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The Whoniverse Has Arrived

Beware, all science fiction and science fantasy franchises, there’s a new Universe in town.

Several years ago, while addressing media at an event regarding the future of television, Russell T. Davies once again spoke of his love for Doctor Who. This time, he talked about the future possibilities of the show.

He spoke of how other franchises had capitalized on their own world building and built their own interconnected universes. He said it was the sort of thing Doctor Who should be doing. Why couldn’t there be more stories where the 10th and 11th Doctor meet up and go on an adventure? Why couldn’t we bring classic Doctors back? Why not tell more stories about this whole “Whoniverse”?

And then a couple years later, the BBC partnered with Bad Wolf productions, sold the worldwide streaming rights for new WHO to Disney + and they gave RTD full creative control to give birth to this Whoniverse.

First stop, 2023 and Doctor Who’s 60th anniversary. The only problem was that former showrunner Chris Chibnall left in ‘22, taking 13th Doctor Jodie Whitaker with him… and due to scheduling issues, new Doctor N’cuti Gatwa wasn’t going to be available for any production until the very end of ‘22, so RTD needed something special for the special. Enter David Tennant and Catherine Tate as the 14th Doctor and Donna Noble coming in to do three hour long specials for the 60th.

The goals were three-fold.

One, bring back the audience that wilted away during Chibnall’s divisive era over the last five years and 31 episodes.

Two, do something different for the anniversary by getting the band back together in Tate, Tennant and Davies.

Three, kick-start this whole crazy Whoniverse idea. Doctor Who should always be about limitless potential and bold, new, exciting, fun ideas. This was where it would start.

At this point, I’ll say spoilers abound, but really, by now, you’ve either seen the specials or don’t really care that much about Who if you haven’t, so meh.

Special number one was The Star Beast, an adaptation of an old Doctor Who Weekly comic mag from over 40 years ago. It brought Donna, her family, and her memory back. Special 2 was The Wild Blue Yonder, set at the edge of creation, this creepy, paranoid space chiller won over everybody that hadn’t already been won over by the first special. It also set us up for what’s to come when the Doctor invoked a superstition at the edge of nothingness. Turns out, that breaks down certain walls, barriers, realities. Oops.

Special number three was The Giggle, featuring the return of the Celestial Toymaker, a powerful villain from all the way back in ‘67 when he faced off against first Doctor William Hartnell. Turns out, that superstition bit opened the door for him to return, but also opened up this universe to legends and myths from other realities that have now taken form in reality here.

Case in point: after being mortally wounded by the Toymaker, the 14th Doctor begins to regenerate. But instead, he “bi-generates”, with him remaining, yet still bringing the next Doctor into the world, played by N’cuti Gatwa.

Now, what followed after that was a let down for me, as the incredibly powerful, god-like being of the Toymaker was far too easily defeated, the TARDIS poops out a duplicate TARDIS just like that, and we’re hilariously asked to believe that 14 will just kick back on earth and retire. Him and the TARDIS.

He’s just going to >giggle< do nothing. Stupid. But I digress.

But Russell did this for a reason. Of course, every Doctor who ever existed could show up at any given point in time on any given planet, but that’s technically *one* Doctor and his *one* time-line. RTD wants to distribute more Doctors out there with more time-lines. He wants to plumb alternate time-lines with other Doctors. For instance:

In the new series “Tales of the TARDIS”, we see old Doctors and former companions reconnect. We see an older 6th Doctor (Colin Baker—more fashionably dressed than before) reunite with Peri and we find out that in this particular Doctor’s timeline, he never regenerated into Sylvester McCoy’s 7th Doctor.

Some fans have long since held with a theory that since we never actually saw second Doctor Patrick Troughton regenerate into Jon Pertwee at the end of The War Games, Troughton’s sixth season swan song. That there’s a big question mark as to what happened between then and the beginning of season 7’s Spearhead from Space. Of course the theory of bi-generation might easily be retro-fitted into that scenario as well.

As it stands now, the Doctor has *two* timelines going forward. 14 will go on until he presumably regenerated into… we don’t know who. Maybe he’ll just keep bi-generating until the end of time, as both he and 15 are both functionally immortal and can never, ever die. TWO “Timeless Children”.

Yes, for those who don’t know, Chris Chibnall marked his territory in the corner by declaring that the Doctor is billions of years old, has regenerated untold millions of times in those billions of years, can not die no matter what, and even he doesn’t know where he came from, but it wasn’t Gallifrey. He was seemingly dropped into this universe by forces unknown. And in fact, the *only* reason Time Lords even *have* the ability to regenerate in the first place, is that a psycho Gallifreyan scientist experimented on the child that would one day be known as the Doctor. She just kept killing it to induce the regeneration process, then studying said process until she could duplicate it. How ‘bout that, kids?! But again, I digress.

But yes, the Doctor, scourge of all beings evil, the most dangerous man in the universe this side of Rick Sanchez, the being so feared by the Daleks, Cybermen, Sontarans and countless other villainous species? Well, now there are two of him.

But the Whoniverse is even more than that. The entirety of the back catalog of 60 years of Doctor Who is available on various streaming services around the globe, old classic black and white stories are being colored, and the rest of the old missing eps are being animated, one by one.

With all that, plus specials and surprises like Tales of the TARDIS, with other new spin offs on the way, this in fact is the beginning of the Whoniverse.

Okay, that’s where I’d usually end this, but a thought occurred when I was carping about the Timeless Child and the Doctor being older than even Gallifrey, even as old as our universe.

TO……BE…….CONTINUED…

If you’re going to do Disney, DO IT RIGHT

I’ve got some family that’s doing Disney World this Christmas, and it got me to thinking. They’ve probably already got their plans formulated but for anyone else in the future, I’m going to share my experiences with holiday and celebratory trips to the magic kingdom. Yes, this will all be unsolicited advice, but ignore it at your peril.

