Well, was it all it could be? Better than it could be? Or did it crash and burn? Steve’s answer may surprise you. And Ben and Dr. Jayce argue over a nit-pick, because a nit-pick was all they could find to disagree about.

We’d like to know what you thought about The Avengers, too. Send us your feedback for next episode’s mailbag. Even better, e-mail an MP3 to podcast@strangersandaliens.com — please try to keep it around or under three minutes — and we’ll play it for everyone.

This podcast is the culmination of our “Avengers Week” here at the Strangers and Aliens blog. Check out these other Avengers features:

Dr. Jayce’s Biggest Avengers Disappointment (from BEFORE he saw the movie)

Steve’s Onward Christian Super-Soliders (an interesting take on Captain America and the superhero metaphor)

Ben’s thoughts about the Superhero Cinema Cycle (and how The Avengers fits into it)

Cool Comic Covers (with some of the coolest imagery to feature these Avengers characters):
Iron Man
Hulk
Captain America
Thor

And finally, Ben’s series of reviews of the various Avengers movies, looking at them as single movies and also as part of an epic series . . . starting with Iron Man 1 and 2!

Dr. Jayce, Ben, and Steve continue their conversation about what they love (and hate) about Star Trek.

We’d love to hear from you about YOUR favorite captains, YOUR favorite series, YOUR favorite ships, YOUR favorite crew! E-mail us at podcast@strangersandaliens.com. If you’d like, you can even record a short MP3 (try to keep it around 3 minutes long). We’d love to use it in the show for our mailbag segment!

Next episode: a weekend of release episode about The Avengers movie!

~ Ben

Two different eras of television. Two different eras of Star Trek.

Two different command styles. Two different acting styles.

Two different crews. Two different ships.

Two different storylines. Two different hairlines. Two different waistlines.

And for fans of science fiction, two different opinions.

In this episode, we discuss . . . debate? . . . argue? . . . the different Star Trek series. But, let’s face it, most of the time is going to be spent on Captain Kirk and Captain Picard.

This is part one of the conversation — we talk about the acting styles of Shatner and Stewart (and the others) and Kirk and Picard’s crews (and some of the others) and out favorite ships in Trek.

Next episode, we will talk about the captains themselves, and also about why we like these guys so much.

Dr. Jayce wrote an article, tipping his hand, about his dream Trek crew. Ben tipped his hand by having his caricature dressed in command gold, below.

So sit back, listen, and if you have anything you’d like to add to the conversation you can e-mail us at podcast (at) strangersandaliens.com. Or, if you are so inclined, you could read your comments and record it as an MP#. We’d love for you to join the conversation!

Also, check out the results of our Star Trek Captain poll . . .

And our review of the documentary CAPTAINS, which has William Shatner interviewing all the other captains from Trek.

~ Ben

Ben has read the book and seen the movie. Dr. Jayce has seen the movie. And Steve hasn’t done either. So Steve picks Ben and Dr. Jayce’s brains about the themes, ideas, craft, and appropriateness of The Hunger Games.

Why is this book so popular? Why is it so controversial? Does it deserve either? The sci-fi guys wanted to find out . . .

The discussion is a bit spoiler-ish, although not much gets revealed that couldn’t be figured out from the press and commercials.

If you’ve read the book or seen the movie, we’d love to know what you thought of them . . . and what you think of our thoughts. And if you haven’t, we’d like to know why. Join the conversation!

Plus, a listener (and old friend of Ben’s) writes in to talk about Hunger Games and gives us his take on sci-fi vs. fantasy. We’re curious — what do you think of his thoughts about sci-fi and fantasy?

Whatever your thoughts, please, let us know what you think. Or, if you have another topic you’d like to discuss that we haven’t covered, send us an e-mail or record a message as an mp3. We love sharing what you have to say, because it really expands the discussion!

For this episode, the strangers and aliens who host this podcast have a fun little competition: which comic book empire has had the best movies made for their characters. From the Superman series vs. the Spider-Man series, from best sequel to worst sequel, from the biggest missed opportunity to the most anticipated upcoming superhero movie, who will win?

Okay, it’s really just an excuse to geek out about some favorite movies. And geek out about some movies we think are terrible.

We also have the biggest mailbag ever, with listeners telling us what their favorite superhero movies are and why.

