With Matt Smith’s final episode (well, until the hundredth anniversary, anyway) imminent, the cast (and showrunner Steven Moffat) sat down to talk about their thoughts about the Christmas adventure. Guest Orla Brady (Tasha Lem) also discusses her experience with the show, and her experience with new Doctor, Peter Capaldi. Read on for the juicy details.
Doctor Who has gotten a number of videogames in the last couple of years, from games for the Playstation 3 to a Nintendo 3Ds version of the card game Top Trumps. Doctor Who: Legacy is the latest in the series, a game for iOS and Android tablets and phones that packs a great deal of addicting gameplay into a simple mechanic.
At its core, Legacy is an iteration of the “Line up three jewels” game as seen in the many variations of Bejweled. The big different is the player is not limited to moving an “orb” only one spot, but anywhere on the screen, within a number of seconds. With orbs sliding out of its way as you go, this simple change allows a deft player to set up a number of combos in one play. It’s s skill that takes a bit to get used to, but opens up a great deal of strategy.
In the game, you play The Doctor and his companions, each of whom are assigned one of five orb colors on the game board, with a sixth (pink) for restoring hit points.. You are presented with wave upon wave of villains who attack you with energy blasts and special attacks, shaving down your health. When you line up three or more of one color, the character assigned to that color attacks the enemies, or the pink orbs restore health to the team. Combos allow more than one character to attack at once, and multiplies the total damage. Your characters have varied attack and hitpoint values they add to the team, and each has special powers that become available every few rounds – change orb colors, increase damage, or restore health. Combining that with the flexible orb placement on the field, the game keeps itself fresh, more than simply swapping jewels endlessly.
Like all free-to-play games, there’s an option to buy items, represented here by Time Crystals, which allow you to continue playing if you’re well into a long level, are used to rank up your characters for greater power and strength, and to buy packs of extra companions. The game is exceedingly fair about making the crystals available in the game as well, and with patience, you can score all the companions as random rewards for completing levels. As a thank you for buying, the game allows you access to the “fan area” after your first purchase of 5 or more Crystals. The fan area offers extra levels, special “fan versions” of companions, and more bonuses to be added later. It’s a fair value for at least that first five bucks; indeed the game itself would be worth that if they had chosen to charge.
One caveat – the game needs an internet connection at startup to sync with the servers and download updates, so have one ready before you play. Right now the developers are running a special “Advent Calendar” promotion via their facebook page – Liking their page gives you access to promo codes for extra companions and outfits for your characters. There’s a lot of value packed into the game, and it’s a welcome addition to your portable device.
Yesterday, Henry Cavill, Amy Adams and Man of Steel Director Zack Snyder sat with special host Kevin Smith for an exclusive fan event on Yahoo! Movies. The cast and crew talked all the things Man of Steel, in anticipation of Tuesday’s home video release of the summer blockbuster.
The event also included a featurette of the sit-down discussion between Zack Snyder and Michael Shannon about the making of Man of Steel.
The premise behind Fox’s Bones has always felt as it was straining against credulity. After all, how many bizarre murders occur that require a dedicated team of forensic anthropologists? Well, the answer appears to be eight and counting although with season nine now airing, it’s also starting to sag under its own weight and age. As a result, the cases have taken a back seat to meta stories and character arcs that never feel fully explored.
At the end of the seventh season, Dr. Temperance “Bones” Brennan (Emily Deschanel) took her infant son and abandoned her lover, FBI Agent Seeley Booth (David Boreanaz) and was on the run after a series of unbelievable charges were leveled against her by the sadistic Pelant (Andrew Leeds). We open the eighth season, out now on home video from 20th Century Home Entertainment, several months later as the couple is reunited. However, the Spectre of Pelant, which has been growing over the years, now begins to hang on like an overripe albatross and sucks the life out of the show.
He reappears later in the season, in a far-fetched plot that is designed to rob Jack Hodgins (T.J. Thyne) of his fortune, fueling the madman’s schemes, which also sets up the season’s cliffhanger. The problem is that he’s not a very interesting foe and he always seems to be flawlessly perfect in his execution. After years of building up the romance between Booth and Bones, they have conceived a child and moved in together, forging a life. He finally proposes and then Pelant arrives to orchestrate events that have him call off the deal or innocents will die. Feh.
