“Each of us has a destiny…for good or evil.” — The Intergalactic Nemesis

First it was a comic book.Then a radio drama. And now The Intergalactic Nemesis is coming to Houston’s Wortham Center in the form of one screen capture after another – 1,250 in all by Tim Doyle – while actors (live!) voice the panel’s conversation. There’s even keyboard music.

Here’s the premise:

The year is 1933. Pulitzer-winning reporter Molly Sloan, her intrepid assistant Timmy Mendez, and a mysterious librarian named Ben Wilcott face the most serious threat Earth has ever known: an impending invasion of sludge monsters from the planet Zygon.

The time stamp for this graphic novel takes on particular significance when you read – according to Wikipedia that 1933 was the year that the modern comic book started.

So if you’re a serious or just for fun devotee of modern graphic arts novels you might want to catch this performance – one that goes back 80 years to a time between world wars when the biggest threat to humanity was sludge monsters from another planet. Oh halcyon days.

The Society for the Performing Arts presents The Intergalactic Nemesis: Live Action Graphic Novel at 8 p.m. Thursday May 12 in the Wortham Center’s Cullen Theater, 501 Texas Avenue.

This article appears in Apr 21-27, 2011.

Margaret Downing is the editor-in-chief who oversees the Houston Press newsroom and its online publication. She frequently writes on a wide range of subjects.