#secret wars 40th anniversary

[themarvelproject]

Hasbro is celebrating the 40th anniversary (2024) of the iconic Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars storyline (1984) with a new wave of Marvel Legends Series figures paying homage to the classic Mattel action figures from the 1980s.

[comicchannel]

Marvel Legends Series Secret Wars X-Men Wolverine Hasbro G0782

Link para compra BR: *Possível importar pelo Link abaixo

Buy here: https://amzn.to/3ZrgUgh

[iconuk01]

Marvel just confirmed, at PulseCon, a 40th Anniversary of Secret Wars wave, including (of course) a Wolverine and an Iron Man, but we also get..

Titania!!

[omegaremix]

Killing Joke / Pig @ Irving Plaza, N.Y.C; September 12, 2018.

When was the last time I visited Irving Plaza? Ten years ago, when Ministry supposedly had their “farewell” tour. That show opened my eyes up to Meshuggah who turned the entire place insane and a forgettable opening act not worth mentioning. Now, we’re the gatherers as Killing Joke puts us. Next year celebrates 40 years as a band and are currently performing the Laugh At Your Peril Tour through the Americas and Europe. They stand as one of the few acts in existence that have played together for this long and never slowed down or lost power. The miserable humid weather of light drizzle and grey skies could never dampen the audience down for what unfolded.

I assumed it would be only Killing Joke’s time to shine. I had no idea there was an opening act. Here’s a lead singer who comes on stage dressed in an odd get-up, all black head-to-toe. He’s also wearing a silver leather jacket with super-long tassels hanging down from his arms, a flat pilot’s hat, sunglasses, bondage over his privates, and thick black boots. I had zero idea who the opening act was until he shouted “we are Pig!” Really? It’s Raymond Watts himself. What a surprise. Watts / Pig has been a classic and go-to industrial staple during the Wax Trax era. It’s great to hear he’s still performing without a hitch. With his time in KMFDM, “Juke Joint Jezebel” was not an option but a necessity. He performed another big hit in ”Secret Skin” and also preached everything about (sin, sex, and) salvation. He’s wearing the priest’s collar, after all. One good thing about Watts / Pig was his presence: direct, communicative and in many times pointing to his fans (salvation, people); moving, gyrating, and swinging to the tune of his industrial sound and his affinity for stage, orchestra, and cabaret. This is one industrial artist I’m familiar with and still should’ve been more into by now, even despite having one of his titles in Sinsation for some time.

Killing Joke took the stage with a wonderful welcome from the New York City crowd. The entirely original gang of bassist Martin “Youth” Glover, guitarist Geordie Walker, drummer Paul Ferguson, and lead singer Jaz Coleman were very happy to see us as well. They reformed as the original unit before the Absolute Dissent-era so the 40th anniversary is a milestone meant to be. All throughout the night they culled songs, switching from almost every album demonstrating their versatility in punk, dub, industrial, and metal while always staying close to their politically and socially charged message.

They kicked off the 95 minute set with one of their key hits “Love Like Blood” and jumped 25 years into “European Super State”. They went back to the classics with “Eighties”, another familiar one for us gatherers, then forward again with newer songs with “New Cold War” from Pylon. But you can’t make it an anniversary show without going back to where it all started: their 1980 full-length debut which they played five songs from. “Requiem” and a harder live version of “Wardance” were absolutely included. It wasn’t until “Butcher” where the audience furiously broke out in mosh pits. Three cuts from their self-titled 2003 record kept the energy going all throughout, first with the rugged “Asteroid” and also included “Loose Cannon” and “The Death And Resurrection Show”. An hour and 14 songs later, Killing Joke re-treated backstage but came out for a five-song encore that sealed the extended deal.

For an outfit that started and regrouped again in 40 years, they look modest and much healthier than most bands that went that long. Starting with the 1980 self-titled debut to Pylon, Killing Joke’s sound has gotten stronger and more powerful by each record. What truly made their arrival a sweet one was not only in their songs but in themselves as a unit. Witness them in person and you see how gracious they are to perform for their fans. No attitudes, no egos, no pretentiousness. All smiles. You know they were all happy to be there and were extremely appreciative. They show their thanks through great shows, retrospective deluxe sets, and being personable because they know their supporters helped them carry on for all this time.

And then there’s Jaz, whose scraggly looks show his frightened and mesmerized on-stage presence for all to see. That’s Mr. Coleman for you. He’s also jovial, too. His stories of how he once was an unhealthy alcoholic mess that became “Loose Cannon” to Youth’s time dee-jaying industrial clubs in a grittier more dangerous New York City garnered guaranteed laughs from all of us. Most importantly, he also championed personal freedom for all. It’s that integral message from their socio-political themes that’s most essential in these states’ uncertain and tumultuous times. Those messages are what the fans identify with and it’s why they love them so much.

