By Owen Quinn author and more Photos copyright Owen Quinn and USS Cuchulain
The 9th and 10th of August saw Dublin Comic Con return once again for a spectacular show. Local Star Trek group the USS Cuchulain, once again brought their fantastic bridge set where fans could sit in the captain’s chair and experience an alien attack.
But if you didn’t want to be a member of Starfleet, you had the chance to become a Klingon instead. Being a Klingon captain, can be very stressful but thankfully, there were some helpful Klingons present to help you out as you took command of the Klingon ship.
By and photos copyright Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors, Zombie Blues and more
This October sees the release of a third installment of Tron. Tron: Ares stars Jared Leto and Gillian Anderson with Jeff Bridges returning in his iconic role. Leto plays Ares who is sent from th digital world into ours on a mission. This will mark the first time humans have encountered the digital beings in the real world but why now?
On the 9th and 10th of August 2025, Dublin Comic Con gave fans a glimpse of the new bikes that can be seen in the trailer. I have to say they look smart and very eye catching. Check out the photos below.
Join us to stop an unholy alliance of Universal’s greatest monsters from plunging the world into eternal darkness. Can a Cavan man and a man with one leg bring down Dracula and his mates, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, Frankenstein’s monster, the Wolfman and the Mummy?
Join us to find out, Join the craic; you won’t look back!
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Photo copyright Universal
If ever there is show that the current generation needs to see before they die then it is the original Quantum Leap.
Starring Scott Bakula and Dean Stockwell as Dr Sam Beckett and his brother from another mother Al Calavicci, it was four and a half years of pure magic. You were with Al and Sam all the way emotionally at warp speed. One week you were laughing the other you were crying. Quantum Leap got you by the heartstrings and never let go. The world loved it and there was a huge outcry when it was cancelled. These days you have the continuation which fully embraces the original as it should.
Sam would inhabit the body of someone new every week and put right what went wrong in their life. Nothing was off limits and in the episode Southern Beauty, Sam went to hell….in a bathing suit photo shoot.
Sam had leapt into females before and gained a new insight into life as a woman. However in Southern Beauty, he entered the world of beauty pageants. His proud mother adorns him with the sash saying Miss Sugar Belle and a tiara. You can’t help but laugh at the look on Sam’s face as he realizes he is about to compete in a beauty pageant. Luckily the world sees him as Darlene Monte but he approaches things with a man’s mindset trying to act like a contestant. He is there to stop one contestant, Connie Duncan (Heather McAdam), from dropping out while ensuring Darlene win third place.
While he is a petite brunette to the world, Sam is struggling with acting like a lady seeking to win. It is just comedic gold as Sam tries to master the step and glide and failing miserably. Al is in his element with so many beautiful women around him which distracts him. Al is there to reassure Sam and get him through but his roving eye stresses Sam out no end.
Sam can sing and dance but as a beauty contestant he needs to refine it to be more feminine but fails miserably. The irony is it will be Sam’s masculinity that saves the day and puts things back on track. But when Sam discovers that part of the shoot will be by the swimming pool in a bathing suit. The world will see Sam as Darlene but it is still in his head that he is a man. Seeing Sam so uncomfortable when posing with the other ladies using various props.
While Sam discovers that the pageant photographer is actually tricking gullible contestants into doing nude photos, he must expose them and save Connie. But when he confronts the pageant boss to save Connie, he discovers that she too has been a victim of the photographer. This revelation gives her the courage to stand up and stop this from happening again to anyone else.
Sam has some uncomfortable costumes during this episode but the one that sticks with everyone is the Carmen Miranda like outfit complete with a fruit hat for the talent show. The plan is to sing Cuanto Le Gusta but he fails miserably. As the photo above shows Sam is out of his comfort zone. Al having to teach him the routine is hilarious and is used in the opening credits going forward. But Sam is failing and decides to go in a completely different direction.
To save the day he does Great Balls of Fire on the piano while wearing the fruit costume. You can see how much fun Bakula is having doing this while Al dances along. It brings the house down in a scene that you can watch over and over again.
In the final scene, Sam wins the beauty contest and is moved to tears. You can’t help but laugh and well up at the same time. History has been put on the right path again but the scars of time travel are seen here when Al asks Sam if he is alright given he is crying. Sam says he wishes his sister were here to see this before leaping to a brand new mission.
