Batman Incorporated #1 is an extension of the previous series of the same name that Grant Morrison started. The basic premise is that Bruce Wayne has taken the concept of Batman and sold it as a franchise. Bat-signals across the globe inform villains that there is no escaping justice.
Initially the series had a rotating roster of art teams, but Chris Burnham stood out as the strongest of them. The look and feel of Batman Incorporated has been like the 1966 Adam West TV series on acid. All of the madcap ideas and unusual criminal masterminds are there and Gotham is an oddball city-scape that is more dream-like than real, but the violence is over the top, the one-liners are brutal and the logic is almost out the window.
If you can dig Morrison’s view of Batman and roll with it, this series is a lot of fun. Burnham’s artwork is also phenomenal and his page layouts are gorgeous. The free-flowing nature and eye-popping visuals attract me to this series, but the only real drawback for me is Morrison’s determination to out-weird the audience or at least throw in as many characters as humanly possible.
In this one issue of Batman Incorporated, Batman and Robin fight a gang of goat-mask-wearing crooks in a slaughter house. One of the gang members is a sniper waiting for the opportunity to bump off Robin. We gain insight into the life of this character, Goat Boy, that nearly takes over the narrative.
It feels very reminiscent of ‘Best Man’s Fall’ from the Invisibles. That’s a good thing, though and makes the issue stand out a lot. Morrison is a very emotive writer and can tap into the most forgettable of background characters and make them as interesting as the star.
The problem for me comes when this plot thread gets cast aside and we are suddenly in a sex shop watching a character try on an Azrael costume. He refers to it as a fetish and is taken down to a secret HQ where other people are dressed as obscure Batman-characters. Are these fans? Are they really who they appear to be? It’s very confusing because Morrison is attracted to the notion of the superhero lifestyle as a fetish and these could just be background characters acting out fantasies. But when Wingman if the International Club of Batmen appears it seems that this really is a gathering of crime fighters.
It was very distracting for me and kinda took me out of the comic.
The central premise seems to be that Robin’s mother Talia al Ghul has put out a contract on her son. Strangely, Batman welcomes it because it means that Gotham will play host to some of the most dangerous and daring killers all over the world… and he can beat them up.
Despite any negative criticisms, the issue was very entertaining and the artwork is absolutely astounding. If you are a fan of Morrison’s Batman, this is your lucky day. Even if you are not, you may want to flip through it in the shop.
Nova, Rocket Raccoon, Star Lord, Adam Warlock, Quasar and Wraith
Guardians of the Galaxy was a cult monthly book from Marvel Comics developed by Arnold Drake (the genius who gave us the Doom Patrol) and Gene ‘the Dean’ Colan. A rag-tag group of aliens uniting forces against the Badoon who had enslaved almost all of the galaxy, they appeared throughout the late 1960′s and occasionally later on. More recently, Dan Abnett and Andy Lanning revived the entire Marvel Comics cosmic universe with a series of event stories (Annihilation, Annihilation: Conquest, War of Kings, Realm of Kings, Thanos Imperative and Annihilators). There were many spin-offs, but the most popular was probably the revamped Guardians of the Galaxy.
Consisting of another assembly of rag-tag renegades, this team was led by the reluctant hero Peter Quill (AKA Star Lord), Rocket Raccoon, Groot!, Adam Warlock, Drax the Destroyer, Mantis, Vance Astro (the only member of the original Guardians to appear in the series as a full-time member) and others. The line-up swelled and shrunk over the years and the comic was an amazing blend of camp comedy, action, sci-fi and fantasy (no surprise there as Abnett and Lanning had worked on Doctor Who and Legion of Superheroes in the past). The series had immense potential but is currently ‘resting.’
Maybe Marvel has been planning a Guardians of the Galaxy movie for some time? Hence, the rest.
For anyone keeping track, I called this almost a full year ago, but the formal announcement is expected at the San Diego Comic Con.
In classic Marvel continuity, the Guardians of the Galaxy are a team of superheroes from the future, where an evil race — hilariously named the Badoon — is gobbling up their worlds. Eventually, the Guardians go back in time to recruit the Avengers for help, a move that brings alien calamity in its wake. There’s also a modern (and way more marketable) incarnation of the team that stars an aggregation of endearingly weird aliens like Groot the living tree and the firearm-toting Rocket Raccoon.
According to Latino Review the script by Nicole Perlman is bananas good and will lead up directly to The Avengers 2 in 2015.Latino Review has also revealed that the big announcement for a Guardians movie will occur at this year’s Comic-Con, although most of Marvel’s time will be spent hyping up Iron Man 3.
So this is what we have coming out from Marvel in the near future:
- Iron Man 3 is currently shooting with a release date of May 3, 2013. - Thor 2 is the next project gearing up for a shoot and has a release date of November 8, 2013. - Captain America 2 is planned for April 14, 2014. - Guardians of the Galaxy (sometime in 2014) will lead directly into Avengers 2 in 2015.
So where does that leave smaller projects like Ant-Man? Edgar Wright just admitted that he shot a test reel for the movie, and reports have lead us to believe that the script is done. We’re betting that Ant-Man is slipped in between Iron Man 3 and Thor 2, especially with the rumors that the Iron Man 3 post-credits ending sets up Ant-Man. As for movies starring Dr. Strange, The Inhumans, and Black Panther, they are all still in deep development, but could easily be sprinkled throughout 2014 and 2015 should writing wrap.