Let us know what YOU think! Agree? Disagree? There is a lot to agree or disagree with. Did we miss anything? Undoubtedly, so let us know! Find us on Facebook or e-mail us at podcast (at) strangersandaliens.com.

EDIT: Sorry, I posted this very late last night and forgot to include links for the two websites mentioned in the show!

First, Fans for Christ, a website for a group of Christian fans who have a lively message board and a convention ministry. http://www.fansforchrist.org/

Second, Clash Entertainment, for people interested in winning a copy of Ben’s graphic novel Book of God. It’s a site devoted to a Christian perspective on a wide variety of media. http://www.clashentertainment.com/ (Direct link to the contest: Win a Copy of “The Book of God”.)

~ Ben

Disappointing box office aside, was the movie itself a disappointment? Ben and Steve saw it this weekend and recorded this special, impromptu episode of Strangers and Aliens. Were they satisfied with the movie? Did it live up to their expectations? To their standards? Will you like it? Find out by listening to this mostly spoiler free episode.

(You’ll also find out why the third host, Dr. Jayce, couldn’t be bothered to see a movie this weekend!)

If you saw John Carter, we’d love to hear from you and have you join the conversation! You can record your comments into an MP3 file (send it to podcast (at) strangersandaliens (dot) com, using the “@” and “.” in place of those words), and we’ll use it in our next episode or you can contact us directly through the website or Facebook.

Do you agree? Did you like John Carter? Did you have no intention of seeing it? Let us know!

Thanks for listening, and godspeed!

John Carter is copyright Disney

This time: zombies.

The sci-fi guys examine The Walking Dead and the zombie phenomenon. Do zombie stories have something to say about modern life? Or are they just gory thrills? Or both?

The conversation goes from the beginnings of the zombie genre to themes in zombie tales to a discussion about the power and use of art.

Even if you aren’t a fan of zombies or horror, this conversation will be of interest to creators and consumers of pop culture.

Also, we open the mailbag, responding to e-mails and comments from the website, mainly about the “Cancelled Too Soon” episode.

We do want to hear from you! You can use the contact tab above, like us on Facebook and drop us a line, or e-mail us an MP3 recording if you want to hear your voice in our next episode!

Also, we had a special shout out to some incredible artists who are official honorary strangers and/or aliens:

Jeff Slemons, the artist of our caricatures and Tim Leffel, the artist of our theme songs

Thanks for listening, and godspeed!

~ Ben

Find out what geeky toy he and Ben both had as kids, why Steve thinks he may have found a long lost twin, what his career choice before comic books and sci-fi/fantasy writing was, why he hated Peter Jackson for a couple days, and why you should buy his books (aside from, you know, that they’re good).

And don’t miss our other special guest, Tinkerbell!

Alienation is a young adult sci-fi action adventure novel, merging pulp heroics, alien invasion conspiracies, and the Biblical story of King David. It is the sequel to Invasion, both published by Thomas Nelson.

You can visit Jon S. Lewis’ website here: Alienation — a C.H.A.O.S. Novel

“Take my love, take my land
Take me where I cannot stand
I don’t care, I’m still free
You can’t take the sky from me . . .”

But you CAN take away my favorite TV show!

It happens to every fan of fantasy or sci-fi. The networks take a chance on a genre TV show. The fan takes a chance on the show. The fan likes it. The network cancels it.

In this episode, the strangers and aliens take on their favorite cancelled TV shows. What obscure show does Steve wish had continued? What shows do Dr. Jayce and Ben agree on? What other obscure does Steve wish had continued? And what show do all three of the sci-fi guys agree went longer than it deserved? What favorite show of Dr. Jayce went on for three seasons longer than it should have?

Also, we open up the mailbag! A few of you strangers and aliens let us know some of your favorite shows that were cancelled too soon, we read a reply to our replies to your replies about Star Wars, and we read a reply to one of our listeners about our time travel episode (way back in episode 2).

Are your favorite canceled shows represented in our discussion? Send us an e-mail or record yourself in an MP3 and we’ll address that in our next regular episode.

Our next episode will be an interview with sci-fi and comic book writer Jon Lewis!

~ Ben

Firefly is copyright 20th Century Fox

For this episode of the podcast, Strangers and Aliens is proud to present an interview with a special guest: Mark Christopher Lawrence.

