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Stuff, Stuff, Appearances and Stuff!

Just thought I’d mention that on Saturday, November 15th, I’ll have a table at artist’s alley at…

And I will have a table that will look *something* like this, only in a library…

Yes, I will be selling copies of my comics, including:

The Swede graphic novel series, which you can find out more about at thekillerswede.com —HERE.

Along with copies of Mickey & Maj, Super Unicorn Mega Chop, 100 Covers, Sheriff: Black & Blood, The Bombardier, and Monsters Out of Time, most of which, you can find over on Indy Planet HERE.

Plus, I’ll be selling my art prints of superheroes as well, both modern and retro prints.

And over at Teepublic, you can find over 200 of my designs available on a ton of merchandise, HERE.

And even more designs can be found at my RedBubble store, found HERE.

And finally, is my first novel, “Where Have All The Heroes Gone?”, available at Amazon in hardcover, paperback and Kindle formats HERE.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten something, but you get the drift. If anyone happens to be in Lincolnshire the day of the con, I look forward to seeing you. Until then, the Thing IS.

Unclenching and The Code

Being a comic book fan for most of my life, I was of course thrilled when the characters I knew began popping up in live action films. Were they perfect? No, but a couple of them sure came close, because they were excellent.

AS a comic fan, I, like so, so many of my brethren, can get very picky about how our characters—and their most acclaimed stories— are presented on film. It’s of course up to each fan as to where they fall on the Anal-Retentive Scale, or ARS. Where they draw the line on what is and is not acceptable. Some examples…

1978’s Superman. I was 16 when it came out and I went to the theater at least 4 times to see it. I think the stage in your life in which you watch something has a bearing on it too. Back in ‘78, I was sometimes struggling to get through the first hour because I wanted to see Supes in action and get the all inspiring John Williams theme kicking in big time. In the decades that followed, I appreciated the lead up more and more. The campy elements—mostly Ned Beatty’s Otis, was the low point, but the rest of the movie was so spectacular, I could overlook that. That was the beginning of what would eventually become the Code.

‘89 Batman was a glorious comic come to life, and we all kinda looked the other way when he started killing guys, even indirectly. The subsequent ‘90’s Bat films got worse with each film.

2000’s X-men had unrecognizable costumes on, but since they’d had matching costumes on in the past, and they were a team, fairly easy to look past that.

But it was 2002’s Spider-man that caused a dilemma for the anal-retentive fan. Director Sam Raimi was a huge Spider-man fan growing up and his love for old school Marvel and Spidey was evident. Which made it all the more confusing when he gave Peter Parker bio-webshooters.

This was indeed a controversy, because in the comics, genius student Parker, after getting his powers, *created* mechanical web shooters, with which to swing around the city. To this day, I don’t know if Raimi has ever really explained his reasoning on the change, but frankly, the decision was baffling. If he just thought it might make sense to add the ability? If so, he must have known the jokes would come about where he realistically *would* be squirting webs out of, yada yada.

But here’s the thing— as “wrong” as the bio-web shooters were, they did add some interesting twists, and bottom line, the movie was just so good, the major complaint became a minor gripe. This was born my code, my mantra, what have you:

“As long as the quality of the movie exceeds the deviation from the source material, I’m good.”

Spider-man and Spider-man 2 even more so, were so, so good, that I had to chuck away the complaint. And in 2, the bio-web shooters actually played a larger part in the narrative, so I think I see where Sam was going. We sometimes forget that a filmmaker has to approach a film far differently than a writer and artist approach a monthly comic book series.

Sometimes, a film does not exactly meet the requirements of the code. 2005’s Fantastic Four gave us some good representations of Reed, Sue, Ben and Johnny, but their utter failure to give us even a moderately decent Dr. Doom or Galactus, permanently puts both films in the “pretty good/okay” ranking. Saddling Doom with a bad actor and turning the big G into a cosmic storm is just way too much of a deviation for what semblance of quality we got otherwise.

Jumping to 2006’s X-men: The Last Stand, this was a bizarre one. It told the tale of Dark Phoenix, but it was completely different from the comics, and the first time I saw it, I hated it for that reason. My knee-jerk reaction took me far away from the code, as the deviation was off the charts, and there were certain story beats which prompted a lot of WTF reactions from me.

But after I unclenched a bit, certain truths landed. First, the comic version of Dark Phoenix was one of the biggest epics in the history of comics. But it was also a story spanning 8 issues of the main story, plus an additional year and a half of subtle build up.

There was no way on earth that one film, even with a small amount of build up from the one before, could pack everything into one film, so they went another direction. And in later rewatched, I came to appreciate why they did what they did.

Years later, Fox tried again with Dark Phoenix, and all in all, that too, is a good film, but although a tiny bit closer to the comic, they backed off giving us a climactic and comic accurate battle on the moon, but they had their reasons. Either way, DP is not considered a classic.

Instances such as these have shaped the way I view these films to a certain extent, now realizing certain things don’t have to be comic accurate. If they can accomplish this, and do it well, excellent! Deadpool & Wolverine gave us Wolverine in his actual comic costume for the first time in a quarter century. And people went WILD when he put on the cowl.

Yet in the first Avengers movie, they tried the comic accurate Cap outfit… and it, especially the cowl, didn’t quite work—but they tried.

In Avengers Infinity War, I know at least one person who had a big problem with Steve Rogers not having that white star on his chest. But in that film, he was not Captain America. He went by either Steve or even “Captain”, but he gave up the title of Captain America, along with the shield and the star at the end of Civil War. An important statement, him blacking out the star. But in-story reasons for those small things, no matter how valid will not always satisfy the larger comic book fan. Everyone draws the line at a different mark.

But the images, stories and characters we’re raised with, that imprint certain things so indelibly in our minds, that sometimes, it’s hard to shake. But that’s where the Multiverse comes in. When they serve up an infinite variety of alternate varieties, it changes the rules a bit. Makes. Certain things not only become a bit more acceptable, but also more intriguing at times.