As the io9 article states, this would tie into Avengers 2. Since the Guardians of the Galaxy have a history with Thanos, the villain at the conclusion of this year’s Avengers movie, it makes perfect sense that they would play a part in expanding that story so that when Thanos appears in Avengers 2, moviegoers are pumped.
And yes, the Ant Man movie by Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World director Edgar Wright is back in development. This has been in the works since 2006 at least!
Written and directed by Barnaby Edwards
Story 159
Released April 2012
In the jungles of Calcutta, a strange curse has been passed down, the curse of the Emerald Tiger. Much like the mark of the werewolf it turns the victim into an animal, but unlike that myth, the tiger eventually solidifies into a mass of jade. Nyssa has fallen under the curse and in order to save her, the Doctor must unravel this mystery and brave the land of impossible jeweled creatures, and a gun-happy English rogue.
Edwards fully admits that The Emerald Tiger is his ‘big budget film’ version of Doctor Who and it shows. The Doctor lands the TARDIS in Calcutta, 1926 to see an historic cricket match only to get swept up in an amazing adventure almost at once. A man is driven into throws of violence and charges through the throng of commuters at the train depot where the TARDIS has become parked. He is shot dead by the devious Major Cyril Haggard but not before marking Nyssa who immediately falls into a painful coma.
The TARDIS is hoisted into a nearby train as luggage. The train has been purchased for a private trip by Lady Adela Forster. Finding an ideal opportunity to evade the police, Haggard jumps onto the train, as do Tegan and Turlough who are determined to get the TARDIS back. Unfortunately between them and the time vessel is a massive emerald tiger with jeweled eyes and claws.
Close behind, the Doctor gives chase after the train via hot air balloon, turning the burner on its side to act as a makeshift jet engine, and attempts to gain access to the train and while he manages to rescue Turlough and Lady Forster, he fails to save Tegan whose car has become separated from the others and crashes into a vast crevasse. It’s a very moving moment and one in which the Doctor succumbs to grief over the believed death of his friend. Of course when she re-appears, the cliffhanger is strangely a cry of ‘Tegan?!’
But just imagine one of those moments happening on screen! It’s clearly impossible and can only be achieved in this audio format. That kind of took me out of the story at first as this adventure was such a rollicking whirlwind of action, but the writing and performances were so strong that it became lots of fun. Rather than a traditional dip into the past, this was something wholly other.
The Doctor (Peter Davison) and Turlough (Mark Strickson)
Along with pulling out all the stops in creating a blockbuster story, Barnaby Edwards also took inspiration from Kipling’s The Jungle Book, Haggard’s works and Indian folklore. It’s all done with adoration and it shows. The fantastical moments are very moving and the setting is so firmly established by the sound masters at Big Finish that you’d think you were in Calcutta.
As a Fifth Doctor story, this works very well as it features the Doctor unwittingly thrust into a situation where he is in over his head and separates the crew into their own stories. Beyond the first part there’s sadly not much for Turlough to do and Nyssa spends a lot of time in a dream-like state, but Tegan fares the worst. Earning the ire of Major Haggard, she becomes the object of a million she-devil curses.
Of all the cast members, I think that Janet Fielding’s voice has changed the most, but she performs with such gusto that I can forgive it. After all, Peter Davison sounds like he goes to bed at night with a pack of Silk Cut in his mouth!
Tegan (Janet Fielding) and Nyssa (Sarah Sutton)
A fanciful high adventure tale, The Emerald Tiger is an unusual Doctor Who story, but in this case that makes it a lot of fun as well. I have enjoyed almost all of the Davison Big Finish installments. While not as colorfully written as the Colin Baker stories, they have an intensity and character all their own.
The Emerald Tiger can be ordered directly from The Book Depository, with free worldwide shipping.
(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.
Amazing Spider-Man #688
Amazing Spider-Man #688
By: Dan Slott, Stefano Caselli
CLASSIFIED!
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League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 3 Century #3 2009
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen Vol. 3 Century #3 2009
The narrative reaches its cataclysmic conclusion in London 2009. The magical child whose ominous coming has been foretold for the past century has now been born and has grown up to claim his dreadful heritage. His promised age of unending terror can commence, the world can now be ended, and there is no League, extraordinary or otherwise, to stand in his way. The bitter, intractable war in Q’umar crawls bloodily to its fifth year, away in Kashmir a Sikh terrorist wages a holy war against Islam that must push the world into a nuclear holocaust, and in a London asylum there’s a patient who insists she has all the answers.
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Wolverine and the X-Men #12
Wolverine and the X-Men #12
By: Jason Aaron, Chris Bachalo
AVX TIE-IN! ï Kid Gladiator goes after the Avengers single-handedly! ï The X-Men from Wolverine’s school see the events of AVX and have a choice to makeÖ
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Aquaman #10
Aquaman #10
By: Geoff Johns, Ivan Reis, Joe Prado
ï ‘THE OTHERS’ part four! ï The Others are reunited when the hero called VOSTOK-X arrives on Earth. ï MERA learns more about Arthur’s violent past from SHIN.
