A sense of Deja View....

Or rather A Room with a Deja View. The latest in the "stand-alone Doctor Who" from IDW Publishing. By some bloke called Rich Johnston. You may have heard of him, he was killed in a CSI comic I'm lead to believe ;-)

Doctor Who is not really a series about Time Travel, nor is it really about a Time Traveller.
It uses Time Travel as a convenient device to stick our hero in situations where anything is possible - alien invaders in a human colony on Mars one week, pallying about with Sherlock Holmes in Victorian London in the smog the next - that sort of thing.

But from time to time, we get stories that explore the ideas that surround Time Travel - Father's Day and Blink for example, and Inside the Spaceship/Edge of Destruction from the classic series.

And now, A Room with a Deja View. It starts out ordinary (for the Doctor), with him in the TARDIS, moping about and receiving a distress call. But the most extraordinary thing also occurs, a little note from the editor - "warning: parts of this story may read better backwards, rather then forwards", which tantalising the fan with questions of what is to come.

A simple murder mystery, even an open-and-shut case in a space station full of people fleeing a plague. And a most unusual suspect. Someone who lives their life in the opposite direction to everyone else. When he first meets the Doctor, he hails him as his oldest friend and so forth.

The Doctor, recognised as a Time Lord and thus the only hope to communicate with the suspect, uses all his guile and ingenuity (as well as cheating with the TARDIS and travelling back and repeatedly meeting Tx in order to comprehend what he's saying) uncovers the motivations for the crime.

Which, from a certain point of view, wasn't a crime at all, it was Tx giving the guard a long and prosperous life one that simply "began" when Tx hit him.


The story has everything that makes Who great - a fascinating story, interesting and believable characters, and a man who uses all his wit and creativity to solve problems that noone else could.

It does take a few reads to get the hang of the story (especially the interrogation with Tx) but in this reviewer's opinion, it's well worth it. Once you realise Tx's motivation, and his knowledge of his inevitable punishment, you really feel both sorry for him, but also understand that for him it's not a sad thing, but a good one, because for someone who lives their lives backwards what is death... but the beginning?


IDW continues to produce stories that would stand amongst the best of the TV series, Classic Series or New Series, if they were broadcast, and it's well worth tracking them all down.
After all, $7 Australian for brand-spanking new Who and a cracker read to boot is well worth it, in this reviewer's opinion.

Tweed and a bow-tie

No doubt there are about a billion blogs all up passing comment on the eleventh Doctor's costume.
A tweed coat, trousers, doc martins and a bow tie.

Well I *love* it.
There's something wonderfully "wilfully eccentric" about it.
He looks just a little odd, which is nice to see in the Doctor.

My "ideal eleventh Doctor" FWIW is someone who's a little "unsure of his physicality", someone who fumbles what he's carrying, who is a little forgetful and so forth.
Someone terribly intelligent, but who hides it behind a mask of the likeable idiot (as opposed to the unlikeable twat).
Yes, I hear you in the back there, my ideal Doctor is Columbo in space.

I'd give him night terrors so we can have the whole 'the weight of the worlds are on his shoulders' and "I've seen terrors you couldn't believe" sort of thing going but not have it over-shadow the character and make them grumpy or morbid. Or bipolar because they're generally happy.


Anyway - Smith, rumours of his character as the Doctor, Moffat in charge.
What's not to look forward to?
What's not to be excited about?

Blackest Night: Tales of the the Corps #1

NOK.

Autopolitical Disorder...

In Autopia.
Who caused it? Yes he did ;-)
Doctor Who: Autopia is another in the series of comics from IDW Publishing. It's a wonderfully "familiar" story. There may be spoilers after this.

It feels like something from TV. John Ostrander (WHY BTW hasn't he written for Who before?) nails the Doctor and Donna's (yes, Donna. First time in an IDW comic, and heralding her continued adventures in stories like Cold-Blooded War coming soon from IDW) voice and crafted a excellent little story, it fits it's 22 odd pages perfectly. There isn't an unnecessary scene or line of dialogue. Even the info-dump at the start from the Doctor fits with his rather garrulous tenth self. The planet they arrive on is a seemingly Utopian one, with robots doing all the work, with diseases cured and life-span expanded considerably.