Going back to Spider-man——when they rebooted the franchise to feature the Andrew Garfield version, it was so soon after the Maguire run ended, and we had to see the origin again, it felt like a drag, regardless of the movie’s quality. Just too soon, imo, to throw yet another Spidey on the pile. Almost as ridiculous as the revolving door of Batmen in the ‘90’s. The MCU has done right by us by giving us good films featuring Tom Holland’s Spider-man, and the Code’s very much in play here even with this being the third version within a decade.

But in Spider-man: No Way Home, they brought all three Peter Parker’s together, and for me anyway, it grandfathered in, or made all of it acceptable. It felt less like a corporation just churning out more and never ending versions of the same hero, and more like the realization that all this time, we were peering through a dimensional vale at how these heroes came to be in other realities.

It felt like a sort of vindication.

Of course all this still IS a big, soulless corporation churning out more and more crap… but when they hire certain guys such as Kevin Fiege and Michael Uslan, who truly love the characters, it becomes couched in a more positive light. One that this old fan can appreciate.

But the whole multiverse angle has open more than a few doors and made things that much more acceptable. My final example is Fantastic Four: First Steps.

You’d be hard pressed to find a bigger FF fan than me. In past blogs, I’ve gone on and on about how wonderful the film was, and one of the most engaging, magical superhero films I’ve ever seen. I seriously think I have to rank it in the top five MCU films ever, and the top ten of all superhero films period.

Yes, there were a couple nit-picky bits, but only if you judge them by the standards of the old comics, and yeah, those old memories are hard to shake, but considering the film takes place on a completely different Earth (818), they’re easily swept away. The minor decisions at odds with the comics are all acceptable within the story being told in the film.

For example, Ben’s attire. For most of my life, in the comics, the Thing usually just had his trunks on when in a fight. That’s just the way it was. But in the movie, he wears the costume. It worked for him in the context of the story, so I had no problem accepting it.

A big part of the story featured the world keeping the lights off to power up a teleportation device. Ben, who’s always been covered in an organic rock like substance, stop shaving with his rock sander to pitch in on the power saving. He grew a beard over the next few months because of it. No big deal. I prefer him without it and I would assume he’ll go back to shaving, but that, like the costume, worked for me in the context of the story.

I look forward to Avengers: Doomsday next year, as that, along with Secret Wars the year after, will bring the Multiverse Saga to a close. While on one hand, it’s presented us with interesting variants of all our favorite characters, but at the same time, I’ll be okay with shutting the door on the whole thing and moving forward to what comes next.

I can unclench, sit back, and enjoy the ride. Just make sure the quality is there…

Fantastic Four: First Steps – spoiler filled review

The Fantastic Four’s cinematic journey has been a long, winding road.

In the early 1990’s, just to hold onto the property’s rights, Constantine films went through the motions and put out a low budget FF movie under the banner of Roger Corman’s studio. The cast and crew were given a measly one million dollars, yet they put their hearts and souls into doing the best they could with such restrictions. They were completely unaware that the film was never intended to get to theaters. Check out the documentary “Doomed” on a streaming platform near you. And in the end, it wasn’t quite as bad as some say.

In 2005 and ‘07, two more FF films were made. They were fairly decent as far as the four stars themselves, with the only let down being the watered down villains and small scale vibe.

2015’s attempt was merely another exercise in doing something to hold on to the rights. And this was the worst movie of all of them.

Then Disney bought the rights, handed the property to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, and finally, things were looking up. But could Kevin Fiege, the MCU and director Matt Shakman finally deliver the goods?

Yes, they did, and with wonderful results. Their approach was unique, but fitting. In the comics, the FF debuted back in 1961 and kicked off the Marvel Age of Comics, a revolutionary turning point in the history of comic books themselves. They were a family more than a team, sometimes bickering, but always being there for each other. It’s also widely considered that the team’s best run was IN the 1960’s, produced by writer/editor/co-plotter Stan Lee and artist/co-plotter Jack Kirby. Spider-man, Hulk, the Avengers, Daredevil, and Dr. Strange all came after the first family in Marvel comics.

In the MCU though, it was reversed. So how would one establish the FF as the first, best team, and family around? Simple, by showing us—in this movie—the alternate earth they came from. Whereas the Marvel film’s earth we’re all familiar with is listed as 616, this FF’s earth is 828 (and a slight nod to Jack Kirby’s birthday of 8-28).

And as a bonus, on *that* earth, cultural development has only entered the equivalent of our 1960’s, and it is a simpler, more optimistic time, similar to our ‘60’s era when we were living through the space race. BUT, on this alternate earth, it’s also futuristic in some respects, possibly because of Reed Richard’s influence, because yes, he’s the smartest man on earth.

So in essence, we got our FF, AND we got the ‘60’s well. But although this is definitely the Fantastic Four, since it is an alt reality, they’re not *exactly* the same as the comic versions. There are small differences from the comics, but one of the few worth mentioning is Ben having a new romantic interest on this world in Rachel Rozman, played by Natasha Lyonne, instead of blind sculptress Alicia Masters in the comics.

When the lengthy casting process began for the four main leads, they began with Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm, and what a piece of casting this was. Kirby OWNS a lot of this film. In addition to arguably being the most powerful of the four, whereas Reed might be the brains and the leader, Sue is the spokeswoman for the team. She gives a truly incredible performance as the Invisible Woman.

In addition to being able to shove Galactus across the city, she gave birth, mid flight, in zero gravity, at light speed, all while being chased by an enemy alien trying to steal the infant from her womb. Yeah. The birthing scene is SO crazy, so insane, there’s no way it can work. But it *does*.

I’ve often said that in the Marvel movies, they take the comic characters and elevate them and that’s very true for Sue. This is the best version of Sue we’ve ever gotten.