It was one of the busiest shows I seen. Almost not a single square foot of standing room spared and neither were the VIP sections or all sides of the upper balcony. The energy was loud and constant in-between songs and (again) Killing Joke was in great spirits. The grey misty weather would make all of us miserable. Killing Joke’s presence was so great that it lifted all of us out of it.

[haveyoureadthisqueerbook]

the other me by xan van rooyen (trans mc)

this rebel heart by katherine lock (polyam relationship, two bisexual mcs, one gay side character)

iron widow by xiran jay zhao (polyam relationship, three bisexual mcs, mc is also possibly nb or genderqueer)

call down the hawk by maggie Stiefvater (gay mc, bisexual mc, bisexual side character)

the prey of gods by Nicky drayden (can’t remember the specific kind of rep)

it’s not like it’s a secret (lesbian characters and relationship. please maybe note on the poll that the submitter would really really not recommend this book? i think it’s important to let people know of queer books, but also this book relied on so many stereotypes — about lesbians and Asian-Americans — and had a cheating subplot and was just….)

beating heart baby by lio min (trans mc)

the borrow a boyfriend club by page powars

may the best man win by zr Ellor (trans mc, bisexual mc, nonbinary mc, queer side character)

a promise broken by Lynn o cochroft (trans, aroace guy is one of the two mcs)

not your sidekick by cb Lee (lesbian mc, sapphic relationship, trans side character)

always the almost by Edward underhill

the spirit bares its teeth and hell followed with us both by aj white

a day of fallen night and the priory of the orange tree by Samantha shannon

generation one by pittacus lore (gay mc, not a huge part of the plot though. but confirmed in-text)

last night at the telegraph club by malinda lo

you’re not supposed to die tonight by kalynn bayron

lady midnight and sword catcher both by Cassandra clare

Star Wars: black spire by delilah s Dawson (aroace mc)

Star Wars: the empire strikes back 40th anniversary short story compilation (idk if it counts as a queer book but one short story was a sapphic love story)

one of us is lying by Karen mcmanus

two tuns of fun by

birthday by Meredith russo

invisibly breathing by

i’ll give you the sun by judy Nelson (i think! not sure if i’m remembering her name right)

brooms the graphic novel by jasmine walls

this queer girl is going to be okay by dale walls

two mummies / two daddies (kids picture books)

death’s country by rm romero

redsight by Meredith mooring

the death i gave him by em li xu (tumblr would LOVE this book)

Been outside by shaz zamore

ALSO: a note to op. this blog is such a great idea, but have you considered setting up a google form for submissions instead? they work for people who don’t have Google accounts, and you can export the entries to a spreadsheet automatically instead of manually that way too. if you let submitters view previous responses you can prevent repeats too?

I've queued most of these! Exceptions below:

-Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary short story compilation: since only one of the stories is queer, I'm not going to include it. This is absolutely arbitrary, I realize, but for short story collections, I'm looking for them to be mostly queer.

-Two Tuns of Fun: I couldn't find any book by this name.

-Two Mummies / Two Daddies (kids picture books): are these individual books? I couldn't find anything with these exact titles.

-Beating Heart Baby and The Priory of the Orange Tree were already queued (they were both in my initial batch of queued books prior to going live with the blog).

The google form is a good idea and something I'll consider! At the moment, it doesn't save me any work, and actually creates more. I would need to check every submission anyway to make sure it's correct and in the format I want it in. Currently I've got a Google Sheets spreadsheet with all books (both queued and posted) for people to check if their suggestion has already been submitted. Thanks for the idea, though!

[dispatchdcu]

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #39 Preview

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #39 Preview #MARVEL #marvelcomics #comics #comicbooks #news #mcu #NCBD #comicbooknews #amazon #previews #reviews #starwars #darthvader #vader #starwarscomics #starwarsbountyhunters

Star Wars: Bounty Hunters #39 Preview: SCOURGE OF THE CYBORG! – A DARK DROIDS TIE-IN! Turned into a mindless killing machine, VALANCE is out to eliminate his former crew! Do BOSSK and ZUCKUSS stand a chance? Can even the mighty DURGE stop him? And TARR KLIGSON’S SECRET PLAN is finally revealed! ETHAN SACKS • DAVIDE TINTO  (A) • Cover by MARCO CHECCHETTO RETURN OF THE JEDI 40TH ANNIVERSARY VARIANT…

[geekcavepodcast]

"Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars" Hits 40th Anniversary in 2024

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars from Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, and Bob Layton was a Marvel Comics' first massive comic book crossover event. For the 40th anniversary of this milestone, Marvel Comics has a few celebrations planned - facsimile editions of Secret Wars and Amazing Spider-Man as well as a new saga set during Secret Wars!

During Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars, The Beyonder assembled Spider-Man and members of the Avengers, Fantastic Four, and X-Men on Battleworld to fight an army of villains. Meanwhile, Doctor Doom and Magneto are each hatching their own plans.

Marvel Comics is re-presenting all 12 issues of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars as facsimile editions, meaning you get the ads and all. Each facsimile edition will also be available with new variant covers and special foil variant covers.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 Facsimile Edition (of 12), from writer Jim Shooter and artist / cover artist Mike Zeck, goes on sale on January 3, 2024. Following issues will release monthly.

The anniversary of Secret Wars also marks the anniversary of Spider-Man's black costume, which would one day become Venom. The issue, released the same month as Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1, took place after the events of Secret Wars, leaving readers to guess as to the mystery of this new suit. Marvel Comics is releasing facsimile editions of Roger Stern, Tom Defalco, and Ron Frenz's Amazing Spider-Man #252 and it's following issues monthly, coinciding with the facsimile editions of Secret Wars.

Amazing Spider-Man #252 Facsimile Edition, from writers Roger Stern and Tom Defalco and artist / cover artist Ron Frenz, goes on sale on January 31, 2024.

Announced earlier this year, Marvel Comics is also releasing a new 4-issue story set during Secret Wars. Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld hails from writer Tom DeFalco and artist Pat Olliffe.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld takes place after Spider-Man receives the black suit. The story will also show characters not previously seen fighting in the original Secret Wars saga, characters like Baron Zemo, Hobgoblin, Electro, and Constritor.

Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld #1 (of 4) goes on sale on November 22, 2023. The first issue features a main cover by Giuseppe Camuncoli, a variant cover by Pat Olliffe, a variant cover by Francesco Mobili, an homage variant cover and a virgin homage variant cover by Ryan Stegman, a connecting variant cover by Todd Nauck, a Saturday Morning variant cover by Sean Galloway, and an Action Figure variant cover by John Tyler Christopher.

(Images via Marvel Comics - Mike Zeck's Cover of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars #1 Facsimile Edition, Ron Frenz's Cover of Amazing Spider-Man #252 Facsimile Edition, Giuseppe Camuncoli’s Cover of Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld #1)

[honorarycassowary]

In preparation for Oppenheimer’s release in a couple of weeks, I’ve been doing some reading about the Manhattan Proejct. Largely the focus of this has been a man I only learned about last summer: Józef Rotblat, the only scientist to leave the Manhattan Project early over moral objections. Here’s a quick list of things I’ve read and found thought-provoking:

1. The Strangest Dream, a documentary film by the National Film Board of Canada. This places Rotblat’s life into context much more thoroughly than the pieces he authored himself. To properly understand why he would volunteer to build an atomic bomb, you have to know that he was a Polish Jew and was unable to extract his wife and family to the UK after the German invasion started.

2. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists published a special issue on the occasion of the 40th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima. Rotblat’s essay begins on page 9, but really the whole thing at least through the essay about Truman should be read to give context to the Manhattan Project era and the reasoning behind the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Oppenheimer apparently thought [the poisoning of food with radioactive strontium] worthy of consideration, and asked Fermi whether he could produce the strontium without letting too many people into the secret. He went on: "I think we should not attempt a plan unless we can poison food sufficient to kill a half a million men." I am sure that in peacetime these same scientists would have viewed such a plan as barbaric; they would not have contemplated it even for a moment. Yet during the war it was considered quite seriously and, I presume, abandoned only because it was technically infeasible.

3. An interview from Voices of the Manhattan Project, which is highly focused on Rotblat’s work in Los Alamos itself. It has

But immediately [Oppenheimer] struck me as a person, very quick, highly intelligent. I think he had good information. I noticed straightaway that he can take things in almost instantaneously, and he gets the grasp.  If you come to him with an idea, he would immediately see it as a major part of this important thing. [...] You could then present it in a way which is much better than the original was. From this point, he is a genius. I am not surprised that he managed to be such a good director for the laboratory. This is one quality which is most important in a place like Los Alamos, where you had so many people with original ideas, but not always capable to present them in a coherent form. He really could master this.

4. Leaving the Bomb Project, an interview self-explanatory in topic.

[General Leslie Groves] said, "You, of course you realize that the main purpose of this project is to subdue the Russians, our chief enemy." Now this was a shock to me, because uh...I always thought that the main idea of the project it was to develop the bomb, if need be, uh...to prevent a Nazi victory. And now I found that this was not. That the main aim...the main aim was that after the war was over -- by that time it looked as if it will be over even before the project is finished -- then I guess, we'll then be able to use this...the atom bomb, as a means of political pressure or whatever else or maybe even military pressure against the Russians.