For me, there’ve been three *key* visits to Disney. In my entire life, I’ve probably been there 7 or 8 times in the past half century, but I’ll point out the good and horrific from three visits.

First, stay *on site*.

Second, have a Plan.

Third, if you’re taking kids, make sure they’re the right ages so they can actually enjoy and remember it.

Finally, prepare to spend, because you’re on vacation baybee!

Go see a travel agent. They cost nothing and they’ve got access to deals you don’t know about, and it takes away some hassle. They can probably get some kind of deal on a park hopper, and yes, you want an all access and I’d say 8 full days is a solid period of time in which to experience pretty much everything you want. And yes, Christmas break is THE time to go. The weather’s a HELLUVA lot better than in summer, and a lot fewer crowds over Christmas. Say, the 4 or 5 days leading up to the day itself, then Christmas, then a couple days after.

Stay on site, in Epcot preferably, because you want a solid, central base from which to spring into action first thing each morning. From an Epcot area hotel, you are a very short walk, tram ride or boat ride to almost everything. You can stay off-site, as it’s cheaper, but then you lose time driving, parking, or mono-railing amongst the crowds. Of course, if you have your own car available, that’s the preferable way to go if you’re doing off-site. It saves at least a little bit of time.

Time is precious. So are breaks and relaxation. You don’t need an itemized list of times and events and rides you need to go on, experiencing a Bataan death March for 14 hours straight. NO. Set yourself up right. Get into your hotel room the night before you go to the parks, that way, *you’re there*. No extra time wasting travel necessary. Get up, light breakfast, go, run free!

The Plan. Day One. You simply stroll over to the gate at 8am or whenever it is they open, say you’re in the Magic Kingdom. The lesser Christmas week crowds won’t be entering for another hour, so you wander over to one or two rides right off the bat—-no wait times that early. Afterward, you look around and maybe take in something else but, as lines are now forming, and there are some wait times, you make notes about another thing or two you might want to visit later on. So it’s mid morning. Go have a siesta. Have a treat, a lay down at the hotel. Relax.

Soon, it’s lunch time. Have lunch at one of the Epcot “countries”. French? German? Travel the world! We had an *amazing* mushroom risotto with steak in the Canada restaurant one time as an example. But although most of The Plan is fun and pretty casual, you do have to make lunch and dinner reservations a couple days in advance because the food is good and they’re booked up, so plan ahead there.

Continuing Day One. You’re done with lunch and now, having hit a few choice places at the Magic Kingdom, you maybe hit a couple other places or rides, etc. in say Epcot this time. And you make a few mental notes about a couple other things for later on. Casual fun at Epcot for a bit in the afternoon for an hour or so. Then siesta! Kick back. Hotel, maybe the pool. Relax.

Dinner time at the place of your choosing, then wander over to say, the Animal Kingdom and check out a few things. There may be lines of course, so you hit one or two things—once again, take note of others. Then back to the hotel, have fun, relax. End of the day, out of 14 hours, you’ve had 7 *productive* hours at the parks, 4 hours kicking back, 3 hours eating, etc.

Day Two. You’ve had a solid 8 hours of sleep, you do a quick, light breakfast and hit the gate—this morning, instead of the MK, you hit Epcot, and first thing, those mental notes about other rides from the day before? You hit them this morning, ride, event, ride, then siesta, lunch at a different country, then in the afternoon, hey, try Hollywood studios, ride, event, take mental notes, siesta, dinner, head back to Magic Kingdom to take advantage of a couple other rides.

Each day, you end up doing a different park at a different time of day, and by the end of the week, you haven’t rushed, relaxed *plenty*, had some great food, and by week’s end you’ve hit pretty much everything you wanted to do, even doing a couple favorites twice over. And at no point are you wiped out. You don’t want to end up needing a vacation after a vacation.

Now here are those three experiences I mentioned earlier and how The Plan affected them.

Trip #1: Our honeymoon. Yes, Lin and I went to DisneyWorld for our honeymoon. Stayed on site at Epcot and everything went beautifully. Mind you, I only mention this because of how well everything went—even though The Plan was only in its formative stages at that point, this was where it started to take shape. We were there in September of ‘90, not Christmas, but staying on site, all the conveniences, great food, it was the beginning. Excellent time.

Trip #2: — we’ll come back to this one.

Trip #3: about ten years ago, the four of us went at Christmas. The Plan was in full implementation (primarily because of trip #2). Even now, we all look back at Trip #3 as maybe the most perfect vacation the family ever took. The kid’s ages had a lot to do with it too. Theresa was in her late teens, Matt in his mid teens, so they could do their own things, no need to watch out for them, and they could really enjoy everything to its fullest. We could all go on one ride, or mix and match two by two. You name it. 8 days with fun, casual timing, relaxing, tons of rides and events, great food and sparse crowds— until our very last day, a few days after Christmas, then the crowds came back with a vengeance. But by then, we’d seen everything we’d wanted to, some favorites twice.

For me, the favorite was Expedition Everest in the Animal Kingdom. Maybe the perfect mix of ride, experience, event, imagineering and animation. In essence, you wander through Tibet, enter a car, ride through the inside of a mountain and encounter… the yeti. Brilliant experience. We went once during the day and once at night, the lighting of experience at night was even more amazing than the day setting. Highly recommended.

Note: since it has been over a decade since we were there, I’m sure that fast-passes and other gimmicks have altered greatly to get through lines, which makes the daily timing of The Plan all the more important.

Now…

Trip #2: this was about 25 years ago. An ill-considered trip where the The Plan was not in effect. We were down in Florida at the folk’s house. There was some sketchy form of a plan but it was not mine. We had no car, and the folks drove us to Disney. We got rooms at an off-site hotel. Matt was an infant and would stay at a hotel (off-site) with the folks while we took Theresa to the Magic Kingdom.