After casting Sue, they built the rest of the family around her, starting with Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards. This raised a lot of eyebrows at the time, and I myself was wary, but Kirby lobbied for him, and I was astonished. Kirby and Pascal are incredibly close off screen and it translates wonderfully on screen. Pascal NAILS Reed. A Reed who yes, IS the smartest man on the planet, but for him, it’s a responsibility, and often a weight around his neck, knowing so much, and realizing all the bad things that can happen, so he can find a way to stop them *from* happening.

So often in the comics, of all the numerous FF writers over the past 60+ years, most illustrate Reed’s brilliance coming alongside a coldness, having him be overly logical, less human, or disconnected to every day life. A brain without a soul. Pascal surpasses all those attempts, giving us a very human, flawed character that is not all that comfortable with his massive intelligence. The film has also given us a superior Reed to the comics.

Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm is impetuous, not a teenager, and is smarter than one might think. He’s also not the hyper version from the Corman film, nor is he the misfit frat boy we got with Evans. He’s actually a fairly well balanced Johnny who loves his family. This is another character the FF writers rarely get right. Since he started off as a love sick, hotheaded teenager in the beginning, there’s been very little growth for the character in comics. He’s usually the misfit, or the womanizing himbo, or an idiot. Here, he’s still the guy who looks before he leaps, but he’s no dummy. Studying the transmissions from outer space for months, he’s the one who actually reaches the Surfer’s conscience.

And then, you’ve got Ben Grimm. There’s no bigger Thing fan than me. He’s one of if the not THE greatest character in all of Marvel comics. He’s got a big sense of humor and an even bigger heart underneath all those rocks. So is Ebon Moss-Bachrach the best version of the Thing? No, he’s not. But I’d say he’s just as good, but a bit different in that he’s a bit more laid back, more of a gentle soul. Very similar to the comics though. Moss-Bachrach’s take resonated with me a great deal, winning me over.

For instance, in the comics, for the vast majority of his appearances, Ben would usually be stripped to the waist or just wearing trunks while in action. That’s fine and what we fans were used to. Here, his default take is wearing his costume, and watching the film, I found I didn’t care—in fact, for *this* Ben, it works. Just because something happened in the comics, doesn’t mean it HAS to be that same way in the film—-not if the film version *works*.

My mantra has always been “As long as the quality of the film surpasses the deviation from the source material, I’m fine.” It’s something I realized after watching the first Raimi Spider-man with the bio-web shooters. The movie was just too good to sweat the small stuff.

Julia Garner portrays this reality’s Silver Surfer, a woman named Shalla Bal, who, like Norrin Radd (her lover) in the comics, sacrificed herself to be the herald of Galactus to spare her world, Zenn La from his consumption. Garner does the character justice.

Ralph Ineson, whose natural voice *sounds* like the end of days, is Galactus, and good god, he’s terrifying. And a tiny bit more malevolent than his comics counterpart. He wants Reed and Sue’s son Franklin to take his place as the force of nature which is destined to roam the universe for all eternity, destroying planets to sustain him. In fact, he offers to spare earth if they give him their son. They of course refuse, and back on earth, they even cop to this on national tv, and naturally, the mobs eventually gather, feeling betrayed. Sue brilliantly ventures into the middle of the crowd, introduces Franklin to the crowd, and says she won’t sacrifice her son for the world, but neither will she sacrifice the world for her son. It’s just another in a long line of brilliant scenes.

It’s long been known in the comics that Franklin Richards is THE most powerful entity in all of creation. Galactus can SENSE the power within him. I believe the entirety of Doomsday and Secret Wars is going to be dealing with the extent of Franklin’s abilities, over the next couple years/films.

This is an intimate film about family, the downtime, the quiet moments, but then it’s also a huge, terrifying, emotional epic that virtually glides along through its 2 hour run time. You’re comfy, then you’re on the edge of your seat. Then repeat.

It’s been years since I’ve been engaged with a film on this level. Of course I know that Sue can’t die here, that Franklin would probably bring her back to life, but they had me worried! I know Galactus won’t tear Reed apart like an old rubber band, but I was freaking out! Director Shakman dragged me fully into this world.

They begin the film with the Ted Gilbert tv variety show, celebrating the 4th anniversary of the team. We see the history of the FF, cleanly and succinctly laid out for us and we quickly get a good backstory without having to relive the origin for the first hour. Shakman’s storytelling ability is masterful. Within the first 10 minutes of the film, we find out about how they became the FF, their abilities, and several of their past exploits against different supervillains. Everything we need to know and no more.

Michael Giachinno’s score is perfect, maybe the best in the MCU’S history.

This film is honest, it’s real, it’s truly fantastic. I you haven’t seen it, at least twice, you’re missing out.

I give this a 9.75 out of 10. One of the finest yet to come from Fiege’s crew.

Doctor Who: A Post Mortem

It’s no secret that I’ve loved Doctor Who since I first discovered it back in 1980. The concept itself, the character of the Doctor, the TARDIS, the companions, the monsters and the villains. It truly is unlike anything else out there in the sci fi entertainment world. It had already been going for 17 years and was an institution when I first saw it. In its now 62 years of existence, it’s had some incredible highs and some very unfortunate lows. We’ve just ended an 8 year period where things have gotten very, very low.

So much so, that at this moment in time, I’m going to err on the side of the show being dead. Oh, it could come back, as the show is all about regeneration. It just needs the right “push”. But that’s easier said than done, especially in this day and age. After all, there’s less and less scripted tv out there, it seems. No idea what it’ll be like in ten years.

Around 2022, when the BBC partnered with Bad Wolf Studio productions and streaming platform Disney +, they all gathered behind Russell T. Davies, the man who brought Who back in 2005, gave him complete creative control, and sat back to watch the triumphant return.

Many fans (including me), were happy to see Davies return, hoping for, at the very least, a step up in quality from the previous Chibnall era run. This would, most assumed, be better.

Disappointment followed.

