Spider-Man Fever evokes Ditko madness

With the increase in comic book prices and the glut of new series and spin-offs on the shelves, sometimes great books get missed. News of the Brendan McCarthy (cover artist of the Vertigo series Shade the Changing Man) Spider-Man story came a while back and I have to admit that even though I try and stay on top of these things, it completely got past me.

I’m not sure what the sales are like for the first issue out this week, but the critical response has been glowing.

IGN: Like Ditko’s, McCarthy’s Spider-Man carries himself with a distorted, almost creepy body language that underscores the strangeness of his powers. Likewise, in keeping with the vision of the character’s creator, McCarthy’s Dr. Strange is confident enough to sit contently in some insane dreamscape while pondering the nature of existence. His vision of New York is grimy and weird. His dialogue and narration never apologize for their bizarre tendencies and/or heavy handedness. Terms like webwaze, soul-sushi, sorror-fly and spider-demon are held up and celebrated for their strangeness.

The issue’s plot mashes Spider-Man’s world together with Dr. Strange’s without ever pausing to provide much in terms of rational explanation. During a run-in with the Vulture, Spidey gets sprayed with insecticide, causing him to crash into a world of nightmarish horrors unwittingly unleashed by Dr. Strange. I could care less that McCarthy doesn’t seem very interested in explaining why or how these two things connect; his absurd vision is so fun to watch, it’s not at all hard to keep from asking such logistical questions. By the time a spider-demon drags Spider-Man off to hell as an offering to his hungry master, I was already hypnotized by the story’s weirdness.

Comicbookresources.com: There’s a raw imagination to each page of “Spider-Man: Fever” that blows away the cobwebs of every dreary, by-the-numbers superhero title you’ve read in the last five years. It actually makes me nostalgic for the days when Marvel published books this interesting and unusual as a matter of course. Admittedly, if every comic was like this it might get exhausting. But right now, there’s more than enough room for it on the shelves.

Bronken Frontier: A self-proclaimed Ditko-phile, McCarthy’s work here is nothing short of brilliant. His comic is more than just a simple homage to a reclusive artistic genius, though. It’s an exploration of the themes, conventions, and styles of an entire era heralded for its fearless experimentation in a medium written off as childish by the artistic establishment. McCarthy’s pages abound with challenging layouts, psychedelic effects, and metaphysical imagery. He plunges headlong down the creative trails blazed by Ditko, Jim Steranko, and Jack Kirby, pushing the boundaries of exaggeration, perspective, and the meta-panel to their extremes. This is sensory overload at its most exquisite. You can almost taste the artwork.

Mania.com: I think Marvel should be commended for releasing a title like this. It flies in the face of conventional wisdom regarding what ought to sell to the average fanboy and instead offers a very unique and artistic vision of two of their most well-known characters.

At first glance, McCarthy’s art style could easily be mistaken for Steve Ditko’s early work on both Spider-Man and Dr. Strange (with perhaps a hint of Richard Corben here and there) but further inspection yields a radical re-interpretation of Ditko’s most famous works. It’s like somebody was taking a bit too much Eye of Aggamotto and everything got turned up to eleven.

The garish colors are beyond belief and only serve to enhance the sense that we have truly stepped through the looking glass. Just as Ditko created disorienting, hallocinogenic worlds for Dr. Strange to inhabit, McCarthy (along with Steve Cook) takes those ideas even further, offering surrealistic visions that would make Salvador Dali’s eyes cross.

The look of the book is perfectly matched by the bizarre tone, which alternates between being totally creepy and tongue-in-cheek. The basic set up of the story is as simple as a Silver Age Marvel Comic, with Spidey being attacked by the Vulture and Dr. Strange carelessly opening a booby-trapped book of magick. The book takes a dark (and somewhat poetic) turn with the introduction of The Arachnix, an ancient tribe of spider-demons, but veers back into humorous territory when Spidey and the Vulture burst into the apartment home of a New York citizen who is less than pleased at the notion of having the police in his home.

Brendan McCarthy was gave an interview over at Marvel.com prior to the release of Spider-Man Fever, talking about his influences.

“I used to read the Marvel Silver Age material when I was a boy, and the 1960’s [AMAZING] SPIDER-MAN ANNUAL [#2] which featured both Spider-Man and Doctor Strange was a standout story for me,” recalls McCarthy. “I really loved [artist Steve] Ditko’s surreal dimensional landscapes peopled with sinister sorcerers and Mindless Ones. There was nothing like it in any other comic.”

“I am very interested in the imaginative creation of different realities by certain artists and writers,” he relates. “I think Ditko had a very original vision, influenced by surrealist art such as [Max] Ernst and [Joan] Miro’s paintings, and the psychedelic vibe that was in the air at that time in the 60’s. I liked that Doctor Strange is a sorcerer and a mystic; the character foreshadowed the interests of a large section of youth in the 1960’s, in eastern mysticism and the occult, [with Aleister] Crowley, [Carlos] Castaneda, etc.

“I think Doctor Strange is [Ditko’s] great masterpiece, especially the great Eternity storyline. I also like Ditko’s villains and the concepts behind his characters. There is often a concern with madness in his work; insanity seems like a constant theme, for some reason.”

“This is the only long-form comic story I’ve worked on for almost 15 years,” he points out. “I had moved into film, TV and animation and learnt a lot about story structure and writing, especially from George Miller, the ‘Mad Max’ creator, whom I worked with for a long while. But writing and drawing a comic is as much hard work as a movie, I can assure you!

“Working on my own material is a lot of fun. But I equally enjoyed creating this story, my first for Marvel. It’s hopefully of good quality and originality. I definitely wanted to take the reader someplace new and in a style that wasn’t totally ‘filmic’ in the storytelling approach.”

Make sure to pick up a copy at your local shop this week. For more of Brendan McCarthy’s art, check out his official website: http://strangenessofbrendanmccarthy.blogspot.com/.
Don’t miss Brendan’s contribution to Captain America: Who Won’t Wield the Shield on sale April 21st along with writer Jason Aaron, Doctor America.

The Zillo Beast attacks in a new episode of Star Wars The Clone Wars

Official release
Desperate to turn the tide of a fierce battle on Malastare, Chancellor Palpatine orders the Jedi to unleash the Republic’s newest super-weapon – an untested electron bomb. Unfortunately for the heroes, the bomb’s blast awakens a fearsome monster of legendary ferocity. With a beast so large and so powerful that it poses problems even for the Jedi Knights, it is clear that sometimes size matters in “The Zillo Beast,” an all-new episode of STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS airing at 9:00 p.m. ET/PT Friday, April 9 on Cartoon Network.

