Popular Culture Review Vol. 12, No. 2, August 2001 | Page 105

F arscape 9s John Crichton and B uck R ogers in the 25th C entury : Revisited for a New Millennium Who am I? Where am I going? What is my purpose for living? These are all questions that the archetypal Hero poses while reflecting on his/her life. Often, the answers lie in the Hero undertaking a journey into the deepest regions of the unknown in order to induce the proper self-reflection. Mythology scholar Joseph Campbell describes the Hero’s journey as a “call to adventure” in which (s)he moves out of the comfortable confines of society into a “place of strangely fluid and polymorphous beings, unimaginable torments, superhuman deeds, and im possible delight” (58). This realm can be likened to the sci-fi universe that the fictional astronaut navigates in the hopes of finding a way back to his homeland. Comic strips and movie serials were the first to seize upon this premise, transplanting their characters centuries into the future. Science fiction encyclope dia compilers Roger Fulton and John Betancourt note that in the original 1929 newspaper comic, an ex-Air Force pilot by the name of Buck Rogers was survey ing an abandoned mine shaft and was soon overcome by a strange, noxious gas that kept him in a state of suspended animation for nearly 500 years. When he awoke, Buck found himself in a world of technological wonders as well as terrible dangers (94). While the serials of the 1930s and 40s brought instant notoriety to Buster Crabbe, who portrayed Buck Rogers (and fellow Hero Flash Gordon) on the big screen, the comic strip remained the only veh