5. Not authored by or about Rotblat, but relevant to him is Nathan J. Robinson’s essay How To Justify Hiroshima dissecting arguments that treat the bombing as self-evidently justified. (Also interesting to compare/contrast this to the essays in the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists.)

That isn’t to exclude the possibility of making the “better than the alternative” argument. It is merely to say that in order to make an argument justifying the obliteration of 100,000 civilians, slight discomfort will not do. If the utilitarian case is ever to be made, it must be made through tears. 

[graphicpolicy]

SDCC 2023: Mysteries of the original Secret Wars will be revealed in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld

SDCC 2023: Mysteries of the original Secret Wars will be revealed in Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battleworld #comics #comicbooks #sdcc #sdcc2023 #sdcc23

In 1984, Marvel’s greatest heroes and deadliest villains were pit against each other on Battleworld by the unbelievably powerful Beyonder in Jim Shooter, Mike Zeck, and Bob Layton’s Secret Wars! Regarded as the pioneer Marvel Comics crossover event, Secret Wars had an undeniable impact on comic book storytelling and to celebrate this landmark series’ 40th anniversary, Marvel will return to…

[yeonchi]

Doctor Who 10 for 10 Part 2/10: Series 2

The 2005 revival of Doctor Who was a hit around the world, countering past criticisms and mockery of the series in the past that seemingly impeded the prospect of its return. However, with the departure of Christopher Eccleston announced just under two weeks into the premiere of the series, the production crew had to cast a new actor for the Doctor that would hopefully live up to the standard that Eccleston had achieved. Fortunately, though, they did manage to find one in David Tennant, a life-long fan of the series who had played characters in Big Finish audios and had a cameo role in the 40th Anniversary webcast Scream of the Shalka, which was originally intended to be the official continuation of the series until the RTD revival was announced.

The news of Tennant’s casting was announced on 15 April 2005, following the announcement of Eccleston’s departure two weeks before. This made a significant impact on production as RTD wanted to keep the regeneration secret until transmission and it also affected negotiations with Tennant and his agent. Luckily, negotiations went through smoothly and Tennant’s half of the regeneration scene in the finale was filmed soon after.

The rest is history. Let’s begin the retrospective for Series 2.

1. A new Christmas tradition

Even before Series 1 premiered in March 2005, the BBC had so much confidence in the success of Doctor Who that Jane Tranter, the drama controller at the BBC, commissioned not only a new series for 2006, but an hour-long Christmas Special for December 2005. The yearly Christmas Special (New Year’s/Festive Special during the Chibnall era) would go on to become a tradition for Doctor Who, just as Christmas specials in general became traditions in UK television.

With David Tennant debuting as the Tenth Doctor at the end of The Parting of the Ways, the then-upcoming Christmas Special, titled The Christmas Invasion, would provide an ample opportunity to introduce the new Doctor before he and Rose continued their adventures from the first episode of Series 2 nearly four months later.

For most of the episode, the Doctor is out of action while recovering from his regeneration, which allows an opportunity to explore post-regeneration domestics with Rose, Mickey and Jackie. In the end, the Doctor comes in to save the day (as always) and the ensuing scenes establish his character as someone who will let an enemy go after they cross him, but then give no second chances if they attack him after that. Arguably, this trait is something that would be common to all Doctors, even the Thirteenth Doctor, though if you compare the end of this Christmas Special and some episodes of the Jodie Whittaker era (particularly Arachnids in the UK and War of the Sontarans), you can see how Chris Chibnall completely missed the point of the character trait he clearly ripped off from the Tenth Doctor.

The special also featured an original song, Song for Ten, performed by Tim Phillips. Although an extended version was released, it was rearranged and rerecorded by Neil Hannon, however Tim Phillips did perform it for the Doctor Who Proms concert in 2008, even if it sounded like he was drunk while doing so.

In addition to the Christmas Special, Doctor Who decided to contribute something to the BBC’s Children In Need telethon every year starting from 2005. The contribution mostly included a preview of that year’s Christmas Special or an original short bridging the events between it and the last episode. From 2019-2021, there was no original contribution from Doctor Who for Children in Need (although their segments were featured), but in 2022, the contribution was the reveal of Series 14 companion Ruby Sunday, played by Millie Gibson.

Because The Christmas Invasion was filmed alongside Series 2, subsequent Christmas Specials would be counted among the next series’ episodes in home media releases, barring the specials that featured the regeneration of the Doctor. While I was okay with this episode arrangement during the RTD era, in the Moffat era I thought that the specials should be counted amongst those for the previous series. This would become the case for the New Year’s Specials in the Chibnall era.