Davies engineered his new version of Who to appeal to what he thought modern day audiences wanted. Also, to what he thought Disney wanted. RTD was a big fan of Pixar stories and thought he’d bring some of that into the mix. Davies also tried to appease the world stage, to please everyone, everywhere. He also decided to lay on some heavy messaging, wag his finger a bit, get meta, and shift the show’s focus from science fiction to gods and fantasy. He dragged beloved, classic villains into the current series and made watered down mockeries of them. He’d also ignored or somehow forgotten any number of facts from previous eras, and changed canon to suit his own personal fan service. The fans weren’t crazy about a lot of this.

Oh, and he took several opportunities to circle back to divisive storylines by his friend and former showrunner Chris Chibnall, and reenforce those. This too, did not go over well with fandom.

The first real big red flag: Davies started his new reign (RTD2) in anniversary year 2023 by making some proclamations.

Russell announced that Daleks creator Davros’ withered form would no longer be sequestered in his Dalek travel base because, according to RTD, it seemed like a wheelchair, and *that* associated wheelchairs with evil (?), so he transformed Davros into a middle aged guy who could walk. A once fascinating character transformed into “some guy”. This shocked, bewildered and angered many, including those Who fans in wheelchairs that loved the character and cosplayed as him. What would this mean for the Daleks themselves, who ALL travel around in the same “wheelchair” bases? Would Russ turn them all into a bunch of run of the mill Nazi’s? Because that’s what they are at heart—it’s the globbiness, weapons and travel bases that MAKE them so popular. It’s very possible that Russ didn’t think it through.

For the 60th anniversary, Russ decided the new 14th Doctor would be David Tennant, coming back for a few specials. The first rehashed, recycled(?) Doctor, along with Catherine Tate back as Donna Nobel. Things went pretty well at first. At the end of the third special, Russell decided to not do a traditional regeneration, but a bi-generation, splitting the Doctor in two. Old Doctor Tennant was then supposed to go off and retire with his TARDIS (a scenario no one believes in the slightest). The new, 15th Doctor, Ncuti Gatwa, took out a cartoon mallet, banged out a second TARDIS and off he went.

This was a bombastic, joyous, gay Doctor that had a tendency to start crying in every story, and a tendency to call everyone “babes”. RTD also reintegrated romance into the program, just as he did in RTD1 years ago. It was Russell’s preference that the Doctor be more of a sexual being, more into human relationships, than the asexual alien being he’d been in the past. But although nu-Who fans who didn’t know any better, and bought the earlier relationship between Tennant and Piper, the sexualized version of the Doctor never sat well with the fan base who knew better. The Gatwa version fared even worse with fans.

It must be said though that Ncuti’s a great actor. I bear him no ill will at all. He’s an actor doing a job. And there were a few good eps through seasons 1 and 2. Overall, it was slightly better than the Chibs era. It’s how Gatwa’d been written as the Doctor that’s been the problem. Davies has been the problem.

Davies’ even decreed the Sonic screwdriver would change shape to look more like a hand massager or remote control, because, says Russell, all the other past sonics “looked like guns”. *

*None of the Sonics ever even remotely resembled guns. They looked a lot more like screwdrivers, because yes, they were slim and cylindrical. It’s in the name. But the decree was made.

Russell also had characters speaking and winking to camera, and the show veered wildly into meta territory, plainly stating that this was in fact a tv show. It was all fiction. Worse, the impression was given that it was not only JUST a tv show, but more of a lark, not something to be taken at all seriously, just silliness. BUT…. if RTD didn’t respect his material, why should we?

Many of RTD’s choices were met with derision, but Russ would usually shrug it off or respond “tough” to critics, prompting many to believe that his all encompassing creative control prompted a higher level of arrogance from the show runner.

At some point, these bizarre, nonsensical, fairy tale developments got many fans thinking that this couldn’t possibly be where Davies was REALLY going with the show. Something was off—surely these were red herrings. Some strange, dream-like adventure, and at some point, reality would come crashing back in, and some old foe like the Master of The Land of Fiction (From Troughton’s The Mind Robber) would turn out to be behind all this meta insanity… right?

It turns out that no, Russ was just having fun, being experimental, and doing whatever he wanted.

Disney was not pleased, fans were not pleased, Disney subscribers bailed as soon as the season was over. Russell just naturally *assumed* from the very beginning that all his choices and stories would be a resounding success and that Disney would immediately renew, and Who would go on, year after year, with no gaps, a triumph. Didn’t happen.

Rumors have it that there have been discussions between Disney and the BBC, and that for Disney to renew the agreement going forward, that Davies would have to go, and Disney would need creative control. The Beeb stuck by Russell.

Disney has not renewed as of this writing, months after season 2 ended. Everything has ground to a halt, and the show is dead in the water. Currently, it’s Disney and the BBC in the room negotiating, presumably, about creative control and the massive Doctor Who back catalog. Neither Bad Wolf Studios or RTD are involved in these discussions.

Gatwa has moved on to other projects. Many months ago, he appeared on Graham Norton, saying they were going to start filming season 3 at the beginning of 2025. The comment was later edited out.

But in recent interviews, Ncuti now says that the plan was *always* going to be doing only two short seasons. He then shifted to explaining that he left because he was just getting too old to play the part. Too much physical and mental stress. Bad knee. It should be pointed out that he’s 32, one of the youngest to ever play the role.

RTD has also repainted history, now claiming that it was ALWAYS the case that Disney would make no decision on green lighting a season 3 until AFTER Season 2 aired. Yet he originally scheduled filming of season 3 to begin several months BEFORE season 2 aired. Back in ‘22, he said from the very beginning that he’d planned it so there’d be a new season of Who every year, with no gap years. Huzzah!

Russ simply ASSUMED that things would go so spectacularly, that Disney would okay a 3rd season immediately after season 1 aired.

BUT….

Although Davies had total control on Who, he was dealing with Disney, who controls the approval process, the money, and the fate of the show. So Russell wrongly (arrogantly?) planned this whole Who schedule—-and talked about it at great length— ignoring the reality of the situation. And now, we’ve got no show, and a BIG old gap coming. No one knows how long it will be.

