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Titan comics released preview covers for their upcoming Doctor Who five issue series which sees release on August 12, a few days before their second annual Doctor Who comics day on August 15. Last year’s event featured give-away comic samplers and twitter contests for Doctor Who cosplayers to win exclusive San Diego Comic Con exclusive figures and autographed items.

So far Titan is tight-lipped about what this year’s Doctor Who comics day will roll out for fans of the time and space traveling Doctor. For now, check out the release from Titan below and the preview covers for the upcoming three Doctor crossover written by Hugo-nominated Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell:

TITAN COMICS ANNOUNCE DOCTOR WHO COMICS ​ 5-PART WEEKLY SUMMER EVENT
5-part weekly event written by Paul Cornell and illustrated by Neil Edwards, stars Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors and their comics companions!
The weekly event, running through August and September 2015, in place of the ongoing series, features all three Doctors from Titan’s regular ongoings. This epic event is the thrilling next chapter in Titan Comics’ bombastic Doctor Who publishing saga.

The first issue releases Wednesday August 12, supported by the global Doctor Who Comics Day on Saturday August 15!

Writer Paul Cornell has penned classic episodes from the Doctor Who TV series (‘Father’s Day’, ‘Human Nature/Family of Blood’, both Hugo-nominated), classic Doctor Who novels, as well as successful comic book runs on titles such as Wolverine, Action Comics, Demon Knights, and Captain Britain and MI:13.

The

e​vent follows straight on from the issue #15 conclusions of Year One, with the second years of the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors beginning after the event’s blistering finale!

 

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I didn’t think London would be a particularly (hip hop) happening place for comics, alas I was wrong. In many instances I was pleasantly surprised at what was going on in the comics world overseas. During a leisurely excursion into the land of royalty and great pub food and drink, I was treated to a variety of specialty shops complete with a wonderful sense of style and tone all their own. These places had Free Comic Book Day events, special bundles and sales, exclusive art prints and more. One of the only downsides period; was the exchange rate on each sale. There is no sales tax on books in the United Kingdom (I’m pretty sure,) which lessened the blow of getting hit with the currency dilemma. Without further ado, here’s an assessment of my trip so far:

1) Forbidden Planet

Forbidden Planet is a well documented dose of nerd surprises. What struck me is the sheer amount of toys waiting on the first floor. The comics were hidden in the basement below, allowing me to believe that the retailer makes most their income based on the amount of toys they sell in front. The comic book selection was still completely overwhelming. With the high prices, I was searching for something that would be out of print, or on the small press side of the industry. With a limited knowledge of small press and knowing what was in print at the moment, I chickened out of buying anything. The Death of Captain Marvel was the only thing tempting me ­­ but it was in a weird hardcover format that would have probably been heavy in a suitcase. This is a side note, but I still would like to say that DC has done an extraordinary job with their newest set of packaging for their figures. All of the packages contain a simple and clean white background with some comics panels lurking in the background ­­ now it’s time for Marvel to catch up.

1.1) Harrods

Harrods (think black tie Costco) was mostly devoid of comics content. Even their bookstore contained no comics. Still, I was determined to find something ­­ and I did…eventually. I found a painting by Roy Lichtenstein for over £30,000. Not exactly comics, but something that the comics community feels strongly about.

1.2) Stonehenge

You know…comics can be found in some funny places ­­even the Stonehenge museum? Inside the museum lie a couple of comics inside bearing the representation of the signature landmark. Recently London has spent a considerable amount of capital updating the landmark with an expanded lobby area. As seen in the image below, representations of the figure in comics work can be seen in Thor, Rip Hunter, Action Comics and more.

2) American Dreams Comics

Bath, close to Stonehenge is a truly lovely City ­­and one place that also contained some hidden comic book treasures. Hidden may not be the correct word, because Batwoman and Captain America cosplay teams were handing out DC and Marvel issues for Free Comic Book Day and leading foreigners towards their shop known as American Dreams Comics. I was ecstatic because I was able to get everything I wanted from FCBD without having to wait in the lines of Forbidden Planet on the way back home. The cashier had instructed me to look out for long lines, but told me that they did have a lot of product in store at Forbidden Planet. This was a perfect solution and convenient for the people that I was traveling with. A healthy amount of youth were enjoying themselves in the store scouting out some of the posters that the retailer probably had leftover. It’s really cool that Secret Wars #0 took a spotlight on the Future Foundation for the duration of the comic. This makes the tale much more accessible for the youth that may have populated this shop.

2.1) Doctor Who Experience

I Really quick just wanted to mention that the Doctor Who Experience had a few of the loose Doctor Who issues in the store. Unfortunately, they were all way ahead of what I’ve read ­­ as the first trade of Al Ewing’s Matt Smith Who title has been really good so far. That’s it! No more Doctor Who. Promise!

3) Blackwell’s Art & Poster Shop

Oxford was home to a lovely art store entitled Blackwell’s Art & Poster Shop. The store had everything from posters, books, and fine art as well. Everything in the store had a mostly independent vibe (making it a very Beat friendly store.) Speaking of friendly, the staff was more than willing to help out customers. I saw one of the employees actively evangelizing Maus (which I still haven’t read) and burst into an immediate smile. My haul was once again fruitless, but the temptation for me here was the Boxers & Saints slipcase edition that I haven’t seen before. Lately I have seen the comics split in two (not sure what that is about?)

4) Mega City Comics

Last but not least in my time in London was Mega City Comics. This store (which had a logo from Shaky Kane) had some incredible bundles. Even my jaded comic book heart couldn’t deny the fine assortment of deals here. My traveling companions had to talk me off the cliff off buying issues #6-68 of X­-O Manowar (the first series from the original Valiant.) they talked me off of that cliff…eventually. I did end up sealing my fate (and suitcase space) with the full #38 issues of Marc Andreyko’s Manhunter. I made out of the store like bandit paying less than a dollar an issue.

Here’s a tiny picture of a tiny dog;

You’re welcome.

Next week: Scotland!

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Ben Aaronovitch, writer of the pivotal 1988 Doctor Who episode Remembrance of the Daleks which saw the pepper pot villains levitate up a flight of stairs for the first time, will release a 5-issue comic series based on his best-selling novel series Rivers of London (known as Midnight Riot to US readers). From the Titan release:

Titan will be releasing a 5-part comic series penned by Aaronovitch (Remembrance of the Daleks) and Doctor Who showrunner Andrew Cartmel with art from Lee Sullivan (Doctor Who Comics).

The novels follow the adventures of Peter Grant, a young officer in the London Metropolitan Police who is recruited into a special branch of the Met that deals with magic and the supernatural.

The brand-new Rivers of London comic adventure entitled ‘Body Work’, will be set between Book 4, Broken Homes and Book 5, Foxglove Summer, in continuity with the novel universe.

Peter Grant has come a long way since first entering the special branch of London’s Metropolitan Police. With his hard-earned powers and a flair for the supernatural, it’s his job to investigate those shadowy crimes that involve urban vampires, weird folk in the Underground and, in this case, why cars are suddenly taking on lives of their own and killing innocent people!

The Rivers of London novels have sold over 1 million copies worldwide to date, and with the recent news that a TV show has been optioned, the new comic is set to be a huge smash hit!

“I’ve been a massive fan of the series for a long time and it’s always a dream to bring something you revere to life as a comic, especially when you’re working with such an incredible team of creators!” says Steve White, Titan Comics Senior Editor.

Rivers of London: Body Work #1 hits comic stores on July 15 and will also be available to read on your digital device.

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Hmmmm

Well, first of all, we made fabulous ravioli for Easter.  Like, handmade, beautiful ravioli.  Like, check out Treskie's blog to see HOW beautiful this ravioli really was. (And you can enjoy the overall post, anyhoozle.  If you want.  Don't feel pressured or anything.)

Intense Glare

Then....

Source

I apparently have a boring life, because I can't recall much of what has happened between then and now.

Well, I take that back.  I had a jury summons, for which I HAD to appear (which, by the way, is one of the few things that can put me into a state of hysterical panic), and then, for 1-1/2 days, I got to sit in court while the judge and attorneys made up their minds who they really wanted as their jurors and alternates.

Just CHOOSE someone! Not me, but SOMEONE!

They didn't even choose jurors the first day.  The first day, all of us potential jurors got to complete a hardship form if we wanted to (Like, if you miss three out of five days of work for five weeks, can you survive on what little pittance of money you WILL be making?).  Then we got to fill out a 30+ page questionnaire of random questions, like WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE TV SHOW?  HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT HEALTHCARE?

Source

The second day, by 10:30 a.m., eighteen people were chose for jurors plus six alternates, and I WASN'T ONE OF THEM! Praise God.   But then none of the rest of us could leave, and we had to sit in the courtroom while the attorneys took turns asking jurors "pertinent questions" from their questionnaires, and the judge told us to make sure and pay attention because they would be "winnowing" their jurors and choosing new people to take their place.

