In Real Life, Ray Bradbury actually did send me a letter years ago (click here to see the embiggened letter that inspired this strip) with my name spelled with a “G” but it wasn’t his fault at all – for some reason, either because I thought it was cool, I was having a pre-teen identity crisis, or I was (and still am) a Toys R Us Kid (and Geoffrey the giraffe spells his name with a G), I forsook the “J” in my name for a few months. And, of course, it was during those months that I wrote to Mr. Bradbury.
I was fortunate enough to meet him several years later, as he turned out to be a friend of a boss of mine when I worked at Collectors Book Store in Hollywood, so he signed a bunch of my books, photos and Something Wicked This Way Comes memorabilia, mostly to “Jeff” but also to “RAzZ” and “MoNGer” as those were some of my other pseudonyms at the time. I told him about how I wrote to him when I was younger and he was very flattered and said, “I hope I wrote you back.” Such a great guy.
I’ve been trying to think of what my favorite books and stories of Mr. Bradbury’s are, and I can’t point to one, definitively. Some of the ones that have stuck with me the most over the years have been: The Veldt, Fahrenheit 451 (of course), Skeleton, The Illustrated Man, Something Wicked This Way Comes, The Scythe, A Sound of Thunder (I must’ve read this one fifty times), Martian Chronicles and many, many more. I hope some of you JEFbot readers are Bradbury fans! If you have a favorite story of his, sound off about it in the comments.
Hey all, this is my first post!
I loved a lot of the stories from Martian Chronicles, especially the one with the crystal trees in the martian city and the sand ocean.
I always think about those scenes whenever I think about aliens.
hey, Naoki! it’s your first post and your first Firsting!!! which means you are now the proud owner of your very own Shades of Firsting. wear them well: they might just help you find treasures stored away in old boxes:
😎
yes! Martian Chronicles is awesome. i remember kind of being weirded out by the stories when i was a kid – lots of martian ghosts and prejudiced earthlings. i’ve been meaning to read this one again.
thats…amazing.
thanks, Descolada!
I’ve not read any of Ray Bradbury’s works, but I have seen the play and movie versions of Fahrenheit 451. While both versions bored the hell out of me, it was still a good story. And it’s always awesome when you can get an autograph from you favorite authors, musicians, actors, ect.(even if they do spell your name wrong)
i’ve never seen the theater version of Fahrenheit 451, Fijiman! i’m sad to hear it was boring, but i’d still love to see it. i had the video game of it on my Commodore 64 that was pretty cool. and, yes – it was awesome getting his autograph. one of the most thrilling ones i’ve ever gotten, actually. 🙂
Like I said, it wasn’t bad, just kind of boring. The theater version was fairly fun to work on though, even if my hand was numb at the end of the day a few times from all the cutting I had to do.(I had to cut out a lot of “books”)
well, if someone mounts a production of it in my neck of the woods, i’ll be sure and see it, Fijiman. 🙂
I admit I’ve never read any of his works, but maybe I’ll look some of his stuff. Any recommendations?
Also, I got a pretty good laugh out of that last panel, Jefbot’s expression is priceless.
You should try “Fahrenheit 451” as I would say that we are nearing the technology to render that type of world capable. I would say a bit like that movie “Pleasantville” crossed with the “Matrix”
i’ll agree with Bl4ckw0lf that Fahrenheit 451 is a good place to start, 52pickup. or if you like short stories, pick up the collection, The Illustrated Man. that’s where my Bradbury fanboyism began!
OMGHods… So. Many. Stories. So. Much. Awesome.
But special soft spots for: Farenheit 451, Martian Chronicles, and A Sound of Thunder.
YES, YES and YES, Samuraiartguy! i love all those stories and think about aspects of them all the time. great choices!
I know the feeling of collecting historical items such as the one in your comic today, i still have autographed games from when westwood was still an independent company. and EA wasen’t screwing everything up. sadly EA have blatantly ruined the series and bankrupted westwood but at least i still have an autographed piece of historical gaming material. I will never forget the epicness of westwood. so yeah i completely know how you feel about that piece you got right there.
P.S. i sent you an xbox live friend request did you ever get it? I’m still waiting for a response on my side
i used to love Westwood’s games, Heavycannontank! Dune II, Kyrandia and C&C were all staples of my gaming habit back in the day. sweet that you got some games autographed!
sadly, i disconnected my 360 while i’m moving apartments, but i just logged into xbox.com via my laptop and accepted all requests. i didn’t see a “Heavycannontank” so i hope your friend request went through – let me know if it didn’t.
