Tagged: Doctor Who

ComicMix Quick Picks – February 8, 2009

noelclarke-3506472The collection of non-NYCC posts that have come in over the last few days while we’ve been on the floor at Javits.

Anything else we missed? Consider this an open friend.

Amy Goldschlager is an editor for FindingDulcinea.com.

X-Men Forever: What was the Marvel Universe like in 1991?

  • News
  • February 8, 2009

In light of the annoucement of X-Men Forever and Chris Claremont‘s intention to continue exactly where X-Men #3 left off in 1991, we thought it would be a good idea to remind ourselves what the state of the Marvel Universe was in 1991– before Stamford, the Super-Hero Registration Act, and Skrulls. Here’s all you need to know:

 

X-MEN:

Charles Xavier is adjusting to having lost the use of his legs again recently. The X-Men have recently reformed into two teams, with Cyclops leading the blue strike force and Storm leading the gold strike force. Gambit has just joined and is still a mystery to the others.

During the gold strike force’s latest mission, they investigated the recent death of the Hellions and have recruited the time-traveling Bishop. At this time, Bishop is still unaware who the “X-traitor” will turn out to be. Much of the world still thinks the X-Men are dead and it’s possible they are still invisible to technology (due to a spell cast by Roma).

During their latest mission, the blue strike force met the newly formed Acolytes and witnessed the apparent death of Magneto (at the hands of his Acolyte Cortez) on Asteroid M, which has just been destroyed.

X-FORCE:

Cable is still leading this team, which has only recently formed, and at this point in time all we know about the white-haired mutant is that he and Stryfe are identical to each other and that he apparently did some military missions in ‘Nam where he met Chord of the New Warriors. He also has an unclear history with Wolverine. G.W. Bridge of SHIELD is investigating Cable since he believes that Cable is also running Stryfe’s organization the Mutant Liberation Front.

As of yet, there has  been no revelations about Cannonball being an “Ex-Ternal” and there has been no revelation that Domino is actually Copycat while the real Domino is a captive of Mr. Tolliver.

X-FACTOR:

X-Factor has just replaced “Freedom Force” as the government’s mutant counter-terrorist team. Havok is in charge and is very green as a leader, still concerned about living up to his brother’s example. Wolfsbane cannot really turn to human form at this point, stuck between her half-lupine form and full lupine form.

EXCALIBUR:

The London based team still includes Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde in its ranks. At this point, half the team’s adventures seem to involve parallel realities and alternate timelines. Lockheed the Dragon has recently been revealed to be a sentient member of a telepathic race (though only we readers know that) and is recovering from injuries. At this point in time, Nightcrawler and Kitty Pryde have not seen their X-Men teammates since the events of the team’s apparent death.

WOLVERINE:

Wolverine is still wearing the brown and tan uniform. In his own series, as 1991 closes, Wolverine has only just discovered the Weapon X facility and realized that some of his memories are false implants based loosely on real memories. He also now has the first inkling that he and Sabretooth are not related but perhaps used to work together for some kind of government unit. He has not yet learned about Team X, the group he was part of with John Wraith and Maverick.

AND NOW, THE REST OF THE MARVEL UNIVERSE… (more…)

ComicMix Quick Picks – February 3, 2009

* Quote of the day from novelist David Mack, talking about Sandman:

One story from that series, “Calliope,” continues to haunt me; a writer who tried to justify his crimes as a desperate search for ideas is cursed by Dream to be deluged with story ideas faster than he can write them down. In a handful of panels, the character rambles off nearly a dozen snippets of story concepts as he succumbs to a delusional fugue. What really haunts me about that scene is that Neil Gaiman tossed off a dozen story ideas as throwaway lines of dialogue that are all better than anything I’ve ever written. As a writer, I’ve never slept well since reading those panels.

This is all part of agent Lucienne Diver‘s weeklong discusion about comic books. Monday was Keith DeCandido‘s turn. I look forward to seeing who’s next– and slightly insulted she hasn’t asked me yet.

* Sandman, of course, is not to be confused in any way with Mr. Sandman, who, "though immortal and existing since the beginning of time, is your standard everyday teenager from the 50s. He enjoys such activities as going on dates with Calliope and Nada (rivals for his affection), meeting up with his old friend Jughead (a mortal granted everlasting life) at the same soda jerk every 100 years, and bringing into existence desirable new teenagers at the request of existing ones." Here, we see Mr. Sandman’s famous crossover with Jughead.

* This is ironic and deeply cruel: Unscrewed, which was formed to help comics creators who’d gotten screwed by a particular publisher, had funds embezzled by their former treasurer. Via Rich Johnston.

* TNT renewed the drama series Leverage for a second season, ordering 15 new episodes. Congratulations to show co-creator John Rogers, who won’t have much time to write comics any more, and the rest of the crew and cast.

