In the future, a secret organization is the only force standing between the human race and utter annihilation. Aliens from another world have been landing on our world, harvesting organs for their dying race. The year is 1980, and UFOs are not only real, they’re coming for us.
Commander Edward Straker (Ed Bishop)
As I have noted in previous articles about Gerry Anderson’s various programs, he had never intended to be known for working with puppets. His mind was abuzz with gigantic action sequences, intense situations and emotionally engaging characters, all of which were presented in miniaturized form in his various supermarionation productions. After achieving success with several children’s programs such as Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons, Anderson explored a live action film, Doppelgänger. That success proved that he had what it took to produce a more sophisticated TV series using live actors rather than puppets. The result was ITV’s UFO, an incredibly ambitious and experimental TV series that still makes an impact today.
The overall look and design of UFO is absolutely stunning. As a fan of Doctor Who, I am used to seeing science fiction ‘on the cheap’ with bubble wrap representing an alien and a sheet of tin foil standing in as ‘unbreakable metal.’ In sharp contrast, the costumes, props and various vehicles seen in UFO pop out of the screen in true retro-future style. Using prop cars built for the feature film Doppelgänger, the future world feels very tangible, a necessity for the themes explored in the series.
In addition to the look of the program, the concept is incredibly adult, treating the threat of alien invasion as very real. Early episodes include civil servants addressing the set up and financial challenges of a global defense service against the possibility of invasion from another planet, lending credence to the action and drama that follows. Ed Bishop stars as Commander Straker (a voice actor from Captain Scarlet), a man who has sacrificed everything in the mission to defend the planet while retaining absolute secrecy.
But before I get to excited about the adult nature of the program, I have to address the absurd elements that make the program so attractive. Housed beneath a movie production studio, SHADO (Supreme Headquarters Alien Defence Organisation) is populated by young sexy ladies in skin tight beige jumpsuits and able-bodied men in uniforms that keep no secrets. If that’s not enough, an undersea base is manned by a crew adorned only in fishnets and belts. On the moon, a team of sexy darlings are dressed in purple wigs and hip-hugging silver (look for the late Nick Drake’s sister as Lt. Ellis).
Col. Alec E. Freeman (George Sewell) and Lt. Gay Ellis (Gabrielle Drake)
While the plots involved adult situations such as murder and adultery, the program featured vehicles that were immediately made into toys for a no doubt confused child audience. I can only guess at what a kid would make of stories revolving around Straker’s doomed marriage or even better a young man seducing his lover into killer husband only to get caught in the middle of a lost alien who ends up taking the bullet for an unsuspecting husband.
After a successful first series, planning began for a second year set entirely on the moon. Unfortunately, the deal fell through but the ideas were represented as Space: 1999. There was some news recently about a feature film adaptation of UFO under movie producer Robert Evans (of Chinatown fame).
I had a lot of resistance to viewing this series, and found the first episode a bit difficult to get through (a second viewing improved the experience greatly), but after a few stories I was hooked. If you are a fan of 1960′s science fiction, you need to familiarize yourself with this program.
At this year’s Star Wars Celebration, some details were revealed for the upcoming fourth season of the Clone Wars animated series. Here are some key details and an extended trailer.
Admiral Ackbar leads an underwater squad in season 4
Season 4 starts with an underwater story arc on the planet of Mon Calamari. Filoni said they wanted the cameras to have similar movements to underwater scuba camera. They had to create an entire civilization from the buildings to the population of the people — male and female fish, warriors, the Quarren army, etc.
New Faces and Armor:
They changed the look of a lot of the main characters like Anakin, Ahsoka and Obi-Wan, so this season they upgraded the facial expressions on the clone faces and changed some of the armor as well. Captain Rex doesn’t like the new armor because he thinks it’s too disposable so he makes a hybrid of his old armor welded together with his new armor. He’s worried that the Republic looks at the clones as more of a disposable army.
New Jedi Character: General Krell
He’s the same species as Dexter Jettster! He’s an uncoventional, powerful Jedi who causes the clones to question things in different ways.
Madame Mandalorian?
Filoni revealed that Battlestar Galactica actress Katee Sackoff will be voicing a female Mandalorian. He really wanted to have an actress voice her that really understood the fan culture. Filoni wanted to put a female Mandalorian on the show to give the woman fans another cool costume option to cosplay. Her helmet design is based on a barn owl because Filoni’s wife likes owls. Director Jon Favreau will be back as Mandalorian Pre Vizsla, as well.
Bring on the Bounty Hunters!
Filoni says Cad Bane, Bossk, and Boba Fett will be back, along with an old favorite coming to the series — Dengar!
New Challenges for Ahsoka:
Lux’s character might challenge Ahsoka’s own feelings about someone that she care for. When a fan asks about her pending fate, Filoni says he’s thought of about eight different possible outcomes for Ahsoka, but nothing has been decided yet.
Star Wars Clone Wars Series 4 Trailer
The fourth season is set to begin airing on September 16, 2011.
(note: all information including ad copy is from the publisher)
If you can’t make it to the shop, just click on any of the images below to be taken to an online retailer. I don’t get any referrals for these sales, I’m just doing my bit to spread the word on some neat products.
Incredible Hulks #635
Incredible Hulks #635 By: Greg Pak, Paul Pelletier
THIS IS IT! The finale of Marvel scribe extraordinaire Greg Pak’s heralded Hulk run, and he’s not leaving without a fight! Or in this case, an uncompromising beatdown unlike anything the Hulk has ever endured.All the stops have been pulled out and nothing is off the table in this crushingly climactic issue brought to life by acclaimed artist Paul Pelletier, a must-read event for any and all fans of the Green Goliath in this awesome, extra-large final issue!
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Secret Avengers #16
Secret Avengers #16 By: Warren Ellis, Jamie McKelvie, John Cassaday
A secret city buried one mile under American soil is discovered through the leakage of Von Doom radiation – a type of energy emitted only by time-travel devices. So the Secret Avengers head underground to a weird metropolis forgotten about for decades, because a time machine in the wrong hands is the worst kind of WMD imaginable.
Master storyteller Warren Ellis begins his tenure on Earth’s Mightiest Clandestine Super-Team, illustrated by Eagle Award-winning Jamie McKelvie.
Dark Shadows Barnabus Collins Model Kit
After being out of production for over 40 years, MPC is proud to bring back the gothic star of Dark Shadows, Barnabas Collins!
This model kit of the vampiric ‘ladies man’ is presented just as it originally was with optional glow in the dark parts and soft, semi-poseable arms. The kit features optional detailed bats and rats to supply a ghoulish setting. The kit measures about 8 1/2″ tall and features reproduction packaging and instruction sheet aned is molded in black and glow-in-the-dark plastic.
Some assembly required.
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Mighty Thor #5
Mighty Thor #5 By: Matt Fraction, Olivier Coipel
Thor and the Surfer battle on the surface of Mars, hundreds of millions of kilometers away from the ultimate Asgardian – Galactus War! And meanwhile on Earth, Volstagg is left to defend Asgard from hostile invaders with Loki as his only ally. Loki charges into battle bearing the magical gifts of the Weird Sisters that only he can see.
Will they be enough? Can they save Thor? And who will survive…the rise of the COSMIC DESTROYER?
Thunderbolts By Ellis And Deodato Ult Coll TPB By: Warren Ellis, Mike Deodato, Marko Djurdjevic
The Thunderbolts, a band of reformed villains trying to do good, have always sought justice from America. Their earnest attempts to regain the faith of the people have only made them slow progress toward that goal, and r has always been an elusive prize.
But now, in the aftermath of CIVIL WAR, the tables have turned: It’s time for the Thunderbolts to inflict a little justice on America. At a time when the country has lost faith in its heroes, it is ready to put its faith in monsters. Now is the time for the Thunderbolts!
This title collects
THUNDERBOLTS #110-121 and material from CIVIL WAR: THE INITIATIVE
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MST3K Vs. Gamera: Mystery Science Theater 3000
MST3K Vs. Gamera: Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000′s verbal brawls with the much-maligned Japanese monster Gamera–you know, the flying turtle–are included in this limited-edition boxed set, which buffets the riffing with some impressive and informative extras. The Gamera films were a staple of MST3K from its humble beginnings as Minneapolis UHF programming, and when the Satellite of Love moved to Comedy Central in the early ’90s, the American re-edits released by distributor Sandy Frank were among the show’s most popular episodes.