Also, fun fact - Christopher Eccleston was credited as “Doctor Who” during Series 1, but David Tennant requested that he be credited as “the Doctor”, and thus all future Doctors from then on were credited as such, just as Peter Davison was back in the classic series.

2. Return of an old companion

Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen, was a companion of the Third and Fourth Doctors from 1973 to 1976, later reprising her role in 1981 for the K9 and Company pilot, A Girl’s Best Friend, 1983 for the 20th Anniversary Special, The Five Doctors, and 1993 for the 30th anniversary Children in Need special, Dimensions in Time.

Sarah Jane was such an iconic companion that RTD wanted to spotlight her in the hope of shedding a light on what happens (and what happened) to those who travel with the Doctor. The production approached Sladen in early 2005 and she accepted the offer to return after fears that she was only being invited back for a throwaway cameo. Sarah Jane made her return in Series 2’s third episode, School Reunion. Although initially not planned on returning, K9 was added to the story (along with Mickey Smith) on the request of the production team; K9 was destroyed at the end of the episode, but the Doctor rebuilt him and left him with Sarah Jane.

During the episode, we got to see the dynamic between Rose and Sarah Jane as there is a scene where they discuss their time as companions of the Doctor. The effects of the Doctor leaving Sarah Jane are also explored, providing some foreshadowing for Rose’s situation in the series finale. Of course, this wouldn’t be Sarah Jane’s only involvement in the Doctor Who revival.

3. Genesis of the spinoffs

Doctor Who was starting to peak in popularity at the start of Series 2 thanks to what had come before. In 2005 and 2006, the BBC asked RTD to develop two spin-offs of Doctor Who; a mature series directed to an adult audience, which would be known as Torchwood; and a children’s drama, which would be known as The Sarah Jane Adventures.

The title Torchwood, an anagram of “Doctor Who”, was used as a codename during production of Series 1 to disguise footage from the series prior to broadcast. RTD even sprinkled mentions of it in Series 1 and 2 in the hopes that he could use it should a spinoff be commissioned. Luckily, it was and the finale of Series 2 would feature the Torchwood Institute in earnest in preparation for the spinoff.

The main character of Torchwood was Captain Jack Harkness, who had been left behind on Satellite Five following his death and resurrection in The Parting of the Ways. He would attempt to make his way from 200,100 to the 21st century using his vortex manipulator, but he missed and ended up in 1869 where his vortex manipulator burned out. Eventually in 1899, he would be found by Torchwood agents and brought to their branch in Cardiff, where he began working for them until he could find the Doctor again. Following the events of the Series 2 finale, the Cardiff branch, also known as Torchwood Three became the only surviving branch of the Torchwood Institute.

The first series of Torchwood premiered on 22 October 2006, with a second series following a year after the finale on 16 April 2008. A third series, featuring a single five-part story, was broadcast from 6 to 10 July 2009. The fourth series, Miracle Day, premiered in July 2011. In 2015, Big Finish would begin featuring Torchwood in a new monthly series of audio dramas while also releasing new audio dramas continuing the story after Miracle Day.

The Sarah Jane Adventures featured, obviously, Sarah Jane Smith, continuing her story following her appearance in School Reunion. It took place concurrently with the main Doctor Who series, which allowed for Sarah Jane, her son Luke Smith, and K9 to appear in the Series 4 finale of Doctor Who, which took place between the first and second series of SJA. The Tenth and Eleventh Doctors also appeared in two stories while the Brigadier and Jo Grant (now Jo Jones) made guest appearances as well.

The pilot episode of SJA, Invasion of the Bane, was broadcast on 1 January 2007 (alongside the finale of Torchwood Series 1). The series began in earnest later that year on 24 September and new series would be produced every year until Elisabeth Sladen’s death on 19 April 2011, forcing production on the fifth series to be abandoned as the series itself was cancelled.

Before SJA though, there was also Totally Doctor Who, a magazine-style show similar to Blue Peter that was more like a junior version of Doctor Who Confidential. Episodes premiered on the Thursday or Friday prior to a new episode, reviewing the previous episode while previewing the upcoming episode as well. The second series also debuted an animated serial, The Infinite Quest. As a result, there was no episode covering the final episode of each series. Only two series of Totally Doctor Who were produced as CBBC wanted to focus their funding on The Sarah Jane Adventures from 2008 onwards.

The BBC also took advantage of interactive and online mediums to release content. Relevant to Series 2, short minute-long preludes known as Tardisodes were released for phones through the internet, meaning that they could also be watched on computers. The Tardisodes were never released on home media so there are no standard-quality versions of them anywhere and future prequel shorts would be released online while also being made available on home media.

Attack of the Graske, an interactive movie game, premiered on BBC Red Button and was also made available on the Series 2 DVD and online as a Flash game.

