About Bob Bello & His Lifetime Work
Bob Bello
Los Angeles, CA (USA)
STARCALL: Preface to the First Volume
[Why I write, illustrate, and narrate this Anthology of Novelized Rario Dramas & Teleplays]
The following short stories started in 1980 as sci-fi radio drama scripts, teleplays, and synopses, or part of my preparation to study animation and radio-television production. Novelized after the year 2000, they address issues that interest readers from every walk of life. These plots are meant to challenge your imagination on all known topics: war, peace, diplomacy, global disasters, alien invasion, time travel, the future, etc., even the mysterious and the unknown. They are written in the "theater of the mind" style of storytelling, so sit back and watch the sagas unfold in your head as "motion pictures" in words.
Not all of these stories are futuristic or in the hi-tech speculative genre. Some are contemporary or alternate history, whose characters ask the same universal questions: what is the meaning or purpose of life, and how to live longer, happier, or survive all kinds of disasters? The answer is simple: achieve global peace and democracy, eliminate hunger and poverty, improve healthcare and education, protect the environment, etc. However, the more we progress in these areas, the more we increase the population. Lasting peace and better medicine will prolong our lifespan and eventually present us with overpopulation and a shortage of resources. Scientists warn us that at some point, there won't be enough food, water, fuel, territory, or even air for everyone. Just like in an overcrowded submarine, we will need more than what Earth can provide. Add to that the byproducts of civilization: waste, pollution, erosion, etc., and we have a simple recipe for peaceful self-destruction. We don't need nuclear wars to destroy us. Irresponsible overuse or abuse of nature can do that, too. They can imbalance our nature's equilibrium and destroy our climate, rendering Earth hostile like any other planet we know.
That said, even if we recycle and use clean solar power, this will only postpone the inevitable. The problem of natural disasters will remain: volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, cosmic threats, etc., as well as deadly pandemics. On the other hand, underground shelters cannot save everyone if a massive asteroid destroys us as it killed the dinosaurs in prehistory, or our sun goes nova. Planets and stars are mortal, too.
Therefore, we desperately need contingency survival plans, which sound more fantastic than science fiction. Can we extend the continents and build artificial islands? Can we free our planet from factories and move them to orbit? Can we mine asteroids for ore? Can we build artificial planetoids to live on or terraform other planets? Can we develop synthetic foods and clean, sustainable energy? Can we invent a panacea all-cure? Last but not least, can we unite all nations to establish total peace, outlaw war, abolish hunger and poverty, and finance space colonization that no country can do on its own?
These are but a few questions that I explore science-fictionally since childhood. In my opinion, space colonization is as unavoidable as medicine, architecture, and engineering. It will provide us with territory and resources, giving new meaning to life. If we don't pursue this fantastic vision, our children will see no logic living in a polluted and disunited world, which already makes little to no sense.
BOB BELLO
New Mexico, 2011
Not all of these stories are futuristic or in the hi-tech speculative genre. Some are contemporary or alternate history, whose characters ask the same universal questions: what is the meaning or purpose of life, and how to live longer, happier, or survive all kinds of disasters? The answer is simple: achieve global peace and democracy, eliminate hunger and poverty, improve healthcare and education, protect the environment, etc. However, the more we progress in these areas, the more we increase the population. Lasting peace and better medicine will prolong our lifespan and eventually present us with overpopulation and a shortage of resources. Scientists warn us that at some point, there won't be enough food, water, fuel, territory, or even air for everyone. Just like in an overcrowded submarine, we will need more than what Earth can provide. Add to that the byproducts of civilization: waste, pollution, erosion, etc., and we have a simple recipe for peaceful self-destruction. We don't need nuclear wars to destroy us. Irresponsible overuse or abuse of nature can do that, too. They can imbalance our nature's equilibrium and destroy our climate, rendering Earth hostile like any other planet we know.
That said, even if we recycle and use clean solar power, this will only postpone the inevitable. The problem of natural disasters will remain: volcanoes, earthquakes, hurricanes, tsunamis, cosmic threats, etc., as well as deadly pandemics. On the other hand, underground shelters cannot save everyone if a massive asteroid destroys us as it killed the dinosaurs in prehistory, or our sun goes nova. Planets and stars are mortal, too.
Therefore, we desperately need contingency survival plans, which sound more fantastic than science fiction. Can we extend the continents and build artificial islands? Can we free our planet from factories and move them to orbit? Can we mine asteroids for ore? Can we build artificial planetoids to live on or terraform other planets? Can we develop synthetic foods and clean, sustainable energy? Can we invent a panacea all-cure? Last but not least, can we unite all nations to establish total peace, outlaw war, abolish hunger and poverty, and finance space colonization that no country can do on its own?
These are but a few questions that I explore science-fictionally since childhood. In my opinion, space colonization is as unavoidable as medicine, architecture, and engineering. It will provide us with territory and resources, giving new meaning to life. If we don't pursue this fantastic vision, our children will see no logic living in a polluted and disunited world, which already makes little to no sense.
BOB BELLO
New Mexico, 2011
Artist Statement
"To illustrate a story as accurately as possible, not at the price of artistic license or interpretation, is the goal of every illustrator. 'To illustrate' literally means 'to bring to light,' [illuminate] or 'to life.' Have you ever wondered why there are no Abstract illustrations? Because they depict the artist’s state of mind--their private worldview--not the author’s story." --Bob Bello
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