The only person who seems genuinely happy this year is the boss, Cam (Tamara Taylor), as she engages in a full blown affair with occasional intern Arastoo Vaziri (Pej Vahdat) but she has to keep it quiet because, after all, she’s his boss and there’s a bit of an age difference which never seems to come up.
After more than a hundred episodes, the series is free to take chances and the most satisfying one may be the one that brings back psychic Avalon Harmonia (Cyndi Lauper) and everyone talks to the teen victim’s skull and we see things from its point of view.
Meantime, early in the season we have Angela (Michaela Conlin) question her personal goals which is neatly packed away after only a few episodes while Sweets (John Francis Daley) gets his mini-arc of self-doubt after failing to capture Pelant in the finale.
The series looks fine thanks to the clean transfer to high definition and the sound is also good. As usual, there are some fun and interesting bonus features. There’s occasional commentary from producer Hart Hanson, accompanied by Stephen Nathan and Ian Toynton. There are a few scattered deleted scenes, and Dying to Know: Bones Answers Your Questions! (9:00) as the cast and crew answer fan questions, which also fills Bare Bones: Total Fandom-onium (1:59). Finally, there’s the requisite Gag Reel (5:26).
I ran this on my Michael Davis World website. I was writing another version for ComicMix because the response was so strong. Then like an idiot (which I’ve been more often than not) I realized I should just run what I wrote as is.
So…
The following email was sent to my Linked-In mailbox:
Hey Davis, I’m a comic creator trying to break into the industry was hoping you could help a brotha out with that my big fan of your work and bring back The Crush!
I am one hundred percent sure the writer wrote and sent this email with positive intentions and respect. But as they say, the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.
This certainly did.
Here’s a hard and cold fact, many young African Americans are under the impression that being black gives them a pass on professionalism. The case can be made that my less than professional attitude in my public persona gave this young man leave to address me in such a way.
Err, nope.
My public persona is my real life persona. In real life I have a certain swagger and attitude that I portray to the world. That’s just who I am. In anyone’s life there is a time and a place for everything in my professional dealings there is never and I repeat never a time not to be professional.
There is no other way to say this; anyone who thinks they “know” you because you project a certain image to the world is most likely in for a rude awakening. Even worst-they may never get that rude awakening because emails and any other inquiries will simply be ignored.
I don’t do that.
Any chance I get to enlighten someone as to the error of their ways I do so, up to a point. I’m not wasting any time on someone I give advice to and they keep defending that ghetto bullshit way of thinking.
The following is my reply to the young man. As of yet I’ve heard nothing back from him in the two week since I’ve sent this:
I say this with love, my brother. “Hey Davis” is not a level I operate on. That is not just unprofessional, it’s disrespectful. The rest of your email was poorly worded as well.
Now considering you sent this to a Linked-In, a professional networking site, you are very lucky my executive assistant didn’t see this first. If he had your access to me through this site or anywhere else would have been terminated.
That said, I sense your enthusiasm and as such I’m going to give you a pass.
If you would like to send me another email which states clearly what it is you do (artist, writer) what it is you would like to talk to me about (portfolio, writing samples) and what sort of advice you are seeking (craft critique, career opportunities) I will see rather or not I can help you in any way-IF you have the talent and motivation that warrants my help. If your work is in presented in the same manner as your email then we have nothing to talk about.
I hope this response is received by you as what it is, a reality check. This is in no way a put down.
‘Who wrote this letter? Stevie Wonder?” That’s a put down.
I took time out of my day to write this. This is not a form letter; this is I writing to you with respect for your enthusiasm and a desire to see you succeed. If you think that’s something anyone in a position to help you will do then you have a seriously unrealistic view of the entertainment industry and you are not ready for a professional career within it.
Calling me “Davis” is just ghetto. If you were my boy and we were back in my hood South Jamaica or Rockaway Queens you could call me “Davis” all day long. You’re not my boy. I don’t know you…yet
You know what they call me when I walk into a meeting? Michael, Mr. Davis or Dr. Davis depending on whom I’m meeting and why I’m meeting with them.
“Davis.” Come on man!
There’s a saying, “you get one chance to make a first impression. “Well, I just gave you another. What you do with it is up to you my friend.
Again, I say this with love.
I hope I hear back from the young man and I hope if I can, to help him. That’s my plan but its up to him and like I said earlier, the best laid plans…
WEDNESDAY: Mike Gold
THURSDAY MORNING: Dennis O’Neil
THURSDAY AFTERNOON: The Debut Of… The Tweeks!
