With the San Diego Comic Con (SDCC) less than a month away, news is coming in fast and furious on con-exclusives. Titan is offering a cornucopia of SDCC only merchandise, with triptych covers featuring the 10th, 11th and 12th Doctors, an SDCC exclusive story line featuring the 12th Doctor and Clara battling a mirror-bound alien threat at the con itself, and two 10th Doctor vinyl figures including a 50th anniversary 10 wearing 11’s Fez! Titan will be at booth #5537. From Titan:
DOCTOR WHO: THE TWELFTH DOCTOR SDCC EXCLUSIVE
When the Twelfth Doctor and Clara turn up at San Diego Comic Con, a quick selfie outside the TARDIS reveals an alien threat among the con-goers and cosplayers! The green-skinned Lady of Neverness can only be viewed through mirrors, photos and quantum snapshots, and has turned up in the background of photos all over the convention! But if enough people view her at the same time, she’ll gain the power to breach into our dimension… to feed on the life-force of the whole planet! Can the Doctor and Clara defeat her and save the day?
Find out in this exclusive new short story, only available at San Diego Comic Con 2015! Plus, go behind the scenes of the comic with writers George Mann and Cavan Scott, and artist Rachael Stott – and get an early in-print glimpse of the Doctor Who 2015 Event – Four Doctors! All under two amazing covers from fan-favorite artist Alice X. Zhang!
When writer Cavan Scott talked to us about taking on the Ninth Doctor back in March, he mentioned he would be adding another Doctor to the long list of Time Lord incarnations he’s written for. This issue is what he was hinting at! Scott has previously written for Doctors: 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11 and now 12! The issue offers a choice of two gorgeous covers from Zhang, who really lovingly captures the Doctors and now a Companion in her oil-paint portraiture style:
Then there’s that nice series of interlocking covers featuring the three Doctors looking very British in front of the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, and the London Eye. The special covers are unique to SDCC, and contain the latest issues in the ongoing series of the Doctors.
Doctor Who: Tenth Doctor #14, which is the penultimate issue of the ongoing series, finds 10 and Gabby separated by an “ancient force from the centre of the galaxy” according to the release from Titan. Can Gabby hold her own alone? Check out our interview with series writer Nick Abadzis to get your 10th Doctor fix before the issue drops.
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #14 is part one of a two-part season finale, that teams Al Ewing and Rob Williams up on writing duties for what Titan calls “an unmissable mini-epic.” Will companion Alice “find peace — or be marooned far from Earth? Will Jones fulfill his cosmic rock god destiny — or die among the stars? And who will be left to join the Doctor as we head into Year Two?” Check out our interview with Ewing and Williams and see if the spoiler hints they gave us have come to pass yet…
And finally Doctor Who: Twelfth Doctor #11 finds the Doctor and Clara “Fresh from their adventures in Las Vegas” and apparently the Doctor and “eager for a change of scenery, but their next destination aboard the TARDIS will prove a SHOCKING change of pace!
Check out the the neat Triptych effect below of the SDCC exclusive covers below:
But what would a menu of SDCC con-exclusives from Titan be without adorable vinyl figures? Fear not, you’ve got your pick of tiny Tennant’s:
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.
Did you know that Falcon is Captain America now? Just thought it worth mentioning ahead of time, so this article doesn’t confuse you. He’ll be the lead in a relaunch for Mighty Avengers in November, you see, with Al Ewing and Luke Ross on as the creative team for the series.
The team, as you can see, seem largely to have remained intact. Monica Rambeau is up there, along with Blue Marvel, White Tiger, and I think Luke Cage with rocket feet.
You’ll also see Spider-Man trying to catch up with them in the image – having annoyed all of them back when he was inadvertently ‘superior’, one of the first storylines will see him attempt to rejoin the team, to the particular dismay of Luke Cage and Jessica Jones.
Sam Wilson will be the lead role in the book now, as he assembles the team once more specifically for himself to lead. Starting in November, Captain America & The Mighty Avengers will be an ongoing series.
Marvel are kicking off a weekend of announcements today with news about some Original Sin tie-ins. The main Original Sin series will see The Watcher get shot up something rotten, his eyeballs getting ripped out, and everybody finding out deep and dark secrets which previously only Uatu knew about. It’s like superhuman wikileaks, basically. And amongst the tie-ins has just been announced a five-issue miniseries from Jason Aaron, Simone Bianchi, Al Ewing, and Lee Garbett: Loki and Thor: The Tenth Realm.
Those would be the creative teams for Loki: Agent of Asgard and The Mighty Thor, of course. The storyline also concerns another character, however – the noted Angela, fresh from her stint in the Guardians of the Galaxy. After a lot of wondering about why she was important to the Marvel Universe, and why it was such a big deal that she arrived, courtesy of Neil Gaiman, into Marvel Comics… it appears the answer has finally come.
She’s Odin’s daughter. Making her the sister of both Thor and Loki. Uh-oh! In this five-issue miniseries, Angela will be heading across for a family reunion, causing problems for Thor, Loki – and also for Odin. You have to imagine that Frigga won’t be particularly thrilled, either.
Marvel note that the series will be numbered as Original Sin #5.1 across to #5.5. It’ll start this July.
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.
Christmas is being held on December 25th this year, so you’ve only got a few weeks left to find something decent to give your family and friends. But never tremble with frostbitten fear! Because there are still places you can go, events you can take part in, and presents you can get for your demanding little sister. But… only if you’re British. Sorry, everywhere else in the World!
Today see the Leeds Alternative Comics Fair take place for the 5th consecutive year, promising a great lineup of small press and self-published creators and makers such as Kristyna Baczynski, Adam Cadwell, Gareth Brookes and organisers Steve Tillotson and Hugh Raine. Held at Nation of Shopkeepers in Leeds (which is a BAR), it’s a great, fun event, and will be running today. Oh! You’d better run!
We also see Newcastle’s Canny Comic Con kick off today, with guests including Bryan and Mary Talbot, Gary Erskine, Al Ewing and those Art Hero boys everybody’s talking about nowadays. Another festive tradition in Britain, the CCC is another brilliant way to find some last-minute (you still have several weeks, but I like to instil fear in an audience) presents for people.
Oh, but again – that’s happening today. You’d better run! Again!
The Comic Book is fine yet when Mr . Capaldi(s) run is over , I suggest Three other actors that seem to have what it would take to do the role . Matthew McFayden , Ron Cook or Bill Nighy . If I see anyone else from some other shows I will post the perspective individuals .
@Prim_n’_Proper: Nighy would be a good fit, but (1) he’s a little too obvious and (2) there is no way the BBC can afford him. I’d love to see him on the show in some capacity, though, maybe as a Time Lord, maybe as a villain.
I’m not sure I recognize Matthew McFayden’s name. I’ve apparently seen Ron Cook in a couple things but don’t really remember him. Apparently he’s already been on Doctor Who in another role — but then again, so had Capaldi.
Yes, Ron Cook over MacFayden