* Hank Pym Is the New Doctor Who.

* And finally, our condolences to Scott Edelman on the passing of his father.

Anything else? Consider this an open thread.

Licensing the 11th Doctor Who

  • News
  • January 7, 2009

With Matt Smith taking on the role of Doctor Who, BBC Worldwide says the property will be one of its licensing priorities through 2009, series 5 featuring the new Doctor in 2010, and forward. BBC Worldwide has renewed and extended the Doctor Who master toy license with Character Options, which has held the license since 2005.  BBC Worldwide is developing new style elements for licensees for series 5 with product expected to be available in summer 2010, probably just in time for the San Diego Comic-Con. 

Meanwhile this year will see the release of a range of items, including the launch of Time Squad collectible figures in spring, followed by repackaged and revamped Cyberman Age of Steel products to tie-in with the holiday 2009 special.

So if you’re the sort of person who just wasn’t satisfied with spending two hundred dollars for a remote control Dalek to terrorize your pet with, you’re in luck. And thank you for helping to stimulate the economy, even if you’re adding to the international trade imbalance.

And the next Doctor Who is…

  • News
  • January 3, 2009

…going to be revealed in exactly 12 hours from now as part of a special edition of Doctor Who Confidential to be aired on BBC ONE today at 17:35 Greenwich mean time, 12:35 PM Eastern standard time.

Following the announcement in October that David Tennant would be stepping down from his role as the Doctor at the end of 2009*, speculation has been mounting as to who would take over from him for the fifth series of this iconic BBC drama that will air in 2010.

Who do we think will get the job? Well, there’s a reason William Petersen is leaving CSI…

Check back in half a day on ComicMix and see if we’re right.

Russell Davies Promises More than 2 Doctors

  • News
  • December 24, 2008

Doctor Who producer Russell T. Davies was interviewed on BBC Radio 5, chatting about Thursday’s Doctor Who Christmas Special. Entitled “The Next Doctor”, the special was described as "nice and scary, but healthily scary". Practically confirming word the previous incarnations will be glimpsed in the story, he said, “It’s not just the next Doctor you get to see, you get to see some old ones as well, which is rather exciting… It’s a Doctorfest.”

The inevitable question was asked about David Tennant’s successor as the Time Lord and all he would say was, “Steven Moffat and the series 5 team are casting the next Doctor, the eleventh Doctor and it’s literally nothing to do with me. Everyone keeps asking me, begging me, the money I could make out of this, but I do not know what they are planning.”

Back surgery Not Expected to Slow Down David Tennant

  • News
  • December 21, 2008

Producer Russell T Davies told the BBC that David Tennant is expected to recover from his back injury in time to shoot the four 2009 Doctor Who specials.  The actor required surgery for the injury which also forced him to drop out of the stage production of Hamlet.

Filming on the first of the quartet remains scheduled for January 19.

"We’ll have to be very careful," he said. "I don’t think we’ll be swinging him on a wire on his first day back."

Davies pooh-poohed the notion the scripts would need to be adjusted to accommodate the actor’s condition. "No, there’s been none of that, and I think David would have told us by now because he’s read the first script."

Two of the four specials are said to be filming overseas, possibly including America. "It’s going to be quite exotic," he said. "I can’t tell you where, but we’ve got four days filming abroad, to give it a bit of size and a new feel to it."

In discussing the specials, which will end with Tennant’s departure from the series as the Doctor, he said each would pair the Doctor with a different companion.  He’s reserved writing the final two for himself to send off the actor in a grand fashion.

"The big climax is mine, all mine," he said.

He refused to join in the speculation as to who will replace Tennant, which has filled column inches for months even before Tennant formally announced his departure last month.

"I think it could be a while – it’s a very big deal to set up. Whoever becomes the Doctor has got to take on a whole life. It’s not just becoming a part of a TV show," he said.
 

BBC Orders 2nd Season of ‘Merlin’

  • News
  • December 18, 2008

merlin-3-3085246The revisionist take on Camelot, Merlin, has been given a second season order by the BBC according to Variety. The series, starring Colin Morgan as the young wizard, has aired on BBC’s coveted Saturday night usually take n by Doctor Who and Robin Hood. NBC already bought American broadcast rights and intends to schedule the series in the first half of 2009.

The premise has the series occurring during the days of Arthur’s father, King Uther, but Camelot already exists.  Merlin is an apprentice magician, not aging backwards, and befriends a young Arthur (Bradley James).  The series also features supporting characters played by Michelle Ryan (Bionic Woman) John Hurt (Alien), and Anthony Stewart Head (Buffy).