All five of the MST3K Gamera episodes, culled from the show’s third season in 1991 and featuring series creator Joel Hodgson alongside robots Tom Servo and Crow, are included in the set, as are some of the show’s most memorable skits: in Gamera, Tom croons a heartfelt tribute to the film’s lost pet, Tibby the Turtle, and head writer/future host Mike Nelson turns up as the giant monster himself to reveal the true nature of his relationship with boy hero Kenny, while Gamera vs. Gaos features the cast’s aborted presentation of their opera “Gameradammerung,” and Gamera vs. Guiron and Gamera vs. Zigra offer the SOL’s rousing “Gamera Song” and several berserk variations.
None of the MST3K Gamera experiments have been available on home video prior to this release, so longtime fans can finally retire their worn pre-records and enjoy the episodes in glorious, uncut form.
In addition to the swell limited-edition tin packaging, MST3K vs. Gamera includes a trio of enjoyable featurettes that pay tribute to both the episodes and the films themselves. So Happy Together: A Look Back at MST3K and Gamera features interviews with Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, and Jim Mallon, who recall the show’s long history with Gamera and the joys and pains of watching the films; Gamera vs. the Chiodo Brothers is an amusing and nostalgic look at men-in-monster-suit films with Stephen, Edward, and Charles Chiodo, better known as the creators of Killer Klowns from Outer Space; and Gamera Obscura is an exhaustive oral history of the Gamera series, from its cultural origins to its late ’90s revival, by Japanese fantasy film expert August Ragone. Mike Nelson’s wrap segments as Jack Perkins from the syndicated MST Hour are also included, as are the original Japanese trailers for each film and a quintet of original mini posters by artist Steve Vance. –Paul Gaita
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Namor First Mutant TPB Vol. 02 Namor Goes To Hell
Namor First Mutant TPB Vol. 02 Namor Goes To Hell By: Stuart Moore, Ariel Olivetti
If Wolverine jumped off a bridge, would you jump, too? That’s the question Namor must answer when the old Kings of Atlantis escape Hell only to drag him back down with them – into a burning desert wasteland.
Can even the X-Men help him now? And with its king missing, what will happen to New Atlantis? Also featuring a special story showcasing the different sides of Prince Namor: proud king, valiant hero – and arrogant, unfaithful lover.
Years ago, when Namor was young, he fell in love with a surface woman – only to break her heart. But what is her connection to the new generation of X-Men?
ABC Warriors: The Black Hole By Pat Mills and Simon Bisely
The Termight Empire was able to expand across the universe once an artificial black and white hole was constructed on Terra. Now Nemesis the Warlock’s wayward son Thoth, on a quest for vengeance against Torquemada, has destabilsed the cosmic subways around the Termight Capital bringing destruction to Terra.
Nemesis, in an attempt to stop the end of time has sent the ABC Warriors into the dreaded Time Wastes. Now the fate of everything hangs on the success of seven ex-war robots, even as the comrades begin to fight amongst themselves.
The ABC Warriors are back. Spread the word.
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Uncanny X-Force #14
Uncanny X-Force #14 By: Rick Remender, Mark Brooks, Esad Ribic
Years ago, Wolverine helplessly watched as Jean Grey, the love of his life, died before his eyes. Years later, he would lose his best-friend Nightcrawler to a similar fate. In order to save our world, can he allow them to die again?
X-Force team up with The Amazing X-Men for the final push against the heir of Apocalypse, in a battle Royale that will force Wolverine to make the hardest choice of his life. One world must die!
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Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep HC Vol. 05 (of 6)
Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep HC Vol. 05 (of 6) By: Philip K. Dick, Tony Parker, Bill Sienkiewicz
Philip K. Dick’s award-winning Do Androids Dream Of Electric Sheep has been called ‘a masterpiece ahead of its time, even today’ and ‘arguably Mr. Dick’s best.’
BOOM! Studios is honored to present the complete novel transplanted to the comic book medium, mixing all new panel-to-panel continuity with the actual text from the novel in an innovative, ground-breaking series experiment that the Village Voice named one of the ‘Best Comics and Graphic Novels.’
This title collects
Do Andoirds Dream Of Electric Sheep #17-20
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Herc #6.1
Herc #6.1 By: Greg Pak & Fred Van Lente, Mike Grell, Carlo Pagulayan
START READING with this Point One Issue!
Herc’s had a busy time recently. He saved all of reality, got depowered in the process, moved out to Brooklyn and became a local hero. Although he’s no longer a god and shows no interest in reclaiming his place in Olympia, that doesn’t mean that Olympia’s forgotten about him.
A figure from Herc’s past has come to hunt him down, and his intentions for what to do once he finds him remain unclear. Does Olympia have it out for its former son?
HERC 6.1 offers an awesome jumping-on point for anyone curious about Marvel’s beloved bruiser, Herc!
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The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor Archives Volume 3 HC
The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor Archives Volume 3 HC By: Donald Glut, Jesse Santos
With an introduction by creator and original series writer Don Glut, Doctor Spektor Archives Volume 3 hits the ground running with “A Bullet for Adam,” as the good doctor fights to cure himself from a bout of lethal lycanthropy! This volume also features some of Doctor Adam Spektor’s longer, continuing comic-book adventures and several crossovers with other Gold Key characters from the mid-1970s–like Doctor Solar, Simbar, Durak, Mr. Hyde, and the Frankenstein Monster! Most of this volume’s cover and story artwork is from the talented hand of Jesse Santos, with one story illustrated by comics veteran Dan Spiegle.
* This archival series reprints issue #s 13 to 18 of the original The Occult Files of Doctor Spektor series and the Spektor tales from Dr. Spektor Presents Spine-Tingling Tales issue #s 1 and 2!
Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot
The Tardi/Manchette team of West Coast Blues reunites for another brutal neo-noir classic.
Like many of the greatest noir thrillers, Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot begins with a classic, even clichéd set-up: Martin Terrier, the hired killer, needs just one more big job so that he can turn in his guns, return to his native village to find and marry his childhood sweetheart, and retire.
But nothing goes as expected, his “last job” turns out to be a set-up that results in a bloody shoot-out from which Terrier barely escapes with his life, and soon he’s on the run from not only the authorities and his treacherous ex-bosses but also the members of a crime syndicate still seeking revenge for an earlier hit on one of theirs. (We won’t even mention what they do to his cat.)
With Like a Sniper Lining Up His Shot, Tardi, at the top of his form, once again puts his lushly efficient neo-clear-line style in the service of Manchette’s gleefully brisk prose for a spectacularly dark, violent and fast-paced crime thriller that will delight fans of their previous collaboration, West Coast Blues.
(NOTE: Manchette’s original 1981 novel, La Position du tireur couché, was released in English under the title The Prone Gunman by City Lights in 2001.) 104 pages of black-and-white comics
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Rocketeer Adventures #4 (of 4)
Rocketeer Adventures #4 (of 4) By: Gibbons, Pruett, Arcudi, Hampton, Harris, McCarthy, Alex Ross, Dave Stevens
A trio of stories by a trio of brilliant creative teams! A spectacular adventure with Cliff and a prowling Japanese submarine could spell the end of the Rocketeer, while a day at the beach becomes anything but relaxing for Cliff, Betty and Peevy.
Plus a story of a sexy Nazi saboteur hell-bent on acquiring Cliff’s jetpack!
Marvel X Tokidoki Frenzies 30pc Bmb Ds
Simone Legno’s charming world of tokidoki collides with the heroes and villains of the Marvel Universe to create a new artistic sensation – tokidoki X Marvel.
All your favorite Marvel characters, from Spider-Man to Doctor Doom, from Wolverine to the Mighty Thor, are given a cute and colorful makeover with Legno’s designs, and these happy visions of your Marvel favorites are given physical form with the tokidoki x Marvel Frenzies.
These beautifully designed characters are ready to accessorize your life. As miniature zipper pulls, you can affix them to your jacket or bag, or use them to decorate your keychain.
Amazing Spider-Man #668 By: Dan Slott, Humberto Ramos
‘Spider-Island’ PART TWO
Spider-powered New York citizens! Spider-powered criminals! And Peter Parker fighting alongside Manhattan biggest super heroes-as Peter Parker? The most sensational spider-ific summer event continues!
Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation: An Unabridged Doctor Who Novelization
Doctor Who and the Ribos Operation: An Unabridged Doctor Who Novelization
Reluctantly cancelling his well-earned holiday, the Doctor sets off in the TARDIS to trace and re-assemble the six segments of the Key to Time on which the stability of the entire Universe depends. Assisted by the argumentative Romanadvoratrelundar and K9, he lands on the planet Ribos in search of the first segment and finds himself entangled in the machinations of two sinister strangers, Garron and the Graff Vynda Ka. Who are they? Is Garron simply a shady confidence-trickster dealing in interplanetary real estate? Is the Graff Vynda Ka just a power-crazed exile bent on revenge? Or are they both really agents of the Black Guardian, intent upon seizing the precious Key in order to throw the Universe into eternal chaos? Risking his life within the monster-infested catacombs of Ribos, the Doctor has to use all his wit and ingenuity to find out… An exciting unabridged reading, with music and sound effects, of a classic Doctor Who adventure, first published by Target Books in 1979.
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Annihilators HC
Annihilators HC By: Dan Abnett & Andy Lanning, T E Huat & T Green II, Alex Garner
Because you – yes, you! – demanded it: Marvel’s all-star cosmic team – and cult faves Rocket Raccoon and Groot – in one massive story!
The Silver Surfer! Beta-Ray Bill! Gladiator! Quasar! Ronan! When the Dire Wraiths strike, Cosmic Masters DnA (THE THANOS IMPERATIVE, THOR/IRON MAN) and Tan Eng Huat (SILVER SURFER, THOR: FIRST THUNDER) assemble the heaviest hitters in all the universe to save the day! And not to be outdone, the demented duo of Rocket Raccoon and Groot return for their own, reader-friendly adventure!
What do you do after you’ve saved the galaxy? DnA and the fabulous Timothy Green II (ANNIHILATION: CONQUEST – STAR-LORD) answer that question with madcap sci-fi combat and swashbuckling, space-faring mayhem!
Planet Of The Apes TPB Vol. 01 By: Daryl Gregory, Carlos Magno, Karl Richardson
Have you always wondered what happened before the original first five films? This is the trade to read, and BOOM! Studios’ Planet of the Apes comic series is monthly must reading! Don’t miss out on what all your friends know already – that this is the one comic that cannot be passed up. Now there is no excuse not to. Get your hands on these damn dirty Apes!
Young Justice: Season One V.1
In Young Justice, being a teenager means proving yourself over and over — to peers, parents, teachers, mentors and, ultimately, to yourself. But what if you’re not just a normal teenager? What if you’re a teenage super hero? How much harder will it be to prove yourself in a world of super powers, super villains and super secrets? Are you ready to come of age in such a world? Are you ready for life or death rites of passage? Are you ready to join the ranks of the great heroes and prove you’re worthy of the Justice League? That’s exactly what the members of Young Justice — Robin, Aqualad, Kid Flash, Superboy, Miss Martian and Artemis — will find out: whether they have what it takes to be a proven hero.
Independence Day, Part 1
Independence Day, Part 2
Welcome to Happy Harbor
Drop Zone
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Bone One Vol. Color Ed Sgn HC 20th Ann Box Set
Bone One Vol. Color Ed Sgn HC 20th Ann Box Set By: Jeff Smith, Steve Hamaker
The 20th Anniversary Full Color One Volume Collector’s Box Set starts with the most requested Bone item of all time: all 1344 full color pages of Bone in a single volume. This hardcover is adorned with colorful foil stamps and art work and includes a satin ribbon bookmark.
This full-color volume comes in a beautiful, illustrated red box with a magnetic clasp, filled to the brim with limited collectibles such as a signed and numbered art print, a 22k gold plated Bone coin, pewter figures of the three Bone cousins, a miniature facsimile of the Bone #1 comic book in b&w, a Bone cover gallery, a new essay by Jeff Smith called ‘Twenty Years with Bone,’ an illustrated timeline, and the award-winning feature length documentary DVD Jeff Smith, BONE, and the Changing Face of Comics.
This edition will be signed and limited to 2,000 copies. This is a book so big, we’ll plant a tree for every one we sell!
The Eldritch Kid: Whisky & Hate
An old West where every myth and monster and magic is real.
Ten Shoes Dancing is a shaman of the Lakota people and an Oxford scholar. Riding shotgun on a group of pilgrims heading West, he encounters the dime novel hero known only as the Eldritch Kid. Famed as a hero and champion, sadly, the Kid isn’t all he seems. But there’s bad times coming for the convoy, sour ground to cross, and the price Ten Shoes will pay for the Kid’s help might be too damn high.
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Doctor Who: The Mind of Evil: The Original BBC Television Soundtrack
Doctor Who: The Mind of Evil: The Original BBC Television Soundtrack
This original TV soundtrack, with new linking narration by a member of the cast, is the six-part adventure from 1971. This BBC production stars Jon Pertwee as the Doctor, with Katy Manning as his companion Jo Grant. Nicholas Courtney and Roger Delgado also star as the Brigadier and the Master.
The Doctor is caught up in events at Stangmoor Prison, where Professor Keller’s new machine is said to be able to remove all evil impulses from the minds of the prisoners. Also includes a bonus interview with Richard Franklin.
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Invincible Iron Man Prem HC Vol. 08 Unfixable
Invincible Iron Man Prem HC Vol. 08 Unfixable By: M Fraction & K S Deconnick, Salvador Larroca
Why should Tony Stark be the one to benefit from all of his technology? What right does Stark have to keep his miracles to?himself? A familiar threat in other corners of the Marvel Universe comes demanding answers – and salvation – from Iron Man. And because it’s not enough to remake the world with free and limitless energy, Stark Resilient takes on the challenge of remaking another world: Asgard!
Plus: Witness Rescue in action, as Pepper Potts lets loose with her bleeding-edge suit and astonishing power! And Iron Man and Thor find themselves facing an enemy unlike any they’ve fought before!
This title collects
INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #501-502, FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2010: IRON MAN/THOR, RESCUE #1 and material from?INVINCIBLE IRON MAN #503
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Kinky And Cosy HC
Kinky And Cosy HC By: Nix
Shocking!
Disgusting!
Meet the most dangerous twin girls in the universe! Their record of wrong doings, on purpose or not, will raise your hair on end. A darkly subversive collection of cynical comics gags that is sweeping Europe. Nothing is sacred for these two lil’ monsters! South Park meets Monty Python.
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Eerie Archives Volume 8 HC
Eerie Archives Volume 8 HC
Warren Publishing’s outlet for everything fantastic, sinister, and otherworldly travels through the early ’70s at light speed! This excursion features the work of comic-book luminaries Ernie Colón, Mike Ploog, and Dave Cockrum, as well as fan-favorite Eerie creators Doug Moench, Don Glut, Tom Sutton, Sanjulian, Esteban Maroto, and Steve Skeates.
* Eerie Archives Volume 8 collects issues #37-#41 of the original Eerie magazine series in a hardcover format.
Eldritch Tales: A Miscellany of the Macabre
Following the phenomenal success of Necronomicon, its companion volume brings together Lovecraft’s remaining major stories plus his weird poetry, a number of obscure revisions, and some notable nonfiction, including the seminal critical essay Supernatural Horror in Literature
Gathering together in chronological order the rest of Lovecraft’s rarely seen but extraordinary short fiction, this collection includes the entirety of the long-out-of-print collection of 36 sonnets “Fungi from Yoggoth.” Howard Phillips Lovecraft died at the age of 47, but in his short life he turned out dozens of stories which changed the face of horror. His extraordinary imagination spawned both the Elder God Cthulhu and his eldritch cohorts, and the strangely compelling town of Innsmouth, all of which are featured within these pages. Stephen Jones, one of the world’s foremost editors of dark fiction, completes the Lovecraft story in his extensive afterword, and award-winning artist Les Edwards provides numerous illustrations for this must-have collection.
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Doctor Who: The Space Museum: The Original BBC Television Soundtrack
Doctor Who: The Space Museum: The Original BBC Television Soundtrack
This is the original TV soundtrack, with new linking narration by a member of the cast, of the four-part adventure from 1965. This BBC production stars William Hartnell as the Doctor with William Russell, Jacqueline Hill, and Maureen O’Brien as his companions Ian, Barbara, and Vicki.