The answer is very telling and one that could easily be overlooked. Sam’s sister married a man who abused her mentally and physically. In the two -parter, The Leap Home, Sam leaps into his teenage self. He tries to change his family’s lives but fails miserably leading to one of the most powerful scenes in Quantum leap history. He is missing his family and something like winning a beauty pageant is something a sister should see. Perhaps his saving these women from being exploited and put down like Connie was supposed to be is something that might have given his sister the strength to fight back and escape her abuser. To skillfully weave this dark character thread into such a fun episode is a masterstroke. It reminds us that behind every adventure that Sam wants to go home and be with the ones he loves.
Southern Beauty is Quantum Leap at its best, a showcase of beautiful writing that shows exploitation of women is more commonplace than we know. Behind the smiles and songs serpents can lie. But battling those serpents are heroes that sacrifice the things closest to them to make the world a better place.
This isn’t my first commentary on the passing of a celebrity and it won’t be my last. But this one has shaken me to the core. Even as I write this, I have to pause to stop crying long enough to share my feelings on this. I don’t know why this has upset me so much. Maybe there is some residual grief still in me somewhere having lost some loved ones myself, that only comes out when something like this happens or maybe it’s because I genuinely liked Ozzy Osbourne.
I wasn’t a fan as such until the Osbournes show on MTV but I quickly became one. Ozzy was a heavy metal rock God whose legacy will reign forever as the Prince of Darkness; of that, there is no doubt. I knew of the stories; the Alamo, the bat, trying to kill his wife, Sharon, stealing Sharon’s dress to go drinking and his addiction struggles. But despite all this and the unending chaos of the Osbourne household, Ozzy was just a family man who loved his kids and his pets.
He just happened to be a God during his working hours. And he loved his job.
He warned his kids off smoking and getting tattoos, the latter of which Jack especially, ignored. He worried when they weren’t home and his love for his wife, Sharon, shone through when she faced her cancer battle. To millions, he was a rock God but I saw the family man behind the music. He loved the simple pleasures, was a keen history buff, hated the colour green and loved the Discovery channel. He kicked off when the dogs pissed on his good carpet, not being able to work the remote control and when he couldn’t find his socks and underwear.
I watched everything he did and all his interviews. I loved the love of life he had and despite many dark times, he had come through and was still standing. His devoted wife, Sharon, kept him grounded like the time he complained about people asking for autographs. She reminded him, the day they stop asking is when to complain. I’m paraphrasing there but that’s essentially her reply. She was the powerhouse behind his career and they stood together through it all. They were a love story all of their own and an example that love can get you through anything. Like all marriages, they had their ups and downs and people would criticise the show as crap but when you look at it, what house doesn’t have the kids going mad, the spouses arguing, fighting with the neighbours or that simple shot of a Dad waiting up for his daughter to come home to make sure she was alright.
For me, when Jack and Ozzy did their series, Ozzy and Jack’s World Detour, then that is when you really saw the man behind the music. Leaving somewhere with a plastic carrier bag is so working class, complaining about the trip but delighted top be spending time with his son and getting to do his bucket list. While their stops were interesting, it was just a show about a father and son bonding over the most bizarre things like the research centre that studies decomposing bodies in the open.
I’ll never forget Ozzy driving a tank and breaking it, visiting the historical places in America and going underground to a silo where everything in the world was stored including Black Sabbath’s first song. I’ll never forget when he returned to Texas to the site of the Alamo and they tricked him into believing there was an arrest warrant still active for him. It was hilarious. Remember his battle with the haunted doll, Robert, that he kept frying to get rid of?
Seeing Ozzy just listening to that recording of Black Sabbath speaks volumes about the man. He loved those around him even when his behaviour said otherwise but he always sought them out and made up with them. His kids and grandkids were his world; the concerts reminded him that he was alive and meant the world to millions of people. When you compare Crazy Train to his duet with daughter Kelly, Changes, it showed his diversity. His song, Dreamer, says all there is to say about him. At the end of the day, he was a crazy dreamer but never did he ever dream just how much he would be loved right back by generation after generation.
He was a young lad, no qualifications, with a dream of being in a band and by God, he did it. He dreamed big and with Sharon by his side, he delivered it.
At his final concert only a few weeks ago, he showed how much he thrived on that love on stage before his adoring fans. He had returned to England to be home again and I think we all knew why he was coming back to England. His health was declining and perhaps, he knew his time was nearly up.
Now Ozzy Osbourne has died surrounded by what he cherished most of all; his family. I never met him but felt I knew him to a degree from his shows. He never played to the cameras in World Detour. he was just himself. I have to admit, I would have loved his hair but t’was not to be. Neither was my chance of meeting him and telling him that he was the most down to earth God I had ever known.