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Arkham City Killer Croc Deluxe Action Figure
Arkham City Killer Croc Deluxe Action Figure
Welcome to Arkham City, the new maximum security ‘home’ for all of Gotham City’s thugs, gangsters, and insane criminal masterminds. Set inside the heavily fortified walls of a sprawling district in the heart of Gotham City, it’s filled with the most murderous villains from DC Comics’ Batman universe. But Batman is ready to tackle it with all-new gadgets and his greatest – and most dangerous – allies. Which is good, because he’ll need all the help he can get when he faces the ferocious Killer Croc and lethal Mr. Freeze! Based on the blockbuster video game published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, developed by Rocksteady Studios, and licensed by DC Entertainment. ï Mister Freeze – 7.25″ h ï Killer Croc – 9.5″ h
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Mighty Thor #16
Mighty Thor #16
By: Matt Fraction, Pepe Larraz, Walter Simonson
Transformed into the DECONSECRATOR! ï Enchantress and her Keep unleashed upon a slumbering Asgardia! ï Besieged in dreams and in waking life! When will this nightmare ever end?
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Batman Incorporated #2
Batman Incorporated #2
By: Grant Morrison, Chris Burnham
This is the story of a man and a woman fighting over the heart and soul of their child. Unfortunately for the world, the man is BATMAN, the woman is TALIA AL GHUL, and the child is DAMIAN. This issue is also offered as a combo pack edition with a redemption code for a digital download of this issue.
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Batman The Dark Knight #10
Batman The Dark Knight #10
By: Gregg Hurwitz, David Finch
Welcome new series writer GREGG HURWITZ! ï Kicking off a major story pitting BATMAN against the most deadly version of the SCARECROW he’s ever seen! ï This isn’t about fear it’s about TERROR!
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All Star Western #10
All Star Western #10
By: Justin Gray, Moritat, Jose Ladronn, Jose Luis Garcia-Lopez
Part one of a story exposing the beginning of a battle for GOTHAM CITY between THE COURT OF OWLS and THE CRIME BIBLE! TALLULAH BLACK is back! Plus an all-new BAT LASH with art by comics legend JOSE LUIS GARCIA-LOPEZ!
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Incredible Hulk #10
Incredible Hulk #10
By: Jason Aaron, Ron Garney
Hulk continues to STAY ANGRY in Jason Aaron’s highly anticipated new story arc! ï To do so, the green goliath picks some fightsÖ on the ocean floor and in space!!! ï SEA MONSTERS! RUSSIAN SUPER-SOLDIERS! THE ANGRIEST HULK YET! STAY ANGRY, TRUE BELIEVERS!
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Before Watchmen Nite Owl #1 (of 4)
Before Watchmen Nite Owl #1 (of 4)
By: J. Michael Straczynski, Andy Kubert
‘The hero known to the public only as Nite Owl announced his retirement today.’ Plus: Don’t miss the CRIMSON CORSAIR backup story by writer LEN WEIN and artist JOHN HIGGINS! This issue is also offered as a combo pack edition with a redemption code for a digital download of this issue.
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Captain America And Iron Man #633
Captain America And Iron Man #633
By: Cullen Bunn, Alessandro Vitti, Patrick Zircher
Captain America and Iron Man head to Madripoor for a technology expo! What could possibly go wrong? Everything! That’s what! ï Especially when Batroc’s Brigade shows up and a technological nightmare threatens to brings the world to its knees!
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Flash #10
Flash #10
By: Francis Manapul
THE FLASH vs. THE WEATHER WIZARD! The Flash may survive, but will BARRY ALLEN?
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Back Issue #57
Back Issue #57
Back Issue focuses on Jenette Kahn, former president and publisher of DC Comics, as she tells all in a career-spanning, exclusive interview conducted by Robert Greenberger. Also: DC’s Dollar Comics and unrealized kids’ line (featuring an aborted Sugar and Spike revival), the Wonder Woman Foundation, and the early days of the Vertigo imprint.
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Amazing Fantasy #15 Spider-Man
Amazing Fantasy #15 Spider-Man
By: Stan Lee, Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby
Relive the adventures that started it all! o A radioactive spider may have granted bookish young Peter Parker incredible abilities, but it was his uncle’s death that truly transformed him. o Can the newly minted Spider-Man defeat the menace of the Chameleon – and face the Fantastic Four? o Thrill to Spidey’s debut issues, completely remastered and beautifully recolored in modern style by Jean-Francois Beaulieu (WONDERFUL WIZARD OF OZ)! o Collecting material from AMAZING FANTASY (1962) #15 and AMAZING SPIDER-MAN (1963) #1.
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Infinite Crisis Omnibus HC
Infinite Crisis Omnibus HC
By: Bill Willingham, Justiniano, Jim Lee
Type: Graphic Novels
Genres: Superhero
Publisher: DC Comics
Pub. Date: June 27, 2012
Availability: Released
UPC: 978140123502415000This incredible omnibus hardcover collects the titles from the 2005 event that rocked the DC Universe.
OMAC robots are rampaging, magic is dying, villains are uniting, and a war is raging in space. And in the middle of it all, a critical moment has divided Earth’s three greatest heroes: Superman, Batman and Wonder Woman.
It’s the DCU’s darkest day, and long-lost heroes from the past have returned to make things right in the universe…at any cost.
New Deadwardians #4 (of 8)
By: Dan Abnett, I. N. J. Culbard
Inspector Suttle, closing in on the perpetrator of the impossible crime, must escape the living terror of Zone B’s East End if he is to chase down the remaining leads. Can the living ever let the dead go free? And if the investigation extends beyond the cordoned comfort of London, into the bleak Restless Wastes, what other horrors will he face?
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FF #19
FF #19
By: Jonathan Hickman, Gabriel Hernandez Walta, Mike Choi
“SAFARI”
The kids take their second Field Trip — To Africa!
Meet the Science Club of Wakanda.