The series was developed by Shine, the BBC, and distributor FremantleMedia Enterprises and is now running in 112 territories. In the UK, its 28% audience share was considered above average, easily confirming a second season order.

Director Says ‘Torchwood’ Unchanged by Move to BBC1

  • News
  • December 15, 2008

Director Euros Lyn told Torchwood Magazine that the series’ move to BBC1 will not alter the content or tone of the Doctor Who spinoff.

"We certainly haven’t neutered or sanitized it in any way. We want appeal to a bigger audience than ever, but it’s not been turned into a Children’s BBC show to achieve that. The key thing for Season 3 is that, no matter how dark it gets, we still want to keep the warmth Doctor Who has in abundance," he said.

The shortened third season will be a mere five parts but run on consecutive nights, telling a single story entitled “Children of the Earth.”

"Torchwood: Children Of Earth is about how human beings behave when they’re faced with an unstoppable force, something so much bigger than they are," Lyn said. "Some of them turn out to be heroes, and some of them turn out to be shits. I think that describes at least one of the dominant themes of these episodes.

"Also, the love story between Captain Jack and Ianto continues to unfold, as does the story of married life for Gwen and Rhys, as Rhys’ character comes into play a lot more, and he becomes almost the fourth member of the team, largely by accident. It’s hard to have perspective on it when you’re right in the middle of filming, so I think I’ll just say it’s going to be brilliant.

"I think they’ve all done a great job in giving each episode a very distinct tone, and each one can stand on its own. Episode 1 is about the team becoming suddenly fragmented, and Episode 2 is much more of a spy thriller as they go their separate ways. Episode 3 introduces the alien threat in a big way, and Episode 4 is a huge political drama about the wider repercussions.

"Those are all very different story beats, and very important in their own right. Episode five, of course, has everything, and is a race to save humanity, but then, what did you expect?"

British airdate or American BBC America dates have yet to be announced although the former is expected in the spring.
 

44821884-einstein1-226-9721103

Review: ‘Einstein and Eddington’

44821884-einstein1-226-9721103[[[Einstein and Eddington]]] is a story about the pursuit of truth against a background of war, violence, nationalism, subterfuge, and prejudice during World War I.
 
David Tennant, widely known as the latest incarnation of [[[Doctor Who]]], admirably plays Arthur Eddington, hailed as the “best measuring man in England.”  Appointed as the Director of the Cambridge Observatory, the ninth since Sir Isaac Newton held the position, he is charge with maintaining the truth of Newtonian physics against all comers.  Sir Oliver Lodge, another keeper of the Newtonian faith, is portrayed by the wonderful Jim Broadbent and assigns Eddington to investigate an up and coming German scientist, Albert Einstein whose work appears to question certain aspects of currently accepted physics.  Lodge wants Eddington to prove Einstein wrong, demonstrating the superiority of “British science” over “German science.”
 
Andy Serkis’s portrayal of Albert Einstein is heartwarming, funny, and frustrating, all at the same time.  Serkis is best known to audiences for his work as Gollum in [[[The Lord of the Rings]]] trilogy , but here we can see him as a flesh and blood actor. The character appears to be incapable of relating to most people, much to his estranged family’s dismay.  He is offered a much needed job at the University of Berlin, the heart of the think-tank for developing better ways of making war.  He cannot understand why they want to use science to build things and kill people, rather than simply love science for the sheer joy of figuring out how thing work, not bend it to their destructive will, and he is quite vocal about his position.
 
This is the situation when, much to Eddington’s dismay, he discovers that Einstein may indeed be right about flaws in Newton’s laws.  Having never met the man, he writes Einstein a letter which is simply a page of equations.  Einstein responds in kind.  Eddington, a Quaker and pacifist, had found a balance in his life between science and faith, finding room for both Newton and God.  Until he receives Einstein reply.
 
Between the lines of equations the two men share, they continue to pursue the truth behind the physics and develop an unusual friendship.  Their work continues through a series of personal trials: Einstein ’s affair which leads to a divorce, Eddington’s loss of a dear friend at the Battle of Ypres where he is killed by mustard gas, developed by the same institution employing Einstein, and both of them coming into conflict with the demands of their respective employers.
 
Something of a recluse, Eddington was never comfortable with being the focus of public attention so it was fortunate that his work brought more attention to the work of Albert Einstein and his Theory of General Relativity.
 
Einstein and Eddington is a fine introduction to these two geniuses and the science they both loved so dearly.
 
This period piece was filmed on location at Cambridge University, with Croatia and Hungary standing in for Germany and West Africa. It was written by Peter Moffat and directed by Philip Martin, the team behind the acclaimed [[[Hawking]]]. The BBC production was filmed in association with HBO and debuted on November 22 in the United Kingdom.  An American airdate on the premium channel has not been announced.

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