Who wouldn't want to live there? It even fascinates the Doctor (normally the first one to go looking for snakes in the garden). Who wouldn't want to live there? The slaves, upon whose back the entire society is built. Not people. Not aliens. Robots.
Donna is appalled. The Doctor furious.
Both, sadly, condemned to death.
Naturally.
Applying his wits and Donna's compassion, the Doctor stimulates a revolution, and then when the revolution threatens to turn violent, he puts his foot down, threatening to unleash a virus upon the robots and Donna taking a very human solution to the problem.

Sound familiar doesn't it? It's something that he's been doing for roughly 45 years. Most noticeably in one of my personal favourite stories the Happiness Patrol. It's safe. It's fun. It's (in my opinion) quintessential Who.
Kelley Yates is excellent on art, and Kris Carter a colourful addition to the crew.


A for the art.
A for the story.
Overall A.

So it's time to say good-bye to Outpost Gallifrey...

Shaun Lyon (Administrator royale and all-round nice guy) has said it's "last drinks" for Outpost Gallifrey and the Doctor Who Forum. It's rather a sad time give that for the last decade it's been my "home on virtual range".

But all good things, as they saying goes, must come to an end.

It's been a wild time, for me I graduated high school and entered uni. Graduated that and entered the work force. Got bored with that and went back to uni. And now that is finishing up too.

But the constant in that time was that madly infuriating, wonderfully enlightening place.
The denizens of the Tenth Planet, the debate and discussion section full of Socialists, Republicans, Mormons, Catholics, Atheists, people with mad dreams and constant gripes are people I'm happy to call friends. People who opened my eyes to new ideas and new philosophies. Who shook me out of the intellectual doldrums and mental ruts. Who forced me to justify my opinions and beliefs.
We even got around to talking about Doctor Who, from time to time.

I was there when the eighth Doctor took over the "lead Doctor" duties in the books. I was there when the DVDs started to be released. I was there when Big Finish kicked off. I was there when the rumours began of some bloke called Davies picking up pen to craft a new Doctor. I defended "my Doctor" from people who accused him and his era of being garbage. I reviewed the books as the infamous amnesia arc began. I speculated over the nature of the enemy in the War in Heaven.

Outpost Gallifrey was a great place to be at the end of one century and the beginning of the next.
It will be remembered fondly.

HG Wells and the Machination of Time...

Well Doctor Who: The Time Machination at any rate.

I must say that IDW has managed to produce with a scant four stories (two 6-parters and two stand alone stories) a series that, for me at least, is just as if not more enjoyable then the TV series currently. And this currently story is no different.

We are initially presented with something of a conundrum - a TARDIS without power and far from the "all you can eat buffet" at Cardiff (the Rift, cause of so much trouble for the Doctor and the Torchwood team). Add to this the less then friendly Torchwood team of Torchwood London (still with their fresh "hunt the Doctor" mandate) and you've the foundations of a solid story.

Where Tony Lee brings a real bit of magic is mixing in HG Wells and references to and ideas from the last 30 years of Doctor Who (Talons of Weng-Chiang, Timelash, Ghostlight, Unquiet Dead and Tooth and Claw). His dialogue sparkles, and his plot races along. The twist where one of the people helping the Doctor seemingly sells him out to Torchwood "for Queen and Country" is brillantly concieved, and convinced me that the Doctor was in trouble.

Paul Grist's art adds a wonderfully "pulp-y" feel to the story, aided greatly by the paperstock IDW used, a thicker then usual version, one which I think should be the mainstay for Doctor Who in the future. A solid paper for a solid story - has a nice ring to it ;-)

I admit to being a card carrying geek (that is if we had cards, we're very informal at our club). And I find the references to the past a wonderful spice to the story. They don't distract from the story, and in fact this story couldn't happen if it wasn't for one of them.

I know it's getting like an old record.... but a cracking good story A+.
Don't wait for the trade on this one folks, race out and get it now (stand alones always read better when read alone).

Batman... officially hardcore.