“The format of the show allows us to do a lot of different things, and George came to us with the idea – basically – of doing a Clone Wars take on Godzilla,” says Supervising Director Dave Filoni. “He knows I’m a big Godzilla fan, so it was a bizarre story meeting when he presented the idea. I was actually a little intimidated to take it on, because it presented such a production challenge; the model for the Zillo was so much bigger and more complex than anything we’d done before. This whole episode showcases a scope we haven’t really seen yet in The Clone Wars. It’s huge. Luckily, a giant monster in Star Wars isn’t that absurd. And we were able to add our own signature, because it’s the nature of the Jedi to want to subdue the beast rather than to destroy it – just as it’s the nature of the power-mongers to want to harness the Zillo’s power. The result is a lot of fun – big, destructive fun.”

Leading the Jedi against the beast is Mace Windu, one of the Council’s most powerful members – but also one of its most temperate.

“Mace is strong, but he’s also compassionate and fair,” says T.C. Carson, who voices Mace in The Clone Wars. “It presents a challenge when dealing with something as massive as the Zillo, because Mace has to weigh the beast’s life against its enormous potential for destruction. And the fact that he feels responsible for its awakening only adds to the burden. Mace is a smart guy, though, and he’s got some tricks up his sleeve – but I think the Zillo should have ample time to tear things up before Mace sets his plan into motion. This is a really fun episode.”

Star Wars Clone Wars series two trailer

The sunny cosmic delight of Tom Scioli and Joe Casey’s GØDLAND

GØDLAND

The 1960’s saw a vast revival in comic books. The re-introduction of superheroes in the pages of Showcase Presents was met with the maddest comics ever seen by Lee and Kirby in Fantastic Four, Doctor Strange and more. The ideas came fast and furious but they got all the weirder when the aging Kirby took the helm of his own series for DC Comics with Kamandi and the Fourth World series. Kirby seemed tapped into a frenetically inventive realm that many of us have only known as children when idly doodling in math class. Kirby’s comics were full of so many ideas, creatures and settings that plots as mad as custom-made friends went almost unnoticed. They felt like comic books from another planet.

In 2005 Xeric Award winning cartoonist Tom Scioli was joined by writer Joe Casey to create a salute to what have been coined ‘cosmic comics’ with Gødland. Scioli had already made an impression with his series 8-Opus, a kind of sci-fi opera comic. Words can only come so close to describing just how amazing and ridiculously creative Gødland is. Adam Archer is granted strange abilities by the Cosmic Fetus Collective during an expedition to Mars. Returning to Earth, he becomes a superhero protecting all of humanity from bizarre threats.

Even though his intentions are noble, the public at large distrusts Archer and instead supports the brash and media-friendly hero called Crashman (who functions as a kind of co-star in the series).  Archer’s three sisters live with him in a futuristic fortress and drive him crazy as only family can. Looking for ways to not only fight those who would do harm, Archer is also on a spiritual journey inwards that no one can understand aside from his massive super-intelligent space dog.

The adventures are just as outlandish as the premise. In one issue he meets an enormous dog name Maxim who in the ebd becomes a friend to Archer as they are both agents of the Cosmic Fetus Collective. Some other meetings are less peaceful including the notorious Basil Cronus – a man who carries his head in a jar, scouring the planet for alien artifacts to get high off of them.
The cosmic plots are perfectly complimented by Scioli’s outstanding artwork. There have been many Kirby imitators over the years and I must admit that on first exposure that is how I thought of his art but have since been proven woefully wrong. Scioli has captured the same uncanny source that Kirby was tapped into back in his heydey. It’s not an imitation, it’s another artist speaking the same language. Scioli’s layouts are bombastic and his characters dynamic, filling each issue with more excitement than can be found in any other comic book on the stands today.

I am constantly reading online that readers are frustrated by modern comics and wish for a return to the way things used to be. While my own personal enjoyment of the medium is more accepting than that, I can think of no better comic to suggest those readers than Gødland. An Eisner Award-winning series, Gødland is a simple yet uniquely fun comic that will make you feel like you are reading it in a dream.

The fifth collected volume Far Beyond the Bang, hits the shelves this week, but you can still get the previous four.

Godland Volume 1: Hello, Cosmic!

Godland, Vol. 2: Another Sunny Delight

Godland, Vol. 3: Proto-Plastic Party

Godland, Vol. 4: Amplified Now

Doctor Who and the Eleventh Hour

A new producer, a new companion and a new Doctor. With all this change, it’s still the same old approach… just done right. Moffat proves that he’s the man for the job and Matt Smith is the modern Doctor that we have all been waiting for.

Doctor Who and the Eleventh Hour
Series 05, Story 01
3 April, 2010

Doctor No. 11, Matt Smith

Preface:

After four years of David Tennant, Russel T Davies and the bombastic music of Murray Gold I had was ready to throw in the towel on the new Doctor Who.

I quite enjoyed the first season for all its many flaws thanks to the excellent performance of Chris Eccleston as the Doctor. He brought a certain street-level credibility to the program. The Doctor in the 2005 series was an angst-ridden and neurotic mess who encouraged change in others rather than taking any direct action himself. In the finale, the Doctor was driven into a rage so profound that he nearly blew up the Daleks entirely. The first season was a great story arc carefully crafted. Even with the mis-steps it worked. The humor was a bit off, the stories were a mixed bag of inspired and woeful, but as an oddity it worked. As the beginning of a comeback for Doctor Who, I’m not so sure.

The second series made what is in my opinion a major mistake of bridging the gap between the classic and new series by having the Doctor meet K-9 and Sarah Jane Smith. The new series just doesn’t feel like the old one to me due to the incessant pop culture references, focus on hastily created background characters and a completely out of character version of the Doctor. One can certainly make a case for any other ‘era’ of the previous classic program also deviating from what one would term as classic Who, but this series functions so much better as its own beast in my opinion. But the damage was done and there’s no sense going on about it. The tenth Doctor was all teeth, bugged out eyes and crazy gelled-up hair (like Tom Baker seen through the eyes of a contemporary tabloid). Doctor No. 10 was presented by RTD as a messianic figure (even flanked by Angels in one story) who everyone loved yet he pined for his lost love like an emotional teenager… the only woman with bigger teeth than him, Rose Tyler. Stories became more overblown and more poorly constructed each successive year. The romance between the Doctor and Rose took precedence over everything else, even when she was no longer on the program. Pacing was dreadful, comedy was tasteless or corny and the direction ranged from inspired to embarrassing. In several stories we were treated to an array of newscasters telling us what was happening right in front of our eyes, breaking any dramatic tension that the story hoped to create. It was a mess.

