The realities in question that collide in this book are spoofs of various science-fiction stories, and to be honest, I don't recognize all of them, as I'm not a devotee to the genre. Lundeen's got a great sense of humor, and he grabbed my attention right away with a couple of solid jokes, mocking sci-fi movies and TV shows. The problem with the book, though, is that it lacks a coherent plot. This reads more like a string of unrelated sci-fi jokes than an actual story. Lundeen's artwork is strong, though, and the light tone suits the goofy quality of the script.
A Klingon and a Japanese anime space-opera super-hero walk into a bar... well, actually, they walk into a galactic diplomacy conference, and they're slated to be roommates for the event. Commander Gok, a representative from the Klungov Empire, has come to the conference to assess the potential for conquest of other races... and to meet human beings, as he's developed a respect for and curiosity about the race. But when he meets the light-on-his-toes Space Prince and his chicken-like arch-enemy, he begins to change his mind.
Lundeen demonstrates a strong eye for anatomy here, but he still maintains a light, cartoony tone that's in keeping with the comedy of the book. The Gok design is a strong one, and I like the 1960s animation riff he captures in Space Prince. I also enjoyed the variety in design to be found in the various aliens and spacecraft. The main problem with Lundeen's artwork is that his backgrounds are remarkably lacking.
Easily the most entertaining aspect of the book is how Lundeen mocks the shortcuts and silliness to be found throughout the science-fiction genre. The gags about how so many races look just like humans, and how their languages are set apart as alien simply through non-American accents, were hilarious. Other jokes, though, don't stand up as well. The Star Wars Stormtroopers armor gag was rather obvious, and some of the non-sequiturs -- hairdressers in the ventilation system -- fell flat.
Lundeen's material would probably go over well at a Star Trek convention, but here, there's no real plot to string all of the jokes together. It makes for a rather scattered read, unfortunately, and some of the jokes suffer as a result. Still, there's a great deal of potential here, and sci-fi fanatics will likely be thoroughly entertained... and they'll likely pick up on a number of references that went over my head.