This isn't because of the whole "sod you Darkseid, I'm going to shoot your arse, and it's your fault I'm using a gun" stuff from Final Crisis.
Or the years of being the smartest man around.
Or kicking all colours of hell while in the Justice Leage (AND, incidentally, the only one of the "core seven" who wasn't (1) an alien, (2) an immortal warrior princess (3) King of Atlantis (4) Having a magic ring or (5) super-speed. He was pure, 100% human.
Or scaring the crap out of an invading army, who have previously beat the hell out of every super powered being on earth with the phrase "I know your secret" in fiery letters (despite the fact that this IMO *is* the most crowning moment of awesome ever).

Rather it's Batman, after having his head messed with for months by a secret organisation. Drugged. His personality torn to shreds. His meaning of life destroyed.
All by someone called "Doctor Hurt".

Who is Doctor Hurt?
He's the bleeding devil. The. Devil. As in "God's number #1 enemy".

And what does Batman do?
Basically tells him where to jam it, and then blows up the helicopter they were in.
The Joker's only comment is to say "Told you so".

Doctor Who: The Forgotten (a review)

I must say... it was brilliant.
The art top notch, and (as you may have noticed that I've a great respect for the quality writing) the writing is equally excellent.

The basic premise (barring any wonderful roller-coaster twists (often a staple of Doctor Who) of which there are a couple) is that the Doctor is trapped in a museum dedicated to him and his past. The great part of that is that the artefacts are from all the 45 years of Doctor Who, not just the more obvious New Series.
Which makes for some amazingly geeky moments when you the reader spots something from a favourite story or something well and truly obscure from the past that simply makes you smile.

The story, and I said earlier, is enchanting.
Not only do we get the tenth Doctor, but also vignette adventures for the other nine Doctors, including "my Doctor", the seventh. I admit to being incredibly happy to seeing him on the page, even knowing that there'd be a seventh Doctor story since the outset of the story.

The "Hello, I'm the Doctor" moment where he raised his hat in salute took my breathe away, beautifully artistically, and just plain right.

I'm a geek I know. But as I said in a previous blog, it was one of those "shivers up the spine" moments. There he is, my Doctor on the page. Took me back to my childhood reading Doctor Who Magazine's comic and racing home to see him on the TV.

The artists (of which, due to unforeseen circumstances there are three) are excellent.
Pia Guerre handles the body of the artistic duties and knocks the ball out of the park with each likeness and item in the museum.
Kelly Yates brings a wonderful life and energy to the characters.
Stefano Martino gives us a glimpse into "unseen adventures" with his unique drawings of the artefacts.

As you'd expect - and as Tony Lee (the writer) himself never shied from saying - there are tonnes of twists, and clues dropped throughout the story lead the reader to making one assumption after the next. I for one, despite thinking I had hit the nail on the head was still surprised by the final revelations.

Everything holds together remarkably well on the re-read (which is always telling in these sort of things). Lee nails the individual "voices" of the Doctors, and gives each of them an adventure that both harkens back to the era they hale from, and yet are appropriately "new series".

Art: A.
Writing: A+
Overall: A+
If you're a fan of Doctor Who I really suggest tracking down the trade of this.
I doubt you'll regret it.

"As a last resort... kick to restart!"

There's (or rather was) an ad here in Oz, commonly referred to as "the bugger ad" - it's for a car if I recall correctly, but that's not important - the basic premise is that crap happens to everyone and all they have to say is "bugger".
This stuck in my head as a wonderfully clever framing device.
Also, it's funny.

So, when it came to "I want to write a Beast Wars Mosaic" and "I want to do humour this time" the logical choice was a variation of the above.
Genius borrows and talent steals, or so I've heard ;-)

It's a three moment slice of Rhinox's life, the "masks" he wears; warrior, engineer, poet.
The one who holds the line against the enemy.
The one who fixes the unfixable.

He reflects upon all the trials of his life, and in a quiet moment... smelling the flowers... he thinks "yeah, it's all worth it".

I think that sums up the character of Rhinox IMO, and in the opinions of others fans as well, which is wonderful.


Again, the artwork is what sells this story, and it's not a surprise that the artist's gotten some official work from IDW. He deserves it.

Star Trek: Unity (fan-fic) a review...

Wow.
Such a simple premise, "what if Trek crossed-over with Star Wars"?
Well this is what happens here, a wormhole is opened by a certain single-lettered entity between the Delta Quadrant (and Voyager) and the Galactic Empire.