I could go on, but I’ve said a lot of this in previous posts about my problems with RTD’s vision of Doctor Who. Besides, I’m actually happy about the Eleventh Hour. Consider the above my closing statement on the RTD era.

The new deal:

Nebula Award-winning writer Steven Moffat has taken the reigns of producer and head writer from RTD this year. Introducing the first new opening sequence in 5 years and new signature tune, Moffat’s era also begins with a new TARDIS interior, new companion and of course a new Doctor, this time played by 26 year-old Matt Smith.

The youngest actor to ever play the part, Matt is a former rugby player who turned to acting after an injury. Reading all of the press leading up to the first episode of his run as the Doctor I rolled my eyes at the ‘my mum said I should be the Doctor because I have that scarf’ and going about his departed cat as his best mate as twee nonsense. But I was wrong. He is a genuine eccentric. As I covered in my previous posts over the weekend, part of the problem in casting the lead in Doctor Who is that you are not just looking for an actor, you are looking for an odd type of person. This lead to several key casting successes and a few flops. Thanks to the many comment posts to my blog, I know that David Tennant is well loved as the Doctor but he never worked for me, always straining every muscle in his body and speaking his lines through gritted teeth. It was too forced. Smith, however… is the real thing.

Moffat has stated that he views Doctor Who as a fairy tale, a short leap from RTD’s view that Who is a Road Dahl storybook. While I disagree with both statements, Moffat at least has a gameplan for making this concept of Doctor Who as fantasy work. It’s easy to argue any number of points for a 40+ year-long program, one may view it as hard sci-fi, another as a comedy, still some think it is a kid’s program. Moffat is clearly taking hints from another successful TV Program, Sapphire and Steel, in his re-envisioning of the series… which is a good thing. Known for creating the sitcom Coupling and the thriller Jekyll, Moffat has also written some great Doctor Who scripts. If there was ever a chance of me enjoying the new Who, this was it.

Series 5 trailer

SPOILERS AHOY for US viewers…

The Doctor crashes into a little girl’s backyard while she prays to Santa (???) for someone to come and see the crack in her wall. After a very funny comedic scene involving hilarious food gags that takes the place of the ‘groggy Doctor tries to remember who he is’ routine that we are more than used to, the story cranks the action up. The crack is in reality a tear in reality housing something called ‘Prisoner Zero.’ The Doctor identifies the giant eyeball gazing out them as a guard, but is very curious about the crack and what it could mean. Before the Doctor can deal with the situation, he is called back to the TARDIS which is in the throes of rebirth as well. Promising to be back in five minutes, the Doctor takes off and returns… several years later. In that time the little girl has grown up into a bit of a mad young woman who has been waiting all this time for her imaginary friend to re-appear and whisk her away. She teams up with the Doctor and between the two of them (and with the help of a laptop and mobile phone), a crisis is averted. One of the more interesting moment occurs when Prisoner Zero is taken away by the Atraxi and as the space police speed away the Doctor calls them back, warning them that the planet is guarded… by him. A brief montage of previous Doctors flicker across the screen with Smith walking through the hologram at the end, establishing that he IS the Doctor. It’s a clever idea and for the first time knots together all of the Doctors without making it look forced or weird.

Karen Gillan as Amy Pond is quite good, though she seems to get stick staring off with her mouth shut a lot. I swear that I saw her do this at least ten times in one episode alone. A former model, Gillan was apparently whisked away from a waitressing gig to be the new Who girl… no kidding. She has a lot of potential and could easily be the best companion of the program, and with Moffat as her creator I am sure that she will have an interesting story to tell.

All is not perfect, though. The Doctor is still a miraculous hero to all of humanity feared by monsters. Moffat has toned the messianic approach, reducing the Doctor instead into a folklore hero, slayer of monsters and no-goodnicks the world over. The aliens are for some reason terrified of the Doctor on the spot which is a little silly. Cellular phones and laptops are used to save the day which was a dated idea when it was done in 1996’s Independence Day. The pacing is still a bit frenetic and the script still tells the viewer what is clearly happening on screen, but the Eleventh Hour is a clear improvement over what we have seen and that is largely due to Smith himself and the chemistry that he shares with Gillan.

Smith’s take on the Doctor is very much in keeping with what we have already seen in Doctor’s No. 9 and 10, a frenetic anxious genius running from place to place with often nonsensical solutions to problems that make no sense. Even so, Smith makes it look natural. The Doctor is more practical than his predecessors and while he still uses his magic wand it is not to rapidly solve a problem as it has. In short, a lot of the same problems that I have had with the new series depiction of the Doctor are still there, just toned down and played better.

Even though I think that he is wrong, the approach that Moffat has taken of treating Doctor Who as a fairy tale seems to work. Up to this point (with exceptions), the new Doctor Who has felt like glorified fan faction with a budget. This story is a step in the right direction of establishing the new series as its own thing. The season-long thread (silence will fall) is established and there is clearly a more complicated reason as to why the Doctor has chosen Amy Pond as his traveling companion other than just being lonely. There is a genuine excitement to the fifth season as everything really is brand new, including the TARDIS interior, easily the most lavish and creatively designed version to date (with the TV Movie a close second). I’m still annoyed at the goofy technology found on the console, but the program is convinced that the Doctor is whimsical and wacky, so that won’t go away.

The budget is noticeably smaller than it has been in some time with the CGi work very poor. Moffat has stated in interviews that he is not bothered by the drop in money as it forces the production team to stress creative ways to convey ideas rather than just a special effect. In telling a friend the plot of the story (inter-dimensional prison in a little girl’s wall, giant eyeball peering out), he was very intrigued. The ideas are great and the execution is only slightly off. I can live with that. That’s Doctor Who.

All in all… the first watchable episode in quite some time. I’m glad I stuck around to see the 11th Doctor and hope that the season keeps up this quality.

Next Week: The Beast Below trailer

New releases 4/7/10

For the complete list of this week’s comics, click here.

Not sure where your local comic shop is? Try comicshoplocator.com!

(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.