The Future Foundation gets a brand new member.
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Daredevil Born Again Artist Ed HC
Daredevil Born Again Artist Ed HC
By: Frank Miller, David Mazzucchelli
Daredevil Born Again. That title strikes a chord with comic fans who know what it means. Fans who know that it represents two of the finest creators at the absolute peaks of their game.
David Mazzucchelli’s superhero work had reached an artistic apex when this series was released, and the same is true for Frank Miller’s writing. Together they combined to craft a story of extraordinary impact that is still regarded as a true masterpiece.
Collecting the entire storyline of Born Again, this book will feature the complete issues of Daredevil numbers 227-233, plus covers and extras.
Each page was personally scanned by Mazzucchelli from his own original art. This is the largest Artist’s Edition yet, weighing in at a rock solid 200 pages of beautiful Mazzucchelli art in the way you’ve always wanted to see it-the next bet thing to holding the actual original art!
Spaceman #7 (of 9)
By: Brian Azzarello, Eduardo Risso, Dave Johnson
Orson is hunted down by the cops, the bounty hunter, and the gang bent on kidnapping Tara. And as he gets squeezed, something precious slips through his fingers…
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Alter Ego #110
Alter Ego #110
Alter Ego is a special SHAZAM!/Fawcett issue, with an expanded FCA section! P.C. Hamerlinck presents the little-known 1940s ‘Captain Marvel’ Radio Show (featuring an interview with its ‘Billy Batson,’ Burt Boyar), commentary by PCH and co-creator C.C. Beck regarding the 1939 origin of the Big Red Cheese, Roy Thomas and Jerry Bingham on their 1980s Secret Origins ‘SHAZAM!’ take, and Marc Swayze’s Golden Age memoirs!
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When I first learned of a line of 5 inch tall toys based on the long-running series, I was somewhat baffled. Incredibly detailed and articulated, they were impressive, but as the characters on screen did little else but talk and run down corridors, wasn’t an ‘action figure’ a bit of an odd thing to make of William Hartnell and the other actors who played the part of the time traveling man of mystery?
Of course now I own them all… so… yeah.
As testament to the enduring legacy of the TV program, these action figures by Character Options and Bif Bang Pow! are as much an important part of the Doctor Who mythos as the Target novelizations and the radio dramas. Not only are they replications of the characters as they appeared on screen, they capture iconic moments such as the regeneration of Tom Baker into Peter Davison in Logopolis and Castrovalva. A figure of Davison in the full coat has already been released, but this version is the new Doctor sans coat in shirt sleeves (a kit-bash of the recently released Keeper of Traken 4th Doctor with a retooled Davison head).
I do like that in addition to the Master’s TARDIS, they have included a shrunken Logopolitan.
This marks the seventh version of the 5th Doctor in toy form by Character Options… and yet we still do not have a decent figure of the Anthony Ainley Master (the released figure features a breathtakingly accurate sculpt of Ainley’s plugged onto a John Simm body).
Ah well… he’s surely on the way.
Doctor Who Action Figure Collectors Set: 5th Doctor Castrovalva
The newly regenerated Fifth Doctor escapes with his companions back to the TARDIS. Suffering from post-regeneration trauma, he only narrowly manages to save the ship from destruction as it plunges back to Event One, the hydrogen in-rush that preceded the creation of the universe.
He then seeks sanctuary in the peaceful domain of Castrovalva, only to discover that it is an illusory, dimensionally paradoxical trap set for him by the Master with the unwilling aid of a kidnapped Adric. The Doctor eventually wins the day by enlisting the help of the Castrovalvan people who, although also part of the Master’s creation, are nevertheless able to exercise free will.
The Master’s TARDIS
Whilst on the planet Traken the Fourth Doctor discovers that the Master, his long time nemesis, is trying to take control of a complex Traken bio-electronic power known as ‘The Source’. The Source would allow the Master unparalleled power, and the ability to regenerate his dying body. When the Master’s TARDIS is destroyed by the power feedback of The Source it is revealed he has another and thus he escapes to encounter the Doctor again. Their next encounter finds the Master’s TARDIS, with its fully functional Chameleon Circuit, disguised first as a Police Box and latterly on the planet Logopolis, as a sandstone Doric column. The Master’s TARDIS stayed in this favoured form during several encounters with the Fifth Doctor, before changing once again.
Contents:
1 x Post-regeneration Fifth Doctor action figure.
1 x Shrunken figure accessory.
1 x Master’s TARDIS as a Stone Column.
I’m not a big fan of the Bif Bang Pow Master, Doctor and Sontaran figures, but this Dalek looks really great. The attention to detail is impressive and the larger scale is very attractive to me as well.
Doctor Who Retro Action Figures: Dalek
Daddy, where do Daleks come from?
Grounded in the “Genesis of the Daleks” serial of Doctor Who that marked the first appearance of Davros, the creator of these evil mutant cyborgs, this extraordinary Dalek Action Figure stands approximately 7″ tall. It features wheels and “neck” articulation, along with Bif Bang Pow!’s famed retro styling that takes one back to the bestselling figures from the 1970s and 1980s. Order yours now… or face extermination!
Produced by the BBC, Doctor Who is the longest-running sci-fi TV series in the world. The award-winning show presents the adventures of a time traveler known simply as “the Doctor.” Along with his companions, this mysterious Time Lord journeys through time and space using his TARDIS, which appears from the outside to be an ordinary police phone booth.