We did not get hotel rooms the night before the first day at the park. We left their house at 8 in the morning, drove three hours to the park, checked in at the hotel, then rode buses, the monorail, another monorail and more buses to get to the park from the off site hotel. Finally, we arrived at the park. Theresa was half asleep, cranky, (she was four) and we went in. We were starving and already tired form 5 1/2 hours of travel. The park was fully packed as it was mid day (either spring or summer). We got some food—some chicken tenders—-the second bite of which broke one of my teeth. We then went about 30 feet inside the park and a seagull shit on my head.

Of course, those last two bits had nothing to do with the bad plan we were in the midst of, but it certainly didn’t help. We were there at the park for another 7 hours, hit what rides we could, saw the lit up parade at the end which Theresa seemed to enjoy, then we had to go wait two hours for a bus to take us back to the hotel. Theresa was long since asleep (and to this day has no memory of the trip except looking out the monorail window, seeing the castle in the distance and asking when we’d actually get there). We eventually got back to the hotel room around 11pm and went home the next day. So, 5 1/2 hours travel there, 7 non-stop hours at the park, 3 hours travel back to the hotel and another 3 hours home the next day.

In the end, if anything, that experience is what prompted me to always institute The Plan on trips like those. Vacation time is precious. Be smart.

Plan.

It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia: Season 16. Still worth it?

A slumlord, a wild card, a bird, a serial killer and a body dysmorphic walk into a bar. Because they own it.

I was going to go into a huge background dive into Sunny, talking about the characters, the show, etc., but no. If you’re a Sunny fan, you either know all those things, or you’ll dive in to experience them in the most binge-able comedy in history. Do so. If you’re *not* a fan, there’s no helping you. You should be more better.

It’s now the longest running American sitcom in television history, in its 16th season. All that being said, as much as I love the show, I’ve got to wonder if *maybe* they should wrap it up. They want to keep putting out the best show they can, but in this viewer’s opinion, the best show they could put out seemed to be seasons 1 through 12, and yeah, it’s been dropping off ever since.

With most shows it takes at least a little while to work your way into that sweet spot where your characters, the comedy and the stories are at their peak, and it’s a well oiled machine operating on all cylinders.

The gang themselves will tell you that it wasn’t until season 5 that they really found their character’s “voices” and really felt they’d nailed everything. I’m not sure I agree, because the show was pretty damn hilarious right from the start and just kept getting better. After a short first season, Danny Devito joined at the start of season 2, and the chemistry got better still. For my money, the characters were mostly fleshed out before season 3– they just kept refining as they went, and the end result was 12 seasons of top notch comedy.

But here’s the thing. With the start of season 13, things had changed. Glenn was only going to be a part timer, appearing in only half of S13’s 10 eps. Rob had undergone another startling body transformation—-ripped Greek god instead of a blob (S7) and the already lovely Kaitlin had *seemingly* gotten some work done. She got a different face. It was just a bit odd to see Mac and Dee look so drastically different all of a sudden, as if they’d kinda gone “Hollywood”.

But the gang all had other tv and movie projects going on now and Sunny was no longer their only focus. It was still their baby, their pride and joy, their eldest, but now, just one of their many commitments.

Now, they’ll be the first to admit —and have done so on their podcast—-that with each year, it becomes harder and harder to come up with worthy, funny stories. And while season 13 had some legit classic, hilarious eps like The Gang Escapes and Times Up for the Gang, the eps without Dennis like the Charlie Home Alone riff, the Boggs rehash, the car ep, and the Eagles ep were really bad, and the humor felt forced. Mac’s dance number in the finale was amazing though, even if there was no Sunny humor to be found. Just a very uneven, bizarre season.

I really think it does come down to the chemistry between the Rob, Charlie and Glenn on screen. You take out one of those three main pieces of the triumvirate —in this case Dennis—-and the show simply suffers, hence season 13.

Glenn came back full time for S14, but if I’m honest, the show was starting to feel to me that it was getting to be past its prime by this point. Still had some very funny stuff here and there, nothing springs to mind off the top of my head, but there was still some good stuff there. Season 15, the shortest yet with only 8 eps, half of which saw them in Ireland, was okay too. Over all though, at times, the characters seemed to be going through the motions at this point. Still some funny bits but it had now become a situation where you hoped you;d get more good ones than bad.

And now, season 16. Over all, a very mixed bag.

“The Gang Inflates” had a few great moments and reveals, Mac’s nut allergy, the failed/popped couches, Charlie and Frank’s new rooms, a decent enough start to the season. Although it felt like they suddenly had no idea what to do with Dee here, so she just started glueing her hands to the wall. I would imagine it’s not easy to find meaty comedy roles for everybody each episode but it seemed painfully obvious they came up empty with Dee here.

“Frank Shoots Every Member Of The Gang” This one felt forced to me. Charlie’s sisters (Charlie suddenly has sisters?) with no comedy to be found. Were the sisters some celebrities we’re supposed to know? Because they’re unlikable and annoying. Mac’s uncle and the casting was interesting, his reaction *to* his uncle was great, and a highlight of the ep. The Frank as a dog bit didn’t work. The whole thing felt a bit forced and not up to their usual standard.

“The Gang Gets Cursed” Another forced one. Rhea Perlman’s kinda wasted here, and I’m not entirely convinced this one should have even made it to screen. Kaitlin’s a gifted physical comedian who’s put her body on the line quite a bit over the years and even got injured several times doing so. It’s almost to the point where it feels like the guys can’t come up with storyline worthy of the character anymore. Certainly nothing new. Just her yelling “goddamn it” all the time. Getting tired. Her mugging as part of the curse just seemed desperate. I hate to harp on it but since she made the changes to her face, and I’m sorry to even say this, but it’s a different face with less range of emotion. She was always sporting a vulnerable, scared, angry or smart ass expression in the old days. She could emote with the greats of tv. She really lost something when she had the work done. In total, this ep really missed the mark.

“Frank vs Russia” This one was okay. The reverse DENNIS system had some moments, as it was a clever rehash of the old ep. But still a rehash. Frank with the beads up his ass was pretty funny. The one thing you can always count on is Danny. Dennis’ manipulation and control skills are again taken about as far as they can go here.