It All Gives Me A Headache: Part Three (otherwise known as “Multiverse University”) is pre-empted this week to present a column by a special guest.
A few months before her birthday, Isabel asked me if I watched Doctor Who. “Oh, yeah,” I said. “Do you?” She hadn’t, but all her friends were raving about Matt Smith. “Tell you what,” I said. “I’ll get you the DVD set of Doctor Who.”
But I made a mistake. I only got her the 11th Doctor’s series. I figured that if she liked Matt, I would backtrack and get her the Chris Eccleston and David Tennant series.
But my brother thought it would be best to start at the beginning – plus I think he was curious about the whole Whovian phenomenon – so, using Netflix, Isabel and he have been binging on the Time Lord, starting with the 9th Doctor.
They’re both hooked.
And Isabel had a dream.
This – to cop a phrase from Law & Order – is her story.
• • • • •
You think you have had the best dreams about the Doctor and his TARDIS? You might want to think twice.
It started like this. I got on a bus to Hogwarts. I knew something was wrong because you take the train to Hogwarts, not a bus. I had just put my luggage away when I looked out the window of the bus and saw the Doctor standing there watching me. Before I could do or say anything the bus took off and then just as suddenly stopped. I got off the bus.
We were at Hogwarts, and…
…it was in the middle of town.
Again I knew something was wrong. And no way was I going to go into Hogwarts if it was so public.
Then I saw the Doctor walking right towards me, but something was wrong again, because right in front of my eyes he suddenly split into the 9th, 10th, and 11th Doctors!
“This is crazy!” I thought to myself, and started running.
And ran smack into two metal things.
I fell down and looked up.
I was staring at a Cyberman and a Dalek.
“Exterminate!” said the Dalek.
“Delete!” said the Cyberman.
Suddenly I had a sword in my hand.
I swung, striking the Dalek in its eye. I swung again, and exposed the Cyberman’s emotion-blocking chip. I reached in and pulled it out. Both the Dalek and Cyberman exploded into tiny bits of metal that rained down upon me.
I stood up, searching for somewhere to hide.
The TARDIS!
I ran to it, but I couldn’t open the door.
I saw the three Doctors coming towards me. I knew that I had to get away from them. I knew they couldn’t all be together at one time. That they were not my friends.
I ran into a darkened theater. I looked back. The three Doctors were still on my tail.
I kept running until I couldn’t run anymore. I collapsed. The three Doctors were almost upon me. I had lost my sword.
Then all of a sudden the three Doctors merged into one, and it was the 10th Doctor. He picked me up, brought me into the TARDIS, laid me down on a bed, and gave me a kiss on the forehead.
And I knew that I was safe.
• • • • •
Isabel Sofia Newell is a vivacious 13 year-old who I have known since she was born. A young woman of many talents, she is an accomplished blue-ribbon equestrienne on the show circuit, a cellist with PhilOrchKids – the Philadelphia Orchestra’s young musician program – and the Symphony in C Orchestra intensive summer camp based at the Gordon Theater at the Rutgers-Camden Center for the Arts in Camden, New Jersey. She is also a gifted singer, who has wowed audiences with her performance as everybody’s red-haired orphan, ANNIE, in junior summer stock.
Isabel is also a voracious reader, a fan of, among other things, Bone by Jeff Smith, the Archie family of comics, Percy Jackson, and, of course, Harry Potter.
And just recently, Isabel has become a Whovian.
TUESDAY MORNING: Emily S. Whitten
TUESDAY AFTERNOON: Michael Davis
For the third interview in the BAD TIGER series, ALL PULP corners Writer/Creator/Marketing Director D. C. Golightly!
ALL PULP: Tell us about yourself, your personal background, and how you got into writing/art/etc.
DCG: I reside in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania with my wife and kids. I love comics, cookies, and characters. Follow my freelance rumblings at http://dave-golightly.blogspot.com/. I’ve always been a huge comic fan, and growing up I really got into more adventure pulps as my comic collection grew. Since I wanted to weave a wonderful world myself, I started scribbling little stories. I’ve been lucky enough that some people are willing to pay for those stories. I always wanted to be an artist, but I lack talent. Therefor the pen is the only version of the brush that I can manipulate as a creator.
AP: What is your role at Bad Tiger?
DCG: I write The Skull, a bi-monthly strip, as well as the prose for The Black Kingdom. I’ve recently agreed to take on the role of Minister of Propaganda…or Marketing Director…or whatever you want to call the guy that advertises our junk.