For the ‘uninitiated,’ Doctor Who is the longest running science fiction program on TV. Developed by Sydney Newman, the program was intended for family viewing using science fiction and fantasy concepts to entertain and educate at the same time. Scripts ranged from historical adventures to gripping sci-fi drama, but were always approached from a perspective that considered the audience’s intelligence. Many of Newman’s early notes specify that they must respect the viewer. Despite Newman’s devoutly aggressive stance against Bug Eyed Monsters, it became a phenomena after the Daleks were introduced in a groundbreaking episode called the Dead Planet.
First Doctor Who William Hartnell plays with Marx Dalek toys
Over the program’s 26 years, the Daleks grabbed the attention of viewers and the media, drawing viewers in the millions each time they return to the screen. When Doctor Who was revived in 2005, the Daleks were not far behind. They have since become popular all over again, gaining a new following as Doctor Who has gained a strong popularity in the UK and now in the US as well.
The 2005 Daleks
The latest series of Doctor Who under head writer/producer Steven Moffat has garnered a massive following. It is strange to see Doctor Who products everywhere I turn and hear people talk excitedly about something that years ago was only shown on public TV stations late at night. I have mixed feelings about the ‘new Doctor Who’ as it shares so little with the project envisioned by Newman, but I’m in the minority on that one.
New Doctor Matt Smith is the youngest actor to date to play the part (though the actors keep getting younger it seems) and embodies a healthy mixture of the new ‘pop idol’ vision of the Doctor and the classic Doctor as played by the late Patrick Troughton. This will be his third year piloting the TARDIS and the 50th anniversary of the program, so expect to see his name and hear more about Doctor Who than ever before.
To get the landmark 50th series started, the big guns are being rolled out… literally.
The Peter McKinstry Daleks
Redesigned by Peter McKinstry, the latest iteration of the Dalek design has been divisive in fandom. The 7th series of Doctor Who will open with a story that boasts the appearance of ‘every Dalek ever’which entails a lot.
Click to visit MindRobber.co.uk
I still prefer the other title I heard associated with this story,’ The Ruins of Skaro.’
The episode, which has been described as including “every Dalek ever”, was named in the Institute’sadvance programme. The screening will include a Q&A session with writer and show runner Steven Moffat plus other members of the cast and crew yet to be confirmed.
Tickets go on sale to the public from 10th July (BFI members from 3rd).
As previously reported, the episode will also be shown at the MediaGuardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, which runs from 23rd to 25th August.
The television premiere of the episode has yet to be announced; however, last year’s Let’s Kill Hitler received both a BFI and MGEITF premiere in August prior to its broadcast on the Bank Holiday weekend, which for this year would be Saturday 25th August.
Speaking on the BBC’s Doctor Who website, executive producer Caroline Skinner said:
This is an epic Dalek adventure that kicks off the new series in explosive style! If you think you know all there is to know about the Daleks, think again…
Written by Robert Holmes (based on ideas by John Lucarotti), directed by Rodney Bennett
Story 076
Transmitted 25 January – 15 February 1975 “Homo Sapiens. What an inventive, invincible species. It’s only a few million years since they crawled up out of the mud and learned to walk. Puny, defenseless bipeds. They’ve survived floods, famine and plague. They’ve survived cosmic wars and holocausts, and now here they are, out among the stars, waiting to begin a new life. Ready to outsit eternity. They’re indomitable.”
The newly regenerated Doctor takes his traveling companion Sarah Jane Smith and Naval Officer Harry Sullivan for a jaunt in his TARDIS. Landing in the distant future, the travelers find that they have are on an interstellar version of Noah’s ark orbiting a scarred and barren Earth where the surviving human population waits for revival. But they are not the only trespassers on the Ark, there is an infestation of something very old and alien that is hatching its eggs in the bodies of the sleeping humans.
The satellite is armed to protect its precious cargo, which is bad news for the Doctor and Harry who come under fire from a ceiling-mounted laser. Sarah, meanwhile, manages to get in a series of predicaments that almost defies belief. Nearly asphyxiated, she is then teleported by computer control and put into suspension. By the time the Doctor and Harry manage to extricate themselves from their own situation, they are left to marvel at what the space station really is, a wonderful testament to the human will to survive, a massive ark.
A slimy green trail along the floor of the incubation chambers hints at a great danger. Looking for clues, the husk of a massive insect is discovered in a cupboard. The futuristic space station has a big problem, and somewhere in its innards a creature lurks waiting to strike. If this sounds familiar, you may be surprised to learn that Ridley Scott’s Alien was a few years off still.
Yes, Doctor Who ‘did it first’ again.
The Doctor performs a dissection (to Sarah’s disgust)
The Doctor meets one of the revived crew members, the beautiful and charming Vera, who provides some much-needed exposition of Space Station Nerva’s mission to preserve the human race in the aftermath of a deadly solar flare that blasted the planet surface, making it uninhabitable for generations. But they have overslept… a lot. Unsettled and confused, Vera puts her faith in her captain, Noah.
The lovely Wendy Williams as Vera
In fine tradition, Noah suspects that the Doctor and Harry are saboteurs and questions their every motive. When the Doctor theorizes that the creature must have made a nest in the station’s generator room, Noah is convinced that these strangers are up to no good. Unfortunately, when he investigates he becomes infected by the alien invader, the Wirrn, an outer space locust seeking to breed and survive.
The Wirrn!