“Celebrity Booze: The Ultimate Cash Grab” I was wary of this one. On one hand, it’s the characters from my favorite sitcom ever, Sunny, meeting the stars of my favorite drama ever, Breaking Bad. On the other hand, usually, when celebrities start guest starring on a sitcom, they’re preparing to jump the shark. On the negative: They do rehash the bit where Dennis has a plan and everyone ignores him and deviates from it. Charlie throwing up, Dee just sniping in the background with the old “goddamnit!”, eating old oysters, etc. And while Aaron Paul is a fantastic actor, he’s not exactly a great comic actor.

On the positive: Rob, Glenn and Charlie wrote this and had the good sense to give Bryan Cranston a scene that once again shows why he is the best actor on the plane. That was brilliantly done. If that ep ever gains classic status, it won’t be because of the gang’s antics but because of Cranston. In a way, this was the highlight of the season. They really *did* succeed in bringing Mac, Dennis and Charlie together with Walter White. Kudos.

“Risk E. Rats Pizza and Amusement Center” This one fell flat for me. The commentary on how overly politically correct an establishment like that has gotten is fair enough, Mac’s time out was good, and Frank’s casual, matter of fact acceptance about how bad the racism used to be gave me my one good laugh. Danny comes through again. But Charlie’s first view of boobs being an animatronic anthropomorphic singing animal… the mechanics made no sense. Dennis craving to then see them made even less sense. It’s like in this episode, they didn’t know what to do with Charlie and Dennis. Somehow, them reconstructing the band —how long did that* take?—felt like a pretty ridiculous and unlikely stretch even for them. And on Sunny, that’s saying something. What the hell’s going on here?

“The Gang Goes Bowling” I think at this point, I’m hoping that they’re going to just stop after this season. They had almost every single semi-regular character ever involved in Sunny in the ep (minus Cricket), and while that sounds like fun on paper, beyond a couple chuckles, this was especially contrived. Even in their crazy, messed up world, Snail, Artemis and Waitress are all on the same bowling team? How and why does this group even assemble? Sorry, don’t buy it. There’s a level of believability in this show—certain things these characters would or wouldn’t do. On the podcast, Charlie’s always talking about finding the truth in a story, or the comedy. None of this seemed all that true to characters or funny. Seemed more desperate. I hate to see this season going like this. Mac, Charlie and Frank were barely utilized. Bright side, Kaitlin, although still going through her cliched motions, did a good job on the physical end of things bowling. A shame the ep was such a gutter ball.

“Dennis Takes a Mental Health Day” After so many subpar eps in this very short season, I really didn’t expect much from this one, but the guys surprised me. This was refreshingly funny. Oddly enough, it really wasn’t funny business as usual, it was a different kind of ep based on something that happened to Glenn in real life and greatly exaggerated. This was a clever, funny ep to end on.

So final take, I think there were more downs than ups this year, which makes me hope that they’re at least thinking about ending the show, before things degrade to a point where there are *no* good eps in a season. Seemed like in several eps, there was more individual focus on a character and the rest of the gang was under utilized. At least in a few eps. The show works best when everyone’s utilized and utilized well. That really didn’t happen at all this year.

I get the sinking feeling that they’re going to want to crap out 20 seasons because it’s a big round number, but I could be wrong. I kinda hope they don’t, because as I said, they’ve been trending in the wrong direction since the start of S13. We’ll see.

Mom part 2

Many have reached out asking how I am during all this and really, I’m fine. I’m actually relieved. The “dominoes” had been falling for quite a while, slowly picking up speed until finally then the plunge was fast and extreme in the final week.

Mom was 87 and there really was no surprise here, just the inevitable finality. In her last few days, she wasn’t in any real pain, just a lot of discomfort, and if by some magic she could be sitting there with us, watching herself, she would have said “Alright, enough of this shit.”

More than anything, I’m comforted that she’s finally “okay”. That’s good enough for me.

I can only assume she floated up and out of there, moving on to whatever’s next. And although obviously, I can’t be 100% certain, I seriously think she was screwing with us for a few days after she passed.

Case in point #1: Vic, Zana and I were driving around to various places making arrangements for the service, etc. Out of nowhere, the radio turned on to some channel that wasn’t preprogrammed in, just static. No one touched it, and we just looked at it. Then it turned off. The next day, Vic looked around to see if there was anything he else he might have accidentally brushed up against to turn it on, but nope. Very poltergeist-y and we had no explanation.

#2: Linda was driving mom’s car, running errands. Upon leaving Publix, it wouldn’t start—- she called and Vic drove over, tried to start it—-dead. They jumped it, he took it to Auto-Zone, but upon testing, the battery was fully charged, and everything read as in perfect shape. No clue. Okay.

#3: My niece Tasha and her husband Christian were sitting on mom and Vic’s dock overlooking the creek. Tasha mention her grandma, and a manatee popped its head out of the water. Surprised, Tasha mentioned grandma again and a different one popped up a ways away. She said it again and three popped up together. Okay. A) if I’ve seen one manatee in that creek in 30 years, I don’t remember it. B ) Mom was *very* much an animal lover.

#4: The house had been visited recently by some centipedes, unearthed from some construction next door. Each about an inch or so long, and either brown or black, with short legs. You’d run into one here and there on cool tile, the pool, etc. On Friday, two days after she passed, I was abruptly awoken from my sleep by something hitting me in the back of the head. Somehow, one of these slimy bastards got propelled out of the A.C. vent over my bed at such downward velocity that it bounced off my noggin hard enough to wake me up. Now, having been the recipient of MANY a whack on the head, especially during the ‘70’s, I recognized her signature move.

All this happened two to four days after she passed, and was floating around out there.

So yeah, she was screwing with us. Some things never change.