This is not goodbye by any means. Ozzy left behind so much joy, laughter and music for him to ever really be gone. Millions all over the world will be weeping tonight, not only from sadness but from remembering the funny times, the joy and the humour too. I have a feeling that heaven is a lot louder tonight from a certain rocker kicking in the pearly gates.
A new trailer has dropped for the November movie, Predator: Badlands. Despite the initial reaction to the new look predator, this new trailer gives us a better bloody look and a better taste of what is to come. Again, directed from the man that brought you Prey, Dan Trachetenberg, this looks promising indeed. I have to say, I’m quite excited.
By Owen Quinn author of the Time Warriors and Zombie Blues
Besides R2D2 there is one robot that has stayed with me for all its humour and appeal to the sci-fi kid inside me that has never left.
The fact Vincent, in the Disney movie The Black Hole, was and still is a joy to watch is something that Star Wars really should have had too. He is so human in a way that has stuck with fans to this day as action figures of him still sell in big numbers. His name is short for Vital Information Necessary Centralized and a valued member of the Palomino. He is very human and constantly bantering with first officer Charlie Pizer. I always wanted a flying robot rather than a pet but alas it never happened. But Vincent can and it helps him maintain the ship both inside and out. When Vincent is almost lost to float in space forever, we discover he has a telepathic link with Dr Kate McCrea (Yvette Mimieux). It helps the crew locate and rescue him before they discover the Cygnus on the lip of the titular Black hole.
Voiced by the legendary Roddy McDowall, the audience immediately listens to him due to the actor’s being such a household name. Like a cross between your dog and best friend, Vincent protects those he cares about. Once aboard the Cygnus, he meet older models of him especially BOB whom Vincent forms an immediate bond with like an uncle or father figure. But Vincent makes enemies too in the shape of Maximillion and Starr (Special Troops/Arms Regiment) as he takes a firm stance on their bullying of BOB.
Starr and his minions treat other beings like trash and look down on humans given Reinhardt’s ambitions. Starr has seen the human crew reduced to lobotomised to mindless vegetables. If one human can do that to his so called colleagues then Starr follows that example. And Vincent will not stand for it.
When Starr tries to beat Vincent on the shooting range, he does not take it well when Vincent beats him hands down. With his superior firepower, Starr is twenty years out of date. Vincent also goes head to head with the evil Maximillion, Reinhardt’s psychotic robot. Like a turtle, Vincent can retract his head afraid of the behemoth. It is clear that the Palomino crew care for Vincent and BOB as much as they care for them.
A lot of this is down to the dialogue and imbuing Vincent with such a human personality. He is the best friend you always wanted and someone to have by your side. BOB is the frail old man you want to protect. The fact they are machines doesn’t even come into the equation. And that is a huge part of the appeal of the character. McDowall is the perfect voice for the robot and there is pure magic on screen that does stand up there with the droids from Star Wars.
But when the Cygnus begins, under Reinhardt’s direction, to move into the black hole, Vincent and the other crew members are sentenced to death. He must take on Maximillion in a battle to the death in order to get everyone to a probe ship that they can escape in before being pulled in. What we get is a wonderful ariel battle between David and Goliath as meteors crash into the ship. BOB is killed in the fight. Maximillion almost kills Vincent by electrocuting him but Vincent drills into his rival’s stomach area killing him instantly. Ironically, it is payback universally for how Mailmillion killed Doctor Durant.
Too late, Vincent is pulled into the black hole with the others. Vincent would go on to cameo in Tomorrowland and Tron: Legacy but the Black Hole was his only big screen outing. There is no doubt that he worked beautifully as he is still popular among collectors to this day. It is a figure set I have on my wish list. Indeed R2 never flew until the prequels but the idea of a floating robot was just too much to resist. His big eyes were very much of Disney character origin but it was the way the other actors treated him that made him a relatable character. Just with the Star Wars droids, we cared about Vincent and BOB. Their design was genius and to this day the ariel fight between them is awesome.
But once again, it took the magical tones of Roddy McDowall to complete Vincent and instill him to all who saw the original movie.
This time, we discuss the last Voyage of the Demeter. Yes, Dracula as you’ve never seen him before on the doomed ship, Demeter. Trust me, this is no Norway cruise you’d want to take twice. Join the craic, you’ll never look back!
The Time Warriors and Beyond 