Source

We had to adjourn for lunch, and we came back to the courtroom at 1:30, at which point eight people were excused from the jury box and eight more people from the audience were chosen to take their place.  Again, I was not one of them.  Praise God.

After endless questioning, three people were excused and three more chosen (none of them me).

Then SEVEN people were excused and seven more chosen! (Thankfully, again not me.)

Then three more people were excused and three more chosen.  (At this point, I'm still safe.)

Then two were excused and two more chosen. (I'm still not a juror.)

Then two more people were excused, and THIS time my name was called.  At this point, it was 4:00 in the afternoon and I had been in a state of constant panic that my name WOULD be called.

Source

But God had not abandoned me, because over the course of the loooooong day and the questions, questions, questions, I had realized my job as a medical transcriptionist would conflict with some of the rules regarding the case, and when I pointed this out to the attorneys they seemed to agree with me and I was excused from jury duty.


So THAT wasn't the most fun I've ever had, but I survived.

I was just about this giddy, too.

Da Da Da Da DAAAAAA!

Speaking of the Phantom of the opera, we've also been binging quite a lot on musicals - Phantom of the Opera, Pirates of Penzance,  H.M.S. Pinafore, and sometime in the near future we are going to watch Oklahoma!  We are also listening to a lot of musicals - the best parts of Jekyll and Hyde... the Anthony Warlow version; Phantom (Duh); and we will be listening to Jane Eyre (tolerated because of Mr. Rochester. Amazing voice!); Secret Garden, and Tale of Two Cities.


A lady I know, the Amazing Jan Fields (better known as the Ghost in the Machine and Administrator of the Institute of Children's Literature chat boards, the Writer's Retreat) is having a drawing to win an autographed copy of her two books, The Wellspring of Magic and The Emerald Dragon.  Plus, you can also win a super cute doll who represents a character in the book, and she is holding a bear.  Check it out here.  Isn't that fantastic?

Source

Aliry Thyme

Dragon

There is that.

Bye!
 

Gigglygigglygiggly

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Doctor Who is here to stay…at least for the next five years. Whovians around the world have reason to celebrate today, as the BBC reported executive producer Steven Moffat’s comments to Doctor Who Magazine that the rebooted series would do a “minimum of 15 years” in total.  Ben Stephenson, BBC’s outgoing head of drama commissioning  was even more optimistic, saying: “As long as the people looking after it are passionate about it… there’s absolutely no reason why it can’t do another 50 years.” This announcement comes on the heels of the new series’ 10 year anniversary, celebrated by fans across the world. The show’s popularity has led even mainstream outlets like MTV News to cover the anniversary, ranking the modern episodes in order of quality.

When the modern version of the series went on the air in 2005, Doctor Who was largely unknown to mainstream America. The adventures of the time-traveling, two-hearted alien known only as “The Doctor” were confined to PBS rebroadcasts of the original or “Classic” series, which was produced by the BBC from 1963-1989. Low production values and the show’s undeniable Britishness were barriers to crossover success in the States, though a cult following developed among science fiction fans who grew up watching the series.

That all changed in 2010 when BBC America licensed the show for broadcast in the United States. Instead of waiting months for rebroadcasts of episodes, they now waited weeks. Perhaps there is no better bellwether of the shows immense Stateside popularity than the town of Denton, TX. Local comic book store retailer Tim Stoltzfus of More Fun Comics lobbied to nab an exclusive cover and won. Titan Comics released 29 variant covers for Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Issue 1 and among them was a cover featuring the TARDIS parked outside the Denton County Courthouse.

The recognition drew the attention of Denton Mayor Chris Watts, who drew up a proclamation declaring April 4, 2015 “Dr. Who Day” in Denton. Local Whovians attended a reading of the proclamation in front of the courthouse where local a local cosplay group erected a TARDIS prop. Brothers Travis and Tom Huston attended the ceremony, dressed as the Eleventh and Tenth Doctors, respectively. Tom, 12, liked seeing “so many Whovians,” while Travis, 9, said: “there aren’t many great shows on like it, our whole family watches it together.” Both brothers agreed it was  “really awesome that our courthouse is on the cover.”

Likely the Houston brothers are among the fans excited for the upcoming three Doctor issue to be released on May 2nd, Free Comic Book Day. Check out the cover and preview pages below:

 

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Written by: Cavan Scott

Art by: Blair Shedd

Publisher: Titan Comics

As Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor issue one opens you find yourself staring deeply into the eyes of Christopher Eccleston. The striking, and the nearly photo realistic panels, slowly pull back to reveal the Ninth Doctor. A voice over from a companion – most likely Rose Tyler – explains that the Doctor shouldn’t still be surprised by the infinite mysteries of space and time with all the traveling he’s done. And yet he is. Amazingly, after all we’ve seen since the 2005 relaunch of Doctor Who, the Ninth Doctor still manages to surprise comic readers and Whovians alike with his singular interpretation of the long running BBC franchise’s lead character. He’s curmudgeonly, but when he smiles it’s like the sun peeking from behind a dark cloud. In many ways he is the most optimistic of the modern Doctors, while also being the most troubled. So far all aspects of the character are well formed in this first issue of Titan’s ongoing Doctor Who Ninth Doctor series.

Writer Cavan Scott told us in an interview that this was a natural point to tell new stories about the Ninth Doctor because there is an obvious gap between episodes The Doctor Dances and Boom Town. But it stands to reason that every time the Doctor vworp vworps away, one could technically find a gap in which to set a new adventure. Still, it’s a solid choice to put the story here with the companion ‘dream team’ of Nine, Rose and Jack Harkness. The fan-favorite group, which sadly saw little in the way of screen time for all their chemistry together, is just as winning here as their televised counterparts. The Doctor hopes to show off Excroth: one of his many “favorite” planets. But when the TARDIS arrives at Nine’s coordinates they find themselves amid a field of floating meteors. Puzzled, the team are soon beamed aboard an enemy ship against their will and interrogated by a rather large and threatening robot. The robot pursues the group throughout the large enemy ship, at first taking them for emissaries of the race engaging in a pitched battle with the ship.

Not much more becomes apparent before the end of the book as to why these rather large robots are fighting a strange race of Centurion-centaur robots in the ruins of Excroth. But that’s okay. What I really loved about this book, other than the fact that the Nine-Rose-Jack dynamic was very well represented and scripted, was that it didn’t try to cram too much exposition and story set-up into one issue. Instead we get character development, which to me sets this story early on in the unseen adventures of this TARDIS-team. The Doctor is still calling Jack Rose’s “boyfriend,”  whereas by Boom Town Jack is flirting with Nine openly, who seems to enjoy it. Titan has really hit it out of the park with their Tenth and Eleventh Doctor comics (the latter being my favorite screen-to-page adaption) and the interplay so far between these three characters tells me it is well poised within those ranks.

Many of the panels by artist Blair Shedd are lovely to behold. Where he gets it the most right for my money is in the multi-panel action scenes. Several of these use splash pages, overlaid with panels of standard action as well as silhouettes. These look great and move at the speed of the story’s fast-paced action. My only quibble is that while photo real, the art seems to stymie the action in several places. The body positioning sometimes looks a bit awkward, like a randomly paused frame of a film. Still, Shedd must be praised for how lifelike his drawings of the characters are. If fans of the series are pining for more stories from series one of new Doctor Who, they will pine ever the harder for seeing these faithful images of their beloved characters. The story of issue one ends on the companion-in-peril cliffhanger that is as much a part of Doctor Who as the Daleks. Count me among the Whovians now pining for the next issue of this ongoing series.

 

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In 2005, few believed that a modern re-launch of the BBC adventure series Doctor Who would be successful. The show broadcast it’s last episode just before Christmas, 1989 after running for 27 years. In reviving the show for a new audience, the casting of Christopher Eccleston was a masterstroke, as the actor was known for his more serious roles in both television and film. Eccleston burst onto the scene as the Ninth Doctor, grabbing former pop-star Billie Piper’s hand and telling her to “run!” Eccleston parted ways with the show after only one season, something never done before or since in Doctor Who history. This left fans of Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor hungry for more. When Titan Comics announced they’d be releasing new Doctor Who comics,  fans reportedly stuffed their email inbox with pleas for the release of a Ninth Doctor comic series.

We spoke with Cavan Scott, writer of the new Ninth Doctor Comic series about what it was like to bring Nine back to life in a new story featuring fan favorite companions Rose Tyler and Jack Harkness.

Edie Nugent:  So, first question: why did you choose this particular moment in the Ninth Doctor’s timeline for your story?

Cavan Scott: For two reasons. First of all, it seemed the only natural gap in the series. Most of the episodes lead straight into each other, like one continuous story. Here, between The Doctor Dances and Boom Town, we have a definite gap where lots of stories are said to have happened that we never saw. Handy!

Secondly, we wanted Jack in there, mainly because we never saw enough of the three of them in the TV show.