Met by Grand Admiral Thrawn, a course is set, first pitting the Empire against the Borg and then the New (new) Alliance, of Romulans, Cardassians, the Rebels and later rogue Starfleeters.
And the Borg? Get their pants handed to them. Thrawn is that good.

It's a series of awesome moments, frankly, and well worth reading.
Spoilers, naturally, highlight exactly how awesome it is.

- Thrawn's Imperial Star Destroyer against a Borg Cube. Borg debris in under a minute.
- Picard's "diabolical plan" involving promoting Seven of Nine above Data, to make Data want to become a captain in his own right.
- Data meeting Vader. And becoming his Apprentice.
- Vader meeting the Federation Council, and Force Gripping the Klingon Ambassador to death.
- Leia using the Force to scare the Jem'Hadar and the Founders witless.
- Q offering Picard the choice to stop all the death and chaos in the Federation with a literal click of his fingers... and Picard telling him where to jam it.
- Seven of Nine - becoming a true queen, not a drone but a mother....
- The fact it's all a game between a horde of powerful "big names" like Death (from Discworld), Q, the Ascended Ben Sisko, Zaphod Breeblebrox.... and the Doctor. Who wins? Yes he does :-D
- Garak versus Bosssk.
- Janeway going insane, and a Sith.

And the crowning moment of awesome? For me... it's Picard mouthing off at the Emperor, who despite the privations he knows the Empire capable of, the power of the Emperor, the hopelessness of the situation... stands by his beliefs and says "the colours will never be struck" - we will never surrender, the last words of the captain of the original Enterprise, in the age of sail.

Apropos of Nothing (Sir)...

Think for a moment about a knight.
Maybe you think Sir Lancelot, gallant, handsome and brave. Or maybe you like the Black Night from Monty Python, mad as a box of frogs.

Or maybe you'll think of someone amoral, egotistical, self-aggrandising and motivated solely by self-interest. And if you do, you may not be thinking Edmund Blackadder, you may be thinking Sir Apropos, knight of Nothing. Yes, his name is Apropos. Born to a bar-wench raped by a knight, through a series of unusual events becoming a knight without a lord.
He is the whipping boy of the gods.
The cosmic laughing stock.
Lame of leg, but quick of wits.
Carrying a bastard sword across his back.
And the hero of this charming tale from IDW Publishing.

Written by creator Peter David, Sir Apropos of Nothing takes a cynical, yet humourous voyage through the cultural landscape, riffing things as widly varied as King's the Black Tower, the Wizard of Oz, Vlad Tepes, Chicken Little, Harry Potter, Queer Eye for the Straight Guy...

The story opens with Apropos riding a horse with no name across the desert, in hot pursuit of "the black bastard", who in turn is seeking a dark tower. Whisked into the sky by a whirlwind, he ends up scared on the head and accepted as the saviour of a gypsy band. The gypsies were being attacked by the warriors of the Purple Wizard, who in turn serves Flad the Inhaler, a weak and ineffectual ruler.

I loved the story. The wry humour, the in-jokes to other novels, TV shows, songs and other features of the pop cultural landscape, the story held together wonderfully despite the seeming randomness of the encounters.

If you enjoy David's work, or just a fun romp I thoroughly suggest tracking down the trade paperback of this as soon as it's released. Or if you're really keen (and I do think it's worth while, as it's something that benefits more from being read in individual installments rather then an omnibus) the monthies from your local comic store.

Story: A+.
Art: A.
Overall: A.

What makes for good Doctor Who?

Okay, I admit it: I'm a geek.
Literally a card carrying geek.
And my poison of choice is Doctor Who.

But why Who rather then Star Trek or Star Wars or Stargate?
Because there's a wonderfully eccentric something about Who.
Something impossible.
Something marvellous.
Something well and truly barmy.

Maybe it's the juxtaposition of the mundane and the extraordinary.
Maybe it's the morality of the hero, who, as the elder statesman of Who, the writer Terrance Dicks (fondly nicknamed "Uncle Terrance" by the fans, many of whom like me learnt to read on stories (not just Who) written by him) put it is "never cowardly, never cruel. A peaceful man in a violent universe".
Maybe it's the fact that it makes you think, even when it's just running up and down corridors.
Maybe it's because the ideas were always bigger then the wooden sets and (slightly less, or slightly more, depending on your point of view) wooden acting.