The TARDIS travelers find themselves exhibits in a futuristic museum, somehow trapped in their own future. Soon they are entangled in a dangerous war between two factions.
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Robocop 7-in Action Figure
Robocop 7-in Action Figure
The classic crime figher from future Detroit – Robocop – is back! A brand-new figure in the 7″ scale, Robocop features interchangeable right hands and the Auto-9 pistol. The figure is fully poseable and highly detailed. Blister card packaging.
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DC Adventures RPG Heroes & Villains Volume 1
DC Adventures RPG Heroes & Villains Volume 1
The DC Universe features a dazzling array of characters who have thrilled readers for generations. Now they come to life for tabletop gaming in DC Adventures Heroes & Villains! Volume 1 covers characters A-K, from Abra Kadabra and Adam Strange through Kid Flash and Kobra. Each entry comes complete with DC Adventures game information, character details, and a full-color illustration from one of DC Comics’ best artists. Heroes & Villains also includes entries on various teams, from the Justice League and Justice Society to the Injustice Gang and the Fearsome Five. With Heroes & Villains in-hand, you have a tremendous wealth of material for your DC Adventures games, all usable with the award-winning Mutants & Masterminds game system.
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Iron Man 2.0 #8
Iron Man 2.0 #8 By: Nick Spencer, Ariel Olivetti, Salvador Larroca
Yet another perfect chance to jump on! War Machine has just met the greatest enemy he’s never faced – a nemesis who’s already dead!
When War Machine’s weaponry fails him against a super villain he can’t tackle head-on, Rhodey must use his brains – and his all-new, bleeding-edge armor – to fight a NEW battle…21st-century style!
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Martian Chronicles HC
Martian Chronicles HC By: Ray Bradbury, Dennis Calero
The Earthmen came by the handful, then the hundreds, then the millions. They swept aside the majestic, dying Martian civilization to build their homes, shopping malls, and cities.
Mars began as a place of boundless hopes and dreams, a planet to replace an Earth sinking into waste and war. It became a canvas for mankind’s follies and darkest desires.
Translated into gorgeous, full-color art by Dennis Calero, Ray Bradbury’s The Martian Chronicles: The Authorized Adaptation graphically translates fifteen of Bradbury’s famous interconnected science-fiction stories, turning an unforgettable vision of man and Mars into an unforgettable work of art.
Captain Action King Size Special #1 By: Grant, Kupperberg, Maniquis, Hebert, Byrne, Benes
Thrice the action, as Captain Action’s ‘Season 2″ supersizes with two new episodes of the new Captain Action and Action Boy, plus a new Captain Action Classified spy thriller!
Though presumed dead, Captain Action’s actually in the secret city of Aggartha, getting a history lesson they don’t teach in schools in ‘Journey thru the Past.’
Then it’s an international catfight as the USA battles the UK! Lady Action battles Liberty, of the sinister new super-team, Patriot Power! As the intrigue builds to a crescendo, everyone’s asking, ‘Where is Captain Action?’
And in this lost tale from the swinging sixties, the original Captain Action is determined to stop the assassination of Robert F. Kennedy!
Essential Web Of Spider-Man TPB Vol. 01
It’s an all-new series starring your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! Swinging through town in his sleek black suit, Spidey faces new threats – including Magma, the Vulturions, Chance, Future Max and the Smithville Thunderbolt – as well as classic foes like the Kingpin, Dr. Octopus and the Vulture!
Guest-starring Dominic Fortune and the New Mutants! This title collects
Collecting WEB OF SPIDER-MAN (1985) #1-18 and ANNUAL #1-2, and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #268.
Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death: The Original BBC Television Soundtrack
Doctor Who: The Ambassadors of Death: The Original BBC Television Soundtrack
When a pioneering space probe returns to present-day Earth, the Doctor and UNIT discover that it is empty. What has happened to the three astronauts who went up into space, and where are they now?
This is the original TV soundtrack, with new linking narration by a member of the cast, of the seven-part adventure from 1971. This BBC production stars Jon Pertwee as the Doctor, with Caroline John as his companion Liz Shaw. Nicholas Courtney stars as the Brigadier.
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Ghost World Special Ed HC
Ghost World Special Ed HC By: Daniel Clowes
NEW LOWER PRICE! This deluxe new edition of our most popular book ever expands the original graphic novel from 80 pages into a 288 page behind-the-scenes tour through the making of both the classic book and the subsequent hit film. Including a new introduction and several pages of new strips by Clowes, as well as over 200 pages of ‘extras’. Truly lavish, definitive and comprehensive.
Journey Into Mystery #626.1 By: Rob Rodi, Pasqual Ferry
START READING with this Point One Issue!
Young Loki is at a severe disadvantage: everyone in Asgard remembers him from his previous life-but they’re all strangers to him, and they fully intend to keep it that way.
Desperate, Loki conjures up a mystical means of eavesdropping on their private thoughts; and what he learns doesn’t make him happy. Even worse, the lesson itself may just cost him his life!
A perfect jumping-on point, showcasing Loki’s relationships with Asgard’s movers and shakers, and setting the stage for the choices he makes in the months to come.
Creepy Presents Bernie Wrightson HC
Horror legend Bernie Wrightson’s Creepy and Eerie short stories, color illustrations, and frontispieces are finally collected in one deluxe hardcover! These classic tales from the 1970s and early 1980s include collaborations with fellow superstars and Warren Publishing alumni Bruce Jones, Carmine Infantino, Howard Chaykin, and others, as well as several adaptations and original stories written and drawn by Wrightson during one of the most fruitful periods of his career! The infamous “Jenifer” is included, as well as Wrightson’s full-color “Muck Monster” and adaptations of Poe and Lovecraft classics.
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Doctor Who: Ghost Light: An Unabridged Doctor Who Novelization
Doctor Who: Ghost Light: An Unabridged Doctor Who Novelization
The TARDIS arrives in a house in Perivale (Ace’s home town), a house which is strangely familiar. It is a hundred years before Ace was carried off to Iceworld in a time storm, and she has some unresolved issues to deal with. The house is occupied by a group of characters who make the Addams’ Family. And then there’s what’s in the cellar…
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Earlier this year, an eight issue mini-series relaunching the Canadian superhero team was announced. With writing team Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente (who had previously collaborated on Incredible Hercules) joined by Dale Eaglesham, the series has been a knock-out.
Marvel held a news conference last week announcing their “Next Big Thing” was, surprisingly, Alpha Flight getting an eight-issue limited series written by Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente and drawn by Dale Eaglesham, a Montrealer who now lives in Vankleek Hill, Ont. Van Lente in particular admits to be a huge fan of the group, which originally had its own series in the 1980s.
“I remember my first issue was No. 5, with (a cover featuring) Puck spinning out toward you, and I was immediately hooked,” says van Lente. “I don’t know when it occurred me to me that they were living in another country.
“I might have clued in at some point, but I just thought all the characters were terrific. They just had this incredible list of dysfunctions. All of the Marvel characters are known for having quirks, problems and issues, but it’s almost like Alpha Flight out-Marvels the other Marvel books.”
There have been a fair few announcements made at the Fan Expo in Toronto, the first being that former DC exclusive writer (best known for his work on Vertigo titles DMZ and Northlanders) has signed up with Marvel for what appears to be some sort of Wolverine related project. Also announced, much to the delight of of the Canadian fans in attendance, was that Alpha Flight has been upgraded to an ongoing series. Originally slated to be an 8 issue mini, the current creative team of co-writers Greg Pak and Fred Van Lente plus artist Dale Eaglesham will stay on the series.
Remember the somewhat mysterious “DESTROY” teaser released by Marvel last week? Well, ‘The Pint O’ C.B.’ panel revealed exactly what that is. Written by Fred Van Lente, with art by Kyle Hotz, it’ll be a five-issue miniseries titled Destroyers this September, starring The Thing, She-Hulk, Karkas, A-Bomb, The Beast and Devil Dinosaur. Apparently, Van Lente revealed during the panel that, “We find out what really killed the dinosaurs, and they’re coming back for us.” Many thanks to Newsarama for all of the above information. Be sure to head on over to the site for more!
