A Blog Hop From Out of This World: My Favorite Martian is…

myfavmartian

Recently, my blogging partner in geekiness Natasha invited me to participate in a fun-sounding blog hop. The My Favorite Martian Blog Hop is just a way for bloggers to write about their favorite science-fiction aliens. Despite the Hop’s name, the character doesn’t actually have to be from Mars.

Hosted by The Geek Twins, and co-hosted by Just a Dash of Geek, L.K.Hill, and Comic Book and Movie Reviews, anyone can join in on the fun simply by writing a post about their favorite alien, and then adding the post’s URL to the linky widget at the end of this post.

So, now that the big day is here, who did I choose to write about? Who is my favoritest spaceman ever?

Well, I thought long and hard about this. Because, well, that’s what us geeks do. We revel in geeky debates about who’s stronger, faster or all-around cooler.

I started by thinking about Mars. I could write about the Martian Manhunter. I like the green-skinned Justice Leaguer who really is more powerful than Superman. Which is kind of why I don’t really love the guy. Except for a fear of fire, this guy is pretty near invincible.

Martian Manhunter

Photo: JohnWatsonArt.com

Then there’s John Carter of Mars. I’m not talking about the movie. And technically Jon is from Earth so he doesn’t count. But how cool is the four-armed Tars Tarkas from Mars? Awesome looking and a great fighter. But still, that doesn’t make for topping my list.

Photo: ComicVine.com
Photo: ComicVine.com

There’s the hysterically deadly Martians from Mars Attacks. Just hearing their voices leaves me in stitches. But they’re kind of like bad guys. Well, okay, they are bad guys. And they’re bent on destroying our planet. So I’ll pass.

Photo: FanPop.com
Photo: FanPop.com

I could look back to Arnold Schwarzenegger in Total Recall. He visited a Mars full of crazy fascinating aliens including a three breasted prostitute. Intriguing? Yes. But I can’t make my decision based solely on superficial means.

Photo: IFC.com
Photo: IFC.com

No, I’d have to say my all-time favorite Martian is actually a funny little guy named Marvin. Yes, he’s also determined to completely obliterate Earth in the 24th and a half century, but he’s fairly incompetent and has a cute dog called K-9 as a pet. Plus you just can’t beat his voice or his weapons like the Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator .

Photo: MartianLit.com
Photo: MartianLit.com

However, that’s not my favorite alien, just my favorite Martian. There are plenty of aliens that are just too amazingly cool. Technically anyone from Star Wars is an alien, so they all make my list, with Bossk topping it solely on the coolness factor. And I’ve loved so many sci-fi movies and TV shows that I could start an entire blog dedicated to the topic. Not a bad idea actually…

But I have to pick one. And after thinking and thinking and thinking, I finally came up with my favorite alien of all time. And to be honest, I was pretty surprised with my choice.

Back in college, I had a friend who was obsessed with this lame science fiction show. I found it boring, ridiculous and full of the most pathetic special effects you could imagine. It’s an old show for sure and despite goign through a number of actor changes and story angles, I still found it unwatchable.

And then a few years ago, the entire series a major kick in the pants, modernizing the whole thing and injecting completely new life into a dusty old series. I resisted at first but watched with my wife and after just two episodes I was instantly hooked. And now five or so years later, I’m still hooked.

Yes, I’m talking about the show Doctor Who. And I know I’ll probably tick off many Whovians by saying I can’t stand the old series (just as I also find the Original Star Trek a yawnfest), but I have to say that the modern day Doctor is one of the coolest aliens I’ve ever known.

There’ve been three Doctors so far on the new show (Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and the most recent Matt Smith), but my favorite of them all has to be Eccleston’s version of The Doctor. He’s the Ninth Incarnation of Doctor Who. Yes he looks human, but he’s not. He’s a Time Lord burdened with the task of traveling through space and time to save civilizations and keep the time stream on course.

Photo: NerdBastards.com
Photo: NerdBastards.com

The show is still cheesy, I’ll admit, but Eccleston’s Doctor was angry and determined. You can tell this is a character who’s lived through countless battles and seen way too many horrors for one individual. He’s beyond sick of evil winning out and will do anything and everything he can to crush all who would stand in peace’s way.

While his tenure on the show was short-lived (just one season), Eccleston’s portrayal of The Doctor was so incredible that it not only one me over to start enjoying this series that I had previously only ridiculed, but he jumped to the top of the list for my all-time favorite alien.

 

Who’s your favorite alien?

Tell me in the comments section below, or write your own blog post and add the URL to the linky list!



9 thoughts on “A Blog Hop From Out of This World: My Favorite Martian is…”

  1. I love TOTAL RECALL, but I can see why you would want to pick something more ‘meaningful’ than the 3-breasted prostitute. haha. I was happy though to see that she was still in the recent remake, even if so much else had changed!

    I used to watch the 80s Dr Who, but haven’t really got into it in more recent incarnations.

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  2. Ha ha. Awesome post, sir. You named a multitude of martian favorites. I am espicially pleased that you didn’t forget Marvin the Martian. No doubt my favorite animated martian.

    And Eccleston is the BEST doctor they’ve had in recent years(and I know Dr.Who goes back a long,long way). I thought he was absolutely the best. Tennant, I keep expecting to bust out in a Shakespearean sonnet. While he’s cute, the edge is gone. Matt Smith- good but something’s missing. not even sure I can peg what it is. Eccleston is definitely the way I envision Dr. Who being.

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  3. Eccleston was my first Doctor, and though I’ve loved Tennant and Smith, Nine always has a room in the TARDIS of my affections. 😉 I love the ending of ‘The Doctor Dances’ particularly – “Everybody lives, Rose! I could use more days like this.”

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  4. Nice to see someone remembers Christopher Ecclestone – kind of overshadowed by the two Doctors since but he’s a big part of why the new show became such a success.

    “Lots of planets have a North”

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  5. Another Dr. Who. I think that ranks him as #1 so far on my tour. I went with Marvin. I did enjoy John Carter, but more in books like “Princess of Mars” than in the movie adaptation.

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  6. AWESOME choice!And I have to Agree I LOVE Star Trek and I find 1/2 the episodes of the original series boring. Leonard Nimoy is the only thing that makes me watch it on occasion

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