{"id":7652,"date":"2014-02-13T12:15:29","date_gmt":"2014-02-13T20:15:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/?p=7652"},"modified":"2016-04-13T22:11:39","modified_gmt":"2016-04-14T05:11:39","slug":"dying-a-how-to-guide","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/dying-a-how-to-guide\/","title":{"rendered":"Dying: A How-To Guide"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"20140206_182645<\/a>
\nA little while ago I was perusing the aisles at Barnes & Noble when I happened upon a book called Machine of Death<\/a>. I was intrigued, not only by the premise of the work (which I’ll get to in a moment), but also by how it came into being. In the words of the preface, “This book, unlike most others, started its life as an offhand comment made by a bright green Tyrannosaurus rex.”<\/p>\n

Way back in December of 2005 Dinosaur Comics<\/a>\u00a0had T-Rex himself present us with an interesting question. What if there were a machine that could tell you how you were going to die?\u00a0This comic<\/a>\u00a0got such a great response that they eventually got around to taking submissions. Writers were encouraged to share the worlds that they created from this curious concept, and the result is pretty amazing.<\/p>\n

Machine of Death collects 34 stories selected from the more than 600 submissions that were received. They titles range from things as seemingly innocuous as “Almond” and “Vegetables” (which was my favorite) to the more visceral “Prison Knife Fight” and “Torn Apart and Devoured by Lions”. The stories themselves explore some worlds very similar to our own and some that are a far cry from this place we call home. In some stories it is mandatory that you are tested from birth, in others there are anti machine groups who feel knowing how you die takes away a measure of your free will, in one the government segregates people based on their machine reading to keep those with more peaceful deaths far away from those with violent ends.\u00a0You might think the stories would get old and start repeating similar themes after a while, but I enjoyed the wide array of characters and worlds I was presented with, and was happily surprised up until the very end.<\/p>\n

What would it mean if your print out read “Heat Death of the Universe” and what might it mean if your slip were blank? I guess you’ll just have to read it to find out.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A little while ago I was perusing the aisles at Barnes & Noble when I happened upon a book called Machine of Death. I was intrigued, not only by the premise of the work (which I’ll get to in a moment), but also by how it came into being. In the words of the preface, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p1opIU-1Zq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":15869,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/diane-lane-to-star-in-fx-drama-pilot-based-on-y-the-last-man-comic-book-series\/","url_meta":{"origin":7652,"position":0},"title":"Diane Lane To Star In FX Drama Pilot Based On \u2018Y\u2019: The Last Man\u2019 Comic Book Series","author":"Forbidden Panel","date":"July 12, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Diane Lane\u00a0(Unfaithful, Under the Tuscan Sun)\u00a0is set to star in\u00a0FX\u2019s\u00a0Y\u00a0pilot, its long-gestating drama based on the acclaimed post-apocalyptic science fiction DC comic book series\u00a0Y: The Last Man.\u00a0Barry Keoghan\u00a0(Dunkirk, The Killing of a Sacred Deer),\u00a0Imogen Poots\u00a0(Green Room, Frank & Lola)\u00a0Lashana Lynch(Captain Marvel, Bulletproof),\u00a0Juliana Canfield\u00a0(Succession)\u00a0and\u00a0Marin Ireland(Sneaky Pete, Hell or High Water)\u00a0round out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"http:\/\/pmcdeadline2.files.wordpress.com\/2018\/07\/diane_lane_fx_july2018-copy.jpg?w=350&h=200&crop=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3371,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/los-angeles-comic-book-and-science-fiction-convention-features-superhero-guests\/","url_meta":{"origin":7652,"position":1},"title":"LOS ANGELES COMIC BOOK AND SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION FEATURES SUPERHERO GUESTS!","author":"AJ","date":"January 11, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"UNDERWORLD AWAKENING MOVIE T-SHIRT AND POSTER ADDED AS GIVE-AWAYS! TAKING PLACE THIS SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2012! The first LOS ANGELES COMIC BOOK AND SCIENCE FICTION CONVENTION of the New Year takes place this Sunday, January 15, 2012. UNDERWORLD AWAKENING is the latest in the series of UNDERWORLD Movies and will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5178,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/warren-ellis-thriller-gun-machine-being-developed-as-tv-drama-spinoff-online-tv-film-and-entertainment-news-daily\/","url_meta":{"origin":7652,"position":2},"title":"Warren Ellis Thriller Gun Machine Being Developed As TV Drama","author":"Forbidden Panel","date":"August 9, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Fox is developing a television drama based on Gun Machine, the upcoming novel by Warren Ellis, who will serve as an executive producer. According to Deadline, the series will be written by Trauma creator Dario Scardapane and produced by 20th Century Fox TV and Chernin Entertainment. Set to debut in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/spinoff.comicbookresources.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/08\/gun-machine-300x456.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2715,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/world-war-z-director-marc-forster-explains-different-approach-to-film-adaptation\/","url_meta":{"origin":7652,"position":3},"title":"‘World War Z’ Director Marc Forster Explains ‘Different Approach’ To Film Adaptation","author":"AJ","date":"September 16, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"From MTV News Ever since the \"World War Z\" film synopsis\u00a0hit the Internets last month, the most loyal fans of the beloved Max Brooks novel have been up in arms about the fact that the movie is trading out Brooks' post-war setting in favor of having star\u00a0Brad Pitt's\u00a0character, a U.N.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4254,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/transformers-fall-of-cybertron\/","url_meta":{"origin":7652,"position":4},"title":"TRANSFORMERS: FALL OF CYBERTRON","author":"Forbidden Panel","date":"June 21, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"HIGH MOON STUDIOS PULLS OUT ALL THE STOPS June 21, 2012 by Andrea Emmes WITH LEGENDARY VOICE TALENT IN TRANSFORMERS: FALL OF CYBERTRON Original Voice Actors for OPTIMUS PRIME and GRIMLOCK Headline a Stellar Cast in the Most Epic Transformers Video Game Yet High Moon Studios is creating the most\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2843,"url":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/summit-signs-on-for-area-52%e2%80%b2-with-lorenzo-di-bonaventura\/","url_meta":{"origin":7652,"position":5},"title":"Summit Signs On For \u2018Area 52? With Lorenzo Di Bonaventura","author":"AJ","date":"September 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"ummit Entertainment has acquired screen rights to\u00a0Area 52, and will develop a live action adaptation based on the four-issue comic book series published in 2001. Lorenzo di Bonaventura and Mark Vahradian will produce, and JC Spink will be executive producer through Benderspink. The comic focused on a top secret warehouse\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7652"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7661,"href":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7652\/revisions\/7661"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/forbiddenpanel.com\/PanelCast\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}