Known for playing Big Mike on Chuck, Mr. Lawrence took some time to talk with Ben and Dr. Jayce, giving us a revelation about Chuck’s final episode, revealing his favorite sci-fi movie, and talking about his early career and what he’s doing next, now that Chuck is finished.

LINK: MOXIE Theatre — where Mark Christopher Lawrence will be appearing in A Raisin in the Sun.

Also, we open up the mailbag! We received a lot of feedback about our Star Wars episodes and Dr. Jayce’s original blog pos, ranking the episodes. For time purposes, we only dug into the Star Wars responses we received. Next episode we will respond to some of the comments we received about other topics.

if you haven’t listened to the first part of this conversation, you can download part 1 of the Strangers and Aliens Star Wars conversation from iTunes (it’s episode 5) or download it and listen to it here on the website as well.

We’ve appreciated all the responses to out last episode, but because we recorded both parts at the same time we weren’t able to answer responses to part 1 in our part 2 podcast, but we’ll answer as much of it as possible in our next episode. But please, let us know what you think about the original trilogy and what you think about the sci-fi guys thoughts as well. We’ve enjoyed getting your feedback!

Links to related posts:

Dr. Jayce’s list of Star Wars rankings

Steve’s own list of Star Wars rankings

Star Wars burgers from France (if someone served me one of these burgers, I’d be tempted to say, “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” . . . but I wouldn’t, because that’d be geeky and cliche)

~ Ben

All three of the sci-fi guys are back for the first full episode of 2012 and the first part of a two part look back at Star Wars.

In this episode, a look at episodes I, II, and III — the “prequel trilogy”. For many fans of science fiction and fantasy, Star Wars was their gateway into the genre. And for many fans of Star Wars who grew up with the original trilogy, coming back to see the rise of young Anakin and his fall to becoming Darth Vader was a controversial experience.

Join Dr. Jayce, Steve, and Ben as they talk about the highlights and lowlights of these movies — exploring the storytelling, big ideas, and over all film making. Some of their opinions may surprise you. Some probably won’t. (Really, can ANYONE defend Jar Jar Binks? Well, I had a friend who tried . . .) But, agree or disagree, we’d love to see your comments below or on our Facebook fan page.

Tune in next week for part two . . . and click here for a peek at Dr. Jayce’s “controversial” list (which became the inspiration behind these episodes) and click here for a peek at the oddest fast food Star Wars tie-in I’ve ever seen . . .

UPDATE: Strangers and Aliens episode 6, which is part 2 of this conversation, is live! Click here to hear what the sic-fi guys think of the original trilogy!

~ Ben

You can see the trailer here.

In this episode, Ben and Steve look back at the Lord of the Rings trilogy and look forward to The Hobbit in this episode.

What’d you think of the trailer? Like it? Love it? Hate it? Has it raised your expectations? Lowered them? Chime in below! You can also contact us via e-mail, Twitter, or Facebook!

Thanks for listening and Godspeed!

~ Ben

Before listening, or after, if that’s your style, check out the impetus behind this mini-sode’s discussion, Dr. Jayce’s Christmas movie lists:

The Most Overrated Christmas Movies Ever

A Christmas Carol Slamdown

If the World Ended & You Could Only Watch 7 Christmas Movies…

What are YOUR favorite and most memorable Christmas tales? Leave a comment below!

You can also contact us via e-mail, Twitter, or Facebook!

Thanks for listening and Godspeed!

What is it about the idea of traveling through time that captures our imagination?

What do time travel stories teach us about ourselves? About God?

Why are they just so much fun?

In our second episode, we explore one of our favorite sub-genres of science fiction and fantasy: the time travel story.

Do you have a favorite time travel book or movie? Have a thought we didn’t touch on? Let us know! You can contact us via e-mail, Twitter, or Facebook!

Thanks for listening and Godspeed!

In this episode, our intrepid heroes discuss what got them interested in science fiction and fantasy in the first place and why imaginative fiction engages them now.

After you listen to the episode, we’d love to hear what you have to say. If you want to contact us privately, you can click on the contact button above and send us a message using the contact form there.

Do you want to share what first got you interested in sci-fi? Or maybe what keeps you from getting into it? Do you have some thoughts about the “power of story”? Or do you think we’re just plain wonky? Go ahead and leave a comment below! We’d love to hear from you.

Thanks for listening and Godspeed!