Unfortunately, spinoffs, prequels and behind-the-scenes content began waning during the Moffat era. Aside from the ending of Torchwood and SJA, Doctor Who Confidential was cancelled at the end of Series 6 and behind-the-scenes content became shorter and scarcer even with series like Doctor Who Extra, Inside Look, Closer Look, The Fan Show and Access All Areas. A spinoff Class premiered in 2016, but it never got past one series. Luckily, with the RTD2 era and the worldwide move to Disney+, Doctor Who Confidential is rumoured to return as Doctor Who Unleashed and spinoff series involving Cybermen, Daleks, Sontarans, Weeping Angels and Sea Devils are reportedly in the works, but time will only tell.

4. Double-banking

Over the years, it has become clear that filming 13 episodes and a Christmas Special over nine months would be a daunting task, hence why episode numbers were gradually cut over the years during the Moffat and Chibnall eras. As stated in the previous instalment, Series 1’s filming, especially the first block, was a nightmare because the crew were inexperienced and as such, production went over schedule.

Although there was no double-banking planned, The Long Game was forced to enter production during the filming of The Empty Child and The Doctor Dances (or maybe it was the other way around considering the order of the blocks). Filming for The Long Game was entirely done in studio and “third leads” in the form of Adam Mitchell and Jack Harkness were introduced, which narrowly allowed all three episodes to be completed in time.

During Series 2, RTD devised the concept of a Doctor-lite episode, that is an episode without the Doctor or his companion, at least for most of the episode (Father’s Day in Series 1 could be considered one as well). This was a necessity when the Christmas Specials were commissioned, meaning that double-banking was the only practical way to film 14 episodes in 9 months considering what it takes to film an episode of Doctor Who.

Love & Monsters is the episode that resulted from this concept in Series 2. It was originally planned to be filmed alongside Fear Her, but delays in The Impossible Planet and The Satan Pit meant that it would be filmed alongside those episodes instead. This episode is apparently notorious among fans for being bad, at least towards the end.

The monster in this episode, the Abzorbaloff (played by Peter Kay), was created by then-nine-year-old William Grantham as part of a Blue Peter “design-a-monster competition”. Grantham would go on to start the Channel Pup YouTube channel and also aside from insulting Bowlestrek and NoelZone (at one point), would go on to talk about this experience and judge another design competition for a monster to be featured in a Doctor Who: Lockdown! minisode released in 2021 to tie in with the tweetalong for Love & Monsters.

5. The New Earth saga

I didn’t talk about Cassandra and the Face of Boe aside from an honourable mention in the last instalment, so I’ll talk about them here now.

The first three series had an episode near the start that covered the New Earth saga; Series 1 had The End of the World, Series 2 had the aptly named New Earth and Series 3 had Gridlock.

In the year 5,000,000,000, Cassandra sabotaged Platform One so that it would be destroyed along with the Earth when the sun expanded, but the Ninth Doctor thwarted her plans and when Cassandra tried to escape, he teleported her back to Platform One and let her skin dry out without her surgeons to moisturise her.

Her brain survived, however, and 23 years later, she was hiding in the basement of a hospital on New Earth with her force-cloned assistant, Chip. She used a psychograft to transfer her consciousness into Rose’s body in an attempt to discover the secret of the Sisters of Plenitude and blackmail them. When that failed, she released all the patients the Sisters were experimenting on and attempted to cause a pandemic, however through Cassandra switching bodies multiple times and showing remorse for the patients’ suffering, the Doctor managed to cure the patients, helping create a new subspecies of humans to populate New Earth. Following this, Cassandra possessed Chip to return Rose to the Doctor and decided that it was time to let herself die with Chip, but not before the Doctor took Cassandra to her past and allowed her to tell her past self that she was beautiful.

Although they merely passed each other on Platform One, the Doctor met the Face of Boe again in the hospital, where he was dying of old age. When the crisis in the hospital was over, the Doctor saw the Face of Boe, who told him that they would meet again and that he would tell him his last words then before teleporting away. I’ll leave the rest for the Series 3 retrospective in the next instalment.

A factoid regarding Cassandra - RTD told Doctor Who Magazine that if her actor, Zoë Wanamaker, had not been available for New Earth, then the villain would have been Cassandra’s sister, Roseanne.

6. Mickey, the tin dog

Series 2 saw some more character development for Mickey, particularly in regards to his relationship with Rose. In Series 1, Mickey was a bit of a coward and the Doctor didn’t respect him, even going so far as to call him “Ricky”. However, during the encounter with the Slitheen, Mickey showed the Doctor that he wasn’t entirely the coward he thought he was and they began to have a mutual respect for each other.