Remember Lands of Lore? with Patrick Steward as one of the voice actors.
i do remember that game, Icarus!
If you check this again 😉 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lands_of_Lore:_The_Throne_of_Chaos
and if you have dosbox, it’s abandonware so therfore perfectly legal to download from either http://www.abandonia.com/en/search_abandonia/Lands+of+Lore
(they also have a ton of other old games)
or
http://homeoftheunderdogs.net/search.php?search_game=LAnds+of+Lore
they have a better search option usable if you remember the game but not the title.
I sent another friend request. i hope this one goes through. i hear the live system has been having some problems so that may have had something to do with it.
My favorite Ray Bradbury story.. My favorite story isn’t about something he wrote, my favorite story is from one of the few times my father and I attempted to bond. We went camping, and everything was going to hell. We went swimming in a lake, and he left his keys in his pockets while swimming losing them in the lake, 3 hours waiting for someone to show up and help, and me being stuck in a laundry mat, after my father stole my shoes, so he could get food.
Well the day was at its end, we were in a small cabin that had the most uncomfortable beds ever.. And while we Laid down listening to the radio all of a sudden a ray Bradbury story started playing, followed by an interview with Bradbury himself. It led to us telling stories about favorite authors, the paths that we follow, and the power of ones actions.
It’s funny how those moments occur and it’s all that ends up mattering, sadly the rest of the weekend is what’s remembered by everyone else in my family.
wow, thanks for sharing that story, Satoshieyes! and such an appropriate one, too: Ray Bradbury’s tales are so steeped in nostalgia and memory, just like the way you recalled that day with your father. awesome.
Bradbury is one of my most favourite writers ever! I was so sad when I knew he died 🙁 My favourite story as a kid, and movie adaptation form his work, was The Halloween tree. I recommend it both the book and the animated movie, which Bradbury himself did the narrator’s voice!
This is now one of my favourite strips JB, keep the awesome job!
yeah, i was sad when i heard he had passed, too, nicobot. but i’m glad he left behind so many great stories to remember him by! and i loved The Halloween Tree, too, but i didn’t know they made a movie from it. i’ll have to track it down! maybe on Netflix?
glad this strip’s one of your faves! 😀
I’m glad you also loved The Halloween tree, and !yes¡ there is an animated movie, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utaDC6VOYSY . Not the best quality but still a good one 🙂 Hope you like it.
thanks for the link, nicobot! i’ll definitely be checking that out when i have some free time. 🙂
My favorite Bradbury short story has always been “Kaleidoscope.” So much so that it’s the first story that I teach to every new 8th grade class that comes my way. I know at least one former student who now does the same for her junior English classes. I have to be honest, without Mr. Bradbury’s work the various syllabi for my high school classes would be pretty empty.
yes! i totally forgot about Kaleidoscope, sean66. such a great story – there’s a movie coming out named Gravity, directed by Alfonso Cuarón (one of my favorite directors) that immediately recalled that story in my mind. gotta be a Bradbury influence there, if nothing else.
and you’re doing the work of the Geek Gods teaching Bradbury’s work to all those impressionable young minds! more power to you!
My first experience with science fiction was my father bringing home books from the library. When I was 10 or so (1954 or so), he brought home an anthology (maybe ‘year’s best from 1950’?) that had ‘The Veldt’ in it. I probably read it 2 or 3 times before the book went back to the library, and I don’t think I’ve read it again since then, but when I think about it I can still see the lions advancing through the dry grass….
naturally, i’ve been going some of my old Ray Bradbury books, Stonefoot, and read through The Veldt again a couple nights ago! still so creepy and good. funny, the “lions advancing through the dry grass” is one of the images that has stayed in my mind all these years, too. 🙂
Ray Bradbury has been one of my favorite authors ever since I read the story Usher II (his homage to Edgar Allen Poe -another of my favorites) back in high school. The man was a master, and he left an amazing legacy.
so, so true about his amazing legacy, Soul Man. when i was going through my collection of his books, i didn’t know where to start because there are so many great ones. ended up with The Illustrated Man, as that was the first collection i read of his. i think maybe Martian Chronicles or Fahrenheit 451 will be next.
