The Shape of Things to Come Trivia Quiz

Answer: Star Trek

"Star Trek" was created by Gene Roddenberry (1921-1991) and has become a franchise that includes multiple television series, animation, comic books, novels, video games and movies. The story of a humankind that has surpassed its inner division to be able to unite and go out into the universe is one of great appeal to many. Of course, the characters that comprise the crew of the Enterprise were the ones who brought that future to us, in all its 1960s glory.

Novels began being produced already in 1967, with adaptations of the television episodes, but it was not long before original stories were appearing in written form that had not been seen on screen.

At the same time, "Star Trek" comics began publication with publisher Gold Key, releasing 61 issues between 1967 and 1979.

"Star Trek: The Motion Picture" was the first movie made within the franchise, and it appeared in theatres in 1979.

The first computer / video game in the "Star Trek" franchise can be dated back to BASIC text-based games as early as 1971.

Answer: Judge Dredd

"Judge Dredd" first appeared in the second issue of the U.K. science-fiction anthology "2000 A.D." It has been the only strip since that time to remain a continuous feature of the anthology.

Unlike many other comic book heroes, Judge Dredd ages in real time with us. His first appearance placed him in the year 2099, while comics produced in 2013 have him living in the year 2135.

"Judge Dredd" was first adapted into a movie with Sylvester Stallone in the title role in 1995.

As a video game, "Judge Dredd" could be played on the Commodore 64!

A number of novels have also been written in Dredd's world, the first in 1993.

Answer: Halo

The very first game within the "Halo" franchise was "Halo: Combat Evolved", which was released in November of 2001. Players got to play the part of a cybernetic super-soldier, Master Chief John-117. The 'halo' in the game title referred to the ring-shaped worlds on which the action took place.

The "Halo" franchise has branched out into other media, including comic books and novels, as well as plans for jumping to the big screen.

Answer: "The Uncanny X-Men"

"Days of Future Past" was a two-part storyline that appeared in "The Uncanny X-Men" #141 and #142 in 1980. The dark future shown in the story is prevented when future Kitty Pryde (Shadowcat) has her mind sent back in time to take over her younger self, after which she manages to prevent the Brotherhood of Evil Mutants from assassinating anti-mutant Senator Robert Kelly.

Incidentally, the future in "Days of Future Past" happens in the year 2013, a very distant 33 years forward from when the comic came out.

A variant of the story was presented in the "X-Men" animated television series, and the film adaptation "X-Men: Days of Future Past" is the 2014 followup and tie-in to "X-Men: The Last Stand" (2006) and "X-Men: First Class" (2011).

Answer: Firefly

"Firefly" was set in the year 2517 and was essentially a 'Space-Western' with many similarities to the old west of the 1800s, including a wild frontier, horses and cows, gunfights, and a large Chinese influence in the cities.

The show only aired 11 of its 14 completed episodes in the fall of 2002, as it was canceled when was deemed to have poor ratings. After the fact, though, the series received enough attention in DVD sales and 'cult' following that a movie was produced in 2005 ("Serenity").

In addition to the series and the film, there has also been a novelization of the film written (2005), as well as two comic book mini-series.

Answer: DC Comics

Many traditional heroes gave up their efforts in disgust after public opinion supported the ruthless 'hero' Magog, who had no problems killing the bad guys. Years later, superhumans battle each other with little regard to the general populace.

Superman (who had been absent for a decade) returns and tries to reform the Justice League, but his efforts are not accepted by all (most notably Batman, who forms his own 'neutral' group). Meanwhile, Lex Luthor leads the Mankind Liberation Front, trying to take control of the world back from the super'heroes'.

With such a mishmash of alliances, who comes out on top? Read and find out!

Answer: Alien

"Alien" followed the recently released and very popular "Star Wars" and took space travel in an entirely different direction: horror. Sigourney Weaver's first leading role brought with it sheer terror as her small crew grappled with a horrible and vicious alien threat. With multiple films in the franchise, it is no wonder that there are also many other forms of media into which "Alien" has branched out.

Novelizations of each film in the series have been written, as well as a series of stand-alone "Alien" books written by various authors.

An "Aliens" comic book series came out originally in 1988 (Dark Horse Comics), in addition to various crossovers with other titles (including "Judge Dredd").

Many video games have been produced involving "Alien", with the first made for the Atari 2600 platform in 1982.

Answer: Futurama

"Futurama" features a 21st century pizza delivery boy (Philip J. Fry) who gets cryogenically frozen and wakes up a thousand years later. Now, he must cope with this new, and very bizarre, future world.

The series ran originally from 1999 until 2003, then saw a revived series between 2008 and 2013.

In the year 2000, Bongo Comics began a "Futurama" series, which had been produced in different countries and languages. A number of direct-to-DVD animated movies have also been made (following the end of the original run), as well as a video game (released in 2000 on multiple platforms).

Answer: Left Behind

The "Left Behind" book series was written by Tim LaHaye and Jerry B. Jenkins, following the course of their interpretation of biblical end times beginning with the rapture, and ending with the second coming of Christ. In addition to the 12 main books of the story, they also produced a three-book prequel detailing the rise of the Antichrist, as well as a final book that depicts what happens after the 1,000-year reign.

In addition to the book series, the "Left Behind" franchise also includes a number of spin-off book series, a number of movies (the first of which was released in 2000), a series of video games for PC (the first released in 2006), and graphic novels.

Answer: Doctor Who

"Doctor Who" first aired in 1963 and follows the enigmatic Time Lord called The Doctor as he travels through time and space with various companions. A BBC offering, the series mostly centers around Britain when not off in space on other planets. The longevity of the series has been made possible by the fact that the main character is an alien capable of regenerating into a completely different body/personality when he 'dies'.

The "Doctor Who" franchise has branched out into many different media, most notably novels, radio show broadcasts, and comics, but also video games to a smaller degree.