Following his regeneration, the Doctor was on more friendlier terms with Mickey. After meeting Sarah Jane and K9, Mickey realised that being the “technical support” for the Doctor and Rose, he was essentially the K9 of their relationship - the “tin dog”. This would lead him to join the Doctor and Rose, deciding that he didn’t want to be the “tin dog” anymore.

After falling into a parallel universe (that would later be known as Pete’s World), Mickey met his parallel counterpart, Ricky, who was braver than he was when he first met the Doctor. He also met his blind grandmother, Rita-Anne, who died in his home universe when she tripped over a tear in her stair carpet that Mickey had been meaning to get fixed. During an encounter with the Cybus Cybermen in which Ricky was killed, he gained the courage to stand up and defeat the Cybermen in his place. These factors were what led Ricky to remain in the parallel universe, along with him realising that Rose preferred being with the Doctor more than him.

Continuing into future series territory, Mickey came back to the Doctor’s universe twice, once while following the Cybermen and once during the War in the Medusa Cascade. Following the latter, Mickey took the opportunity to move back to his home universe, seeing as Rita-Anne passed away after spending her last years living in a mansion, presumably Pete and Jackie Tyler’s mansion, and Rose had another version of the Doctor, meaning that there wasn’t anything left for him on that world. From this we can see how Mickey has grown through hardship to become who he was in the end.

Noel Clarke has acknowledged that he made Mickey slapstick because he assumed that Doctor Who had a younger audience. This was apparently criticised by fans and Clarke decided to tone the comedic elements down for Series 2. In an interview with Tony Hadoke for his Big Finish podcast in 2014, Russell T Davies said that Clarke overthought this and that he was doing exactly what was written in the scripts.

7. A classic villain redesign

Speaking of Cybermen (from the previous topic), Series 2 saw the return of the iconic metal men in a new design that would be iconic to the revived series until Series 7 Part 2 in 2013. Although the head of a Cyberman was shown in Henry van Statten’s underground museum in Dalek, it wouldn’t be until Rise of the Cybermen and The Age of Steel that the Cybermen were fully reintroduced. Since the history of the Cybermen was complicated due to various origins and backstories (which would later be explained by parallel evolution in Series 10), RTD decided to use a parallel universe as their origin.

The Cybusmen, as they would come to be known, are bulkier and more monotone because they were made to be more robotic compared to the classic series. They also used technical terms and the catchphrase “Delete” which had not been used previously in the classic series.

Since the design of the Cybusmen was also used in Series 5 and 6, Neil Gaiman theorised that they “cross-pollinated” with the Mondasian/Telosian Cybermen, eventually resulting in the new unified design that made its debut in Nightmare in Silver.

8. The parallel universe factor

The aforementioned Cybermen two-parter wasn’t the first story to feature parallel universes as the Third Doctor serial Inferno did so back in 1970. The Tenth Doctor claimed that travelling between parallel universes was possible thanks to the Time Lords, I have to press X to doubt seeing as we had very few parallel universe stories in the past. The revived series is the first time where a parallel universe plays a big part in the ongoing series’ story arc.

In Pete’s World (where Rose’s father, Pete Tyler, hadn’t been killed when she was a baby), John Lumic had the Cybermen developed through Cybus Industries as a means of making humanity immortal while he was suffering from a terminal illness himself. The entire project contravened the Genevan Bio-Convention so the experiments had to be carried out in secret with people whose disappearances wouldn’t be noticed. That world was mostly controlled by Cybus Industries, with the company owning many other companies (including Pete Tyler’s health drink company, Vitex) and controlling the media.

The majority of people wore EarPods made by Cybus, allowing Lumic to control people and retrieve information from their brains while also allowing people to communicate and enjoy media, similar to what smartphones are used for nowadays (back in 2006, mobile phones, game consoles and music players were separate things). The EarPods also played a part in “the ultimate upgrade”, commanding people all over London to head to the Cyber-factory in Battersea for cyber-conversion. Yeah, I suppose that’s a way to prevent freedom protests, by directly controlling people’s minds.

Given the events of the last few years, I feel like Pete’s World satirically foreshadows the “New World Order” thing that some people have been talking about, only it’s not “you will own nothing and be happy”, it’s more “you will feel nothing and be identical”. On top of Cybus Industries and EarPods, there are also army blockades and nightly curfews for the lower-class, rich people using zeppelins in the 21st century, Great Britain is a “People’s Republic”, the countries of South America are combined into a state and there’s a “United States of Mexico”. How very World Economic Forum of you. Anyway, if you want to hear the opposite of this you’ll have to wait for the next instalment.

Anyway, a little factoid regarding Pete - apparently, Simon Pegg was cast to play him, but since he was unavailable when Father’s Day was going to be filmed, the role went to Shaun Dingwall. Pegg would go on to play the Editor in The Long Game.