If you have missed out on the new series so far, keep an eye out for a collection of Pak and Van Lente’s Alpha Flight issues. Otherwise, get your local comic shop owner on the horn to get up to speed.
Nrama: Given that the book has achieved enough success to extend it past issue #8, have you been getting feedback not just from people who were familiar with the original Alpha Flight concept, but also readers new to the team that discovered them through this series?
Van Lente: Yes, and we’ve also gotten the other end of the spectrum, which is also great to hear, people who used to be into comics and have now come back to pick up our new book. That’s always gratifying. You always want to have as big a tent as possible, and let as many people in. It’s cool to see that when it does happen.
Pak: Absolutely. With a property like Alpha Flight, the last thing we wanted to do was run from Alpha Flight. We love these characters because we love these characters. We didn’t want to take the name and do something totally different. The fun was to take those characters and make them relevant again, but be true to the characters and create a book that a new reader could totally jump on board, but would also be a fun thing for folks who are old-time Alpha Flight fans, like Fred said, who maybe have dropped out of reading comics. If you can pull folks like that back in, sometimes you can have a maxiseries turn into an ongoing. [Laughs.]
We’re very happy with the way the book has been received. I don’t exaggerate when I say that when Alpha Flight got announced, I’d never seen that kind of reaction on Twitter. I think Dale, Fred and I were all just swamped by tons of people who were just really excited to hear that Alpha Flight was coming back. There are a lot of fans out there who really care about these characters, and we’ve been lucky enough to be able to come on board and play with them — and folks have been awesome to actually buy the book, and preorder it with their retailers.
I can’t emphasize this enough: It’s totally true, ladies and gentlemen. If you buy it, more books will get made. And preordering makes a huge difference.
Coming soon, Vindicator's Alpha Strike
Nrama: It sounds almost too simple, but it really is true.
Van Lente: It’s the feel-good story of the year.
Nrama: So now that the book is being extended into an ongoing, how much does that change your plans? Are some story beats that were going to be wrapped up by issue #8 now getting a little more time to breathe?
Van Lente: It’s the same plan, but we’re sweating less. [Laughs.] It’s very different to go from a book that has two main characters, to a book that has, I think at last count, about 17,000 major characters. All with their own distinct storyline. So it’s very cool that everybody’s now going to get the room they need to have their stories property laid out. We have this storyline of Jeanne-Marie taking over Aurora’s body, and Walt Langowski seemingly can’t turn into Sasquatch anymore. And how did Puck get out of Hell? And what really is going on with Heather Hudson? Because there’s clearly something very wrong with her, but we don’t quite know what it is yet. That is to say, you don’t. Greg and I know.
Nrama: Right, it sounds like there will be appearances from a few familiar faces from the broader Marvel Universe — including Wolverine?
Pak: Oh yeah. The nice thing about Wolverine is, the joke, “Let’s have Wolverine guest,” no matter what book you’re working on. But it’s entirely appropriate with Alpha Flight! It’s part of his origin. It’s a slow burn that will have a great payoff, and a perfectly appropriate story/character-related payoff.
Nrama: And the Avengers, too?
Van Lente: It’s quite possible that the Avengers are going to be interested —once Fear Itself has concluded — in what’s going on north of the border, since that is a security situation for the United States, even though I suppose the Avengers are not technically the United States’ official superhero team, they do have some kind of pseudo-governmental role.
We may even be pulling in other nationalities of superhero teams, for example, MI:13. It’s all part of a large story we like to call “The Commonwealth of Heroes.”
Nrama: That team hasn’t really been seen much since their book ended, so it must be pretty exciting to get to work with those characters.
Van Lente: Very much so. Greg and I both love the more obscure corners of the Marvel Universe, and MI: 13 was a justly beloved book, and it’s really exciting to bring those characters back… into our clutches. [Laughs.]
Nrama: Artist Dale Eaglesham is on board for the long haul too, right?
Pak: Oh yeah. We’re really thrilled. He’s integral to the book’s success, on multiple levels. Dale and his partner Louise have saved us from our incurable Americanness. We’re a couple of Americans writing a book about Canada and Canadian superheroes; Dale and Louise are Canadian, and have provided great checks for us, and tons of great information, and saved us from stupendous embarrassment many times.
Dale has just sunk his heart and soul into this book. You can see it on every page. You can also see it on his Twitter feed and his website. He’s always talking about the book, and helping get the word out. That kind of going the extra mile on his part I’m sure is a big reason why the book has done well enough to warrant becoming an ongoing.
Nrama: Fred, Greg, any final words you’d like to share on Alpha Flight becoming an ongoing series?
Van Lente: We just want to say a big “thank you” to all the fans out there who have been picking up the book, and writing in, and supporting it, because this is why good things happen, thanks to you.
Pak: And a big tip of the hat to retailers. Retailers ordered the book in enough quantities for this to happen, so thank you, thank you, thank you.
Series 6
Episode 8
Transmitted 27 August 2011 When Reason Slept, When Mothers Wept, When soldiers Crept, The Monsters came
I recall reading about a time when producer John Nathan-Turner asked Eric Saward and possibly Ian Levine over to show them an early cut of The Twin Dilemma, a story that would close out the 22nd series of Doctor Who, introduce the Sixth incarnation of the Doctor and force many devoted fans away from their favorite program. While JNT was jubilant, claiming that it was everything he had always wanted Doctor Who to be, his guests were at a loss for words. In all honesty, I don’t think that Twin Dilemma is all that bad. It has some of the most laughably bad ideas in Doctor Who, but it is still essentially the same program albeit featuring a mentally unhinged maniac as the central hero.
I can imagine Moffat similarly showing Let’s Kill Hitler with great pride to his production crew as a perfect example of how he seems Doctor Who. But Let’s Kill Hitler, on the other hand, isn’t just a bad story. It has no story at all, it’s just bad TV.
For anyone who disagrees with my take on this week’s episode, fair enough. I can actually save you some time by saying that all of the problems I had with the mid series finale are still here only amped up. (edit-in bold for clarity)
Last year, Steven Moffat orchestrated an interconnected tale that peppered clues and hints throughout each weekly installment. Amy was pregnant and not-pregnant, the Doctor died but then an earlier version met up with Amy, Rory and River. A new monster called the Silence was messing about with time and had some grand mysterious scheme. Etc. When the answers fell into place it was more than a bit out of left field and left more questions such as why an army was assembled to kill the Doctor.
Let’s Kill Hitler opens in much the same way that the series 6 opener did, with an over-blown spectacle, the punchline of which can be seen from Mars. Amy and Rory are driving an old beat-up car through a corn field, creating a crop circle to call the Doctor to them. When the Doctor arrives (in his new smart jacket), the trio are then joined by a hot rod driven out of control. I rolled my eyes waiting for River Song to emerge and say, ‘Hello, sweetie.’ but was surprised by a new character, bad girl Mels. I mean, sure, Mels hit all of the same cords as River, but this was the first new companion in a while so it was at least somewhat exciting.
There is an extensive and lazily directed flashback sequence establishing that Mels is indeed a bad girl and has known Amy and Rory for ages. Having heard the stories of the Doctor by Amy, Mels somehow knows that the Doctor is behind several historical events and gets into trouble at school for making up wild answers for why World War Two lasted so long, why the Titanic sunk, etc. This somehow leads to a life of crime and car theft followed by the theft of the TARDIS in order to take off into the past and kill Hitler… because Mels has a wild desire to do so. So study hard at school, kids… or you’ll become a car thief.
Don't mind him, that's just Hitler
Meanwhile in the past a crew of time traveling police called The Justice Department are making their way past Hitler’s security to kill him inside of a giant robot called a Teselecta. They have abducted a Nazi officer and imulated their craft into his image, sucked him in through the eye and eaten him with electric robot jellyfish. If any of that sounds remotely interesting it’s a crying shame because none of it is ever expounded upon. Like Mels, they apparently had a random desire to kill Hitler.
Despite having resources from a future technology the time traveling cops somehow got the date wrong and somehow stumble straight into the TARDIS’ path. Their simulacrum damaged, the time traveling cops find that they have found a far better culprit after realizing that the TARDIS has arrived. Hitler and the robot exchange gunshots and Mels gets caught in the fray and it appears that a character we had only just been introduced to is going to die.
Not only does the story have nothing to do with Hitler but the time traveling cops aren’t even after the Doctor at all.