Nugent:  I had that thought instantly upon seeing where this story occurred: the fans will be so excited, because this group and moment were so popular.

Scott: Well, I hope so. They’re such a well-oiled machines when we see them in Boom Town too. They’ve obviously been adventuring together for some time.

Nugent: You have a lot of dialogue describing the “science” of the situation up front. Do you have a real interest in the science part of science fiction?

Scott: That question makes me smile because I have an ongoing ‘debate’ with Doctor Who book author Nick Walters where I insist that Doctor Who is fantasy and he throws things at me shouting that its science FICTION!

You know, in this case I didn’t even think about whether there was a lot of pseudo-science in the book. I was just trying to capture the tone of the original series, where they throw a lot of pseudo-science around. I think with Doctor Who, you need to make it sound plausible even if some of the science is dodgy!

Nugent: Nine is showing his most chipper self in this book, is that due to being flanked by the ‘dream team’ of Rose and Jack? Or has he just progressed in his emotional healing from the Time War by this point?

Scott: I honestly think that Doctor number Nine is chipper for the most of the time we see him – or at least he’s trying to give the impression that he is. A lot of people pigeon-hole him as an ‘angry’ Doctor, but he spends a hell of a lot of time smiling and even cracking really, really bad jokes.

Trust me, we’ll see his angry side as the book continues, but I wanted to show the fact that he is enjoying himself again.

Nugent: Sure, but there’s a real difference in tone here from, say, Dalek for instance, which is only 4 episodes earlier.

Scott: Well, the situation in Dalek is pretty grim. Certainly, we see a ‘lighter’ Ninth Doctor in The Empty Child to The Long Game. I think the resolution of The Doctor Dances would have helped as well. There we see the Doctor at his most optimistic. I definitely think he’s enjoying life with Rose and Jack.

Nugent:  This story had a real “hitchhiker’s guide” feel to it, was that intentional?

Scott: Not at all! In fact, I didn’t realise it was there! Never a bad thing though, especially as Douglas Adams’ City of Death was apparently one of the templates for 21st Century Who.

I’m intrigued now. Which elements did you think were Hitchhikers-esque? (Is that a word? It is now)

Nugent: The story set up: they’re beamed into the hold of a sluggish and war-like race, scanned repeatedly to determine who they are, then saved from death only to be sentenced to it a moment later. Reminded me of Ford & Arthur’s first stop after hitch hiking off the earth into the Vogon ship. No poetry from your war-bots though.

Scott: I think the Lect would be particularly bad poets. All those ‘Directives’ and ‘Possibilities’ in their speech patterns will never touch the soul!

Nugent: Your credits are so diverse–was it exciting to be able to tell a self-contained, more adult television episode-style story? Was your approach to the material different as a result?

Scott: It was. In a lot of ways writing the comic was similar to writing Doctor Who audio plays, definitely when I was structuring the plot for all five issues, I went about it the same way as my audio work, working out the big set pieces, working out where the cliffhangers sit.

But – and this is a huge but – the fact that it’s a comic has left me giddy with excitement. Writing a long-form American style series has been a dream for me ever since I first picked up a Marvel UK reprint back when I was a kid.

Nugent:  And what comic was that, do you remember?

Scott: I do. It was Marvel Superheroes Secret Wars issue one. I knew superheroes from TV and films and, even though I was a massive comic fan, it was largely British humour weekly titles. That first issue of Secret Wars literally changed my life, or at least my interests. It opened my eyes to the Marvel universe, which led me venturing into a comic shop and seeking out US comics, both for Marvel and their Distinguished Competition.

Oh, and it had Alpha Flight as the back up strip which introduced me to John Byrne, who I became obsessed about!

Nugent:  That’s a lot of continuity to absorb for a first ever comic experience! Sort of like Doctor Who…

Scott: I think that’s what appealed to me. i like continuity and diving into new universes. It’s why I’ve been enjoying picking up the Valiant books recently.

Marvel’s Transformers comic was another major hook for me. Basically, the UK weekly soon ran out of original US material and so started slipping in extra stories between the US issues – which of course were part of the Marvel Universe too. And the Doctor Who universe for that matter, as Death’s Head first appeared in Transformers and then slipped into Doctor Who and then into the main Marvel U.

You’ll be sorry you asked me about that now! I could talk about this stuff for ages!

Nugent: Well, it is somewhat timely. Are you following the announcements from Marvel about the new Secret Wars? As a comic writer AND fan, you probably have different perspectives on it.

Scott: With a huge amount of nostalgia! I’m certainly intrigued to see what’s coming. The continuity geek in me is having a whale of a time spotting references in what’s been released so far. The writer in me is having heart palpitations about what they’re trying to pull off. I’m looking forward to it. I’m a sucker for these big game-changing events. Again, it’s John Byrne’s fault for Man of Steel!

Nugent: I noticed lots of moments in your story where Rose reaches for the Doctor’s hand & is pulled away. Is this an intentional after-the-fact foreshadowing of the separation from the Tenth Doctor in Doomsday?

Scott: Heh! It might just be. It might not be the last time you see that motif in the series either.

Nugent: So far you’ve written for Doctors: Three, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten and Eleven. What Doctor would be your top choice to write for next?

Scott: Well, I wouldn’t say no for a chance to write for the current model – but really I’ve got a hankering to complete the set. In fact, I’ve written for another incarnation that I can’t mention yet. Spoilers!

Nugent:  Speaking of spoilers, are there any tidbits you can give our readers regarding events still to come in your Ninth Doctor story?

Scott: Well, there are going to be suns and romans and floating octopi and dinosaurs and masks coming off. And lots and lots of more great art from Blair!

Ninth Doctor issue 1 is available in comic stores on April 1^st.

 

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Greetings all! I come to you from Austin, Texas today, writing this in a dimly lit Hyatt hotel room. Let’s run down a few fun things that broke over the past 24 hours in the Entertainment world.

– Last night’s finale for The Walking Dead was surely another ratings smash, and will likely notch up another victory on par with Season 4’s 15.7 million viewer finale, Wrestlemania or no Wrestlemania. Those watching also got a taste of the upcoming spin-off series, (the unfortunately titled) Fear The Walking Dead, as AMC debuted a 15 second tease for the Los Angeles-based prequel:

The first season of the new series is set for six episodes, debuting this Summer, and there is already a second season commitment in place. Get ready for year-round zombie-based drama.

– Adam West and Burt Ward, while on a panel at Mad Monster Party in Charlotte, spilled the beans about a new project celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the 1966 Batman television series: an animated film! According to the pair, they’ll be reprising their iconic roles of Batman and Robin for (what is presumed to be a) direct to home media release in 2016.

Consequence of Sound got the footage of this surprising, yet very welcome announcement.

Did I ever tell you folks what a big fan I am of Jeff Parker‘s work on Batman ’66 and Batman: The Brave and the Bold?

– Lastly, hang onto your hats folks! We’ve got two fandoms converging this year, as the BBC has announced that Maisie Williams aka Arya Stark on Game of Thrones, will be appearing on Doctor Who this season/series.

In an announcement on the BBC website, showrunner Steven Moffat stated:

We’re thrilled to have Maisie Williams joining us on Doctor Who. It’s not possible to say too much about who or what she’s playing, but she is going to challenge the Doctor in very unexpected ways. This time he might just be out of his depth, and we know Maisie is going to give him exactly the right sort of hell.

Additionally, the same press release also detailed two more series episodes: “The Girl Who Died” written by new fan favorite Jamie Mathieson and Moffat and “The Woman Who Lived” by Catherine Tregenna (the first female writer of the Moffat era). Whether Williams will appear in those two episodes is not made clear based on this initial announcement.

 

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When David Tennant’s Doctor departed the hit BBC series in 2009, fans on both sides of the pond were stricken at seeing him go. Apparently, even the BBC was concerned the show didn’t have much of a future without it’s 10th Doctor and Russell T. Davies, the creative mind that resurrected the series in 2005. Luckily, Matt Smith’s 11th Doctor came on the scene with a new creative team and won scores of new fans for the long-running series. For those who still miss the 10th Doctor’s particular brand of swashbuckling, writer Nick Abadzis has penned the popular comic book adaptions that give fans a bit more of Tennant’s iconic turn. We talked with Abadzis about being a British expat in New York, and the first Mexican-American companion Gabby Gonzalez: also the TARDIS’ first artist.

Edie Nugent: How did you decide where in the 10th Doctor’s timeline to begin the story?

Nick Abadzis: That was part of the brief [from Titan], but it made sense to me. No-one really knows how long the Doctor has lived, and there’s always potential for setting stories between TV episodes or seasons or any kind of gap, but that end of the tenth Doctor’s life is largely undocumented, so there’s even more room than usual.

Nugent: What made you choose the Sunset Park neighborhood in Brooklyn, NY as the setting for Revolutions of Terror?