It is, as I said, in the writing where the series sparkles (or fizzles).
That's where my favourite scenes occur, where the writing gives you a shiver down the spine, where they take your breathe away.

Such as this, from the story that effectively came at the end of the BBC Books series, the Gallifrey Chronicles:

"The Doctor was the finest dream of hundreds of human beings, refined as they tapped away at their typewriters. For generations, they'd made him a hero to countless millions in over a hundred countries. Then, just once, he hadn't come back. His enemies had kept him away. But despite their best efforts he hadn't been forgotten. There were those who remembered him when they walked past a dummy in a shop window or sat on a beach looking out to sea, and every time they ground pepper. Some of those who remembered him had typewriters of their own. And, after far too long, a new generation of children were about to hear that music for the first time, and they would learn their sofa wasn't just for sitting on."

This IMO sums up the magic of Doctor Who.
More reflections, and the odd review, will come later.

In Darkest Knight

As the title suggests, it is a Batman pastiche (although it's also very Zorro). The character of Star Saber is a Japanese exclusive character, a skilled swordsman (so a sort of Samurai or Knight, an honourable warrior, a reliable commander that sort of thing), he becomes the new Supreme Commander of the Autobots.

I rather like the idea that such a skilled warrior is hiding behind the fascade of the foppish "Star".
It is, after all, a staple of many stories, so why not Transformers?

In addition to the butler being visually reminiscent of Alfred Pennyworth and the final shot (another staple of such series), there was another one scripted - that is a bust of William Shakespeare (ie from the Adam West Batman series), but the artist thought it was a bit too much so suggested (and I agreed) that we not use it.

Regrets...

It's been ten years since I graduated High School.
And in that time, I've had a chance to reflect upon a lot of things.

And the one thing I came to regret more then anything else, is that I never said "I love you" to the girl who stole my heart.

.... of the City of the Saved.

I'm a rather avid reader.
I deeply enjoy sci-fi, especially Doctor Who novels (in many ways, I learnt to read reading the old Target novelizations, and the Virgin and later BBC books novels were a great release during my scholastic life (for the most part it was rather shite)). That and the friendship I developed with the likes of Sausage, Cessel, Joseph, Bunt, Rebecca, Laura and the others.

But I digress.

.... of the City of the Saved (by Phil Purser-Hallard, from Mad Norwegian Press and now Random Static Publication) is a sci-fi novel set literally after the end of the universe. It features the entirety of humanity reborn in bodies that never age, wither or die. Every single human from the first Neanderthal to the last "post-human" to die before the end of everything.

It's a fascinating look at how cultures change in the face of literal immortality. How religions cope with their adherents discovering that they all died and aren't exactly in Heaven (or Hell or anything like that).

And once clearly setting the scene, about how noone can die and so forth - they have a murder.
The investigation plays second fiddle, IMO, to the effect this change has on the culture(s) of the City, and that's what made it interesting. How the various belligerent factions react with glee or the schemes of the new Roman Senate bubble and develop.

Equally brilliant, and from the same publisher(s) is Warlords of Utopia (by Lance Parkin).
A simple premise spawns a fascinating tale - the Roman Empire versus the Nazis.
What if, out there in the great Multiverse, there was a universe where everything went right for the Romans and that even in what we'd call the 70s there was an Empire, and a totally successful one at that. And the same holds true of the Nazis, there’s a world where Hitler had a child, and they rule, all their enemies having “Gone East”.

And then, throw in the discovery of the ability to travel from universe to universe.
And it sets the scene for a confrontation of the two eagles – the symbols of Rome and the Nazis.

Legionaries armed with Kevlar-lined shields, slinging arrows at Nazi soldiers, showing them the arrogance of their “superiority”. Machinations across universes as the deviousness of two empires are pitted against one another.

But again it is the way the cultures react that I found interesting.
How the Romans first thought was of civilisation and trade, while the Nazis thought of conquest and dominance. How the worlds they visited were “the same, yet different”.

Both equally fascinating stories IMO, and well worth seeking out.

An Ancient Bible...

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20090206/lf_nm_life/us_cyprus_bible

Fascinating.
Absolutely fascinating.