To add to the stupidity of the script, Mels isn’t even Mels at all but actually Melody Pond, the half-Time Lord baby of Rory, Amy and the TARDIS. Mels regenerates into River Song and proceeds to preen and prod her new body for a while before flirting with the Doctor. Not only did Moffat fake-introduce a new companion that was incredibly similar to an old one, he TRANSFORMED HER INTO THE CHARACTER SHE RESEMBLED! Some call it clever, I call it lazy writing and the worst example of Mary Sue syndrome since Rose. Moffat has apparently lost interest in writing about the Doctor (shame, that) and is instead writing about his character, River Song. That wouldn’t be such a problem if he had some new material but there’s nothing to River Song at all. She has done the same things and said the same lines since her introduction three years ago only now she is also the solution to Moffat’s dangling plot threads.
River Song tries to shoot him with Hitler’s discarded gun, but the Doctor unloaded it off-screen… she tries again with Mels’ discarded handgun, but the Doctor tricked her into picking a banana (something Moffat is obsessed with). Eventually she kisses him and leaps out the window to start trouble in WWII era Germany. The kiss was of course accompanied by a killer lipstick causing the Doctor to die… only of course he’s not going to die in WWI Germany just like he’s not going to die in 2011 Utah. Why is Moffat trying the same trick again by making us think that the Doctor is going to die?
What is this program’s weird obsession with characters dying but not dying?
A crew of temporal justice police officers attempt to hedge their way into the plot
Rory and Amy steal a motorcycle and attempt to stop River from causing trouble. You may ask why a nation of Nazis can’t kill her. Because the script won’t allow them to. Once again, the BBC Wales program insists that regeneration is a magical process involving mystical flames that has long-lasting effects. One can deflect bullets, regrow limbs, send energy into severed limbs, raise the dead, presumably start a car, make toast and sell a house in a depressed economy. It’s magic.
Meanwhile the Doctor attempts to find a cure using the TARDIS data banks which somehow prove useless. The TARDIS presents young Amelia Pond as a holographic interface and for a moment I was worried that the cure to the Janus poison was going to actually be fish fingers in custard. Luckily, the script didn’t find the time to get quite that poor.
The Doctor finds time to dress for the occasion
It’s unclear exactly what the deal is with the robot full of time traveling police as they never really get a chance to explain themselves or really do anything. There is a brief attempt at saying there are crimes that go unpunished throughout history… but if there is such an organization wouldn’t that not be true? Wouldn’t history be different? Wouldn’t they be after the Doctor? And what about Hitler? Is he still locked in the cupboard?
Never mind, the script could care less about any of those things because this story is all about River Song. Unfortunately, it has nothing new to say about her. River smack talks, finds herself sexy even though she looks like a man and shoots people. We have seen this several times now. I’d even be okay about all this if this meant it was the end of the River Song story line, but I wager she’ll be back.
Amy and Rory get sucked inside the robot ship (the only cool thing about this story aside from the Doctor’s new coat) and are immediately attacked by weird robot jelly fish things that fill the ship and would kill anyone unless they had a green wristband. It’s like concert security from a William Gibson novel. They are escorted to the bridge where several characters sit with nothing to do but stare up at the viewer.
The Doctor changes into a smart tux and sonic cane (I assume the action figure was already made) and appears to have used all of his time off screen in a time machine dressing. He has no master plan, no scheme and most importantly no antidote to the poison coursing through him. The robot begins to kill River for killing the Doctor and he starts to die inches from the TARDIS. Despite the death ray coming from a robot from the future, it seems to need more time than about three minutes so even though River is caught in a sea of hell fire, she doesn’t die.
Weird 'antibody' jellyfish things
Amy somehow uses the sonic screwdriver to turn all of the green wristbands red and the evil jellyfish that populate every corner of the time traveling robot ship turn on the crew. Looking past the fact that Amy essentially just killed everyone on the ship, why would they carry a Nazi officer-load of deadly killer robots around with them? If they are that idiotic it’s no wonder history is full of chaos, murder and wars. However, the crew of the robot Nazi man-thing are beamed up in a manner that would make Star Trek Deep Space Nine blush and escape. So the only character who really dies in this whole story is the Nazi officer in the beginning… lucky sod.
The Doctor nears death but is saved at the last minute when River ‘uses up all of her rengenerations’ on one go. As if making the process of regeneration involving magical flames wasn’t dumb enough it is now something that one can will to happen and can expend like chi or bad gas.
Placed into a cat-nurse staffed hospital, Mels/Melody/River Song goes on to enroll in a galactic future university to study archaeology because she has the hots for the Doctor. So once again, sexual attraction is the sole motivator behind characters in Doctor Who. The Doctor loves the TARDIS, the sonic screwdriver is his penis and every one of his companions has fancied him.
I imagine there’s going to be a big reveal mid-series where Rory professes a deep burning desire for the Doctor. There are worse Doctor Who stories than Let’s Kill Hitler, but I’m not exactly sure that Twin Dilemma would be one of them. Twin Dilemma was full of bad acting, poorly thought-out characters and a police headquarters that looked like a Chinese restaurant. But it was at least not set on a planet ruled by a giant slug but actually all about how much in love Peri was with the Doctor or how Adric was secretly the Doctor’s son from the future.
I really don’t want to be so negative about this episode as it sets the tone for the remainder of the series. I’m a die-hard fan and have been following Doctor Who in its various forms for ages (check out my classic and new series pages) and have been especially happy with the new regime of Moffat and Smith. But last year started a downward spiral that has only gotten worse with this week’s episode. The program is getting very self-indulgent and contrived. Rather than telling a captivating science fiction or science-fantasy adventure, it seems more interested in towing along the overly convoluted back-stories of its supporting cast while continuing to lay hints at plot threads that are getting strained far too much. In a recent interview Moffat accepted that with this year’s run of stories the arc had taken over the series and has already decided to step away from that direction in the following series.
I hope that the coming weeks pick up in quality and the resolution to the TARDIS explosion/death of the Doctor/the Silence/Demon’s Run is worth the ride, but a story that ignores so many plots in order to firmly cement yet another stepping stone in the history of River Song is not where Doctor Who or Moffat as a writer and producer should be taking the series.
At best, this week’s episode felt like fan fiction. It contained so many of the flaws that I have found in Moffat’s writing, but taken to a new level of badness. Characters were empty, the plot was convoluted, old gags were hauled out, and resolutions were flimsy. Keeping in mind that there has apparently never been more attention directed at Doctor Who than there is now, you’d think it would actually be worth watching.
I’m a classic movie buff but in my current lifestyle, seldom find the time to really delve deeper into these films. I plan to explore more movies of the past in the coming weeks, starting with this one.
If you have any suggestions, please feel free to shout out some titles.
Master of the World is an oddity in that it is a technicolor marvel that few movie buffs cite for its technological achievements. Based on two of Jules Verne’s works, the movie is a period piece that opens with heated debate over a heavier than air craft and its impossible propulsion through the sky. The blustery Prudent and his available daughter are at the center of the debate as is Philip Evans, a young man after both the acceptance of the aged scientist and the hand of the young lady Dorothy. He of course fails in both regards, but the old man is mad as as hatter and the young lady far too forthright and strong willed for Victorian society.
Prudent, an arms manufacturer and balloonist, becomes part of an investigation led by US agent John Strock regarding a series of mysterious attacks. Despite belief they are taken aboard a massive airship made entirely of paper and wood, manned by a crew devoted to their leader, Captain Robur. Played with aplomb by the veteran character actor Vincent Price, Robur has dedicated himself to establishing peace throughout the world by establishing himself as its master. Using his magnificent airship, he can attack any nation from above without fear of reprisals.
Surrounded by mechanics, sailors and servants, Robur craves civilized intellectual company and encourages the travelers to join him on his quest, treating them to a lavish banquet and ample sleeping quarters. Throughout it all, Strock plays it cool, biding his time while Evans chomps at the bit and devises ham-fisted schemes to stop Robur’s plot. Of course through his behavior Evan loses any points that he had with Dorothy as Strock chalks them up by being mister smooth.
A sensitive actor, Price imbues Captain Robur with a damaged mania. In the hands of a lesser actor, the villain would be a cardboard character, a mere shade of Captain Nemo (the film does steal many elements from Ten Thousand Leagues Under the Sea), but in this case one can see the sincerity of Robur’s cause. Sure, anyone who is eager to bring peace by attacking the entire world in a paper ship is three sandwiches short of a picnic, but you gotta give him points for good intentions.