Abadzis: Because the books were initially aimed at the US market (albeit all Who fans) it was suggested it could be an American companion. I’m British, but I live in New York, so automatically I wanted to set some stories here. I live in Brooklyn, next door to Sunset Park as a matter of fact, and I happened to be cycling around there while I was thinking about all this. It’s a very Mexican and Chinese area and it struck me that it would be a lot of fun to have the TARDIS materialize in the park there, with that fantastic view of the bay and Manhattan. The idea for Gabby Gonzalez as a companion and Cindy Wu as her best friend came shortly after – it all sort of grew from there.

Nugent: How long have you lived in New York? You’re name-checking actual anchors from NY1: the beloved new york city local cable news channel, and setting an alien invasion on the subway (finally!)–along with the wonderfully representative location art it feels very New York City.

 

 

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Christopher Eccleston’s portrayal of the Ninth Doctor relaunched the Doctor Who television series in 2005, and many a fanperson has swooned over David Tennant as the show’s  dashing Tenth Doctor. But it was Matt Smith’s portrayal of the Eleventh Doctor that crested the wave of Who-mania that has swept the globe in the last few years. Fans who were left pining for Smith’s incarnation of the time-traveling “madman with a box” will have reason to celebrate the release of Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Vol. 1 After Life which collects issues 1-5 of the series. I spoke with co-writers Al Ewing and Rob Williams in advance of the March 25 release date (in bookstores and on Amazon.com March 31) about their past collaborations, the Doctor’s newest companion, and even got a few hints at what fans can expect in the forthcoming issues of the Titan Comics series.

Edie Nugent: Did the fact that both of you worked together on 2000 AD help you in co-writing this series? If so, how?

Al Ewing: It probably did – systems evolved during the writing of Judge Dredd: Trifecta, our 2000 AD crossover, that helped with the writing of Who. For example, I’m pretty sure we had at least one Skype conversation during that time, although more often we met in the pub. And Trifecta involved some very intricate plotting, some of which happened on the fly, so it was good practice.

Rob Williams: It helped too that we knew each other and were friends. It’s not as if you’re co-writing with a stranger because who knows how that might go. But yes, as Al said, we’d co-written once together with Si Spurrier on Trifecta, so we knew how to do it, and felt confident we could make such a situation work.

Nugent: The writing on the After Life series is very consistent. How did you work together to find the “voice” of the Doctor and establish continuity of that voice through the series?

Williams: I think his voice is very well established by the series and by Matt Smith’s delivery. It’s easy to hear when writing dialogue for the book. If you feel you’re veering off track you just stick an episode of the show on for 10 minutes. Smith did the verbal patter very well.

Nugent: The audience knows Smith-era patter the moment they read it, but to have such an ear for writing new dialogue without it seeming forced: this just comes naturally to you? 

Ewing: Well, writing any kind of unforced dialogue takes a lot of practice. But essentially, as long as the delivery seems correct, you can get away with a lot – Matt Smith can deliver a lot of different kinds of line and have them all seem part of the same character, so as long as the reader is hearing that voice in their head, it’ll cover a multitude of sins. I’m sure Rob and I both have writing tics that shine through once you’re looking for them. “…” for a pause is one of mine.

Williams: Without wanting to sound arrogant, I think Al and I are both pretty good with dialogue. The dialogue’s really not the hard part. Writing the Doctor he can babble on and you read it back and it’s all good stuff. But comics is a visual medium. So I find I have to cut a lot of my Doctor dialogue or the page would be overcrowded with speech balloons. The hard part with The Doctor is more the plotting, I find.

Nugent: Let’s talk about Alice Obifune. How did you dream her up? She’s got the smarts of Martha and the attitude of Donna (as well as many Classic Who companions like Zoe and Sarah Jane); questioning the Doctor and his motives. You mention in the series that the Doctor finds her wisdom and maturity a comfort, contrasted with his usually younger and greener companions. 

Williams: I think it was a case of trying to do something a bit different. The TV show usually has The Doctor with young girls as assistants. Smith looks so young, we thought it would be a fun dynamic to pair him with someone who seems to be physically older then him. Someone a bit more sure of herself having been through a life.

Ewing:  I forget where she came from at first – it’s a long time ago – but I remember being very keen that she give as good as she get with regard to the Doctor. I’m pretty sure her age relative to other new series companions came up early on as well in connection with that – the idea that the actor playing Alice, if she existed as a TV series character, would be older than Matt Smith and have some natural authority there. Or maybe it was the other way around. I know her Dad dying in the Falklands set her age in stone to an extent, although I don’t know if we’ve gotten around to mentioning that at all.

Williams: It’s mentioned somewhere. I forget where.

Ewing:  We know he died when she was small, and I think there’s a newspaper headline in one of the scenes about the end of the war, but I don’t know if we’ve connected the dots yet. It’ll be a nice tidbit for anyone reading this!

Nugent: There’s another thing that makes Alice so mature, aside from having more years under her belt than the average TV companion: she’s recently orphaned when the first issue opens. Very adult theme, that. Was there any push-back on opening the story line with such an emotionally dark moment: going through the motions and feeling empty following the loss of her mother? 

Ewing: Not at all – I’m pretty sure everyone was up for that from the beginning. Originally, I think we were set to go much darker in terms of the overall plot – this is at the very early stages – but that ended up, rightly I think, being decided against. I think the balance between light and dark stuff we’ve got now is just about perfect.

Williams: Titan and the BBC were very supportive. I liked that opening very much. The subdued grey wasn’t what people were expecting. It’s a theme that continues through the entire series. The first ‘season’ of the comic is really Alice’s journey through her loss. Coming to terms with it, learning to move forward and live again. It’s the emotional spine of the book.

Nugent: So you worked together to co-write the series, even though issue 1 seems to be the only issue that’s co written (Al took issues 2,4 and 5 with Bob penning issue 3). Was it like television writing? Did you both form a ‘writers room’ of sorts at the pub or over Skype, blocking out the story arc and then individually write drafts? 

Williams: We wrote half of #1 each. Al took #2, I did #3. Then Al did a two-parter with #4 & #5, I did #6. The entire 15 issue series is half Al, half me. #14 & #15 we’re writing half of each issue, so they’ll be co-written. The rest of the stories, there’s often little bits from one of us even if the other person is credited as scripting. My #10, for instance, Al made a suggestion there which helped nail down the theme. Lots of that going on. It’s a writer’s room dynamic throughout.

Ewing:  That’s pretty much exactly how it went! For issue 1, we took eleven pages each and then did a lot of rewriting so they fit – after that, it’s been a matter of discussing where the plot’s going and where we want it to go on Skype, and then working out what’ll happen in each individual issue. (Or two-parter, if we’re writing both parts.) Mostly it happens on Skype – once or twice we’ve met up for a pint, but Skype’s probably more productive given the lack of booze.

Nugent: I loved how you wove in these legendary musical figures: Robert Johnson, and the Bowie-like John Jones. It’s nice because so many of the historical figures we meet in Doctor Who stories are Queens or classic authors. What made you decide to highlight musicians and those two in particular?

Ewing:  Both of those are Rob’s doing, really – Jones was the companion Rob brought to the table, although I’ve had a lot of fun with him myself and rediscovered an interest in Bowie’s music.

Williams: That was just an idea born out off Bowie’s similarity to The Doctor in terms of regenerations. There’s always been a sense about Bowie of ‘where did this guy come from?’ Now, I’m sure certain substances were involved in that otherworldness. But what if, instead, he travelled with The Doctor? And that’s how he ended up with all these crazy outfits and looks etc. That seemed a fun idea. There’s a line in #3 which I think is true. If you had a time machine the first best use would be going to see all those classic gigs you’ve only ever read about.

Nugent: Al, Your issue 2 story centers on the idea of corporations ruining the ecology of a place, in this case Rokhandi and it’s natural beauty. The themes of industrial development and brainwashing could easily be transposed to the ecological worries of today. Were you intending to write the story as warning or wake-up call to the youth who will read it?

Ewing:  I’m not sure I’d go as far as to call it a warning or a wake-up call – that sounds like I’ve got a bit more clout in the readers minds than I probably have – but Doctor Who stories should have some thematic links or resonances with what people are worried about in the real world. There was a lot of that during the McCoy era, as I recall – Doctor Who as a critique of Thatcherism. So yes, there’s more than a little in #2 that could be about corporate cronyism in politics or the selling-off of natural resources, but that’s all par for the course with Who.

Nugent: How are you both feeling about the recent news that your comic story line will merge with that of the tenth and twelfth Doctors this fall in a limited series to be written by Hugo-nominated Doctor Who television writer (and longtime Who fanboy) Paul Cornell?

Ewing:  I’m looking forward to it! It should be a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to see what Paul does with our characters. I can’t think of anyone better to attempt a crossover of that nature, and I’ll be avidly reading every issue.

Williams: Paul’s a fine writer and a friend, so I’m sure he’ll do a stellar job and treat the Eleventh Doctor and Alice very well. I’ll look forward to reading it. And then we have ‘Season Two’ of the Eleventh to get up and running. We’ve already got a few fun, surprising things planned.