Overwhelmed by the alien influence, Noah becomes a warped and tormented character, slowly but surely degrading into a slug then a full adult Wirrn, protecting the hive at the center of the space station. Yes, he’s also covered in green bubble wrap. Remember that this was 1975 and such products were not being used to secure packages sent by ebay sellers.
As a monster, the Wirrn are hindered by their lack to do much of anything. They can’t walk, grab things or move their mouths. The poor actor trapped inside the costume can be seen hobbling about like a child wrapped in a blanket. But as a concept, the Wirrn are pure horror gold, something that was later tapped by the BBV team and also Big Finish in a series of audio stories. Transformed into a purely auditory fiend, the visual appearance of a fragile foam prop is removed and the Wirrn become a much more effective threat.
One can only imagine what a proper CGi Wirrn would look like and given that current Doctor Who producer Steven Moffat is a self-described king of Doctor Who nerds, we may even see one some day.
Noah is overcome by the Wirrn
As an American fan of Doctor Who, I was exposed to Doctor Who via nightly public TV transmissions. For years all I saw were three-four years of the same Tom Baker stories, until Peter Davison arrived. When I became invested as a fan instead of just a viewer, I would groan every time I saw the opening credits of Robot because it meant that I’d be stuck in the 1970′s for ages. I took this era for granted, especially the 1974/5 season that introduced Tom Baker and radically changed the program’s course. Recently I had some extensive dental surgery, luckily I could watch any DVD I wanted which meant that I and my dentist saw this story several times over in one sitting.
I discovered that it is stunning TV and a grand Doctor Who story that appears positively bonkers to anyone unfamiliar with the concept of the program. The special effects that fans often moan about are more bizarre than cheap and the acting, informed by RADA-training is so other-worldly that the whole thing feels like it came from another world. I think that it was this weird factor that attracted me to Doctor Who in the first place. When I finally saw the previous three Doctors on PBS after the series’ 20th anniversary, I saw that it was far weirder than I could ever imagine.
Clip
Doctor Who in the Pertwee era was an action serial with a relatively slim level of horror. This was very different to the previous period that saw terrifying monsters creeping out of every dark space imaginable to kill anything in their path. The Pertwee stories, arranged by Dicks and Letts were moralizing intelligent tales that spoke to a more soulful and socially conscious audience.
In sharp contrast, the first three years of the Tom Baker era featured more brutal murders, acts of terror and roaring oozing critters that sought to scare even the most secure viewer into the closet. Philip Hinchcliffe had seen that the audience was growing older and more sophisticated and decided to gear his run on Doctor Who to appeal to a viewer that wanted to be scared by creepy monsters and moved by eerie stories that would be at home in any Amicus movie.
Throughout it all, the new Doctor would shine a beacon of hope, his mad stare and toothy grin assuring the children watching that everything would work out… even though the death toll was usually high for supporting cast members.
It’s interesting to note that, while he is a TV icon today, Tom Baker in 1974 was the youngest actor to play Doctor Who (as he was commonly called in the media) and took over the role from Jon Pertwee, who played the part for five years. Pertwee ushered in an era of unparalleled success during his time as the Doctor and many viewers were reluctant to accept Baker as his replacement. The tone of the program had changed drastically as well, embracing a more Gothic feel thanks to producer Philip Hinchcliffe and script editor/writer Robert Holmes.
The stories of the 1974/75 series had been arranged by Terrance Dicks and Barry Letts as a kind security net for the incoming production team. Starting with a rather traditional U.N.I.T. adventure, the series also included the return of several fan favorite monsters; the Daleks, Sontarans and the Cybermen (who had not been seen in several years with the exception of a brief nod in Carnival of Monsters). Ark in Space, however, was something different.
Working off of a script by ‘Marco Polo’ author John Lucarotti, Holmes took a safe and familiar futuristic studio-bound story and transformed it into a claustrophobic grim horror show. Navigating a vast network of corridors and shafts, the TARDIS crew must match wits with a wily and aggressive creature that is just as hard-wired for survival as mankind… if not more so.
“Well there are only two of us here and your name IS Harry…”
For the first time since the 1960′s, the Doctor has two companions with him in the TARDIS, and one of them is male. Jamie McCrimmon was the last male companion of a two-part crew back in 1969. Originally intended to take the action hero role enjoyed by Third Doctor Who Jon Pertwee, Harry Sullivan is a Naval officer and all-around English gentleman, to a fault. When it became clear that the new Doctor would be played by a younger actor, Harry looked a might superfluous. But actor (and author) Ian Marter saw an opportunity here and created a charming statement on the stock English hero. Harry is well-meaning, but an archaic cultural fossil, something that liberated journalist Sarah Jane Smith reminds him of every chance she gets.
In her second year as a companion, Lis Sladen softened her part, a far cry for the self-motivated feminist that had been introduced the previous year. One of the most endearing and lovable heroines, she shudders with fright at the sight of a monster and would surely be scared rigid if not for the reassuring presence of the Doctor.
The role of the companion has traditionally been to make the Doctor appear brilliant, brave and heroic and in that regard, Sarah is an absolute triumph. If not the best companion, she is certainly in the top three.
A true eccentric, Tom Baker hit the ground running as the Doctor. More or less playing an exaggerated version of himself, he is at once a genius, fool, hero and outsider. This Doctor accepted the alien and was attracted to danger and the unknown, making him somewhat unsettling to some and appealing to others. Baker was far more comical than Pertwee and more of a well-worn traveler than the posh dandy scientific adventurer. Working off of Marter’s buffoonery and Sladen’s damsel in distress act, Baker found a welcome home in this short-lived and often forgotten TARDIS team.