The bushy-faced Vincent Price as Robur
It’s fascinating to see a young Charles Bronson, a man well known for his role as the gun-toting vigilante in the Death Wish series as a romantic leading man. It actually suits him. A professional boxer and former coal miner, his frame is massive, but his extensive theatrical training allows him to easily steal the show as the ‘better man’ of the story. Throughout the entire adventure, Bronson’s character refuses to act unless the time and place is right. It takes great bravery to remain calm while Price’s Captain Robur shouts epithets and drops bombs along with leaflets on unsuspecting towns and cities… but Strock has a lady to impress.
Poor Evans calls Strock a traitor and a coward, but is clearly jeopardizing the safety of them all in his explosive outbursts that tempt fate. When he and Strock are subjected to a strange form of punishment where they are suspended by ropes from the bottom of the airship’s hull, Strock is cool as a cucumber while Evans is clearly close to losing his mind with fear.
Damn, Bronson’s smooth.
The stoic Charles Bronson as John Strock
A technological achievement for its time, The Master of the World features some very impressive aerial sequences and although it pilfers almost as much stock footage as an Ed Wood flick, it is a noble attempt at crafting an adventurous epic. The script by Richard Matheson (of a million Twilight Zone scripts and I Am Legend) is a treasure, making this a rare gem for a fan of obscure science fiction classics.
A mediation of global governments, anarchy, pacifism and imperialism, Master of the World has some hearty and heady material for thought. It’s also an exciting adventure story with a tiny budget and lofty ideas.
There has been a lot of activity over at Big Finish including their relaunch of Blake’s 7, the upcoming Bernice Summerfield box set and the Tom Baker Doctor Who audio adventures. But I just wanted to run down a few of the ongoing releases including the new Eighth Doctor stories and the continuation of the Lost Stories, this time with Peter Davison.
The Seventh Doctor meets Nostradamus, re-encounters the Voc Robots from Robots of Death and his deepest fears. Only one Sixth Doctor adventure is in the solicitations, but it’s an anthology of four exciting stories. The Eighth Doctor and new companion Mary Shelley embark on a new series of adventures that brings back the Cybermen and more.
The Lost Stories look especially interesting as they feature tales written by Peter Ling (The Mind Robber), Barbara Clegg (Enlightenment) and Christopher Bailey (Kinda and Snakedance), almost all of which are regarded as classics in the Whovian circles.
Lots more information below. By clicking on the order here link under each title’s details, you can also listen to a trailer when one is available.
149. DOCTOR WHO: ROBOPHOBIA
AUTHOR: Nicholas Briggs RELEASE DATE: 31 July 2011
CAST:
Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Nicola Walker (Liv Chenka), Toby Hadoke (Farel), William Hazell (Bas Pellico), Nicholas Pegg (Selerat), Dan Starkey (Cravnet), Matt Addis (Tal Karus), John Dorney (Leebar/Computer Voice)
SYNOPSIS:
Nothing has ever been officially confirmed, but there is a rumour that on a Sandminer, bound for Kaldor City, the robots somehow turned homicidal and nearly wiped out the entire crew. Can that really be true?
The robot transport ship Lorelei has a cargo of over 157,000 robots on board, all deactivated. So even if there were any truth in the rumour of that massacre, there’d still be no danger. Surely, there wouldn’t…
AUTHORS: Catherine Harvey, Richard Dinnick, Matt Fitton, Philip Lawrence RELEASE DATE: 31 August 2011 CAST:
Colin Baker (The Doctor), Nicola Bryant (Peri Brown)
Recorded Time: Paul Shearer (Henry VIII), Laura Molyneux (Anne Boleyn), Philip Bretherton (Scrivener), Rosanna Miles (Marjorie)
Paradoxicide: Raquel Cassidy (Inquisa), Joan Walker (Centuria/Ship), James George (Barond), Laura Molyneux, Rosanna Miles (Volsci)
A Most Excellent Match: Rosanna Miles (Tilly), Philip Bretherton (Darcy/D’Urberville/Heathcliff), Paul Shearer (Cranton)
Question Marks: Raquel Cassidy (Destiny Gray), James George (Greg Stone), Joe Jameson (Arnie McAllister)
SYNOPSIS: Recorded Time by Catherine Harvey
The TARDIS travellers find themselves at the court of Henry VIII, where the tragic Anne Boleyn will soon be discarded by her King in favour of the lovely Perpugilliam Brown. Or so it is written…
Paradoxicide by Richard Dinnick
On the legendary lost planet of Sendos, the Doctor and Peri find themselves caught up in the hunt for the cache of galaxy-busting super-weapons stored inside its fabled Armoury.
A Most Excellent Match by Matt Fitton
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single girl in possession of a mind of her own must be in want of a husband. But which of Miss Peri Brown’s rival suitors will be the one to win her hand: handsome Mr Darcy, or the mysterious Doctor?
Question Marks by Philip Lawrence
Five survivors of an unknown catastrophe wake to find themselves caught in an inescapable trap. But can the oddly-dressed man in the question-marked collar work out what’s really going on before time runs out – for good?
AUTHORS: Emma Beeby and Gordon Rennie RELEASE DATE: 30 September 2011 CAST:
Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), David Schofield (Nostradamus/Conclave Leader), John Banks (Brors/Captain of the Guard/Bernardo), Caroline Keiff (Garilund/Computer Voice), Derek Carlyle (Kren/Second Nuncio), Nicholas Chambers (Larrett/Milo/First Nuncio)
SYNOPSIS:
“When the river is gone, ships shall sail in the sky, monsters bring fire from the heavens. All will fall into a grey and endless sea, and Doomsday has come.”
Florence, the sixteenth century. No one thought to pay much attention to the prophecies of the so-called seer Michel de Nostradame, otherwise known as Nostradamus. Until the canals of Venice dried. Until the soothsayer’s sayings started coming true…
Because Master Nostradamus is right, in all respects. The end of the world is nigh. The ships are coming. The monsters are coming. The fire is coming. There’s only one thing he didn’t see coming, in fact: the sudden apparition of a certain strange Doctor, in his even stranger TARDIS. Today, the Earth dies screaming. And all the Doctor can do is watch.
AUTHOR: Mark Morris RELEASE DATE: 30 September 2011 CAST:
Sylvester McCoy (The Doctor), Timothy West (Dr Magnus Soames), Amy Pemberton (No 18), Miranda Keeling (No 5), Ray Emmet Brown (No 16), Howard Gossington (No 12), Lizzy Watts (Eve Pritchard/Mi’en Kalarash)
SYNOPSIS:
aquaphobia n. An abnormal fear of water, or drowning.
blattodephobia n. The morbid fear of cockroaches.
catoptrophobia n. Fear of mirrors, or seeing one’s own reflection.
There’s a whole ABC of horrors at Bluefire House – as four young people, drawn together to this tumbledown hotel at the edge of nowhere, are about to discover. But whatever the ancient and foul thing that has emerged from the wilderness to drag them here, speaking of it will only strengthen it.
The Doctor alone knows what lurks at the heart of Bluefire House. But the monster of his childhood dreams is coming. The Mi’en Kalarash is coming…
AUTHOR: Marc Platt RELEASE DATE: 31 October 2011 CAST:
Paul Mc Gann (The Doctor), Julie Cox (Mary Shelley), Gareth Armstrong (Dr Johan Drossel), Christian Brassington (Alfred Stahlbaum), David Schneider (Ernst Bratfisch), Gwilym Lee (Count Rolf Wittenmeier), Claire Wyatt (Countess Mitzi Wittenmeier), Nicholas Briggs (The Cybermen)
SYNOPSIS:
Roll up! Roll up! To the great Viennese Exposition, where showman Stahlbaum will show you his most wonderful creation, the Silver Turk – a mechanical marvel that will not only play for you the fortepiano, the spinet and the flute, it will play you at the gaming table too!
But when the Doctor brings his new travelling companion Mary Shelley to nineteenth-century Vienna, he soon identifies the incredible Turk as one of his deadliest enemies – a part-machine Cyberman.