So either he was lying at the start and being naive to boot, or lying now about how all this was always the plan. Russ seems to think if he reinvents history enough, it’ll become true and people will just accept the new narrative. He seems to ignore reality a lot.

I’ve glossed over a couple things, such as the bland search for Ruby’s mom in season 1, and the very unfortunate Rise, Fall and Marginalization of poor Belinda Chandra in season 2. Anyway, Davies’ last act as showrunner was to end the series by regenerating Gatwa into Billie Piper, who originally played Rose Tyler. She’s not credited as the Doctor though, and Davies claims even he doesn’t know who she’s supposed to be— even though HE arranged it.

Just the latest gimmick with another returning actor from RTD1, just like when he brought back Tennant and Tate in 2023. The Piper gag was a last minute decision by Davies, filmed at the eleventh hour.

Instead of ending with the Doctor traveling off into the sunset, or an open ended regeneration, Russ just left a mess for whoever might come after him. Or this might have been him saying “Now you’ve GOT to bring me back to fix this!”

This, surprisingly, led to even BBC shows mocking what Davies was doing with the show. Russ didn’t mind laughing at Who’s expense, and now people are laughing at him.

Going forward, the BBC is unwilling to produce the show themselves because they prefer having a streaming partner who will foot the majority of the expenses. So they still need a money man, be it Disney or whoever else they can hook.

Both Davies and the Beeb also felt that to be successful now, Doctor Who needed to compete with the special effects and budgets of all the other franchises, such as Star Wars, Marvel, Game of Thrones, etc., and that’s why they need the extra cash injection. Special Effects.

Unfortunately, they lost sight of the fact that Doctor Who became legendary in the classic era, specifically the 1960’s and ‘70’s, when they didn’t have a big budget for special effects.

Doctor Who made its bones on stories, characters and acting. They weren’t entirely dependent on SFX like Star Wars and other franchises, but times change and evidently there’s less importance put on quality writing these days. Or the Beeb is just clueless, panicking and flailing about in a fog of uncertainty.

No one knows how long this gap will last, and even then, should it return, what the next iteration of the show might be, or if future audiences will even still be interested in what used to be known as “tv shows”, if and when they happen to look up from their phones.

So, until a new deal is struck, somewhere, some *when*… for now… R.I.P. Doctor Who

Let’s talk about why you should go see “Fantastic Four: First Steps” (spoiler-free)

It was a quiet moment. Reed was shaving, Ben was taking a bubble bath, and a soot covered Johnny Storm barged in, asking what the heck they were doing?! Were they giving up?

This was in the middle of Fantastic Four issue #49, “If This Be Doomsday”. The middle issue of The Galactus Trilogy, a watershed moment in the history of Marvel comics.

The Marvel Age of Comics kicked off with FF #1 in 1961, by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, who gave us a world of superheroes living right outside our window. Amazing characters doing amazing things in our “real” world.

The FF was a family of superheroes. Reed Richards, his best friend Ben Grimm, the woman he loved, Sue Storm, and her kid brother, Johnny Storm. They took a rocket up into space, got belted by cosmic rays, and got superpowers. Reed, in addition to being the smartest man in the world, could stretch. Sue could turn invisible, Johnny could flame on and Ben became a rock covered monster.

They tackled a variety of other monsters, madmen, and would be world conquerors. But their adventures up until that point were mostly based in New York City. They’d traveled into space a few times, whether it be the moon, or across the galaxy to square off against intergalactic threats.

But in Fantastic Four issue #48, the *biggest* threat in the universe came HERE, to our own backyard. This was “The Coming of Galactus”, and he was the Devourer of Worlds.

He was preceded by the Silver Surfer, his Herald, who sought out suitable worlds for him to feed on.

When this giant man descended from the heavens, the Fantastic Four rose to confront him.

This family of explorers and adventurers had defeated some of the deadliest, most powerful and dangerous threats known to man. But this was the *unknown*.

They were hopelessly, helplessly outclassed, and were brushed away like insects.

So, they stepped back, regrouped, and got themselves cleaned up. Which brings us back to the bathroom scene.

Usually, when confronted with a world ending threat, some heroes, or teams, retreat to their watchtower, or war room, or their secret hideout, to try and figure out their next move. But those were other teams, other comics, other companies.

The FF got cleaned up while mulling things over with a shave and a scrub.

The juxtaposition between this scene and pretty much every other comic in existence is startling.

Because what they did was normal. Human. Real. THAT was Marvel’s stock and trade.

Their heroes squabbled amongst themselves, had real emotions, real problems, real lives.

They weren’t your typical heroes.

The FF were the first and best of them. They were *family*, and unlike any other superhero team anywhere, before or since.

Oh, they were also incredible heroes in action of course, and have been around for sixty four years, but the essence of these heroes, this family, is just how real they are, and the bathroom scene is a good example of this.

Side note: they eventually did win the day against Galactus, but I’d advise you to do yourself a favor and seek out Fantastic Four issues 48, 49 and 50, and treat yourself.

What does this have to do with Fantastic Four: First Steps?

Well, that scene? That essence? The real family, that bond, the love… that is this movie.

That, and suspense, terror, action, humor, and pulse pounding thrills, as they take on the Silver Surfer and Galactus.

Go see it. Treat yourself. ‘Nuff said.

AI – An Illustrator’s Perspective

The AI Interview

The Birth of The Swede: From Concept to Killer

Some killers rely on weapons. Others rely on luck.
The Swede? He uses his hands—and his imagination.

Welcome to the world of The Swede, a brutal, stylish, and darkly entertaining graphic novel series that follows an assassin-for-hire who approaches murder like an art form. No gunplay. No gadgets. Just raw skill, creative flair, and a deep love for doing things the hard way.

This is the story of how The Swede came to life—not just on the page, but in my head.

Where It All Began

It all started with Darwyn Cooke’s graphic novel adaptations of Richard Stark’s Parker novels. Parker was a smart, cold-blooded professional thief with a bad attitude and big, dangerous hands. Stark—actually the pen name of acclaimed crime author Donald Westlake—wrote 24 Parker books over several decades, each one lean, mean, and razor-sharp.

