thrift store finds: planet x

(Thrift Store Finds is a mostly-weekly “column” of sorts where I discuss some of the cool books I’ve happened upon in my neighborhood St. Vincent DePaul store. Please don’t mistake me for an expert on any of the books I am writing about… I’m just a fan of a bargain.)

In case you haven’t realized it by now, I’m a fan of kitschy stuff. The weirder and goofier, the better.

That being said, I pass up a LOT of kitsch on our weekly thrift store jaunts. Sure, I could have picked up that Gremlins-themed Christmas picture book titled “The Gift of the Mogwai” but after the initial guffaw that owning a crazy piece of pop culture ephemera… then what? What would I do with that book? Anything that you enjoy ironically has a very limited shelf life and I’m not looking to pad out my ramshackle collection with any more useless stuff. My garage is filled to the brim already, thanks much.

THAT BEING SAID…

When I found this paperback, I could not believe my eyes. I’m on record as not being much a fan of either Star Trek (in any incarnation) or The X-Men. They are two corners of geekdom with which I am altogether unfamiliar and in which I am uninterested to learn very much more than I already know. To me, Star Trek and X-Men seem like completely separate hubs of fandom that are best represented in this hastily drawn Venn diagram:

…and yet, Planet X, a Star Trek/X-Men novel, exists. Written by longtime Star Trek novelist Michael Jan Friedman, Planet X seems like an idea though of in a fever dream.

To me, this is the weirdest book I have ever seen. Who was the audience for this? Even people who can suspend their disbelief for one of these two franchises will surely be tested beyond the breaking point by being asked to smash them together haphazardly? Was there a vocal contingent of fandom that was crying out to learn who would win in a fight between Worf and Wolverine?

Someone pointed out to me that the genesis for this book might find its’ origins the fact that comic fanboys had cast Patrick Stewart as the perfect actor to play The X-Men’s leader, Professor X long before the X-Men movies were financially feasible. His nerd-cred was already quite large for playing Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Captain Jean Luc Picard. Perhaps that fact started the ball rolling toward making this insane idea a reality.. but even so, that premise doesn’t really ring true to me. I think Jon Hamm would make an awesome Captain America, but that doesn’t mean I expect to see a Mad Men/Avengers crossover anytime soon.

I don’t have any clever commentary beyond what I’ve said. I only just found this book; I had originally planned on writing about Archie this week. When I found this monster staring me in the face at the store and I couldn’t help but to share it. I may have to give it a read, if only to confirm Planet X’s place as the craziest find I’ve made in the thrift store up until this point in time. I should mention that Planet X is still in print, if you are so inclined.