Baker’s outlandishness was still understated and restrained at this point and his acting more intense than he later became. I suspect that as he encountered children in person who watched the series he became sensitive to them and decided to lighten the scary factor of the stories. Both approaches work, but I lean more toward this brooding aspect of the Fourth Doctor.
I had long associated The Ark in Space with a boring and predictable era of Doctor Who, but viewed in the right context it is not only ground breaking but invigorating as well. The first part of an overarching story that would include the Sonataran Experiment, detour into Genesis of the Daleks and conclude with Revenge of the Cybermen, this was a sci-fi epic! A post-apocalyptic setting that saw humanity reduced to food for killer insects, this story introduced viewers to the new status quot where the level of danger was heightened and so was the inventiveness of the production team.
While not on par with the sterling efforts of the Troughton years where stop motion animation, film scratches and other tricks made Cybermen tear from spherical embryos and women’s faces were melted by Quark weaponry, Ark in Space made good use of lighting and design to evoke a particular feeling of terror and helplessness.
When I was first getting into comics, I was attracted to the underdog, the misfit. I liked the X-Men because nothing ever went right for them. There were no successful romances. their house got blown up every month and they were often freakish mutants.
When I looked at the Captain America comic, below is an example of what I saw.
I just could not relate to it. He was very white-bread all-American and drove a van around the suburbs in full costume. It was absurd (and not in a good way). I’m not saying that there were no good stories in there, but the safe pastel image kept me from getting interested.
That all changed when the series was handed to Ed Brubaker and Steve Epting, two men who catapulted Captain America into the realm of the coolest most exciting monthly book out there. Steve Rogers was a man out of time, taken out of one war and revived into a world at war where the enemy could be anyone. What was worse, his own enemies were far more powerful and numerous than he could anticipate. Frustrated and isolated, he fought a seemingly un-winnable war against a sea of troubles. Now THIS I could sink my teeth into!
A comic book creator most commonly known for his independent projects and Scene of the Crime for Vertigo, Brubaker seemed like an odd choice for this series. It had also been relaunched not that long before he penned a new #1. But he soon showed that he was a closet Captain America fanatic and brought such vitality to the series that I was surprised it hadn’t always been this good.
To add gusto to the new high impulse tone of the book, artist Steve Epting graced each issue with eye-popping visuals like the one below.
Captain America By Steve Epting
The Ed Brubaker run ranks up there with Brian Michael Bendis’ Daredevil, Matt Fraction’s Iron Man, Dan Slott’s Amazing Spider-Man and Greg Pak’s Hulk. It’s so iconic and modern, giving the reader a feature film’s worth of entertainment in each and every issue. I’m very sad to see this era come to a close, but I am interested in what is next for both Cap and Mr. Brubaker.
Of course I am grateful that Winter Soldier is sticking around with Brubaker involved and recommend that with highest accolades.
In an interview with Tom Spurgeon, Ed Brubaker confirmed he is stepping down as writer for Captain America.
Here’s an excerpt.
Now, you told me that you’re wrapping up on Captain America.
Yeah. By the time this interview comes out, I will have written my last issue.
Congratulations. And that’s… eight years on Cap?
A little less than eight years. I think I started in August or September of 2004 writing my first issue, which came out in November of that year.
So why now?
Partly, it’s the beginning of a shift from work-for-hire to books I own, instead. I hit a point with the work-for-hire stuff where I was starting to feel burned out on it. Like my tank is nearing empty on superhero comics, basically. It’s been a great job, and I think I found ways to bring my voice to it, but I have a lot of other things I want to do as a writer, too, so I’m going to try that for a while instead.
Now are you keeping Winter Soldier?
Yeah, I am. That’s going to be my only Marvel book soon. I’ll do The Winter Soldier as long as it lasts… or, I’ll do it for as long as I can. [Spurgeon laughs] Because I don’t know if it’ll last, but I’m really proud of that book and the second and third storylines on it are some of my favorite stuff I’ve done for Marvel, ever.
What do you like about it? What do you think is laudatory? Are you in that place where you can say, “I did that, and I did that very well.”
I think I got to tell a long story. In the early days, I got to create a big soap opera about Steve Rogers and Bucky and Sharon Carter and keep this thrilling adventure ride going. And each arc bled into the next. Then we did the “Death of Cap” thing and I go to really do an 18-part story that still didn’t end with Cap coming back to life yet. [laughs] I got to do some stuff that was really challenging. I got work with some great artists. Steve Epting, he probably drew 35 issues of my run in the early days. I think we developed a really great collaboration. And I always liked that kind of epic storytelling.
Don’t they team you up with a writer to transition out of these titles? Like baton pass it to them?
BRUBAKER:That’s not on purpose for this one. That was a situation with scheduling. Marvel is trying to do this thing now that with some of their better-selling books they want to get out more copies per year than 12. They want to get out 15 or 18 issues. Amazing Spider-Man’s been doing more than one a month for a while now; someone I know does Uncanny X-Men or one of those books, and that comes out 18 times a year.
I couldn’t keep up with that schedule, honestly. I knew I was getting to the end of my run. I wanted to wrap up my run earlier. And [Marvel Senior Vice President Of Publishing] Tom [Brevoort] was like, “Well, you’re going to leave a bunch of plot lines dangling… do you want to go out like that? It’ll seem like you threw up your hands and said ‘I can’t keep up with this schedule.’” I was like, “No, I don’t want to go out that way.” So we brought in Cullen Bunn to write an arc with me. I gave him a list of a bunch of stuff. “Here’s all the dangling plot threads and here’s where we need them all to be by the time I get to my last issue.” And then we figured out a storyline together.