And that’s not even the worst of the horrors at large in the city…
AUTHOR: Rick Briggs RELEASE DATE: 30 November 2011
CAST:
Paul McGann (The Doctor), Julie Cox (Mary Shelley), Simon Rouse (Master John Kincaid), Andrew Havill (Aleister Portillon/Squire Claude Portillon), Serena Evans (Agnes Bates), Lisa Kay (Beatrix), Alix Wilton Regan (Finicia), Kevin Trainor (Lucern/Cornet Swallow)
SYNOPSIS:
A shrieking, killing nightmare erupts from an overgrown well, hidden in the grounds of an old house, Tranchard’s Folly – and Mary Shelley, the Doctor’s latest travelling companion, rescues teenage twins Finicia and Lucern from the clutches of the monster.
But a TARDIS trip in search of the origin of the horror goes terribly wrong when the Doctor, Mary and their two new friends find themselves stuck in the middle of a seventeenth ncentury witch scare.
While the Doctor investigates the strange lights at Vetter’s Tor, and the twins go in search of an artefact from the Hecatrix Dimension, Mary confronts the secrets of her past… and her future. The truth will out: Master Kincaid, the terrible Witch-Pricker himself, commands it!
AUTHOR: John Dorney, from a story by Barbara Clegg RELEASE DATE: 31 October 2011 CAST:
Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Joe Coen (Aubron), Ryan Sampson (Thane), Derek Carlyle (Alaric), Joannah Tincey (Stemp), John Banks (Garthak), Ellie Burrow (Ella)
SYNOPSIS:
The Doctor offers Tegan and Nyssa a trip to the paradise world of Florana, but instead the TARDIS takes them to a domed city on a planet scarred by warfare. A world where everyone is young, and fighting for the glory of the Elite…
Hidden away in The Cathedral of Power, the High Priest is watching. It knows the Doctor, and his arrival changes everything…
AUTHOR: Paul Finch, from a story by Peter Ling and Hazel Adair RELEASE DATE: 30 November 2011 CAST:
Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Jacqueline Pearce, (Queen Zafira), Toby Hadoke (Mike Bretherton), Richard Mark (Lord Jezzavar), Dan Starkey (Lord Zellenger), Sean Brosnan (Astorius)
The Earth’s most brilliant minds are being kidnapped, and the Doctor traces the disappearances to the planet Hexagora. Confronting Queen Zafia, the Doctor learns that Hexagora is spiralling away from its sun, and the Hexagoran civilisation risks destruction. She claims that the kidnappings are intended to provide them with the brainpower to find a solution to the dilemma. The Doctor offers to help move the Hexagorans to an uninhabited planet, but Zafia will agree to this plan only if the Doctor agrees to a “marriage of state”. However, Peri discovers that the Hexagorans are actually bee-like creatures who are transforming themselves into clones of the kidnapped humans. Their plan is to infiltrate Earth, but Zafia will first absorb all of the Doctor’s knowledge when they are married. A renegade Hexagoran named Jezz sets fire to the Hexagoran hives, and the Doctor and Peri grimly rescue the abducted humans while Hexagora burns.
3.03 DOCTOR WHO: THE LOST STORIES – THE CHILDREN OF SETH
AUTHORS: Christopher Bailey and Marc Platt RELEASE DATE:31 December 2011 CAST:
Peter Davison (The Doctor), Janet Fielding (Tegan Jovanka), Sarah Sutton (Nyssa), Honor Blackman (Anahita), Adrian Lukis (Byzan), David Warner (Siris), Vernon Dobtcheff (Shamur), Matt Addis (Albis), Emerald O’Hanrahan (Mira), John Banks (Radulf Varidi)
SYNOPSIS: Via wikipedia:
After the success of Snakedance, Eric Saward requested that writer Christopher Bailey devise another story. The initial outline for May Time was comissioned on 24 August 1982 and was about a planet at war with its evil enemy Seth. Full scripts were comissioned on September 16 1982 with the new title Manwatch, but the scripts were dropped from production for unclear reasons. A second attempt at the story under the title The Children of Seth was attempted as a story for the Sixth Doctor and had scripts comissioned on 15 August 1983 and failed because of Bailey’s failure to devise a structure for the new doctor’s new 45 minute episode format and a tangible villan for the Doctor to face. It has been adapted to audio by Marc Platt for Big Finish Productions’ third series of The Lost Stories, to be released in 2012, and features the Fifth Doctor, Tegan and Nyssa.
“I’ve always thought if it was quiet, if there were no crises or panics, then Vortis would be the perfect place for a holiday.”
Story 103a Written by: Daniel O’Mahoney Released on: December 2008
A sequel of sorts to one of the highest rated classic Doctor Who stories ever, the Web Planet, this audio adventure is lots of fun. On screen, director Richard Martin struggled with commendable zeal against impossible odds to create a stunning alien vision of a planet populated by human-sized sentient bugs. The result is mixed (more on that in my forthcoming Doctor Who and The Web Planet review), due to numerous constraints ranging from time to money to the confines of the set itself. Even with today’s computer generated ‘magic,’ a modern mounting of the Web Planet would face the same problems as in 1965. Big Finish had none of these limitations, however, and it shows… in your ears anyway.
Although the Doctor has returned to the Web Planet of Vortis in comic strips, novels and ‘give-a-show’ slides, it remains one of the more obscure alien worlds in the classic Doctor Who mythology. Combining faerie tale sentiment and fantasy with pulp science fiction elements, Bill Strutton’s original story grabbed viewers young and old back when it was first shown, but it has not had as much luck with a modern audience. There are many reasons for this, but almost all of them are circumvented when a similar story is attempted in an audio format.
The Doctor and Nyssa arrive on Vortis by accident, though the Doctor tries his best to make it seem like he made the trip on purpose. They are soon assaulted by a swarm of Zarbi, massive ant creatures as tall as a man and far more dangerous. Caught up in their migration, the pair of travelers get separated, Nyssa falls into a network of tunnels and the Doctor is hoisted into the air by a Menoptera, a majestic butterfly-like being. The Doctor’s rescuer, the aged scientist Acheron, explains that he is living in a massive tower in exile from his people, studying the Zarbi. His wingless daughter Hedyla rescues Nyssa from her plight, but not before the young woman meets a stranger who, like the TARDIS crew, is alien to Vortis. The stranger is scarred and frightened, departing before Hedyla can see him.
After being reunited with Nyssa, the Doctor is determined to discover what has changed the Zarbi’s behavior in such a destructive manner. The answer lies in a vast scarred plain called ‘the Desolation.’ Mounting a tame Zarbi named Arbara (presumably after the First Doctor’s traveling companion), the Doctor and Acheron depart for the Zarbi hive where they find a woman claiming to be the voice of Mother Life. The Speaker is in search of something called a lode-seed and cannot seem to communicate about anything else. Using a firecracker (a lovely nod to the Second Doctor), the Doctor and Acheron escape with the Speaker.
The stranger manages to get enough courage up to force his way into the tower. Named Yanesh, he is covered in vegetation that is growing on and into him and is anxious to find Xanthe, a being that he mistook Nyssa for on first site. The Speaker is clearly Xanthe, but has been altered by her time in the Zarbi hive so much so that she is no longer the same person. Distraught, Yanesh abducts Nyssa and Arbara and charges straight toward the marauding Zarbi, seeking oblivion rather than live alone. The Doctor has deduced what Xanthe and Yanesh really are and, using a pair of gliding wings made by Hedyla, swoops in at just the right moment to unite the pair. A strange process of biological fusion begins, life starts anew in the desolation.
Return to the Web Planet was released as a special ‘bonus’ for subscribers and is a portion of the standard running time of other Big Finish audio stories. A marvelous and bizarre tale, Return to the Web Planet pays homage to the early 1960′s Doctor Who era when the program was intelligent, unique and fearless in its exploration of new concepts.
Doctor Who- Return to the Web Planet can be ordered directly online from Big Finish Productions.
A documentary by Miguel Cima and an old college friend of mine Corey Blake who acted as Associate Producer on the film, Dig Comics is a fascinating and entertaining short movie about the comic book industry featuring interviews with industry professionals, retail store owners, fans and those in the dark about how cool comic books are. The documentary also includes animated sequences by the great Scott Shaw!
An award winning documentary, the film has earned acclaim from several film festivals and the San Diego Comic Con, so give it a look this afternoon!