Nugent: Are there any more teasers you can give Comics Beat readers? Will we find out the identity of the mysterious Time lord that appeared to Eleven? Any other tasty tidbits? 

Williams: You might find out the identity of the mysterious Time Lord in me and Al’s #14-#15 two-parter.

Ewing:  Tasty tidbits…things are going to get very colourful in issue #11, and fans of a certain movie will be pleased with us.

Doctor Who: After Life Vol. 1 is available in stores on March 25.

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No reason for this, except it make me LOL

I've been writing queries!  (Shameless call out to authors who write killer queries - if you'd like to take a gander and tell me what you think about it, hollah!  I'd love the input.)  My BIG plan is to start submitting to agents.  This was my BIG plan last year, but that fell through, so THIS year the BIG PLAN will happen.

I guarantee it.

I have two FINISHED MANUSCRIPTS!!

I've use this gif before, but I love it, so suck it

I have a list of agents THIS BIG!

Crowrey!

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I don't know what happened.  Once upon a time my only fandom was the Lord of the Rings.  Than, BAM.  Avengers! Doctor Who! Leverage! Flashpoint! Grimm! Prison Break! Sherlock! Psych! (And a couple others that aren't exactly "fandoms," but shows I like.  Like Sleepy Hollow.  Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares.  Those shows.)

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LOL

#enchantedflorist

YAY!

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Source

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Gaaaaah!

Cute Sammy Winchester

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Here's a random squirrel gif

Aside from catching a miserable cold and a 'flu pretty nearly at the same time, I've been good.

Pretty much just like this

Not too much has been happening.  I have an agent list going for a manuscript.  Once I get an acceptance on that....

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...I'll let you know.

Screaming, crying, perfect storm...

I always forget what an emotional rollercoaster that is.  I cry every single time over every shattering event that occurs, and over the characters:  Frodo and Sam, Merry and Pippin, Aragorn, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Boromir, FARAMIR!!! Eowyn, Eomer, Arwen, Theoden.... If there is someone I can weep for, I weep, and prodigiously.

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Fun fact:  One of our bestest friends has never read the books nor seen the movies.  She has only seen the last Hobbit movie (and let's be honest, friends.  Peter Jackson could have done those so, so much better.  What was wrong with keeping it just a bit more to the book?!), but anyway, we have told her frequently that LotR was WAY better than the Hobbit.  So FINALLY we got her to watch the trilogy with us... the extended edition, of course.  REAL fans watch only the extended LotR.

TRUTH!!!

Not only did she cry as prodigiously as the rest of us (and this is a girl who rarely, if ever, cries over shows), but she now wants a cape and has been obsessively pinning Lord of the Rings on Pinterest and is reading the books now.

SCORE!

In the meantime, I'm going to going the way I'm going and hope I figure out how to make more time in a single day.  I need a TARDIS and some timey-wimey magic, I think.

You always suspected. :-)

le moi

BYE!!!

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http://morguefile.com/

As Mary Ann Rodman suggests, there is plotting and there is planning. But sometimes, especially when one reads and writes historical fiction, there’s the wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff.

Historical fiction is the coming together of two opposing elements: fact and fiction. The controversy is grounded in conveying the ‘truth’ of history. Other popular genres have distinct rules that govern basic premises. Dystopian fiction, for example, features a futuristic universe in which the illusion of a perfect society is maintained through corporate, technologic, or totalitarian control. Using an exaggerate worse-case scenario, the dystopian story becomes a commentary about social norms and trends.

 But, historical fiction defies easy explanation. For some, historical fiction is first and foremost fiction, and therefore anything goes. Others condemn the blending of invention with well-known and accepted facts, and consider the genre a betrayal.

 Perhaps a better way to understand the genre is to take a lesson from The Doctor. Yes, that Doctor: “People assume that time is a strict progression of cause and effect…but actually, it’s more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly, timey wimey stuff.” Perhaps the same thing can be said of plot and the historical fiction.

 In historical fiction, setting is usually considered ‘historical’ if it is at fifty or more years in the past. As such, the author writes from research rather than personal experience. But as an old turnip, my personal history dates back to the years prior to Korean War. The Civil Rights Movement, the Freedom Riders, the Bay of Pigs, the JFK Assassination, the Landing on the Moon, and the first Dr. Who episode are not some fixed points in history but a function of my experience. Yet, for the last generations, these are often just dates in a textbook. And the plot is a linear expression that begins on a certain date. The award-winning book, The Watsons Go to Birmingham by Christopher Paul Curtis (1995), depicting the Birmingham, Alabama church bombing of 1963, is often listed as historical fiction. Yet I remember vividly watching the events unfold on my parents’ black and white television.

 Defining the ‘historical’ in 'historical fiction' is a bit wobbly, depending upon the age of the


http://morguefile.com/

researcher and author.
 Historians work within a broad spectrum of data-gathering, gathering volumes of primary sources coupled with previous research. They use footnotes, endnotes, separate chapters, appendixes and other textual formatting to clarify their observations. Plotting and planning resemble Vinn diagrams and flowcharts, looking similar to the opening credits of Doctor Who as the Tardis moves forward and backward in time. But the artistic nature of historical fiction presents several challenges in books for children. Events must be “winnowed and sifted”, as Sheila Egoff explains, in order to create forward movement that leads to a resolution. Authors choose between which details to include, and exclude, and this choice is wholly dependent upon the character’s goal. More important, resolution rarely happens in history. The same with happy endings. Because of the culling process, critics often claim that historical fiction is inherently biased.

Yet, nothing about history is obvious, and facts are often open to interpretation. Once upon a time, it was considered factual that the world was flat, that blood-letting was the proper way of treating disease, that women were emotionally and physically incapable of rational thought. In 1492, Christopher Columbus sailed the ocean blue, but he didn’t discover America. In fact, some would say he was less an explorer and more of a conqueror. History tends to be written by those who survived it. As such, no history is without its bias. The meaning of history, just as it is for the novel, lays “not in the chain of events themselves, but on the historian’s [and writer’s] interpretation of it,” as Jill Paton Walsh once noted.

 Some facts, such as dates of specific events, are fixed. We know, for example, that the Battle of Gettysburg occurred July 1 to July 3, in 1963. The interpretations of what happened over those three days remains a favorite in historical fiction. My interpretation of the battle, in Girls of Gettysburg (Holiday House, August 2014), featured three perspectives that are rare in these historical fiction depictions: the daughter of a free black living seven miles north from the Mason-Dixon line, the daughter of the well-to-do local merchant, and a girl disguised as a Confederate soldier. The plot weaves together the fates of these girls, a tapestry that reflects their humanity, heartache and heroism in a battle that ultimately defined a nation.


Critics and researchers can be unrelenting in their quest for accuracy. The process of writing historical fiction, like researching history itself, is neither straightforward nor a risk-free process. As the Doctor tells his companion, and in so doing reminding everyone,  through those doors...

 “… we might see anything. We could find new worlds, terrifying monsters, impossible things. And if you come with me... nothing will ever be the same again!” 


Bobbi Miller

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Titan will be set up at booth #2142 with all kinds of Doctor Who stuff, and signings by Nick Abadzis, Elena Casagrande, Simon Fraser, Alice X. Zhang and more. Here’s their swag and panel schedule.

EXCLUSIVE SHOW DEBUT: 

DOCTOR WHO: THE TWELFTH DOCTOR #1 

WITH NYCC EXCLUSIVE COVER

Offering shocks, surprises, and galaxy-shaking revelations, seasoned TARDIS pilot Robbie Morrison (Drowntown, The Authority, 2000AD, Nikolai Dante) and New York Times-bestselling artist Dave Taylor (Batman: Death by Design; 2000AD) mark the start of their first five-issue run by diving headfirst into the console room and pulling all the levers they can – spinning the new Doctor off to his most challenging destination yet!
New Face! New Doctor! New Beginning! Get in on the ground floor of this amazing ongoing series!

Only available at Titan Booth #2142.

DOCTOR WHO: THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR #1 

WITH NYCC EXCLUSIVE COVER

A stunning new era begins for the Eleventh Doctor, as played by Matt Smith!

Alice Obiefune has just lost her mother when the Doctor explodes into her life.

But what does this grieving young woman have to do with the career of a 70s musician, an amnesiac alien, and a terrifying cosmic threat?

In the wake of the second Big Bang, find out what the Doctor gets up to when Amy and Rory aren’t around!

Series architects Al Ewing (Loki: Agent of Asgard, Mighty Avengers, Trifecta) and Rob Williams (Revolutionary War, Ordinary, Miss Fury, The Royals: Masters of War, Trifecta) kick off a whirlwind adventure through eternity with artist Simon Fraser (Nikolai Dante, Grindhouse)!

 

Only available at Titan Booth #2142.