Masterpieces all.
I haven’t gotten into Bradbury’s works much; I started “Something Wicked This Way Comes” when I was in a school library training Air Force guys in dealing with hostage situations (not a bad chance to use my acting skills, and there was a few hours of down time). I never did finish it, something I regretted when I heard he’d died. Now I need to get his stuff on my Kindle so I can read it at work.
yes! definitely check his stuff out, Tiana – you’ll be glad you did. i figured i’d get a couple of his books on my iPad, but couldn’t find anything but Fahrenheit 451 in the iTunes and Kindle stores. insane that more of his stuff isn’t there. maybe with his passing, this will be rectified.
That’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard. I should have been more interested into reading the authors name than the actual books. I was pretty much a bookworm in my preteens (I still am, currently reading Harry Potter for the first time!) But I never really cared who wrote them, I just wanted to read everything. This strip is really really one of the cutest and most precious things I’ve seen in webcomics in a long time!
awww, thanks, DAS! i wanted to pay homage to Mr. Bradbury in the strip somehow, so i’m glad you liked it. 🙂
and WOO for Potter! reading those books as they were coming out was such a thrill. you’re gonna love ’em.
the only problem with reading the books is that I have seen the first two movies and it pretty much crushed the books. Plus, my sister is currently reading the fifth book, and I have to wait until she has read it until she’ll lend me it. which will take FOREVER! have you read all the books AND seen all the movies? I haven’t. but I wanna!
The Martian Chronicles remain my favorite–there’s something for everyone in there–but all of his work is an unmatched exploration of humanity, as innocent and as twisted as it can be.
Years ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a lecture on writing by Mr. Bradbury–such a good, funny, encouraging man. Didn’t suffer fools gladly, though, bless him.
He’s one of the people who taught me how to use my imagination. Can’t thank him enough for that.
i agree – The Martian Chronicles is a great work, Sarah W, and i might just have to make that the next book i read again. (currently making my way through The Illustrated Man.) and that’s awesome you saw a lecture of his – i’ve read his book, Zen in the Art of Writing, and a few of his articles on the subject, and he has such a positive, loving and contagious outlook on writing and life, i can only hope i enjoy life and the creative process as much as he did throughout his time here.
Does that one with Dinosaurs count? It just had his name on it, but I don’t think he wrote it. It was like “Brought to By Ray Bradbury”… I think.
hmm… i’m not familiar with that one, ShadowShuffler. Bradbury did write a bunch of stories featuring dinosaurs, but “Brought to By Ray Bradbury” doesn’t ring a bell.
I apologize for my careless typing. It included “Brought to you by Ray Bradbury.” I think some other guy wrote it.
The first grown up novel that I ever read was Fahrenheit 451. I was 10 yrs old and hooked on fiction from that point on. RIP Ray.
yeah, i was kinda obsessed with that book when i was a young’un too, Xevaster. 🙂
There was a long and serious discussion on our SW:TOR guild voice-chat about all the good things he gave us to geek over when we heard he died.
awesome, Maryz. amazing just how much awesome geekery he gave us. he’ll be missed.
Awesome. There’s lots of autographs I wish I could get. BUT I did get to meet a lot of interesting people. I got to meet Hulk Hogan at a gym here in PPk. He was going to the Seminole Fitness Center (I think it’s out of business now) and I got to meet him for free! I also got to meet Bret Hart the same way (same place actually). I’ve met other people, but, I had to go to special events for that, like meeting Jason David Frank at Anime Festival of Orlando, and Tara Strong and Greg Berger at JACON.
that’s cool, KB! yeah, getting autographs can be fun. i lucked out as i had a job at a movie memorabilia store in hollywood, and celebrities would come in all the time. Michael Jackson would visit occasionally – he was probably the biggest “star” i got autographs from.
That’d be a cool job to have. I almost had a dream job here, only one problem: It required a Driver’s License. I don’t have one. I’m terrible at driving (flunked my road test twice in Driver’s Ed) and can’t stay within the lines. It’s safer for both me and the world in general if I don’t drive. The job, btw, was at Emerald City in Seminole, and the License was needed because it shared inventory with the other store in Clearwater, so you’d have to be able to go back and forth.