Tokidoki X Marvel Iron Man Red T-Shirt

Tokidoki X Marvel Spider-Man T-Shirt

Tokidoki X Marvel Hulk Green T-Shirt

Garb yourself, True Believer, in high-fashion apparel pairing classic Marvel characters with the cheerfulness of the tokidoki universe as acclaimed designer Simone Legno brings his distinct aesthetic to the Marvel Universe with his Spring 2010 collection. Having worked previously for clients such as LeSportSac, Sanrio, Medicom, Volkswagen, and MTV, Simone now brings his art to bear on the House of Ideas. Whether it’s a Kirby-esque Iron Man deflecting oversized, smiling bullets, a Cactus Pup chomping down on Spider-Man, or Steve Rogers delivering an All-American meal, tokidoki x Marvel puts a new, fun spin on Marvel’s classic, beloved characters. The Spring 2010 collection ships to customers in February 2010.

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Wonder Woman: Amazon. Hero. Icon.

Wonder Woman is a comprehensive look at the first and most important female super hero of DC Comics, from the Golden Age to the present day. Wonder Woman is the most popular female super hero of all time and a cultural icon. During her existence, she has served in the army, renounced her powers at the height of the feminist movement, and helped launch Gloria Steinem’s Ms. magazine. She has been—and continues to be—a trailblazing role model to girls and women and an integral part of the cultural zeitgeist. Loosely chronological, Wonder Woman explores idiosyncratic creator William Moulton Marston’s interest in ideas of a “new woman” for the twentieth century; costume and character story changes over the decades; the influence on all other female comic book characters since her inception; and how Wonder Woman is still powerful and relevant in today’s comic book renaissance. The book contains more than 250 Wonder Woman illustrations, including covers, interior comic art, and sketch treatments, beginning with her inception in the early 1940s to present-day treatments of the character. Celebrated artists include Alex Ross, Jim Lee, George Perez, and Brian Bolland, to name only a few. Additionally, art from the Wonder Woman All Star series created by super-popular artist Adam Hughes will be included. The book will also feature rare covers and pin-up posters created for past special-edition comic books. Wonder Woman is certain to appeal to fanboys and fangirls, collectors, and newcomers to the comic book genre alike.
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Jonah Hex #54

Jonah Hex has been framed for murder! But with both the citizens and the law of the town convinced of his guilt, how will Hex avoid execution? Luckily he has some friends in town to help him out. Wait, they’re the ones who framed him! Ah, well. Sorry, Hex.

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Doom Patrol #9

By: Keith Giffen, Matthew Clark, Ron Randall
The Gentrifiers have arrived on Oolong Island in force, and their mysterious leader seems to have it in for the Doom Patrol in particular. It occurs to our heroes that this sort of thing seems to be happening quite a bit lately…
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Project Superpowers Chapter Two #8

By: Alex Ross, Jim Krueger
A momentous issue this month as the saga of the superpowers continues! As The Scarab fights for his life, Green Lama reveals his startling discoveries to both his teammates – and their foes! Plus, this issue: the painted origin spread of Masquerade by Alex Ross, Jim Krueger and Doug Klauba!
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Lone Ranger #21

By: Brett Matthews, Sergio Cariello, John Cassaday
Cavendish ups the ante and goes full on psycho on the Ranger’s kin. Will any of them ever be the same again? Find out in the fifth installment of the incredible ‘Resolve’ storyline!
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World War Hulks #1

By: JEFF PARKER, PAUL TOBIN, SCOTT REED, HARRISON WILCOX, IG GUARA, RAMON ROSANAS, ALUIR AMANCIO, TERRY AUSTIN, RYAN STEGMAN, TOM PALMER, JOHN ROMITA JR.
After the jaw-dropping conclusion of FALL OF THE HULKS, secrets, mysteries and surprises galore are revealed in this giant-sized, bone-crushing, gamma-irradiated special one-shot featuring key players of the biggest Hulk-saga ever told: A-BOMB, COSMIC HULK, RED SHE-HULK, DOC SAMSON and DEADPOOL!

What is the heart-breaking decision that Rick Jones must make? Is there a hero left in the dark abyss of Leonard Samson’s distorted mind? Whose appearance will shock the wild Red She-Hulk to her core? Can an ancient alien technology spell certain apocalypse to the world?

Don’t miss out on this essential assembly of startling secrets in one of the greatest conspiracies in the history of the Marvel Universe!!!
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Vengeance Of Moon Knight #7

By: Gregg Hurwitz, Tan Eng Huat, Mike Choi
‘KILLED, NOT DEAD,’ PART 1 Guest-starring Deadpool!

Herman Goncharenko lies at death’s door, wasting away of cancer, but someone wants him killed, not dead. Someone desperate enough to hire a certain mouthy mercenary to do the job. Gonchrenko’s only hope just might be the reformed Moon Knight – if he’s able to withstand the force of nature known as Deadpool, and if Goncharenko is, indeed, worth saving.
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Paranoia XP: Internal Security

The mandatory enjoyment of Paranoia’s 25th Anniversary continues! With this high-security book, players can leave behind the trials and tribulations of Troubleshooters and instead bask in the joy of being Blue level Internal Security Troopers – to serve, to protect, to vaporise!
With a very different mission briefing, players will jump at the chance to play Troopers, the brave citizens who stand between Alpha Complex and the criminal minds who seek to subvert it. There is no way the dangers that plague Troubleshooters could follow them into this elite service. None at all.
There will be brand new dangers instead!
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Imported from Japan! Created by legendary anime producer Go Nagai, the Grendizer featured on the classic 1970’s anime series UFO Robo Grendizer. Now, this iconic mecha is available in a super-detailed, deluxe 24′ tall figure. Made of PVC, this Grendizer features multiple articulation points and can assume a variety of poses. Based on Nagai’s original designs, this is one super-robot that no fan of the genre will want to miss.
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Flash Jp Pop Blk T-Shirt

Japanese pop art meets DC Comics with this cool black t-shirt featuring The Flash!
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S.H.I.E.L.D. #1

By: Jonathan Hickman, Dustin Weaver, Gerald Parel
Leonardo Da Vinci was an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. So was Sir Isaac Newton. So were Imhotep and Zhang Heng and Galileo and many other geniuses throughout time.

They were the first heroes to defeat Galactus and the Brood and turn Celestials back. They saved the world long before Captain America or Iron Man were ever born, but what does this mean to our heroes of today? What does this mean to Nick Fury?