 

DOCTOR WHO: THE TENTH DOCTOR #1 

WITH NYCC EXCLUSIVE COVER

The Eisner Award-winning Nick Abadzis (Laika) and fan-favorite Elena Casagrande (Angel, Suicide Risk, Doctor Who, Star Trek) take control of the TARDIS for their first five-issue arc with the Tenth Doctor, as played by David Tennant!

Gabriella Gonzalez is stuck in a dead-end job in her family’s New York Laundromat, dreaming of college and bigger, better and brighter things.

So when a strange man with an even stranger big blue box barges into her life on the eve of the Day of the Dead celebrations – talking about an infestation of psychic aliens – she seizes her chance for adventure with both hands.

After Donna’s tragic exit, the Doctor thought he was done with new companions. But Gabby Gonzalez is going to prove him wrong… if she survives the night!

 

Only available at Titan Booth #2142.

 

NYCC PANEL

DOCTOR WHO COMICS

Date: Thursday, October 9 / Time: 2PM / Room: 1A10

Join a host of Creators from the new Doctor Who Comics who’ll reveal exclusive secrets from the brand-new Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor storylines and show never-before-seen art!

 

Panel Guests: Writer Nick Abadzis (Tenth Doctor Comic), Artist Elena Casagrande (Tenth Doctor Comic), Writer Al Ewing (Eleventh Doctor Comic), Artist Simon Fraser (Eleventh Doctor Comic), Cover Artist Alice X. Zhang (Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor Comic), Andrew James (Doctor Who Comics Editor)

Host: Steve White, Senior Editor, Titan Comics

NYCC SIGNINGS

THURSDAY OCTOBER 9

 

GROUP SIGNING: THE TENTH DOCTOR COMIC TEAM & 

THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR COMIC TEAM

Time: 3.30pm – 4.30PM / Location: Titan Booth #2142

Signing: Writer Nick Abadzis (Tenth Doctor Comic), Artist Elena Casagrande (Tenth Doctor Comic), Colorist Ariana Floren (Tenth Doctor Comic), Writer Al Ewing (Eleventh Doctor Comic), Artist Simon Fraser (Eleventh Doctor Comic) and Cover Artist Alice X. Zhang (Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor Comic).

 

FRIDAY OCTOBER 10

 

THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR COMIC TEAM

Time: 12PM – 1PM / Location: Titan Booth #2142

Signing: Writer Al Ewing, Artist Simon Fraser and Cover Artist Alice X. Zhang.

 

THE TENTH DOCTOR COMIC TEAM

Time: 3.30PM – 4.30PM / Location: Titan Booth #2142

Signing: Writer Nick Abadzis, Artist Elena Casagrande, Colorist Ariana Floren and Cover Artist Alice X. Zhang.

 

SATURDAY OCTOBER 11

 

THE TENTH DOCTOR COMIC TEAM

Time: 12.30PM – 1.30PM / Location: Titan Booth #2142

Signing: Writer Nick Abadzis, Artist Elena Casagrande, Colorist Ariana Floren and Cover Artist Alice X. Zhang.

 

THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR COMIC TEAM

Time: 3.30PM – 4.30PM / Location: Titan Booth #2142

Signing: Writer Al Ewing, Artist Simon Fraser and Cover Artist Alice X. Zhang.

 

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If you share my jealousy of Peter Capaldi and his new guise as the Doctor, then read on to discover how you could become the next Time Lord with a fondness for Earth. However, be warned: you can’t just pick up Matt Smith’s bow-tie from the floor, don Tom Baker’s scarf, and expect to save planet Earth every Saturday at peak viewing time. You’re going to need training. This is where Oxford’s online products can help you. Think of us as your very own Companion guiding you through the dimensions of time, only with a bit more sass. So jump aboard (yes it’s bigger on the inside), press that button over there, pull that lever thingy, and let’s journey through the five things you need to know to become the Doctor.

(1) Regeneration

Being called two-faced may not initially appeal to you. How about twelve-faced? No wait, don’t leave, come back! Part of the appeal of the Doctor is his ability to regenerate and assume many faces. Perhaps the most striking example of regeneration we have on our planet is the Hydra fish which is able to completely re-grow a severed head. Even more striking is its ability to grow more than one head if a small incision is made on its body. I don’t think it’s likely the BBC will commission a Doctor with two heads though so best to not go down that route. Another example of an animal capable of regeneration is Porifera, the sponges commonly seen on rocks under water. These sponge-type creatures are able to regenerate an entire limb which is certainly impressive but are not quite as attractive as The David Tenants or Matt Smiths of this world.

(2) Fighting aliens

Although alien invasion narratives only crossed over to mainstream fiction after World War II, the Doctor has been fighting off alien invasions since the Dalek War and the subsequent destruction of Gallifrey. Alien invasion narratives are tied together by one salient issue: conquer or be conquered. Whether you are battling Weeping Angels or Cybermen, you must first make sure what you are battling is indeed an alien. Yes, that lady you meet every day at the bus-stop with the strange smell may appear to be from another dimension but it’s always better to be sure before you whip out your sonic screwdriver.

(3) Visiting unknown galaxies

The Hubble Ultra Deep Field telescope captures a patch of sky that represents one thirteen-millionth of the area of the whole sky we see from Earth, and this tiny patch of the Universe contains over 10,000 galaxies. One thirteen-millionth of the sky is the equivalent to holding a grain of sand at arm’s length whilst looking up at the sky. When we look at a galaxy ten billion light years away, we are actually only seeing it by the light that left it ten billion years ago. Therefore, telescopes are akin to time machines.

The sheer vastness and mystery of the universe has baffled us for centuries. Doctor Who acts as a gatekeeper to the unknown, helping us imagine fantastical creatures such as the Daleks, all from the comfort of our living rooms.

(4) Operating the T.A.R.D.I.S.

The majority of time-travel narratives avoid the use of a physical time-machine. However, the Tardis, a blue police telephone box, journeys through time dimensions and is as important to the plot of Doctor Who as upgrades are to Cybermen. Although it looks like a plain old police telephone box, it has been known to withstand meteorite bombardment, shield itself from laser gun fire and traverse the time vortex all in one episode. The Tardis’s most striking characteristic, that it is “much bigger on the inside”, is explained by the Fourth Doctor, Tom Baker, by using the analogy of the tesseract.

(5) Looking good

It’s all very well saving the Universe every week but what use is that without a signature look? Tom Baker had the scarf, Peter Davison had the pin-stripes, John Hurt even had the brooding frown, so what will your dress-sense say about you? Perhaps you could be the Doctor with a cravat or the time-traveller with a toupee? Whatever your choice, I’m sure you’ll pull it off, you handsome devil you.

Don’t forget a good sense of humour to compliment your dashing visage. When Doctor Who was created by Donald Wilson and C.E. Webber in November 1963, the target audience of the show was eight-to-thirteen-year-olds watching as part of a family group on Saturday afternoons. In 2014, it has a worldwide general audience of all ages, claiming over 77 million viewers in the UK, Australia, and the United States. This is largely due to the Doctor’s quick quips and mix of adult and childish humour.

You’ve done it! You’ve conquered the cybermen, exterminated the daleks, and saved Earth (we’re eternally grateful of course). Why not take the Tardis for another spin and adventure through more of Oxford’s online products?

Image credit: Doctor Who poster, by Doctor Who Spoilers. CC-BY-SA-2.0 via Flickr.

The post An Oxford Companion to being the Doctor appeared first on OUPblog.

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Is it just me, or did it feel as though May went by very quickly?  I can't believe it's already JUNE!  I mean, gosh.  If time could slow down a little, that would be great.

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I went to my first Renaissance Faire on Saturday.  It put me in a definite costuming mood.  There was one outfit I loved. It was a Ranger-y leather riding skirt, sort of like this one here, except it was mostly green with brown rather than brown entirely.

Yeah, I'd wear this, but with a camisole. :)

It was really fun.  We saw a jousting tournament - the Green Knight lost, which was expected considering the tale of Gawaine and the Green Knight, and the fact that the announcer made him out to be the Evil Knight, but I liked him better than the Blue Knight - and we listened to some storytellers.  The Gypsy Time Travellers were pretty amazing.  They are a husband-and-wife team.  The wife, Christy Horne, tells stories (and she's quite good, by the way) while her husband Michael Olson does anvil accompaniment, creating little metal thingamabobs during the story.  We heard the Un-Disney-fied version of The Sword in the Stone.  Christy recited it while Michael created ten little salt spoons.  It was quite a unique show.


There was a vendor selling bracelets that looked kind of like this:

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And a vendor selling candles that looked kind of like this:

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There was a Doctor Who geode candle I really liked, where the stone a swirly blue colour, and the woodcarving was of the TARDIS whirling through space.  That one was my fave.

For some reason, there were a bunch of Doctor Whos walking around.  Treskie said it was probably because of that episode where the Doctor marries Queen Elizabeth, and since the Renaissance Faire tends to have a Queen Elizabeth walking around the Whovians decided this was the opening they needed to appear as the Doctor.