When we had to read Fahrenheit 451 in class I hated it. Then I got bored and started reading ahead of the class and finished that day. I didn’t think I was going to like it that much. That’s so cool that you have that Jeff, haha I like the 451 on the box. (:
HA! I keep forgetting that you like to be subtle on us sometimes- it’s part of his “moving box code”, isn’t it? It’s labeled ‘451’ *because* it’s full of books?
Good eye, Natalie!
yep, it’s “451” to mark that box as books by Bradbury, Holaved. jefbot (and i) definitely have a lot of ’em. heheh.
Thanks Holaved, haha its safe to say I feel like the cool girl!
&&@Shootzee I thought it was going to be really boring so I didn’t try, but then I heard bits and pieces of the story and thought it sounded really good.
funny that you getting bored is what prompted you to read on and finish ahead of the class, Nat! glad you ended up appreciating it. and, yep – bot classified his “Bradbury Box” as “451.” 🙂
Oops forgot to add, its when you put little random items that make me love the strip more. (: Like the Buu in the massdistractions comic. So now I try to play I Spy with every one.
Hey Stan, I found the info on the museum with the X-Wing. It’s here: http://www.wingsmuseum.org/discover/aircraft-exhibits/74-t-65-x-wing-starfighter Unfortunately, I also learned that is isn’t actually the one from the movie, but it is an “official” model of it commissioned by Lucasfilm. 🙁 You can read about its origins and history at the link.
even being a replica, it’s still cool, Shanna!
I don’t think I have ever actually read any Bradbury. I can totally understand your feelings though. There are lots of people who I’d feel that way about a letter from. How awesome that you got to meet him later.
I think the person I was most excited to meet was E. O. Wilson. Anyone heard of him? Anyone? He is a total rock star in the world of Ecology and also ants – both past (and still somewhat present) passions of mine. He is a major hero of mine, and he signed one of my ant books and even drew a little ant in it for me. 🙂 (My geekiness is very multidimensional. This is part of the science aspect.)
i googled E. O. Wilson just now and he looks familiar, Shanna. maybe he’s been on Discovery channel type stuff? (i love watching programs about bugs and biology in general.) that’s super cool you got to meet him and get an autograph and sketch! i was friends with an entomologist that discovered an insect which was then named after him. so jealous.
Man, that’s badass. I’ve met Orson Scott Card before, but this sounds like it was much more than for you than that was for me (I discovered Card in highschool. Sadly , he is *not* a childhood hero).
Not surprised Ray is gone, but still sad he is gone.
I’d say “A Sound of Thunder” and “The Veldt” are the two big ones for me. I love me a good time travel story (have ever since I discovered them), and I’m creeped out by plains-themed wallpaper to this day. 🙂
i discovered OSC in high school, too, Holaved. loved the Ender’s Game books. (well, most of them.) interested to see how the movie turns out.
and, yes, after reading The Veldt i can see how that kind of wallpaper would be, uh… disconcerting, to say the least. heheh. especially if you have kids.
Try ‘Pastwatch’ – it’s not only about Christopher Columbus and time travel, it’s one of those ‘you-will-NOT-guess-the-end’ sort of stories.
Man, it has been YEARS since I’ve read anything of Bradbury’s, I’m sorry to say. I’ve been wanting to pick up the ‘Homecoming’ collection, because I also love Dave McKean’s work- would you have any suggestions, knowing my favorites?
He’s probably enjoying himself in author’s Valhalla Jef
The Illustrated Man is my favorite.
I have a similar story, though. I was in Lincoln, Nebraska working with the Air National Guard unit (I was actually Air Force, but working in Mobility) at the airport when Harrison Ford decided to fly in and spend the night in Lincoln. His plane rolled up to the hanger we were working in, and I recognized him instantly, even with his hat and sunglasses.
I asked him if he would sign something for me, and he said he would, so I went out to my car and grabbed my leather fedora. He signed it with a marker we were using, and I told him I bought that hat like ten years ago when I was a huge fan of Indiana Jones. He laughed and said it felt more like twenty years ago. We almost all fainted from meeting him in person.
What he wrote was so cool that I still won’t anyone touch the hat that sits in a box in my safe. It reads, “Nate – You would have made a great Indiana Jones. Thanks for your service. Your friend, Harrison Ford.”
Does that mean the box marked “451” will eventually be burned? 🙂
That’s hilarious! Great reveal!!!
Ooh, yea! Martian Chronicles, Something Wicket This Way Comes, the Elliott family stories. Many tales, all facinating…