Do not miss this Marvel Comics masterpiece that fans will be talking about for decades to come. All the insanity is courtesy of Jonathan Hickman (Fantastic Four, Secret Warriors) and Dustin Weaver (X-Men).
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Doctor Who Magazine #419

Doctor Who Magazine is the official publication of the smash-hit BBC TV series, Doctor Who – the most watched and best loved drama series in the UK!

Packed with exclusive photos and interviews, this issue looks forward to the brand-new adventures of the Eleventh Doctor (Matt Smith) and Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), while the brand-new, full color comic strip continues, behind-the-scenes secrets are revealed about the 2010 series in Production Notes, The Fact of Fiction puts another story under the microscope, and all the latest books, audios, and DVDs are previewed and reviewed.
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Doctor Who Classics Series 3 #2

By: Steve Parkhouse, John Ridgway, Robert Hack
IDW’s newly recolored reprints of classic Doctor Who tales from years past continues in this all-new series, featuring the Sixth Doctor. Steve Parkhouse and John Ridgway conclude the ‘Voyager’ story line, featuring an all-new cover by Robert Hack (Grant Morrison’s Doctor Who) and colors by Charlie Kirchoff.
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Godland Vol. 05: Far Beyond The Bang TPB

By: Joe Casey, Tom Scioli

The Eisner-nominated GØDLAND saga continues into this fifth softcover volume of mayhem! Follow Earth’s emissary to the cosmos, Commander Adam Archer, as he journeys into deep space in search of his sister, Neela. On his journey, he meets cosmic Vikings, Leviticus and Vayikra – and does battle with the otherworldly weirdness of N’ull Pax Mizer and R@d-Ur Rezz! All this, and the return of Friedrich Nickelhead in his grandest scheme ever!
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Daredevil Noir TPB

By: Alexander Irvine, Tomm Coker, Dennis Calero
It’s one of the first lessons you learn in poker, and you usually learn it the hard way: Play poker with a liar, and you can lose your money, your house and even your heart. And in a town where justice is a game, blind Matt Murdock is about to learn that lesson all too well.

Welcome to the cycle of violence, Daredevil. It was here before you were born into this dirty city, and it’ll be here after you’re six feet under. And in the Great Depression – which has Manhattan and Hell’s Kitchen in its grip – you’ve got your part to play in it. And that part means going through the Kingpin!

This title collects
DAREDEVIL NOIR #1-4
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Phillip K Dicks Electric Ant #1 (of 5)

By: David MacK, Pascal Alixe, Paul Pope
FROM THE MIND OF LEGENDARY SCI-FI AUTHOR PHILIP K. DICK!

Garson Poole had a pretty great life: good job, nice apartment, a sexy, flirtatious assistant. And then he wakes up in a hospital roomÖthe doctors inform him that he’s been in a car accidentÖand they can’t treat him. Because he’s a robot. Specifically, Garson is an Electric Ant, a human-like robot created and programmed to serve a specific function. But what is Garson’s function? How will his friends and co-workers treat him, knowing that he’s a machine, and not a person? And how much of his world is real, and how much of it is part of his programming?

Written by Kabuki scribe David Mack and illustrated by Pascal Alixe (ETERNALS ANNUAL).
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New Avengers Luke Cage #1 (of 3)

When an old friend from Luke Cage’s past is put in the hospital by a vicious attack, Cage leaves his New York City, Avengers Assemblin’ adventure-filled life for the cold, harsh and mean streets of North Philadelphia. But what’s brought HAMMERHEAD to town as well?

JOHN ARCUDI (Wednesdays Comics) and ERIC CANETE (AMAZING SPIDER-MAN) team up to bring you this hard hitting, two-fisted look at the seedier sides of the Marvel U as the original Hero for Hire gets back to work in NEW AVENGERS: LUKE CAGE!
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Rogue Trooper: Tales of Nu-earth v. 1 (2000 Ad)

By Gerry Finley-Day, David Gibbons, Cam Kennedy
Nu-Earth, a planet ravaged by war, its atmosphere poisoned by chemical weapons. In this battle ground between the Norts and The Southers only the Genetic Infantrymen can survive. Rogue is one such soldier, and these are his tales…Published in the same format as the best-selling Judge Dredd Case Files series.

Iron Man: Noir

In 2009, Marvel Comics published 8 miniseries placing their heroes in new settings paying homage to the film noir pulp style. Spider-Man. Wolverine, Daredevil, the X-Men, The Punisher and Luke Cage were all re-envisioned as new characters. Creators retained certain qualities from the classic comic version but mainly the comics were reinventions. Critical response was mainly positive but many readers missed out on these minis in the sea of other spin-offs, crossovers and such. With the announcement of Iron Man: Noir, I’m hoping that the Marvel Noir series will see an increase in popularity.

Tony Stark turns treasure hunter in ‘Iron Man Noir’
(read the whole article here)
By Brian Truitt, USA TODAY
Imagine what kind of shenanigans Indiana Jones could have gotten himself into if he had a suit of armor.
Written by Scott Snyder (American Vampire) and drawn by Manuel Garcia (Dark Avengers: Ares), Marvel Comics’ Iron Man Noir miniseries debuts on April 14, and tosses Tony Stark into a world full of dirigibles, Nazis and pulp adventure. And yes, clad in an iron contraption that makes him more the Rocketeer than a member of the Avengers.

While he enjoyed Luke Cage Noir by Adam Glass and Mike Benson, as well as Fred Van Lente’s X-Men Noir, what Synder really wanted to do was something like David Hine’s recent Spider-Man Noir. “He’s doing pulp: Spidey as The Shadow,” Snyder says. “For me personally, I’m more of a fan of ’30s pulp than I am hard-boiled, as much as I like that stuff. I can’t really see Tony sneaking around in the Iron Man suit with a trenchcoat solving crimes in his armor.”

In Iron Man Noir, Stark’s not a street tough in the big city but a globetrotting world traveler in 1938. He’s the hero of a series of men’s adventure magazine series, with such articles as “Tony Stark and the Legend of Fin Fang Foom,” “Tony Stark and the Terror of the Ghost” and “Tony Stark and the Horror of MODOK.”

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Snyder’s biggest problem was finding which characters he could take a stab at, pulp style, alongside Stark. He couldn’t use many of the best and brightest of the Marvel Universe because certain ones might get their own noir series at some point, according to Snyder.

“At one point, I was really hoping to do the Fantastic Four as fellow adventurers he meets at the Hellfire Adventure Club. They have like a scotch and talk about their adventures. But those characters were sort of off limits and a couple other ones as well,” Snyder says. “I wanted Doctor Strange to be his actual doctor who does these corny magic tricks, but same thing: The character might get used.”