AP: In our modern society, some would say that there’s nothing new or original anymore. What makes Bad Tiger stand out?
DCG: It’s a group of like-minded people that have a single goal: create awesome stories. We’re not doing this to get paid; we’re doing this because we love these characters and this genre. There’s a lot of work being put into this venture, and a lot of talent to recognize. This group is populated by people that are not only good enough to make it in the industry, but to an extent already are. We choose to take the time to build this initiative because we believe in it and want to get our stories told.
AP: What are your inspirations, influences for the work you do?
DCG: Jim Butcher is always on his game, and I would buy lunch for Mark Waid any day of the week. Jeffery Deaver can write a character out of any corner.
AP: What do you think appeals to the public about heroic/genre fiction and/or comic strips? Why will people come to Bad Tiger?
DCG: Bad Tiger Studios will quickly become a place fans recognize as a platform for creative talent, free of charge. We’ll toss incredible projects to the wall, see what sticks, and then turn them around for readers. The quality of the material is out of this world and the people interested in this genre will undoubtedly return after they get a sample of what we have to offer. These are the kinds of stories that people want to see, and we’re more than happy to offer them.
AP: Free response! Say whatever you’d like to about Bad Tiger, yourself, or the experience!
DCG: I’m flattered to be associated with such uniquely creative people. These people are putting in many long hours of work just to provide entertainment, and all they are asking for is a shot to be viewed.
BAD TIGER STUDIO- www.badtigerstudio.com
That is if you’re a fan of the EC horror comics, Eerie, Creepy and the like. If the style of the cover illustration alone doesn’t ring any bells, then you’re in troubled waters, hard about. However, for any fan of classic horror, and who isn’t, TRILOGY OF TERROR will fit your reading needs like your favorite easy chair fits your nether regions. Everaert has clearly done his homework with this volume. That he is a fan of this stuff shines through on every page.
TRILOGY OF TERRORis a throwback in every sense of the word. Everaert is not trying to re-invent the wheel here. This is no updating or re-imagining of the classic horror comics. Rather the book stalks down this familiar territory with gusto and verve served up by an artist who knows the route to what scares us. The artwork is richly detailed, heavy blacks abound. The tales move quickly. The writing duties are shared between the writing tag-team of Kelly and his wife, Michelle and the tales move towards their grisly conclusions at a great clip. The variety of tales here also means that there’s something for everyone to scream at.
Christian Jacobs started out as a child actor playing the slightly older Joey Stivic in the All in the Family spin-off Gloria. Since then, he’s not only triumphed as the creator of kid show juggernaut Yo Gabba Gabba, but as The MC Bat Commander, has been the charismatic leader of superhero ska band The Aquabats. After a long career in the clubs of the world (coming up on their twentieth anniversary) the band broke into television last year with The Aquabats Super Show on Hub Network. Lauded by critics and attracting kids in droves, the show’s second season premieres this Saturday on the network (check local listings).
Christian took the time to speak to ComicMix about the series and the long strange trip it took to the screen. He’s proud to get the show on the air, and even more happy for it to make a second season. “We’re blown away” he explained. “We would have been happy just to get ONE season. But having said that, we put a lot of blood, sweat and tears into that one season, and to be ‘one and done’ would have been a little disappointing. But if you take a step back and think about the miracle that The Aquabats even got to make a TV show…having a second season is just mind-blowing. A real-life band that got to make a fake, goofy show about themselves…I don’t think that’s ever happened before. You have shows like The Monkees, where the bands were put together by the studios; Big Time Rush, things like that. But a real band…being a part of that miracle, and getting to do it twice, is just unbelievable.”
The desire to get The Aquabats to the small screen has been part of the plan almost as far back as the band’s been in existence, Jacobs explains. “Right about the time we did The Fury of the Aquabats, Between that and Floating Eye of Death!, we did a pilot for Disney. And that was something we all thought was going to go somewhere. But looking back, looking at that pilot, I was all, ‘Oh, wow, THAT didn’t work out…’ “
He’s got a good idea as to why the show worked now, as opposed to years back – “It seems like the timing, although it’s been almost twenty years, the timing is almost perfect. I think the sensibilities in the show…kids are more sharpened to stuff that’s random and silly, and doesn’t make sense sometimes. I think maybe even more than kids, cause kids are always down with that. I think there’s enough shows that doing stuff like that, and being successful, that studios are letting things go. Like, there’s no chance there would have been an Adventure Time, fifteen, twenty years ago; it’s just too crazy and random. And that’s rad! And it’s the same with [us]; without a network like Hub Network, you don’t have a show like The Aquabats. Because people don’t wanna take risks.”