It’s strange. I did all these issues as an uninterrupted run. Then there’s four issues co-written by someone. Then there’s a last issue. [laughs] It’s a little odd.
Brubaker’s last issue will be Captain America # 20
An accomplished lyricist and cult icon, Daniel Johnston started his career as a musician by simply recording his music performed in his basement on cassettes and handing them out to whoever took them. When he started getting name-dropped by Kurt Cobain, his fame began to take off. His music certainly isn’t for everyone, but even he admits that his first album was recorded during a nervous breakdown.
I had the good fortune to see Daniel Johnston in concert at a very small venue in Cambridge, MA some time ago. It was just him, an acoustic guitar and a piano. I can attest to his weirdly magical stage presence and the strength of his lyrics and musical ability. He is also obsessed with Captain America. All of his drawings depict a seemingly manic version of the character staring back at the viewer in utter confusion, usually in situations that have nothing to do with the comic book creation. Maybe he read Jack Kirby’s Mad Bomb issues and they hit home? It’s not clear exactly what any of this means to Mr. Johnston, but it is very important to him.
Finally (?) these images are making their way to the mass market.
Daniel Johnston has designed a collection of T-shirts for Supreme, the long-running skate company beloved and often repped by Odd Future, as Complex reports. The shirts are available online and in stores in New York, L.A., and London on June 14, and in Japan on June 16.
Written by Marc Platt, Directed by Barnaby Edwards
Story 153
Released October 2011 “You poor pitiful creature. Your world has no God. Who will save your soul?”
“We save ourselves.”
In the streets of Vienna, a strange oddity called the Silver Turk amuses the populace. A cloth-wrapped mechanization, it is an expert gamesman and pianist. Possessing a garbled voice box, it cannot be understood and appears to be wounded and in some distress. But if it is expecting rescue from the Doctor, it will be sorely disappointed. When the Doctor encounters the stranded Cyberman he is overcome with disgust, placing a solid schism between him and his compassionate traveling companion, Mary… who no doubt sides with the monster over the monster hunter.
Traveling with the famed novelist Mary Shelley, the Doctor lands in Vienna during the 19th Century. Exuberant with the possibilities of showing the marvels of time and space to one of the progenitors of science fiction, this is a very different version of the character who was far more angst-ridden and moody after the events of the Divergent Universe. I had intended to listen to all of the Eighth Doctor stories in order, but after being frustrated by the second series, I have jumped to the most recent trilogy, skipping Company of Friends which means I am missing the initial meeting of Mary and the Doctor.
When I had first learned of Mary Shelly being the new companion, I immediately ruled out that Mary Shelley, so imagine my surprise when I learn that this is indeed the person who penned Frankenstein. Historical characters in the new BBC Wales series have been frankly tiresome, but in this case Julie Cox injects so much vitality and passion that she stands out as an ideal match for the ‘breathless Romantic’ Eighth Doctor.
The lovely Julie Cox as Mary Shelley
But the Silver Turk, used as a relatively innocent sideshow attraction, is not the real danger here. The dastardly Dr Johan Drossel (played by Gareth Armstrong, Juliano from The Masque of Mandragora). A propped up Cyberman playing piano and chess may be strange, but Drossel’s Marionette World is simply terrifying. Using technology from the grounded craft, Drossel uses a Cyberman driven mad with anguish to derive material from the streets, leaving a stream of corpses in its wake, their eye sockets empty.
Mangled bodies, wooden mechanations with human eyes set in their faces, gurgling clicking creatures that strike in the night… The level of grotesque and tactile horror is upsetting but made all the more poignant by the Doctor’s dispassionate reaction to it all. While he takes it all in stride, Mary is almost driven to anxiety by the situation , especially because the Doctor is comfortable with labeling the Cybermen as simple monsters that need to be stopped at all costs. After losing so much, sacrificing friends and freedom to save all of creation, perhaps this Doctor has become far more alien than the human-like gentleman we first met.
Depicting the Cybermen as wretched weak victims of circumstance is an inspired choice and it works so well. They are still striking and terrifying boogeymen who clank and growl in the darkened streets of nineteenth century Vienna, but they are near death and desperate. As Mary finds out, their lives are also cold empty things ruled by logic and purpose. They live only to propagate their race and survive into the future. With two worlds lost, an empire crumbled and tombs raided, they are still one of the creepiest monsters of classic Doctor Who.
There are some lovely touches to this story, such as the aforementioned friction between the Doctor and Mary. It is also very moving when Mary realizes that all of her friends and family would be dead in the future. It’s not overdone, so it carries much weight and moves the story along with equal measure. Marc Platt’s script is brilliant but again not overly so. His previous Cyberman story Spare Parts got a trifle too smart at times, but this adventure is so emotive and intense that the drama, horror and fantasy blend so well that it is classic Doctor Who.
A stirring Gothic horror with an iconic monster and even more dangerous central villain, The Silver Turk is a dark opera of murder and alien invasion combined with the tragedy of human cruelty.
The Silver Turk can be ordered from The Book Depository with free shipping worldwide by clicking on the link below:
Written by Robert Holmes (based on ideas by John Lucarotti), directed by Rodney Bennett