The one Marvel let him get away with? Namor the Sub-Mariner. In issue two, Stark and his crew sail off to find the Lost City of Atlantis, and they run into Namor, a notorious pirate and gun-for-hire on the high seas who’s evaded authorities a number of times.

“Tony employs him to help him find this object he’s been after for a while, and they have a friendship of convenience for a while,” Snyder says. “He has the pointy Namor ears but only because he cuts them that way. All of his crewmembers cut them to look like shark’s fins as part of loyalty. I had a lot of fun with him. He’s sort of a Captain Nemo a bit, so he has some tricks up his sleeve, too.”

With some new Marvel Noir minis on their way, I have to ask… what characters should NOT be adapted into the noir format?

Iron Sky

Towards the end of World War II the staff of SS officer Hans Kammler made a significant breakthrough in anti-gravity. From a secret base built in the Antarctic, the first Nazi spaceships were launched in late ‘45 to found the military base Schwarze Sonne (Black Sun) on the dark side of the Moon. This base was to build a powerful invasion fleet and return to take over the Earth once the time was right.

Now it’s 2018, the Nazi invasion is on its way and the world is goose-stepping towards its doom.

Iron Sky is a science fiction comedy being produced by Energia Productions, Blind Spot Pictures and co-produced by 27 Films. At the moment, the production is gearing up with costumes being made, sets designed and plans being finalized. After the shoot we will enter a year long post production process.

The primary language of the film will be English with worldwide distribution, through theaters and via the Internet.

From the same people behind Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning, the Finnish Star Trek/Babylon 5 comedy, Iron Sky has been getting lots of support from the online science fiction community and its no surprise as to why. The script is by award winning author Johanna Sinisalo and the effects look simply breathtaking. It has been some time since a sci-fi comedy was mounted with such an eye toward quality and with such an unusual concept. Combining alternate history, humor and pulp science fiction concepts, Iron Sky looks like it is sure to impress.

Iron Sky will be released on DVD in 2011.
Pre-order by clicking on the image below:

Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions details

Finally a trailer has been released for the upcoming Spider-Man videogame, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. In an unusual twist for gamers, Shattered Dimensions which will be split into four distinct realities, each with its own form of gameplay. This is a departure from previous games based on movie franchises and it looks like the result will be a great game.

The first reality that gamers can play in is based on the modern comic book. Dubbed Amazing Spider-Man, this web spinner swings through the city streets of New York City with an unearthly ability to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, leading to street fights against super-powered criminals.

An emphasis on web-combat will be present in the Amazing reality, consisting of web-constructs and other tricks. The first supervillain to be revealed is Kraven the Hunter, a fan favorite villain that is a hopeful adversary for the next feature film. Endowed with superior strength, speed, agility and endurance from special herbal mixtures, Kraven is the ultimate hunter who has marked Spider-Man as the ultimate prey.

The second reality to be revealed is set in the Spider-Man Noir universe. Based on the two mini-series released last year set in a film noir-style version of the Marvel Universe, this version of Peter Parker is endowed with mysterious abilities granted to him by a spider that burst from an antique statue. As a black-garbed and masked vigilante, Spider-Man wages a one-man war against the forces of crimelord Norman Osborn (AKA The Goblin). The game will introduce a new henchman of the Goblin’s, a noir-influenced version of Hammerhead.

Whereas the gameplay of the Amazing Spider-Man is straight-forward fisticuffs, the noir Spider-Man is more of a stealth fighter, carefully choosing his moments to burst from the shadows to strike in quick calculated attacks.

Spider-Man braintrust member Dan Slott (also writer on Thing: Idol of Millions and She-Hulk: Time Trials) is behind the game script which should get Spidey fans very excited. In addition to an uncanny knowledge of Spider-Man mythology, Slott is also one of the best writers in modern monthly comic books today, combining high drama and comedy in a blend of superbly fun comics.

Still no word on what the other ‘worlds’ will be but there are many options out there. What would you like to see?

More details will be revealed this Summer at Wonder Con. Keep an eye on the official website spidermandimensions.marvel.com for more details.

Buy Spider-Man Noir at Amazon!

Buy Spider-Man: The Gauntlet, Book 1 at Amazon!

Doctor Who Regeneration: 80’s

In my previous post I wrote about how the transition of the lead actor and production crew changed the direction and tone of Doctor Who in the 1970’s. In the 1980’s, this was not exactly the case as John Nathan Turner was the only producer during the 1980’s. The former production unit manager of All Creatures Great and Small (where he found the fifth actor to play the Doctor on TV, Peter Davison), JNT was familiar with Doctor Who but hardly on the same professional level as Barry Letts or Graham Williams whom he had replaced in 1978.

Be that as it may, JNT saw more changes in his time on the program than any other and shepherded the program overseas as a major success on the local public TV circuit. Love him or hate him, JNT embodies the 80’s era of Doctor Who. During JNT’s time as producer the series saw its 25th anniversary special, a spin-off pilot and the incredible Longleat Exhibition. It was the best of times, it was the worst of times and it was also the last decade for Doctor Who on the air until it returned in 2005.

Tom Baker – Peter Davison
Castrovalva
1980

Peter Davison

The actor who would take over from the then most successful actor to play the Doctor was a household name thanks to his appearances in All Creatures Great and Small. In 1978 Doctor Who had met something of a creative slump and even Tom Baker had grown bored with the part as was evident in his performance. JNT introduced several changes for Tom Baker’s last season including a new opening sequence, a revamped signature tune and a mix of experienced and new writers and directors. The result was an exciting and unusual final season built around the theme of decay and rebirth. It was stylishly done and made for an impressive debut of Peter Davison as the youngest actor to fill the role until Matt Smith in 2010.

Christopher H. Bidmead had already developed his take on Doctor Who, introducing what is now referred to as a ‘hard science fiction’ approach. Castrovalva remains one of the more successful regeneration stories, despite its flaws. For the first half of the story the Doctor is weak and hardly the indestructible hero that the audience had known him to be. In part one, he mostly stumbles around the TARDIS while companions Tegan and Nyssa try and steer the craft free from the Big Bang. Adric just hangs out and gets yelled at by Anthony Ainley playing the role he had waited for his whole life, the Master. Seeing him play the dastardly villain is something that everyone should experience. I had long thought of Ainley’s Master as more of a mincing cartoon character but on second viewing he is just insane. Not the Master, Ainley. It works beautifully.