Farewell to mom part 1…

As it would have been extremely difficult to livestream the proceedings, I thought I’d share what I said to the gathered friends and family…

We only know the people in our lives through the lens in which we view them. My mom knew many, many people in her life. Family, friends, co-workers, in different walks of life, and they all experienced her in their own ways, saw her through their own lens.

Barbara Julia Nordstrom Lundeen Chatfield was my mother, and I loved her very much. We lived together, we laughed together, and we yelled at me together.

During those years in which she was a single mother raising me, things got tough at times, but she was tougher, and we made it through.

But because of that time, I had a very unique and singular lens through which I viewed my mother. Basically, she was General George S. Patton, because basically, she *had* to be! Of course, over the years, they say people mellow with age, so let’s say that’s the case here.

Don’t get me wrong, she was also a caring person who cared for and took care of people, but that General Patton vibe could and would still pop up once in a while.

And… she did his *thing* —- over the decades, she’d occasionally surprise me with odd tidbits from the past. Not even a story, just a random statement.

“Your father punched out a cop once.” Or…

“Yeah, I used to run with a biker gang—we’d shoot out street lights.” Or…

“Oh, one time back in the ‘60’s, your aunt Marylou was singing at a club while Richard Nixon sat in and played the piano.”

And of course the infamous “Well, I just thought you should know, your father’s on his death bed—-he hasn’t got long to live.” And then, four or five years later…

“Oh, no, i’m sorry, I thought I told you, he got better…

But he IS dead now.”

So Barbara Julia Nordstrom Lundeen Chatfield has left us to travel to the undiscovered country…. and now, they have her for eternity.

There are many theories as to what it’s like there. You’ve got your heaven, hell, limbo, WHATEVER, and some… MANY…worry about where they’ll end up.

With my mom, it’s not really a concern, because wherever she ends up… she is NOT going to put UP with any SHIT.

Also, there *will* be complaints about how they run things.

Go easy on ‘em mom. I love you.

Brave & The Bold #115 – “The Corpse That Wouldn’t DIE”

Ridiculously joyous, insanely beautiful.

As a kid growing up in the ’60’s and ’70’s, I had a penchant for reading comics, and some of the most desired were Batman comics. Each month, the cowled character featured in Batman, Detective comics, Batman Family, Justice League of America, World’s Finest with Superman, and The Brave & The Bold, which teamed Batman up with a different hero each month tackling cases together.

Newsflash: he was popular, and DC knew a good thing when they saw it and knew exactly how to exploit it. That remains the same to this very day.

Now, of these monthly Bat-books, B&B was perhaps my consistent favorite. As an 8 or 9 year old, crazy stories mixed with amazing, dynamic artwork was what I craved. When it came to DC comics in the 1970’s, nobody was more “out there” than regular B&B scribe Bob Haney. And back around 1970 to ’73 or so, no one had more powerful composition, dramatic action, and strong, dynamic figures in his storytelling than artist Jim Aparo.

Haney’s Batman was an emotional paragon of justice. Aparo’s Batman was a lithe tower of muscle that made you feel every punch he laid on the scum of Gotham. Neal Adams usually gets the top nod as *the* Batman artist of the era, but you know what? Aparo did all his own inking back then *and* all his own lettering. *And* he was just plain old better at telling a visual story.

Years later, Aparo’d have a lot more on his plate regularly, and had to hand off the inking and lettering to other artists and the finished product wasn’t as cohesive or attractive as it was here at the height of his powers. Of the many MANY issue of B&B Aparo drew, “The Corpse That Wouldn’t Die” might just be my favorite. So I am now going to present, in its entirety, a 20 page classic for your perusal. It won’t take long to read, and dare I say, it’ll open your brain up just a tad. At least enough to ask “What?!?!?”

Because it’s SO good, it doesn’t matter that the story is absolutely freaking ludicrous. And OH. It is wonderfully ludicrous. Let’s dive in…

This is the type of melodrama I love. Right out of the box, a girl is kidnapped by brutal hands and “the dreaded avenger of a thousand-and-one-crimes” is called in. The tension’s at a 10 and the caped crusader ain’t messin’ around, buddy!

Yes, for Batman, this is personal. Kidnap victim Debbie Manton is a very special person who the Dark Knight knew very well, even though we never saw her before or would ever see her again, but damnit, this is still personal.

Debbie was going to testify against mobster Buggsy Cathcart, and evidently, there was no such thing as police protection back then, so she was just snatched off the night street. Looks like things are suddenly looking up for Buggsy before his trial, but Cathcart, like most cowardly, superstitious criminals is also a bit stupid, as he starts laughing within range of the caped crusader. Bad move, Buggsy!

Batman regains his self control, then heads out to tear the city apart. One might ask “Well, wouldn’t you assume she’s already dead? There’s no point in keeping her alive in case BATMAN rescues her, and he’s GOT A VERY GOOD TRACK RECORD!” Well, sure, that is a good question, but there are more bizarre turns coming that will make you forget any lesser concerns such as that.

Batman is his own worst enemy here, as practical logic and ideas like back up just goes out the window, and of course, he never makes it into this other window.

Well, I guess Batman died over 50 years ago. The END. But hey, it’s The Brave & The bold, so we should at least say hi to this issue’s co-star…

“Incredible idea” is the understatement of the century, narrator. What follows, no matter how impossible on so many levels, is one of the shining examples regarding suspension of disbelief masterfully presented in such a way as you have no choice but to strap in, and enjoy the ride.

Haney adds just enough medical fact regarding human anatomy to suck you further in, while Aparo gives you a magical look inside the human body–don’t worry about certain realities…

I just have to step in here and give yet another shout out to Aparo’s use of light and shadow, along with his masterful composition that sucks you in…

After reading this, one of my favorite comics of all time, you may have a couple thousand questions about how exactly the Atom accomplished *any* of this. Even as an 8 year old, I was raising my eyebrow just on how exactly the Atom gave Bats specific orders to accomplish simple actions, much less the amazing acrobatic ones.