The show has been the hit with kids as it was intended, and that new audience has started to flow back to the band’s live performances. “We played a local show here, last summer, right after the show started airing. And the influx of young kids at the show definitely created the thought, “Wow, we definitely need to have a different show when we go tour; do a matinee and an evening show. It’s not that the crowd doesn’t mix, we have kids that want to slamdance and get rowdy, and that’s okay, it’s always been like that. But when you have SO many kids, nine and ten year olds, in the pit, it makes things a little bit different.”
Christian and the band are quite proud of the show. “What’s been great, and really gratifying, is that all of us in the band have been so close to the show, for so long…in the back of my brain…heck in the front of my brain, I’m thinking, ‘I hope kids like this, because I like it, I think it’s funny.’ I like all the references and everything in the show, but is it gonna resonate with kids? Cause it sure resonated with me, I like all that stuff, I think it’s stupid. But there’s a lot of inside jokes, a lot of references, that adults get, but kids maybe not so much. But the fact that kids do love it, and that’s the demographic we’re aiming at, that’s a big relief.”
Part of the show’s appeal is the constant barrage of references to pop culture, both old and new. Their mobile headquarters, the Battletram, is equal parts the eponymous vehicle from Ark II, the Doctor’s TARDIS, and the Big Baloney from The Kids From CAPER. “We want to wear our references on our sleeves. We don’t want to rip any of that stuff off, we want to glorify it; we want to say “How awesome was the stuff we grew up watching?” Now here it is again, in a big loaf. That’s what The Aquabats show is – it’s a loaf, it’s a big loaf of stuff. You can quote me on that. “
While trying to get The Aquabats on the air, Christian took a big of a turn and started looking at the state of entertainment for an even younger audiences. “We were really having trouble getting the Aquabats show sold, getting people to buy onto it. We had a couple of ten-cent pilots, and a couple of things we’d done, but we were having trouble getting people to say ‘OK, yeah, you can go and make your crazy show’. And a big part of it was the climate in TV at the time. Reality shows were just breaking, and they were just breaking HUGE. Survivor was getting really big ratings, so it was hard to get people behind our show. So my buddy Scott (Schultz, YGG co-creator) and I, around that time we were trying to develop the show, we started having families of our own. We were watching kids’ TV, and I noticed there was a big shift in younger kids’ programming. It seemed like everything was very compartmentalized, like “this show is for kids aged 1.5 to 3.2”. Very homogenized. Whereas we grew up watching The Electric Company, and Sesame Street and Zoom, all this variety. All this singing, and songs, and you never knew what was coming around the corner. And my parents would watch the shows with us, and chuckle, at like, Ethal Merman jokes. I didn’t know who Ethel Merman jokes, but my parents would laugh. You don’t get that from the majority of preschool shows today – they don’t have pop-culture references in them.
So we said, hey, let’s shift things up a bit; let’s keep The Aquabats in our pocket. What if we try and do a preschool show? Let’s try and do a classic magazine-format show that could include parents. That could have hip-hop and punk, and electronic and dance, and different things in the show. Not just musically, but visually; art, animation, and style. And almost immediately we thought, it has to be a show with walkaround characters, like The Banana Splits or H.R Pufnstuf. And we’ve got two walkaround characters we’ve already built (Cyclopsis and Weedy, who became Muno and Brobee respectively), and they got great responses live (at Aquabats shows). People would go nuts when they came out on stage, people loved the characters. So I knew right away, from the audience, that those characters would work.”
With next year being the twentieth anniversary of the band, Christian has more than a few events planned, including a new Cadet Summit (their recurring fan conventions) and most importantly to newer fans, new Cadet Kits. “Definitely next year! The cadet kits have always been such a rad thing, but we’ve always done it ourselves. It’s been very hard to find the right fulfillment partner, cause we need help. We can’t do it ourselves anymore; to put it in the envelopes, and lick the stamps, it’s crazy. “
Columns / Glenn Hauman / News
Stephen Colbert, we have your writer for “The Chronicles of Amber”!
January 20, 2023
The Law Is A Ass #460: Those “For Life” Sentences Are Nonsense
February 24, 2022