The TARDIS database spits out some nonsense about a tranquil spot where the Doctor can recuperate, leading the crew to land on Castrovavla. Davison gets a few key moments to really shine in this story, but the supporting cast are just dreadful. Seldom have so many useless companions filled the TARDIS than in 1980. Due to the high comedy of Tom Baker’s era, there was a direct edit to tone down the humor which meant that Davison was the driest of the Doctors. Combining the toned down, flawed human Doctor with a beige suit costume results in one of the most faded depictions of the timeless hero. However, the actor’s youth and acting skill helped this incarnation become one of the most fondly remembered Doctors and is often cited as the Doctor viewers bonded with the most, included new producer Steven Moffat and David Tennant, Doctor No. 10.

Peter Davison – Colin Baker
The Twin Dilemma
1983

An unusual choice as the sixth Doctor was Colin Baker, an actor most familiar to TV viewers for his part in the program the Brothers. He was apparently chosen because he effortlessly entertained a wedding party that JNT attended, leading the producer to gleefully declare that he had found his Doctor No. 6. After just a year and a half as the Doctor, Davison had decided to leave. The scripts were poor and the quality of the program was not what he had hoped it to be. For his last season, the quality improved, ending with the Caves of Androzani which saw the fifth Doctor boldly sacrifice his life for his companion while gun runners, drug dealers and androids duked it out. Another unusual decision was to end the season not on Davison’s swan song but instead give viewers a glimpse of the new Doctor in his premiere adventure.

If there are any adventures worse than Twin Dilemma I cannot think of them. Colin Baker’s acting is bombastic but charismatic in this turkey about twin boy geniuses, birdman kidnappers, giant slugs and goofy space cops. Nothing connects from one scene to the next. Re-watching all four parts recently I found myself screaming at the TV ‘what’s going on!?’ in tears. The Doctor regenerates into a manic depressive personality, a regeneration gone wrong. He attacks his companion, dresses in hideous clothes and acts like a coward when confronted by villains. Aside from the chemistry between Colin Baker and guest actor Maurice Denham, the ancient Timelord and old friend of the Doctor’s. The scenes filmed in a Chinese restaurant set doubling as a space police precinct don’t help the ridiculousness of the story and it all falls apart.

I happen to like Colin Baker’s Doctor and think that there are some good stories in his era, but this was not one of them. Following one of the most revered Doctor Who adventures with the most derided is just insane, but this is how it was. The sixth incarnation of the Doctor was obnoxious, ill-tempered and flamboyantly eccentric, an interesting change from the mellow and serious fifth Doctor. But this approach to make the Doctor more of a dangerous anti-hero did not go over well with fans.

Rather than leaving fans to anxiously await the return of the program in a year’s time, the production crew scrambled to rethink what they had done and how they could make it up to viewers. They never really did, unfortunately and many fans and non-fans view this as the time when the tuned out, leaving Doctor Who forever.

Colin Baker – Sylvester McCoy
Time and the Rani
1987

After one year of poorly received hyper violent episodes, Doctor Who was placed on an 18 month-long hiatus. When it returned, it was a shadow of its former self. Actor Colin Baker had noticeably gained considerable girth and had dyed his hair a lemon yellow. His biting wit and harsh persona had softened so much that even in the colorful coat he barely registered to the eye. When the word came down that in order for the program to live on it would need a new leading man, it is difficult to know what anyone was thinking. In the end, they went with relative unknown Sylvester McCoy.

A children’s television entertainer and comedic actor, he would fit the demand from management that Doctor Who become more family-friendly and less dangerous. His first season was a brightly-lit candy-colored kids’ show that had little in common with the series fans had grown to love. For any that had stuck by Doctor Who through the unpopular Colin Baker era, more jumped ship after the seventh Doctor appeared on the screen in a hastily-filmed regeneration scene involving a blond wig and CGi effects. Time and the Rani shares some of the problems of Twin Dilemma, but moreover it is not as clever as it thinks it is. Filled with techno-jargon and historical figures slotted into a machine feeding a giant brain with knowledge, it’s something of a disaster. However, it all feels so very new that you almost forgive it.

We are presented, once again, with a weak and confused Doctor who cannot remember who he is. In this instance, the Rani convinces him that she is actually his companion, the squeaky-voiced Mel, and that he is working on an experiment that she knows nothing about. In reality, she is tricking him into working out some problems in her own giant brain experiment. Her cronies are the cookie monster look-a-like creatures the Tetraps who kill with a tongue to the neck. The effects are quite good, some of the acting is decent and the effort is clearly there to bring the family back in front of the tube and watch Doctor Who. The only problem is that the family audience was no longer really a part of the picture any more. In the following seasons, Doctor Who darkened its tone and refined its approach but here it is a very obvious attempt to deliver what the BBC head of serials wanted.

The seventh Doctor was an impish little Scots-accented man who appeared harmless but was actually a brilliant tactician. More or less he was a retread of the second Doctor with a goofy accent. This isn’t in itself a bad idea, but it is odd to make the new Doctor so similar to an old one. I like McCoy’s take on the character a lot and think that his heart was in the right place during his tenure, but he got a raw deal in the way of opening stories with Time and the Rani. Doctor no. 7 is a relatively controversial incarnation as some view him as ideal and others as embarrassing. Much like 1970, in 1987 the program attempted to save itself by completely rethinking what it was about… only in ’87 it didn’t quite work out.

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As I write this the new episode of Doctor Who has already aired. Since I live in the US it will take me a while to see it but when I do I will surely share my two cents.

Here’s the new opening sequence:

From the responses that I have seen online new Doctor Matt Smith is impressing even the most cold-hearted of fans which is nice to hear. New producer Steven Moffat has stated that he will not be introducing much change at all to his version of Doctor Who, feeling that his predecessor had it right. I can understand why he is saying that but I couldn’t agree less. But I also in disagreement regarding the focus of the show being the companion and his statement that fans are lonely mentally-retarded people. Hopefully none of that will interfere with my enjoyment of the program nor will his personal views hamper his creativity.

Doctor Who and The Eleventh Hour premieres on BBC America April 17th. Matt Smith will be touring in New York City to drum up support so keep your eyes peeled.

Doctor Who Regeneration: 70’s

This weekend will mark the beginning of a new era of Doctor Who as the 11th incarnation of the time travelling do-gooder hits the screens. In preparation, this article will take a look at two key adventures that changed the program.