Well, welcome to the world of Bob Haney. Sometimes, things didn’t quite make sense but damn, was it fun. If it was most other artists in the DC stable, this wouldn’t have been nearly as fondly remembered, or maybe remembered at all, but Aparo had the skill to make this crazy train so intense, so filled with drama and impact, that you just enjoy. And I hope you did!

Fantastic four: Full Circle by Alex Ross

Abrams ComicArts did what Marvel comics was apparently hesitant to do — put out a comic featuring the Fantastic Four, starring Reed Richards (Mr. Fantastic), Sue Richards (The Invisible Woman), Johnny Storm (The Human Torch), and Ben Grimm (The Ever-lovin’ Blue eyed Thing).

I’ve missed them.

Oh, Marvel puts out a monthly Fantastic Four comic, and it has for years, allllll the way back since the days when it used to be known as The World’s Greatest Comic.

And it was, back then.

For the first 100 plus issues, Stan Lee provided the dialog and personalities for the foursome, and Jack Kirby provided the pulse pounding, powerful, pencilled artwork, aided by a few inkers, most predominantly, Joe Sinnott. This was during the majority of the 1960’s starting in 1961, and ushered in the Marvel Age of Comics. It literally changed the way comics and their characters appeared to the outside world in which we lived.

Until the FF showed up, comic book superheroes were rather two dimensional, with interchangeable personalities. Reed Richards was a passionate man who would go to any lengths for scientific discovery, the most brilliant mind on the planet. Sue Storm was a brave and devoted girl friend, teammate and later wife of Reed, who eventually became the most powerful member of the team and the one to keep the rest in line. Johnny Storm was the teenage hothead who was always blazing for a fight. Ben Grimm was the powerful, rock covered monster who used wise cracks to cover his pain.

For the second 100 issues, Stan Lee’s writing style was utilized by his replacements to maintain the consistency of the characters, but they weren’t Stan. And though there were different artists taking on the visuals, and some were truly magnificent, they weren’t Kirby. As the comic reached well past the 200th issue, John Byrne took over the writing and art, giving us an FF with some of the original flavor. He turned Reed into a less passionate, colder egg head, but he did advance Sue’s character, giving her her much needed due respect, taking her out of the 1960’s mindset towards women.

As the decades passed, many creative teams came and went, putting their stamp on the team, to varying degrees of quality and success. Come the turn of the century, things continued to change. These days, Reed and Sue have two kids, an entire secondary foundation with more kids, Ben finally married his long time love Alicia Masters, and they adopted two kids, and Johnny’s been married a couple times already. Yes, it’s now the Fantastic Four Hundred.

All the members of the FF have “died” at least once, been replaced, or both. That’ll happen over 60 plus years.

Which now brings us to the present, and Alex Ross’ Full Circle.

Alex Ross is a devoted and opinionated comics fan boy who paints comics beautifully, and realistically, truly bringing superheroes to life. Think “Superheroes meet Norman Rockwell”. He’s been doing so for 30 years, beginning with “Marvels”, a four issue masterwork with writer Kurt Busiek about the major past events in the history of the Marvel universe. If you haven’t got it in some form, do yourself a favor — go find it and buy it. While you’re at it, go find and buy Kingdom Come, another masterwork with writer Mark Waid about the apocalyptic future events in the DC comics universe.

He’s also done hundreds and hundreds of covers for many comics in his painted style.

In Full Circle, Ross has taken a different visual approach, this time just inking the pencils, instead of painting them. Ross is working with a colorist, Josh Johnson, to create a very potent, vibrant color scheme here. The whole production hints that it might be cool to view it with a black light (having done it, although I can’t say the effect is full on fluorescent, it adds to the creepiness of the experience, just in time for Hallowe’en.) There are however some flashback panels where it does appear Ross has painted them to give a different feel.

Ross has always been severely dependent on extensive photo reference for his art in order to accurately present likenesses, lighting, etc. Back in the early 1990’s and the above mentioned “Marvels”, he was the first artist to visually suggest Professor Charles Xavier looked remarkably like Patrick Stewart. Back then, Ross also suggested that Reed resembled actor Russell Johnson, who portrayed the Professor on Gilligan’s Island. Recently, he shifted to another visual reference when drawing Mr. Fantastic, this time going with actor Gary Conway, from the cast of Land of the Giants, another show from the ’60’s. Conway has the distinction of not only looking like Reed, but looks a bit like a Jack Kirby character — another plus.

The visual depiction of the Thing is also a treat. For many years now, Ross has based the character’s look off a life sized Thing bust sculpted by Lou Cella. Of the myriad number of artists who’ve drawn the Thing over the past 60 years, the Cella model ranks only behind Kirby in giving us an accurate representation of Ben that hi-lights his personality, so to see Ross utilize it for so long, in so many ways, is always a treat. Hopefully Kevin Fiege and his people in the Marvel Cinematic Universe have been taking note. When the FF finally show up in the MCU, if they don’t base Ben on Kirby, it had better be Cella.

Ross’ usual realistic rendition on the characters takes a step back in favor of a more graphic approach, but what remains the same is his usual superior composition, the other half of what makes his art special. Even realistically painting superheroes can end up being boring if you don’t present them in a powerful way, and Ross always does compose exciting and interesting angles and panel layouts for the scenes.

Full Circle is the result of the influences of two creators on a third.

Talking about the book, Ross is quick to give numerous nods to Jack Kirby, and Ross pays homage to the King, presenting various tech, vehicles, and the visual experience of Kirby’s version of the Negative Zone. Ross’ photo referenced style doesn’t permit him to indulge in Kirby’s exaggerated anatomy to drive the visual with power, but Ross’ striking composition helps to bridge the gap.