Darwyn Cooke, a master storyteller, comic artist, and storyboard genius, adapted four of those novels before his untimely death in 2016. His bold visual style, especially the way he used a single accent color to elevate his black-and-white line work, left a mark on me. I own most of his work and treasure every one of those Parker adaptations.

In 2018 or so, after rereading both the Parker comics and the original novels, the spark hit. I didn’t want to copy Parker—I wanted to create someone new. Someone cut from the same cloth, but with his own set of rules. A different kind of killer.

The Idea Grows

Parker didn’t kill for fun, but he didn’t flinch either. He pulled jobs when his cash got low, relied on meticulous planning, and didn’t need anyone’s help. He wasn’t funny. He wasn’t warm. But if you were loyal to him, he returned the favor. If you crossed him, he didn’t care if you were a lone operator or a crime syndicate—he’d come for you.

That cold logic stuck with me. I started imagining my own character.

Parker had dark hair. Mine would have short blond hair. That led to the name: The Swede.
For his look, I took inspiration from the rugged, weathered features of Lee Marvin.

Like Parker, The Swede isn’t a funny guy. He’s emotionally muted, deliberate, and observant. He reads every room before making a move. But unlike Parker, he’s not a thief—he’s a killer. An assassin.

His assignments come from a mysterious voice on the phone known only as “The Operator.” The Op provides a name, a location, a few details—and then The Swede handles the rest.

Style and Strategy

The Swede is a professional who doesn’t take unnecessary risks. He studies each job, takes his time, and acts with precision. One big difference? He prefers not to use weapons.

Guns draw attention. The Swede favors stealth, improvisation, and his bare hands. He’ll use what’s available—tools, objects, the environment—but if a gun’s required, he’s not above using it. He’s not stupid. Just particular.

Visually, I used my own art style but paid homage to Darwyn Cooke’s influence by using a single accent color for each story. For collections or multi-part chapters, I might switch up the color to suit the tone. And to make the books physically stand out, I ditched the traditional vertical comic format in favor of a square design, printed on higher quality paper with premium covers.

The Books

To date, I’ve published five graphic novels in The Swede series, all available on Amazon:

Book One: The Swede – An introduction to the character and his unique methods through a series of brutal assignments.
Book Two: Sugo – A rival assassin steps into the spotlight, setting the stage for a vicious showdown.
Book Three: The Swede, The Claws & The Sugo – Three deadly operatives, one job. Chaos and betrayal ensue.
Book Four: Assignments – International contracts, bigger challenges, and higher stakes.
Book Five: Targets – More global missions, more creative kills, and The Swede at his most dangerous.

Each book expands his world, but you can dive in anywhere.

The Website & Beyond

To give The Swede a proper digital home, I built thekillerswede.com. There you’ll find:

Previews and details for each book
Behind-the-scenes info and extras
Updates on appearances and upcoming stories

It’s the go-to spot for all things Swede.

Come Meet The Swede

I’ll be at Comicopolis in Lockport, IL on July 19, 2025, to talk about the books, meet readers, and maybe even give a sneak peek at what’s next. I’m hoping to hit a second con later this year too—stay tuned.

In the meantime, if you like your antiheroes cool, calculated, and brutally efficient, I hope you’ll give The Swede a shot.

Check out the books. Visit the site. Spread the word.

And remember—he doesn’t need a weapon to leave a mark.

A Pilgrimage to Doctor Who Heaven

A few months ago, my friend John alerted me to a MeTV article from 2020 about a man in Indiana who had… a “Whoseum”. It seemed this man Allen Machielson had a Doctor Who collection 40 years in the making. After hearing about the Whoseum itself and seeing the selection of photos taken for the article, I decided that I had to go there. As a long time contributor to The Doctor Who Companion website, I thought it only fitting that I investigate this exhibit.

Seriously. I. Had. To. Go. There.

The location in Northern Indiana was a three hour drive from me, so I determined a day trip was feasible. I looked Allen up and contacted him, asking if it would be possible to schedule a tour of the exhibit. He was very gracious and agreed, so we set plans to meet. My wife Linda (she with the patience of a saint, but also a Who fan) agreed to be my photographer and off we went.

Having arrived at his lovely home, set amongst peaceful surroundings of farm land, we noticed the large barn at the back of the property. Approaching the entrance to the barn, I heard music from within, and then out came Allen himself and his wife Chrissy to welcome us. Chrissy knew what was going to happen when two big Who fans got together, so she retired back to the house to let nature take its course, and then we stepped into the vortex…

Now I’ll happily admit to being one of the biggest Doctor Who enthusiasts on the planet—-any planet— and it takes a fair amount to impress me. But here, I felt as if I was stepping into Doctor Who heaven. Once you step through the entrance, the seal of Rassilon proudly hanging above the doors, you take in the environment. The walls are filled with thousands of pieces of Who merchandise, from every conceivable type of police box, to sculptures, action figures, toys and just about anything you can imagine.

But first thing’s first. The first thing to greet you when you come in is the original Hartnell TARDIS console from 1963. Yes, all the exact buttons, lights and switches on this magnificently, faithfully, recreated piece of art do indeed work. And yes, the central motor turns around as it rises and falls. I’m in Heaven. As I circled the console, admiring all the loving detail, I’ll admit I even tested Allen’s Who knowledge on which controls were the psychic circuits. Oh, he knew, pointing them out quickly. You see, at that moment, I was still operating under the assumption that he hire some professional builder to recreate this miracle. Nope. All the life sized marvels in this Whoseum? Alan built them himself. And of COURSE he knew where the psychic circuits were! This man knows his Who.

People have told me all my life that they envy my ability and wished they too could draw. Well, being able to build things, especially things like the original Doctor’s console? I can only dream about having such skill. Allen has an incredible artistic ability in his builds, and this entire Whoseum is obviously one big labor of love.