Patrick Troughton – Jon Pertwee
Spearhead From Space
1970

Character actor Patrick Troughton is still viewed as one if not THE best Doctor of them all, even topping recent online polls. After taking over from William Hartnell, the versatile Troughton carved out a part for himself as the whimsical impish second incarnation who presented a humorous facade over a brilliant mind and alien nature. To replace Troughton was no easy task. Producer Innes Loyd gave way to Barry Letts and in came popular song and dance performer Jon Pertwee. Where Troughton was comical Pertwee was daring, where Troughton was secretive Pertwee was bold. It was a dynamic shift. The story was no less dynamic as it established the exile of the Doctor on the planet Earth, punishment for travelling in space and time like some kind of rogue policeman/trickster.

Spearhead From Space was written by an author all too familiar to Whovians, the late Robert Holmes. The script is firmly set in the present time (though it is meant to take place in the ‘near future’ in some instances), showing the provincial life of simple country folk and the urban excitement of London. The Doctor is very weak in the first two parts, his energy depleted from his regeneration, and therefore unable to stop an alien invasion by the Nestene Consciousness. The Nestene is a formless intelligence from space that has traveled to our world to create a form for itself out of plastic and establish a breeding ground.

Brigadier Alistraire Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart is in over his head leading the newly formed United Nations Intelligence Taskforce to combat just such an invasion. The character of the Brigadier would be somewhat familiar to viewers as he had appeared in two previous adventures, the latter of the two introducing an early version of U.N.I.T. As the Doctor gains his wits, he butts heads with the Brigadier and slowly realizes that he is stick on Earth. The adventure is one of the best ever shown and features memorable moments such as the Autons (animated shop mannequins with guns built into their arms) killing random people in the morning as the burst out of shop windows.

Pertwee surprised everyone with his capable take of the Doctor. Many had imagined that his portrayal would be a continuation of the impish Troughton but instead he was an all-action man dressed in a dandy-ish flowing opera cape and velvet smoking jacket. Pertwee’s love of gadgetry and vehicles invaded the program with the sonic screwdriver far more prominent (though far from the magic wand it would be made into in 2005), a vintage car named ‘Bessie’ and even a flying vehicle custom-made for the actor.

I never much liked Jon Pertwee as a kid because he was always performing TV martial arts on people and had hair like Maude. But as I grew more associated with the program I accepted Pertwee’s dashing dandy and he is now one of my favorite Doctors. Part of the appeal of Pertwee for me as a viewer is that the actor himself is so egocentric that he buys it and in turn so do I. He really believes that he can square off against an army of galactic soldiers or argue metaphysics with sock puppets. And damn me, but so do I. His charm is so strong that it overcomes the poor budget and ridiculous plots, making me actually believe in the story. He was a rare kind of guy.

The producers took an enormous risk in Pertwee’s first story and luckily it paid off. The entire structure of the program was revamped with ass stress on contemporary settings, action and hard science fiction rather than the fanciful material that viewers had grown accustomed to. After 5 very successful years as the Doctor, Pertwee left and the program was faced with the same problem of replacing their leading man and revamping the program again.

Jon Pertwee – Tom Baker
Robot
1974

The unlikely Tom Baker was the answer to producer Barry Lett’s dreams and the perfect man for the job under new producer Philip Hinchcliffe. The opening story Robot by Terrance Dicks is very by the numbers Doctor Who, but there is nothing really wrong with that. Doctor Who had enjoyed an increase in viewers in the past few years and become an institution to the public as television had become more of a staple of modern entertainment.

The story goes that Tom Baker was chosen out of a number of candidates for the role of the Doctor based on his performance in Nicholas and Alexandria as the mad Rasputin. The actor himself was between gigs at the time and making rent as a laborer on a construction site when his agent got the news. The most important role of Tom Baker’s life proved to also be the most important casting decision of the program Doctor Who, influencing the character to the present day.

In truth, the actor has admitted on several occasions that the character of his take on the Doctor is himself. He came to this conclusion after realizing that he could never connect with being a 800-odd year-old timelord but he could honestly portray his own reactions to the things that the Doctor encountered. In any other actor, this approach would have been disastrous but in the capable hands of Tom Baker it proved to be gold. Tom really was as mad as he appeared to be, but he was honest and caring as well. His emotions leaped the spectrum from giddy hilarity to rage in a heartbeat and both came off as being genuine (as seen in the confrontation with the Captain in Pirate Planet). There are so many reasons why I could explain why this fourth incarnation was so successful but they are all just so very apparent upon viewing. Tom was the real deal.

It is Tom Baker’s wild persona, mad inventiveness and spontaneity that can still be seen in David Tennant’s Tenth Doctor and even in the early glimpses of Doctor No. 11 Matt Smith. So influential was Tom Baker that his take on the Doctor is seen as definitive rather than one of several interpretations. Even so, this mad scientist approach must have been very off-putting for viewers at the time who had grown to associate the Doctor with nobility and courage. Baker would win the viewers over in time and after seven years prove to be the most associated actor with Doctor Who to date. The feel of Doctor Who shifted into pulpy horror and even into comedic as script editor Douglas Adams became involved in the program. Gone was the space opera and hard science, in was the robot dog, jelly babies and toothy grins.

The wild shift in the persona of the Doctor may explain why the story of Robot is so ‘safe.’ Highly specialized inventions are being stolen from seemingly impregnable vaults. A political extremist group with aims to reform society is using a sophisticated robot to steal the plans and hold the world hostage. With the Doctor recuperating in U.N.I.T. HQ, it is down to Sarah Jane Smith to uncover the culprits but when she gets in over her head the Doctor comes to save the day.

I must have seen Robot about a million times on TV as it was shown in heavy rotation locally. Even so, it is a cracking good story and offers viewers a lot of excitement while paving the way toward a new era.

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Regeneration stories are tricky things. They have to honor the past, pave the way for the future AND tell a story all in one go. With the modern storytelling style of NuWho all of this needs to be accomplished in one episode. RTD and company did a serviceable job in The Christmas Invasion with the exception of some cringe-worthy moments as David Tennant questioned who he was as the author himself no doubt was still working that out. One of the problems I have with the new series that I have repeated several times is that it tells the viewers what to think rather than showing characters in action.

Nebula Award-winning author Steven Moffat is now in charge of Doctor Who and it falls on his more than capable shoulders to carry the program into the next era.

… but will viewers go along for the ride?

Doctor Who and the Eleventh Hour premieres in the U.K. on 3 April, in the US April 17th.