Terminator or The Thing or Children of Men or The Andromeda Strain or, or, or…

I’ll try not to think about it. Pass the popcorn. Wow, the new Enterprise sure is cool looking.

The Neo-Fan Manifesto

Borrowed from Emerald City & Julie Stickler

This is the text of the flier that was being circulated at Chicon 2000.

---

There is a definite “Old Fan Network” to fandom, that can be intimidating to Neo Fans. Think about that, do you make an effort to be inclusive when you attend conventions, or do you talk to the same people, and ignore people you don’t know? Remember: Strangers are just friends you haven’t met yet.

With that in mind, I would like to present

THE NEO-FAN MANIFESTO

1 – We all need to feel like we belong somewhere, that’s why we’re here. Many people feel like fandom provides a sense of family that they don’t find elsewhere. Fan snobbery, or a sense that some fans are more welcome than others is the last thing we need if fandom is going to survive in the 21st century.

2 – Don’t assume everyone knows your name, or your work (if you’re an author, artist, costumer, etc.). Wear your nametag. Introduce yourself. Have a name card if you are a panel participant. “Hi, I’m Arthur Grande and you should all know who I am.” does not cut it.

3 – It doesn’t matter how you came to fandom, what matters is that you’re a fan. It shouldn’t matter if you like science fiction, fantasy, horror, movies and television, comic books, anime, role playing games, costuming, writing, filking, collecting books or painting yourself blue. Anyone who identifies themselves as a fan should be welcomed to fandom.

4 – Fandom changes. So do fans. Get used to it now. As the world of science fiction has gained popularity it has grown. It is no longer possible to read every piece of science fiction published every year, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.

5 – Explain your references. Not everyone has read every book, novella or short story that you have. Not every one has seen every science fiction movie out there (some people haven’t seen Star Wars, believe it or not…). Not everyone reads your fanzine. Help us out. Customer’s corollary – not everyone has seen your greatest costume. Bring pictures, please!

6 – Don’t assume that we’re all on a first name basis with authors or big name fans, use last names when you refer to people. (There is more than one guy named Bob out there you know…) We all wear nametags for a reason. Help the Neo Fans meet new people and find new authors to read.

7 – What was a seminal work for one generation may be completely unknown to another generation. Let the Neo Fans know what you’re talking about. We may not have been born yet. And remember, some books improve with age, while others are dated rather quickly. Also, a work that changed your life when you read it at age twelve may not have any effect on your thirty-year old friend when you suggest they read it.

8 – Moderators should try to avoid only calling on their friends when they take questions. It makes the Neo Fan feel left out and not wanted when every hand acknowledged is called by name.

9 – Neo Fans are eager to learn, there is so much out there we haven’t read yet. Help us out, if you’re doing a panel on “100 Books You Must Read.” come prepared with a *handout* so we can take it home and try to find them.

10 – Remember, out of print may as well not exist for the Neo Fan. If we can’t get our hands on a copy, we can’t read it, no matter how great you think it is.

11 – It doesn’t matter if you call it Science Fiction, SciFi, SF, or Speculative Fiction, it’s all the same thing. Let’s quit wasting time arguing about what name to use.

12 – Always remember, someone in the audience is at their first convention (Or their first WorldCon, or “insert name of con”Con). As fans we need to assure that they feel welcome and enjoy themselves enough to come back for another visit next year, and hopefully bring a friend.

Who is writing this rant? My name is Julie Stickler, and I have been reading science fiction and fantasy since I was 10 or 11 years old. I never even knew fandom existed until I attended my first media convention six years ago at the age of 28. While I felt welcomed at media cons for four years, when attended my first literary cons two years ago I found a different world. My first WorldCon was BuconeerCon in 1998, and I loved it. But even at the panels on surviving your first con and how to attract new fans to fandom I felt a definite Old Fan Network in operation. I hope that my little piece here has given you something to think about. Feel free to e-mail me at SF ACAD DI@aol.com if you have comments or ideas on how to make Neo Fans feel more welcome in fandom. In the meantime:

If you are willing to help newbies get acquainted with Fandom, please write “Neo Fan Friendly” on your nametag. If you are at your first convention, or still feel like a Neo Fan, please write “NEO FAN” on your nametage.

Permission to reproduce and distribute this flyer at other conventions is granted, as long as the author’s name continues to appear on it.

Julie Stickler

A Really Nice Post on Lessons Learned from Recent British SF.

http://caldwellian.wordpress.com/2008/08/18/thirty-things-you-learn-from-watching-current-british-sci-fi-sci-fi/

Forrest J Ackerman, writer, editor and literary agent, born November 24 1916; died December 4 2008

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2008/dec/07/forrest-ackerman-science-fiction-obituary

The Battle Hymn of the Fanation:  the National Fanthem
by Petrov Pederson aka Con Pderson
originally published in THE OUTLANDER #2, May, 1949
(with thanks to Len & June Moffatt for finding this)

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Fan.
He is trampling out the places with Amazing on the stand.
His fantasy collection is the greatest in the land.
Forrest J goes marching on.

Forry, Forry hallelujah
Forry, Forry hallelujah
Forry, Forry hallelujah
Forrest J goes marching on.

Without a mind to guide them and without a guide to spare,
Dick Shaver takes the low road while Ray Palmer tears his hair,
They have felt the mighty vengeance of the Weaver in his lair.
Forrest J goes marching on.

CHORUS

While New Hampshire echoes wildly in the city of LA
With people owing money and without a dime to paym
Their Ackerman will reign until their hair is old and gray.
Forrest J goes marching on.

CHORUS

With Laney in the back seat and with Burbee cranking reams,
Our Ackerman is victim of a host of ghastly schemes,
Tho they think that they will conquer, he will chase them in their dreams.
Forrest J goes marching on.

CHORUS

In the famous Ackermansion, not a bit of room will show
For books and pics and magazines, both amateur and pro,
Not even for a mirror, just to watch his tendrils grow.
Forrest J goes marching on.

CHORUS

(later added by Ted Johnstone and Rick Sneary, in Zap #1)

We tremble in the presence of fandom’s number one
Lest he loose the fateful lightning of his terrible swift pun
His hoard of imitators will soon be on the run
Forrest J goes marching on

CHORUS

We’s the agent for a host of sci-fi writers near and far
His action can decide between a failure and a star
And woe betide his clients if he’s feeling under par
Forrest J goes marching on

CHORUS

In Hollywood he’s an expert on their alien planet scenes
He has seen them all a million times in all his fannish dreams
In his eyes you can see the distant future brightly gleam
Forrest J goes marching on

CHORUS

and back to Pederson’s original for the last verse

When Atomigeddon’s over and the sweeping up’s begun,
When Man deserts the planet and humanity is done,
In science fiction fandom he will still be Number One.
Forrest J goes marching on.

CHORUS