After finally tearing myself away from the original TARDIS console, I ventured further in. A whole wall was lined with full size police boxes, expert duplications of a variety of classic TARDIS police boxes, each accompanied by the life sized incarnations of the Doctors in their outfits. He did hire out to have someone create the Doctor’s faces, but all the real size TARDISes? He built them himself. And as for the Doctors, he’s finished the majority of them. He’s got to find a new person to continue creating the faces and he still has to add Smith, Capaldi, Whitaker, Tennant’s 14 and then Gatwa’s 15th Doctor. And he will.

Allen and I fell into Who conversation so easily that I felt we’d already known each other for a while. Friendly and accommodating, his love for Doctor Who was evident. And we were standing in the middle of it. My poor wife had to pick and choose what all to take pictures of, because there was just so much. There’ll be a photo gallery…

Allen’s a big fan of the McGann console room, as are most people, but he decided that it would be the structural centerpiece of the Whoseum and it makes sense. The metal struts surrounding it help make the console and platform such a wonderful, centralized set piece. And the lighting is perfect for the desired atmosphere, reminiscent of the tv movie itself.

At this point in the exhibit, you turn to face a Dalek, circa 2005’s “Dalek”. Full sized, this Kaled survivor is, amazingly, also built by Allen.

Then of course there’s the TARDIS corner with shelves and cases of every police box imaginable, a Dalek figure section, followed by well, just about every significant piece of merchandise you can image. There’s a miniature Bessie! The Doctor wrestling with Davros’ one good hand from Genesis, a Weeping Angel attacking 10, an open Dalek case Kaled mutant. Cookie jars, light plinths, masks, heads, you name it.

Leading up to the 50th anniversary in 2013, Allen was doing a lot of last minute prep on TARDIS building, because he had a 50th special group watch party in the Whoseum for the celebration. It was a family affair putting the finishing touches on the police boxes in time for the event.

At that point, after all that, I figured we were done…

…but no.

Allen was standing in front of one of the TARDISes, arms folded, a big smile on his face. There were keys hanging in the TARDIS door lock.

Allen asked “Would you like to go in?”

Oh dear.

I stepped up, turned the key, opened the doors, and entered the TARDIS. Remember when I said I was in Heaven before? Yes well, It turns out, that was the lead up to this. At this point, I’ll let the pictures do the talking.

In this fully functional console room, Allen had hooked up music cues and audio sound bites from the 4th Doctor to correspond with pushing any/all the buttons and controls on the console. It also has a built in tv screen on one of the sections and a fully operational scanner window that opens and closes. He’s even got an alcove on the side so you can stand back in there and take pics of the whole console room just like the angle you’d see on the show.

But then there was more. The back door of the console room led deeper into the TARDIS, leading to… The Cyber Corridor, where you can see most of the different forms of the natives from Telos and Mondas. From there, we saw some potential space for more things to come in future.

Retiring back into the TARDIS console room, I asked Allen a few questions. I was curious how he entered the world of Who…

“We lived in Chicago in the ’80’s. We had we had decent television, there were only 5 stations, but we had WTTW, the PBS station. We really wanted the PBS station because that’s where you got educational programming. This Old House, cooking shows, all that stuff. So we also saw British television and every afternoon was Doctor Who.

We were already a sci-fi family, my mom liked star Trek, so we started watching Doctor Who and that was it. I was probably around 8 or 9 years old when I first started watching, so this was probably about 1980 . TV watching back then was a family event, so we watched it as a family every week after they moved the show to Sunday nights.”

Who was his first Doctor?

“Tom Baker, and I remember being very confused when the first Jon Pertwee episode came on. I didn’t know the character regenerated, all I knew was Baker, so when Pertwee falls out of the Tardis (early in episode one of Spearhead from Space), I was like… what? What show is this?”

And his favorite?

“Baker, followed by Pertwee, probably because they were my firsts.”

Any stories that really made an impression on you?

“I’m a very visual person, and I always liked the stories that had the TARDIS (interior) in it. Things like that in my mind became iconic. When they were inside the TARDIS, when a new console room debuted, such as the wooden one in Season 14, or when anything inside changed around, that was amazing to me that the TARDIS could change.

I was a big fan of the 4th Doctor and Sarah Jane. So all of those stories, especially the ones that were an homage to the horror films— Morbius, Frankenstein, the mummy, etc. We all grew up on those horror movies.”

Do you have a favorite piece from the Whoseum collection?

“I have a couple one-of-a-kind pieces. One is a prototype McGann TARDIS that was a Polly Pocket type thing, so it opens up into his console room. They also made a Dalek one with a little Tom Baker inside, so that was awesome. I started corresponding with someone who made the toys in the ’90’s when the internet was just starting to come alive. I asked if they were going to be selling them in America. He said he had some prototypes and asked if I would be interested in taking those, and I said YES I WOULD! Ha ha!”

As far as future additions or expansion goes…

“This side’s got the classic series consoles, so I think I want to do some from the new era. I can’t do every variation though, I don’t have room for that.”

Knowing Allen’s appreciation for consoles and console room design in general, we also touched briefly on the current version in the Disney era, the huge white space for Ncuti Gatwa’s 15th Doctor, with it’s many ramps and paths…

“Yeah, they didn’t really use it to any extent. That’s why I think I like the McGann console rooms much because it was as big or bigger than that, but they used the space. It was a lived in place, where the Doctor could go and do things. I don’t know what you would do all day in the empty, giant, white space.”

We also agreed that it’s that warm, lived in feel was very much present in the Capaldi console room as well.

So, after 90 minutes being bathed in the glory of Doctor Who, it was time to go home. The three hour drive one way might be for the best though. If I lived much closer, the temptation to finagle repeated invites and just play with the consoles all day would be quite tempting. Also, I’m older than Allen, so it’s unlikely he could or would adopt me so I could spend weekends there.

But seriously, this was quite the dream come true for me. I’d pretty much accomplished any life goals I had, but I always thought it would be cool to man the TARDIS console IN the console room. But these types of things, even if they existed, would probably only be in the U.K. and out of my reach. Until now.