Perhaps because writing is not his usual vocation, Ross doesn’t talk about that aspect as much, but here, he successfully channels Stan Lee to an extent, being *possibly* the first person in fifty some years to get all four character’s personalities right. Either as Stan wrote them, or in Sue’s case, the best version of her. Giving Stan due credit for his influence here is crucial. Without Stan applying those distinctive personalities way back when, as great as Jack’s art and storytelling was, without Stan’s daring and delightful dialog, there might not have been a Marvel Age of Comics.

Without spoiling things, Full Circle revisits and pays off a couple old Lee/Kirby stories, one of which is a mighty classic. A few other notable Negative Zone stories are referenced as well. It really is an ode to the best era of the FF, and Lee and Kirby.

*** I think if I had one real criticism of Full Circle, it’s the lack of a real payoff, a big Kirby visual climax where the bad guy gets his. On the positive side, one can look to some things that outshine all the other FF material that Marvel’s been putting out for decades.

In addition to the lovely art, solid action, and accurately written characters, I liked the fact that it’s just the four of them. No Franklin and Valeria, no Future Foundation. No Alicia, no adopted kids, alien kids, moloid kids, Dragon man, and whoever Johnny’s married to this week. Currently in the comics, the FF has so much baggage they drag around, the original premise has become buried beneath a ton of extra family.

Don’t get me wrong — I’m not suggesting retconning Frank and Val out of existence (even though Val was bizarrely retconned IN), but just because Reed and Sue have a family, it doesn’t mean they have to feature them as part of the team all the time.

In Full Circle, we do see the kids in one panel, sure, but basically, the story is about the four main characters going on an adventure and exploring a mystery. It was just a joy to see the FF get out of the house and go to work, without dragging an army with them. Just the four of them. Somehow, that’s become a lost art.

Another big element of this story is explaining and revisiting things. Again, without spoilers, we revisit a classic story, and there’s a very nice resolution, heartwarming even. We revisit another, far less classic story, which falls a bit short. Frankly, now that I think of it, we could have used a little bit of Clobberin’ Time.

Conversely, I can truly say that for the first time, I had a better grip on some of the physics of the Negative Zone thanks to Ross, who even had some nifty ideas regarding new outfits and ways to navigate the Zone.

So, Full Circle. I’d give it an 8 out of 10. Not sure why Marvel had to partner with someone else to get this put out, but I wouldn’t mind seeing more.

And someone, please let me know when they start putting out the black light posters of some of these pages.

HINT. HINT.

Because the Thing IS.

…

“Live every day like there’s no tomorrow.” – Some idiot

We were watching After Life, starring Rick Gervais in his latest misery guts dark comedy, and that sage advice was given to him by a friend.

At a graveyard.

Where she spends every day talking to her late husband’s grave stone.

So basically, Ricky’s character should live every day like there’s no tomorrow, while she sits on her ass on her bench. It’s mostly a well done show, just bring a crying towel (hey, did you know Gervais has an acerbic wit?), but the point is– who actually listens to such advice? Words DO have meaning, if you’re paying attention.

Live life like there’s no tomorrow. And then when there is a tomorrow, you do it all again— now wait a minute.

Maybe it’s just me being too literal, but what fantasy are you playing out here? Live life like there’s no tomorrow because tomorrow the asteroid hits? Because if that’s the case, I think there’ll be a lot of wonton violence, sex, and skullduggery.

Yes, skullduggery.

I guess live your best life, but live like there’s no tomorrow?

Where do we set the goalposts? If you and I BOTH are supposed to live life like there in fact is NO tomorrow, –and don’t think THAT’s not a problem in itself >cough< the Purge >cough<– well then, you would act as if everything is ending. No consequences! So, unless you want to be on the front lines when the CHUDS start eating people, you’re going to off yourself through some hedonistic means. Or your next door neighbor, who might *also* be living by this code might just impale you on the wickets of your croquet set and run off laughing before you even *get* to spend your day acting like an idiot!

The only person this philosophy actually works for is Bill Murray in Groundhog’s day, and we no longer have access to the sorcerous abilities of Harold Ramis. He’s dead. I’m not sure if he lived that last day like there was no tomorrow, though.

Hey, you could travel the world! Ah, but you’ll waste half that day today just *getting* to Europe. Oh, and by the way, you’ll need gobs of money for the bigger enterprises, because no one’s going to fund your day of never ending bacchanalia, fight clubs and orgies. Sure, by this new motto, there’s NO tomorrow, but the electric bill’s coming the day after that, and there’s slightest chance that if you don’t kill yourself cliff diving, you’ll need to microwave a burrito for lunch at some point. If you’re not too busy BASE jumping off the Eiffel Tower.

Sure, the whole thing makes for a moving speech by old women in graveyards who bring their lunch, but suppose you tell this to some who’s not as comedically, darkly brilliant as Mr. Gervais? Suppose you tell it to an average joe who just says screw it and punches a cop? I’m not necessarily saying there are a LOT of stupid people in the world…

…well, yes I am. Seems like a good chunk of idiots are trying embrace this code.

Bye kids! Have fun storming the Capital!

But for those sage viziers out there, maybe choose your words a bit more carefully? Maybe don’t stir up images of flying to Vegas and putting your life savings on 22 black?

How about this– Make today the *best* day you can. Do the same tomorrow.

Now that didn’t hurt, did it? You don’t *have* to climb Everest or even onto your roof. You don’t *have* to go streaking around the neighborhood, but if you do, wear a disguise and make damn sure you can run faster than anyone else who might be chasing you. Like a cop. Or a German Shepherd who’s craving a Snausage.

Here’s an idea: maybe be NICE to a stranger! Maybe pay for their meal if they’re behind you in the drive thru line.

Maybe just compliment someone on doing a good job.

How about whatever you’re job is, don’t act like it’s “beneath” you and don’t behave like an entitled prick?

Perhaps when you’re on the internet, you use your *real* name, instead of something you once thought was clever as a username, then *don’t* tear everything down, no matter how much you want to click bait your audience for your YouTube channel. You don’t have to be unswervingly sweet either, just consider both sides, and don’t hide behind anonymity and your keyboard. You’ll still say stupid things, but at least you’ll own it, and you’ve got greater odds on saying something profound and relevant, too.