(Weirdly enough, considering it was TEN who technically married the Queen, most of the Doctors I saw were dressed as Eleven.  Yay, Eleven!)

A good time was had by all, I think.  I want to go to the Faire next year, but I think, if possible, I might try to dress up... and in Ranger costume, if at all possible.


To finish off, here are a few pictures of my other nieces and nephews!



And NOW to life, and NOW to life.  Until next time (hahah!)

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God bless!

Cat

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Humble Bundle is at it again, this time with a collection of Doctor Who comics, including seven books of collected comics, and a game. You can pay what you wish and a portion of the price will go to Doctors without Borders. Once again, all good. The first comics Humble Bundle, featuring Image Comics, did very well, as we reported yesterday. Details below:

Humble Bundle, the pay-what-you-want plus charity digital platform, and award-winning publisher IDW Publishing have teamed up to launch the Humble Doctor Who Comics Bundle today. Customers can pay what they want for up to 14 digital collections of Doctor Who comic books along with puzzle-RPG adventure Doctor Who: Legacy with unlocked bonus content for Android.

https://www.humblebundle.com/books

Customers can name their price for Doctor Who: Series 1, a three-volume series following the 10th Doctor (David Tennant), and Doctor Who: Series 2, a four-volume series featuring the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith). Each series contains 16 issues of Doctor Who comics. Also included is the critically praised mobile game, Doctor Who: Legacy for Android, which comes with 10 pre-unlocked Doctor characters. 

If customers pay more than the average price, they will also receive four more volumes from Doctor Who: Series 3 featuring the 11th Doctor (Matt Smith). Paying $15 or more will unlock the three-volume seriesDoctor Who: Prisoners of Time, which features all 11 of the Doctors’  incarnations, as well as the 50th anniversary celebration issue and 2014 Hugo Award-nominee, The Girl Who Loved Doctor Who.

Customers’ purchase dollars can be divided between IDW Publishing and two vital charities: Doctors Without Borders, which delivers independent emergency medical care and relief to more than 70 countries around the world, and the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund, a non-profit organization dedicated to the protection of the First Amendment rights of the comics art form and its community. Since Humble Bundle’s launch in 2010, $37 million has been raised for more than 20 different charities and non-profit organizations.

The Humble Doctor Who Comics Bundle ends on Tuesday, May 28, 2014 at 11:00 a.m. PDT.

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Oh, this is why.  Makes sense now. :)

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Rule the First:  Share eleven facts about yourself.

Rule the Second:  Answer the questions set by your nomination blogger.

Rule the Third:  Nominate eleven bloggers.

Yeah. That's not happening. I'll nominate SOME.

Rule the Fourth:  Set questions for the nominated bloggers.

Le Rules for Le Reward:

Uno: Acknowledge the blog that nominated you. Thank you, Rose from The Golden Road!

Dos: Answer the 11 questions the nominating blogger created.

Tres: List 11 bloggers with less than 200 followers that deserve some recognition.

Quatro: Post 11 questions for them to answer.

Cinco: Notify them that they've been nominated.


Alrighty! ROSE'S QUESTIONS ~

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Titan were announced as the new owners of the Doctor Who license last year, spurring many to wonder what their plans with the franchise would be. As it turns out, their plan is to have two books based on the space-travelling Time Lord, both of which have been announced today.

The first book will be Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, featuring David Tennant’s version of the character and with the creative team of Nick Abadzis and Elena Casagrande on the first arc. Interestingly, they have also announced that the second arc will see Robbie Morrison coming in to the series.

The second book will be Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, featuring Matt Smith’s version of the character. This book will have a creative team of Al Ewing, Rob Williams and Simon Fraser. Ewing, Williams and Morrison are all named as ‘series architects’, suggesting they’ll be overseeing the line as a whole.

Rumours also abound that there will be a series called Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor, featuring Peter Capaldi’s upcoming take on the character. That book is probably quite a way away, however.

The two covers above are by Alice X. Zhang. Both books will be released on the same time – the 23rd July.

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Once again, it’s that time of year again!  Sports geeks speculate who will make the Big Dance, who got snubbed, and who will be the Cinderella Team this year.  Billions of dollars are wagered on the outcomes, as casual fans contemplate the 68 teams and fill out numerous brackets.

It’s not uncommon among comics fans to wonder, “Who would win in a fight, Forbush Man or ‘Mazing Man?”  (Neither.  Ma Hunkel would break it up and have them both over to the JSA mansion of cookies and milk.)  So it’s not inconceivable that fans would take that simple idea, and turn it into a tournament.  Who do you seed in each bracket?  How do you arrange the divisions?  Do you mix and match franchises and tribes?

Well, we here at Stately Beat Manor offer the following brackets as a community service, especially to fans of Gonzaga, New Mexico, and Kentucky.  (Your lack of faith was disturbing.  >choke<)

Comics

Let’s start with the big comic bracket: Mix March Madness over at ComicMix.com!  Those crazy kids are at it again, this year adding a new wrinkle!  You can BUY votes!  All money goes to The Hero Initiative, so put your money where your mouth is! 300 webcomics have been reduced to eight, and it’s getting competitive!  (This is the perfect opportunity to check out some new webcomics!)

The latest bracket (as of March 24, when I started this article):

	Ava’a Demon Game 1 Details Questionable Content
			Winner of 1 Game 5 Details Winner of 2
					Winner of 5 Game 7 Details Winner of 6
	xkcd Game 2 Details Sandra and Woo
	Girls With Slingshots Game 3 Details Bittersweet Candy Bowl
			Winner of 3 Game 6 Details Winner of 4
	A Redtail’s Dream Game 4 Details RomanticallY Apocalyptic

The final is open for voting!  Click to view, and to vote!

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Comics Should Be Good, an awesome blog over at Comic Book Resources, has suspended their annual superhero tournament in favor of notable story runs by creators!  Is Simone’s Secret Six better than Claremon’ts New Mutants?   Byrne’s Fantastic Four or Gruenwald’s Squadron Supreme?  The Elite Eight (is that a superhero team?) can be voted on here!  (X-Men vs. X-Men!)

Cosmic Comix and Toys, a store in Cantonsville, Maryland, is hosting a female-centric tournament, and the final is a humdinger!  (One which I don’t think we’ve ever seen in comics, but which would be amazing if done right!)

Food

The Victory Formation does a different tournament each year.  This year, the fourth, is based all on Cereal!  The Elite Eight are in competition!

Multimedia

Awwww… TV couples!  Inside Pulse lets readers play match-maker with their massive tournament!  I’m hoping for Bobby and J.R. Ewing to win!  Third round voting can be done here.

 

Toys and Games

Miscellaneous

And finally, which style do you prefer?

 

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Robert Smith? — the man with the question mark in his name. He’s an academic, he’s an author, he’s an editor and he’s a Doctor Who fan. His books include Braaaiiinnnsss: From Academics to Zombies, Modelling Disease Ecology with Mathematics and Who Is The Doctor (co-written with Graeme Burk). And most recently, he’s edited the mammoth essay anthology, Outside In: 160 New Perspectives on 160 Classic Doctor Who Stories by 160 Writers. Robert was kind enough to stop by and answer a few questions for me…

How did Outside In come about?

It really started with the “say something different” idea.

I was editing the Doctor Who Ratings Guide one day when I was reading a review of “The Seeds of Doom” by Mike Morris (the one that ended up in the book). It was such a radical take on the story that I wondered if I could find equally radical takes on all the stories. The DWRG has almost 8000 reviews, so at first I figured I could just trawl through that and surely find at least one review per story that said something different?

Sadly, the short answer was no. While there were a few that fit the bill, I quickly realised that there was no way I could fulfil this mandate just from my own website. So I started to look further afield.

And then I had the wild thought of doing 160 different writers. It had never been done before; indeed, I’d been responsible for the most diverse collection of Doctor Who essays already: Time Unincorporated 2, which had about 48 writers. This was tripling it, which seemed kind of foolish… but I also liked the challenge it presented. (I have a PhD in mathematics, so I can kind of hold this sort of complexity in my head.)

Meanwhile, I also heard on the grapevine that Arnold Blumberg was setting up a new press (ATB Publishing). Arnold was a bit unconvinced, because things on his end were really only in the planning stages. And I ended up running far ahead of the business side of things, so it felt a bit as though we were making things up as we went along. But having a definitive goal probably helped to force everything to come together.

“160 New Perspectives on 160 Classic Doctor Who Stories by 160 Writers”. Was it difficult to wrangle so many writers?

Yes and no. At first, I didn’t think I’d be able to pull it off, so I had several writers on standby to contribute further pieces. But then word of mouth helped, as good writers were able to recommend other good writers and then I got into the groove of recruiting people. Conventions helped a lot, because I just walked around with a sheet of paper with the last 20 or so stories on it and asked people if they had any radical takes on the stories in question. Almost everyone did!