What Allen’s done is nothing short of amazing. His Whoseum experience is just as impressive, perhaps more so than anything I’ve seen displayed across the pond.

Thank you, Allen.

*************And now, the *rest* of the picture gallery. Enjoy!

And now… Your New Fantastic Four!

Well, finally. With this official casting announcement, the MCU is finally moving full speed ahead with Marvel’s first family. We’ve long known the FF was coming, as Kevin Fiege announced it at a convention 5 years ago, after Disney bought back the rights for the franchise.

So now, let’s do a little analyzation of what we see and what we know.

*First off, the visual and logo type treatment do indeed indicate that this might take place in the 1960’s, something I’ve been an advocate of for quite some time (even wrote a first draft of a script).

*Next, we’re getting a nice loving family vibe from the card, which is as should be. Nice and simple, no overt showing off of abilities. Sometimes people feel the need to have Reed stretching a part of his body, Sue partially invisible, etc. But they keep it nice and simple, not trying to do too much.

*The color scheme on the outfits is noteworthy, a bit more reminiscent of the ’80’s comic run, but not quite. Usually, the FF are in black and blue, but again, this seems a bit lighter, more positive, away from the latter decades of dark, grim and gritty stuff from a lot of the comics world, and again, maybe just more of a simple, ’60’s vibe.

*Another very nice note- Ben’s regular sized, not an over-sized monster. again, in recent decades, artists can’t help themselves from making Ben roughly the size of the Hulk, or more to the point, towering over his teammates. But that’s why they need editors who actually know the characters to stop these types of things. Ben’s not 7 ft. tall. Original artist Jack Kirby visually created the character to be average height, maybe 5′ 10″ or so. Nice attention to detail here. Hopefully that will endure throughout the final film.

*We also see the little robot known as H.E.R.B.I.E., a character added to the FF cartoon from the late ’70’s when they decided that the Human Torch was too dangerous of a character for children, so in came the little robot. As it stands right now, public opinion of the little ‘bot is mostly negative, especially those that witnessed him in action in the cartoon. I myself would put him right up there with Jar Jar Binks in the hated category, BUT… the MCU has a way of making things better, elevating them, etc., so I’m not too concerned here.

*Finally, the casting itself and the possible meanings. Pedro Pascal will play Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic–the smartest guy on the planet. He’s 48, and although that’s a tiny bit longer in the tooth than we’re used to with Reed, it’s certainly not a deal breaker, especially with Hollywood magic if needed. we’re reminded that Robert Downey Jr. was 44 when he first played Iron man, so no big deal there. And Reed was originally envisioned to be around 40 anyway.

Vanessa Kirby is portraying Sue Storm/the Invisible Girl. In the comics, she eventually marries Reed and calls herself the Invisible Woman, but we’ll see where they start them out. Kirby’s 35 and the age gap between her and Pascal is about where it should be with Reed and Sue. I think Fiege and company are taking special care with how they’ve crafted the foursome taking these types of things in hand.

Joseph Quinn is Johnny Storm/The Human Torch. Johnny’s the young brother to Sue and Quinn’s 30, so that also lines up.

Ebon Moss-Bachrach (which has taken me forever to memorize) is playing Ben Grimm/The Thing. Ben is Reed’s contemporary and best friend, having gone to college together. Moss-Bachrach is 46, so he too, fits the age range along with Reed.

*Now, aside from the lead casting and the assumed era, nothing else is really known. Many questions hanging out there. We can only speculate. It’s very possible that we might catch up with the team well into their run, and skipping their origin, which again, would be fine.

We do know that they were testing out special camera lenses, the type usually used in special projects to give the proceedings a different feel, such as something being made to look like something from filmed in the ’60’s. And that is about that for now. The movie’s into production and the film is due to come out in July of ’25.

the Thing is… I’m very excited.

My ups and Downs with the ’24 Super Bowl commercials…

As promised, my favorite Super Bowl commercials for ’24, or at least the ones that really impressed, or made a good impression on me. but first, I’ll touch on things that didn’t really work for me, or left me a bit “blah”.

There were a lot of generic, safe laughs. But some concepts that just got stretched out too long and managed to beat the joke to death. The Oreo twists, Tina Fey’s stunt doubles, BMW’s Christopher Walken and impressionists, and Arnold’s Sate Farm “Neighbaaa” jokes fall in this category. I know it’s Super bowl, and you want to really blow stuff out, but adding an extra minute that you don’t need, hurts the end product and doubles your budget? Don’t ry so hard. Keep it tight and funny. bigger’s not always better. It usually ends up being more tortured, if anything.

There was a lot of that middle of the road, generic stuff throughout. Popeye’s with Ken Jeong, Affleck with J-Lo, Paramount + with the animated corpse of Patrick Stewart, Beyonce’s lemonade stand, Reese’s destructive family, Marty Scorsese directing a Square Space commercial, all harmless fun for the LCD. Pretty mild stuff.

Anyway, to the positive end:

Honorable mention: Jeremy Renner for Silk almond milk– this was just plain old good to see. While it wasn’t that impressive on the creative end, it was such a feel good, and kind of an amazing recovery for Renner to be doing all that stuff in and of itself (he*did* all his own stunts). Kudos to Hawkeye.

Honorable mention: Matt Damon for his part in the Dunkings commercial. He just seems so embarrassed by everything there (rightfully so) and it’s nice to see his friendship in action with Affleck. His presence lifts the proceedings.

Well done:

*Kia EV-9 with the young ice skater going out to do a home performance just for her grand dad. Pulled the heart strings, solid execution. Didn’t try too hard.

* Cera-ve with Michael Cera. Just clever, funny, off the wall stuff. A great, inspired pairing.

* Google Frame. The AI war of opinion still rages, with people either fawning all over AI or naming it as a great defiler, illegal, and Satan’s love monkey. And that’s a whole other thing. However, seeing what Google Frame did for the gentleman who can’t see, yet wants to take pictures, oh, ya got me. Feels!