But enough with the cockeyed, pie in the sky, super advice that simply never works.

You can’t run a marathon every day, because one day you’ll stop and gain 500 pounds and be on reality tv–and not in a good way.

Instead of selling your soul to Tik-tok, hey, FaceTime with somebody. That way, at least you’re socially interacting with someone face to face instead of shoveling poop emoji’s. Again.

Or do something creative. That’s pretty much all I’ve got on quiet days when there’s no work. I’ll work out, I’ll draw. I’ll even do Sudoku to keep my mind sharp.

Such as it is.

Just get something accomplished. It doesn’t have to be HUGE. Start a hobby.

Or if you put in a hard day at work, or spent a couple hours shoveling, or both, just relax.

Maybe … live each day like it’s a gift.

All depends on how you wrap it.

And who you give it to.

Waiting for casting on Doctor Who and the FF…

ANY week now. Or so I’m hoping.

I, and countless other fans, are awaiting casting news on two franchises. The first is who will be picked as the 14th Doctor Who. The next is who will be cast in the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s version of the Fantastic Four. Some crazy and unsettling rumors abound with both, but I won’t focus on those today.

On the Doctor Who front, we’ve certainly been here, done that, but the new Doctor is always news, just as is the new showrunner when there’s a switch over. It has never been more apparent just *how* important a showrunner is than now.

Chris Chibnall’s reign of devisive retconning is quickly coming to an end, and we’ve never needed a new showrunner more. Mind you, it’s not Chibnall’s fault that he *got* the job. He originally turned it down. The BBC actually begged him to take it on, solely because of his high ratings on Broadchurch. So it was the Beeb who forced a deal with the devil, and the Doctor was the one who had to give up a soul.

Once more for the record– I don’t blame Jodie Whitaker. She was miscast, mislead, fed bad scripts and woefully underprepared for the whole thing. I fear Chibnall mishandling of the circumstances has hurt the female Doctor cause. It certainly hasn’t helped. At one point, I wished we could have had Jodie stay on to see what she could do with a good showrunner and good scripts, but she’s forever locked up with Chibs.

According to the latest reports, new and returning showrunner Russell T Davies has already written some of the first episodes. Phil Collinson will also be returning as producer as he was with RTD last time, between 2005 to 2009. Russell also announced a few weeks ago that the auditions for the new Doctor are officially underway.

The auditions are an exciting piece of news. In the past, Davies cast Chris Eccleston and David Tennant as the 9th and 19th Doctors respectfully, as he’d worked with them previously and he knew what he wanted. This time around, he’s opened the doors wide to find the 14th incarnation. I can’t help but wonder if he wasn’t influenced a bit by Steven Moffat’s auditions that landed Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor. Either way, exciting news.

The official new era will begin in the autumn of 2023 around the time of the 60th anniversary of the show, which will include a celebratory special, series 14, and most likely, the return of the beloved Christmas special, a time honored tradition in the U.K.

Although we’re still 22 months away from showtime, the rumor mill is pumping them out and running overtime. But in the meantime, we await word on WHO the new Doctor actually is.

Speaking of waiting…

The MCU has, for the most part, been killing it with bold, live action versions of all sorts of Marvel superheroes. Adding extra layers and usually elevating said characters. And believe it or not, *they* were the second stringers. Yeah, Iron man, Captain America, Thor are all great heroes, but at the same time, it was basically all Marvel had left after they sold off the movie rights to a lot of their creations back in the ’90’s when faced with bankruptcy.

Luckily for Marvel, the characters they had may have been second stringers, but they also just happened to make up the Avengers, so that all came together wonderfully, *and* turned those characters into first stringers.

BUT…. If Marvel had had all their properties at the start, they *probably* would have started with the X-men, Spider-man and the Fantastic Four. The Avengers, etc., would have been a few phases down the road. Once again, I’m ecstatic things worked out like they did, catching Robert Disney Jr., Chris Evans and the gang exactly where they did in their careers.

But Fox owned X-men and the FF, while Sony had Spider-man. Sony had solely produced five Spider-man films, but half of them were not very good. Eventually, Sony and Marvel/Disney struck a deal to co-produce Spider-man and the results have been pretty great for three movies now, and the relationship between those companies were usually very pleasant.

Fox had produced a dozen X-men related films, some great, some good, some not so good. They’d also done three Fantastic Four films, two okay and one very bad mistake, and that’s on Fox. Then, Disney/Marvel bought back the rights to the FF and X-men from Fox. Marvel was never going to work together with Fox anyway though, like with Sony, because there was a lot of bad blood between certain factions in the companies.

So of course, the second Marvel got the rights for the FF back, I’ve been sitting patiently on the front stoop, wagging my tail, panting heavily, waiting for the MCU’s version of Marvel’s first family. I think we first got word about the deal in ’18, and all the paperwork was finalized in early ’19. And we waited. Then pandemic. 2020 passed. We only recently got word that the FF movie was on the slate for possibly late ’23, coming after “Ant-man & the Wasp: Quantumania” in July of ’23, as there’s a couple alleged tie ins that lead in to the FF.

And now… nothing. No new word, no changes, but most shockingly, no news even of casting. A LOT of speculation, –I did a blog on one such rumored report–but absolutely no word on who the FF are going to be. It’s officially in the casting process now. I get the *feeling* that Kevin Fiege and Marvel are treading very, very carefully.

There have been four FF films in the last 30 years. None have been what they should have been. Some had very good parts, and some good casting, but on the whole, all were seen as disappointments. On a personal note, the big problem was that they didn’t deliver the EPIC.

So even for the MCU, with their *very* good track record, this is going to be their biggest hurdle to date. They kinda HAVE to get this right.

If they don’t, you’ll hear it from me. But for now, who the hell are they going to cast?

I’m waiting on the stoop. Tail is still wagging. Come ON already!