Post A Reply
my profile
|
directory
login
|
search
|
faq
|
forum home
»
Flare Sci-Fi Forums
»
Star Trek
»
Starships & Technology
»
Tholians!
» Post A Reply
Post A Reply
Login Name:
Password:
Message:
HTML is enabled.
UBB Code™ is enabled.
[QUOTE]Originally posted by The Mighty Monkey of Mim: [QB] Just for Shits and Giggles<sup>TM</sup>, and because I happen to own a variety of old Trek books, I present for the enjoyment of all an examination of some of the info given about the Tholians in non-canon (though, at the time, officially licensed) reference works over the years: [list] [*][URL=http://lobotomy.pleh.net/~flareupload/uploads/646/Tholian1.jpg]Exhibit A[/URL] Information from the ancient (vintage 1977) [i]Star Fleet Medical Reference Manual[/i], a fairly cool (though at times scientifically questionable) little book researched and compiled by Eileen Palestine and Our Pal<sup>TM</sup> Geoffrey Mandel, illustrated by Our Other Pals<sup>TM</sup> Doug Drexler and Anthony Fredrickson. This is where the aforementioned "hive-mind theory" originates, as does the notion that there may be different castes of Tholians, organized in a somewhat insectoid-like hierarchy. Also presented here for the first time is info on the nature of their home world. The lettered labels below the main text correspond to the illustration in the following exhibit. [*][URL=http://lobotomy.pleh.net/~flareupload/uploads/646/Tholian2.jpg]Exhibit B[/URL] The corresponding anatomical illustration that accompanies the Manual's text entry. Apparently the authors/illustrators didn't think there was any more to the being's structure than the "head," which is puzzling considering that Commander Loskene's "shoulders" were also visible on the viewscreen in "The Tholian Web" (TOS). [*][URL=http://lobotomy.pleh.net/~flareupload/uploads/646/Tholian3.jpg]Exhibit C[/URL] Info from Shane Johnson's speculative [i]Worlds of the Federation[/i], published in 1989. It used the [i]Medical Reference Manual[/i] as a reference and built on its treatment with some historical datapoints and the like. [*][URL=http://lobotomy.pleh.net/~flareupload/uploads/646/Tholian4.jpg]Exhibit D[/URL] Johnson's interpretation of what the race looked like. [*][URL=http://lobotomy.pleh.net/~flareupload/uploads/646/Tholian5.jpg]Exhibit E[/URL] Color art by Don Ivan Punchatz from [i]Worlds of the Federation[/i] showing a Tholian and two other familiar non-humanoids from TOS: the Excalbian from "The Savage Curtain" and the Horta from "The Devil in the Dark." Punchatz's art is one of the coolest things about this otherwise rather unimpressive book. Someday I should post the rest of his vibrantly-colorful paintings from it, which show a wide array of lifeforms from the ST universe. This low-res scan hardly does the work justice---but it is, after all, merely for demonstrative purposes. ;) [*][URL=http://lobotomy.pleh.net/~flareupload/uploads/646/Tholian6.jpg]Exhibit F[/URL] The "other" interpretation of the Tholians' appearance to which I assume Rev refers. This one come from the 1980s-90s [i]Star Trek: The Next Generation[/i] comic book series from DC Comics. [/list] And there you have it, ladies and gents. It's interesting to see how such literature obviously influenced Mike Sussman and Phyllis Strong in writing the Tholians into "Future Tense" (ENT), what with the high-intensity heat environment bit and such. I think they may end up being the saviors of the series, being obvious TOS fans and fairly good writers. (I absolutely LOVED this episode, and really enjoyed "The Catwalk" as well.) -[b]MMoM[/b] :D [/QB][/QUOTE]
Instant Graemlins
Instant UBB Code™
What is UBB Code™?
Options
Disable Graemlins in this post.
*** Click here to review this topic. ***
© 1999-2024 Charles Capps
Powered by UBB.classic™ 6.7.3