I did find several brilliant pieces, but couldn’t locate the writers. I chased one guy through all the Coronation St forums for his review of “The Dominators”, but then the trail went cold, so I had to look elsewhere. Fortunately, my convention asking led to Bill Evensen’s hilarious take on the story — still my favourite piece in the collection — so it worked out in the end.

But it was also a bit of a wild ride. One of the authors demanded I not change even a single comma, not even the typo we both agreed was there. Another never sent my personal copy of the DVD back to me. I also got a bit of a reputation as a hard-sell after (entirely accurate) rumours spread that I was cracking the whip on several pieces that weren’t up to scratch. Stephanie Blumberg — the boss’s wife, incidentally! — sent me her “Silver Nemesis” piece with such fear in the email I thought she was going to have a meltdown. (Luckily, I loved it outright, so she needn’t have worried.)

But one of the things I’m so proud of is just how many new voices there are. For so many people, this is their first published work and I think that’s hugely important. So much of Doctor Who output, from the TV series to Big Finish, is jobs for the boys, with the powers that be recruiting the same old names on the entirely reasonable grounds that they can trust them to produce good stuff. I really wanted to break that cycle, which required a lot of work on my part, but the payoff was enormous.

Did you have any trouble finding writers to cover all the stories?

Finding writers was both a pleasure and an incredible challenge. I ran out of my own contacts after about 50 people, which put me in a bit of a bind. So I spent ages trawling the internet for good reviews, often striking gold on the 1,900th entry in Google. When you’ve spent two days searching for a review of “The Mutants” that doesn’t say the same old thing, the pleasure when you find exactly what you’re looking for is immense. I think I shouted for joy when I stumbled upon Philip Sandifer’s piece, never having heard of his blog before (although it’s now fairly famous).

And as I started to recruit more original writers, I simply asked them for recommendations. So it spread virally, which is something I know more than a little about, thanks to my day job. (There are a surprising number of siblings in the list, as well as a number of husband and wife teams.) The only time I sat down and thought about specific names was when I looked through the table of contents of Chicks Dig Time Lords for names of good writers. The rest was very organic.

It was actually Graeme Burk who suggested I recruit a majority of original pieces. Originally I was going to do mostly reprints, because I was worried about the budget. But then I came up with the charity idea and that helped focus things: I realised that one of the strengths of the book was that, as a group, we were much stronger than as individuals. Given that everyone — myself, Arnold and all the writers bar two whom I won’t name — donated their fees to charity, it meant we were working for something bigger than just another Doctor Who non-fiction guide.

A lot of the book’s genesis thus coasted on goodwill. I was especially pleased that the professional writers involved were happy to donate to charity, even though this is their livelihood. And some of these were just brilliant: Andrew Cartmel’s letter to me regarding “Talons of Weng-Chiang” made me laugh out loud, while David Howe stepped up very late in the day with a sweet piece on “The Mythmakers” and a photo to boot.

And then Anthony Wilson — one of the unsung heroes of Doctor Who nonfiction writing — came along and proofread the book and told me to throw away about 15 pieces and get the authors to rework about as many again. He grasped the concept of the book intuitively and had enough distance to simply tell me “no” on a number of occasions. Some of the best pieces in the book — Piers Beckley’s Shakespearen play, Stuart Milne’s letter to the reader, Stuart Douglas’s alien flow chart — are a direct result of Anthony. The only credit I give myself on this is that I wasn’t precious about anything and deferred to his judgement entirely!

What is it about Doctor Who that inspired you to take on such a huge project?

It’s the sheer diversity of talent in fandom that continues to inspire me. Go to any gathering of Doctor Who fans, even when you don’t know anyone there, and you’ll hear fascinating opinions, vociferous disagreements and new insights on decades-old stories. You hear this at conventions, at pubs and on the internet. It continually amazes me just how thoughtful and articulate Doctor Who fans can be.

So that really made my job easy. The technical accomplishment of 160 writers was a cute gimmick, but what really makes the book shine is the fact that everyone’s saying something different. (Sometimes very  different: the other proofreader, Paul Simpson, complained that Lindy Orthia’s intense academic dissection of “Ghost Light” gave him whiplash after Sean Twist’s hilarious within-text take on “Battlefield”.) It meant I really just had to sit back and watch everyone bring their A-game to the table. That made it a joy to assemble and then edit.

You’ve written about Doctor Who, zombies and even Justin Bieber. What’s next?

I’m going to create a mathematical model of a Monoid invasion. You heard it here first.

Thank you Robert. That was a rather lengthy interview, so I won’t add anything beyond…

Catch ya later,  George

PS. Follow me on Twitter

 

Check out my DVD blog, Viewing Clutter.

Latest Post: DVD Giveaway  — Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror

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I may have already mentioned that 2013 is the 50^th anniversary of a little TV show called Doctor Who. Every year there seems to be more and more books related to the series being published, and this year is seeing a Doctor Who publishing explosion. In addition to all the official licensed books, there are also quite a lot of unlicensed publications about the show.

Perhaps the most well known of these unofficial Doctor Who books is Chicks Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who By The Women Who Love It. And that title says it all, really — it’s a collection of essays about the series by women. It was a hugely popular book and it won a HUGO award in 2011 for Best Related Work. In fact, it has been so successful, that it spawned two other books — Chicks Unravel Time: Women Journey Through Every Season of Doctor Who and Queers Dig Time Lords: A Celebration of Doctor Who by the LGBTQ Fans Who Love It.

The three above books are all from Mad Norwegian Press, who have also published a six-book series of guides to the classic series (About Time) as well as a history of the series, guides to the novels and even a fanzine archive. And Running Through Corridors: Rob and Toby’s Marathon Watch of Doctor Who. The two authors are Doctor Who fans who have had some official connection to the series. Robert Shearman, of course, wrote “Dalek” for the first season of the revived series in 2005. Toby Hadoke is a comedian who has had much success with his one-man show, Moths Ate My Doctor Who Scarf. He has also been a moderator on many a Doctor Who DVD commentary. Rob and Toby are also friends. And the two of them embarked on the mammoth task of watching every episode of Doctor Who, two eps a day, every day, from the show’s start in 1963 to David Tennant’s final episode in 2010. They have chronicled their epic viewing as a set of literary conversations in a series of books. Volume 1: The 60s is out, with Volumes 2 and 3 coming soon.

But there are many other books out there.

Behind the Sofa: Celebrity Memories Of Doctor Who
Contributors include Bill Oddie, Neil Gaiman, Jonathan Ross and Rhys Thomas, along with loads of other writers, comedians, actors and even politicians. 100% of the book royalties, proceeds and net profit are being donated to Alzheimer’s Research UK.

Outside In: 160 New Perspectives on 160 Classic Doctor Who Stories by 160 Writers
Each story from the classic series has an essay from a different writer. The thing about this book is that every author had to find a unique approach to the story s/he was writing about. So you have everything from scripts to letters to Shakespearean verse. I’ve got an essay in this book — it’s about the William Hartnell story “The Reign of Terror”, and I’ve written it as a Sherlock Holmes mystery.

There are many more books out there — from Triumph of a Time Lord: Regenerating Doctor Who in the Twenty-first Century to Dining with the Doctor: The Unauthorized Whovian Cookbook. And there are many more due to make an appearance later this year, including a few that I’ve written for. [For a quick roundup of my writing about Doctor Who, check out my personal blog.)

It seems like the publishing world is obsessed with Doctor Who at the moment. And I rather like that.

Catch ya later,  George

PS. Follow me on Twitter

 

Check out my DVD blog, Viewing Clutter.

Latest Post: DVD Giveaway  — Doctor Who: The Reign of Terror

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After Pixarifying (is that a word?) the universes of Marvel/DC comics, Doctor Who and Star Wars, cartoonist Phil Postma has directed his attention toward the characters of Star Trek. In a post on his blog, Postma explains that he didn’t render any of the images:

“Yes, these are characters from Pixar films and it is just a photo mash-up of images I find on the Internet using Photoshop. No, they are not meant to be a caricature of the actors who played them. Rather a character from the Pixar universe that resembles in some small way the character I am doing. It is just a fun simple project I picked to help me learn more about Photoshop since I am far from an expert at it.”

Reimagining “X in the style of Y” isn’t necessarily a groundbreaking venture, but it’s a common creative exercise done by artists to help better perceive the design tropes of certain styles and studios. In that light, Postma’s exercises are fun to look at. Incidentally, the best reimagining by Postma has nothing to do with Pixar—it’s a Fleischer-ization of Spider-Man.

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TweetIDW’s first volume of the collected DOCTOR WHO OMNIBUS is a compact but substantial little tome gathering two long story arcs (“Agent Provacateur” and “The Forgotten”) and six one-shots that appeared in single issue form featuring, for the most part, the adventures of the 10th Doctor. The production values on the collection are reasonably high, [...]

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