Is it as old as they say? Experts are divided.
But even at a thousand years old (the article says two thousand years old) it's got to be an interesting historical document.

And the idea that it's Pre-Nicean?
Really interesting to see what was considered "canon" before the Council of Nicea and the Nicene Creed.

A literal thousand years puts it 300 years after the seventh Council of Nicea, a rough two thousand puts it just before/roughly at the same time.

It could very well be one of the first post-Nicea Bibles.

Captain Britain and MI:13...

Is brilliant.

What is MI:13 I hear you ask? It's Her Majesties "Weird Happenings" Organisation, formed to deal with things like mutants, aliens and fairies. Yes, fairies. You see, Britain is the heart of all Earthly Magic in the Marvel universe.

So we have MI:13. Run by a magnificent bastard called Pete Wisdom - "I did my duty" is his motto, and it covers a multitude of sins. He's a mutant, but mostly the poor bugger they ask to do everything noone else wants to, because it's his duty to Crown and Country.

The titular Captain Britain is the literal embodiment of the British Culture. It's said every British person thinks he has a accent like theirs. He's a magical being, whose powers are tied to his emotions, if he's feeling defiant for example he's unstoppable, but if he's feeling unwell he's as weak as a kitten.

Did I mention that the current wielder of Excalibur is a doctor, who happens to be a Muslim?
She's the team's medic, as you can guess.



And now, we have: Vampires. And not normal vampires. Count freaking Dracula.
Who has a base on the Moon.
And is allied with Doctor Doom.
Who is also on the Moon.

Be Seeing You.... Mister McGoohan

Sad news on the recent death of Patrick McGoohan, most famous for his role as the titular Prisoner in the 1960s series. That was a classic series IMO, and fascinating for both his writing for the series and his fascinating performance. Emotional. Thought-provoking. Occasionally clinically bizarre (case in point: The Girl Who was Death).

I also found his performances in Columbo truely enjoyable. The interplay between Peter Falk and McGoohan was always interesting to watch, and his directorial eye excellent. Also McGoohan made Falk, although an always reliable actor, raise his game.

Transformers Mosaic: Freedom of Information

So freedom - what does it entail? For some, it's as simple as being able to speak one's mind.
For one particular Decepticon, it's far more basic - the ability to walk, to be literally free from his physical imprisonment in a form that is unable to move.

For those who can't remember, at the end of Spotlight: Soundwave from IDW, Soundwave was trapped in his alternative mode, unable to transform and his allies/minions/friends captured and brainwashed by "Skywatch".

His solution? To employ the freedom still available to him (namely, his ability to interface with computers) and to manipulate others to do his dirty work. Couple this with an arrogant disregard for humanity, Soundwave carefully and clinically cover his tracks, just in case.

So here, he has a patsy infiltrate Skywatch, and learn all about what they've done to his minions/allies/friends (that is, Ravage and Lazerbeak). He then coolly disposes of the "ninja/thief" by setting off the alarms.


I love the idea of Soundwave as this Machiavellian maipulator, even if he's trapped as a 1980's cassette deck.



Once again I have to praise the artist and the colourist, employing dark, sinister tones and the creative use of the Decepticon symbol to imply Soundwave's machinations (although a scripted idea, I never imagined it would be as effective as it was).

Transformers Mosaic: Genius

This was my first published Mosaic (and as a matter of fact, one of the first things I'd ever written beyond a few reports of the Student Council in High School that had been published).

I rather like the idea that despite the fact 'Percy' comes across as a stuck up egomaniac, "professor", he's highly competent (at least in his field of understanding). This is something that the actual IDW comics have done as well, making him a scarily good sniper.
But rather proudly I feel that I did it first ;-)

The internal commentary is also secondary to the story, it highlights rather then distracts from the story, after all the art tells the story incredibly competently without the dialogue (kudos to the artist Sterling Gee).

I've become so 20th Century....

And so, seeing as someone suggested that a good way to get my writings noticed was to have a blog.
So here it is.
From time to time things will be posts, from the Transformers Mosaics I write, to my original property "The AUDIO Files" (more on that later).

The title of this post FWIW is a reference to a line from Angel: the TV Series.
The blog's title OTOH ... well..... Wombats are cool.