9. The Cult of Skaro

Each series finale in the RTD era has featured a villain who escaped from the Time War. Series 1 had the Dalek Emperor and with Series 2 comes the Cult of Skaro.

The Cult of Skaro was an elite group of four Daleks who were above and beyond the Emperor himself and designed to think as the enemy thinks and imagine new ways of survival. They were even given names, which was unique for Daleks. The Cult of Skaro formed another mini-arc that would culminate in the Series 4 finale.

During the Time War, the Cult of Skaro escaped into the Void in a Void Ship with the Genesis Ark, which contained millions of Daleks captured by the Time Lords. The Void Ship caused cracks in the universe (opened even further by Torchwood’s meddling), which caused the TARDIS to end up in Pete’s World and later, allowed the Cybermen from that world to imprint themselves into the Doctor’s universe (as ghosts) before invading it in earnest. This would also allow people to jump between universes, but at the cost of ripping holes in the universe.

In Army of Ghosts and Doomsday, the Cult of Skaro revealed themselves and also discovered the existence of the Cybermen, which led to a war between them in an act of pest control. During the conflict, the Genesis Ark was opened and the millions of Daleks captured began swarming out, exterminating Cybermen, humans and the like. The Cult of Skaro managed to escape with an Emergency Temporal Shift when the Doctor sent the Cybermen and Daleks into the Void.

This story marked the first time the Daleks and Cybermen were shown together on-screen, in conflict no less. Although the Daleks and Cybermen would be shown together under lesser capacities in a few later episodes, the next episode where they would be seen together with roles of significance would be The Power of the Doctor. Apparently this idea was floated about in December 1967 when the BBC approached Terry Nation about it, but Nation vetoed the idea.

10. The Rose left on the beach

Too soon, I know. It’s never too soon when it comes to Doctor Who, apparently.

Although it was reported in March 2006 that David Tennant and Billie Piper had signed on for Series 3, it would later be reported that Piper would be leaving the series, at first midway through Series 2, then later at the end. This was a decision that Piper had made a year prior, but remained secret until it was reported. In 2021, Piper would later explain that the fame of playing Rose made her “really uncomfortable”, plus she wanted to do different things and didn’t like the responsibility of being a role model (which is more than can be said for some Kamen Rider actors).

In-series, the departure of Rose was because travelling through the Void caused her to be covered in background radiation, or “Void stuff”. The Doctor’s plan was to open the Void using Torchwood’s equipment and suck the “Void stuff” back in, the Cybermen and Daleks along with it. However, since anyone covered in the “Void stuff” would be sucked in as well, the only option was for Rose to go to Pete’s World with Jackie, Mickey and Pete while the Doctor used the magnaclamps to hold on.

Rose was sent to Pete’s World, but she immediately went back, not willing to leave the Doctor. She helped the Doctor execute his plan, but when they opened the Void, Rose couldn’t hold on (when the lever on her side was about to fail) and was about to be sucked in as well until Pete saved her, after initially refusing to do so out of concern that more damage would be done to his universe. For this scene, there was some debate over who would rescue Rose; RTD and Julie Gardner wanted Pete, while Noel Clarke and Phil Collinson wanted Mickey. Ultimately, the former was chosen to show that he had accepted Rose as a surrogate daughter.

Following these events, the Doctor managed to find a remnant breach and caused a supernova (according to his words) to contact Rose. Rose found the Doctor projecting himself at a place that translated to Bad Wolf Bay and they said goodbye, though the Doctor was never able to say his last words to her before the breach fully closed.

Rose was officially declared dead as a result of the conflict at Canary Wharf. Jack Harkness would learn of this and bring it up to the Doctor when they next met, only for the Doctor to correct him.

Although RTD told the press that Rose was gone for good, he apparently told Piper, “See you in two years.” Piper would later reprise her role in Series 4 before returning again in 2013 for The Day of the Doctor. A spinoff for Rose titled Rose Tyler: Earth Defence was commissioned by the BBC, but RTD cancelled it because he thought it would have lessened the impact of Doomsday. However, Piper would be featured in the Big Finish audio series The Dimension Cannon, which details Rose’s adventures in other universes before meeting the Doctor again in Series 4. Producer David Richardson told RTD that he wanted to bring the cancelled spinoff to life through audio, but during the development stage, RTD suggested the current idea instead and they went with that.

Series 2 saw Doctor Who being elevated to the level of an idol drama as audiences were treated to the developing relationship between the Doctor and Rose before circumstances tore them apart. Despite this, the series still maintained its science-fiction roots while calling back to the classic series and continuing to innovate itself for the modern era. With the previous series sticking to settings based on Earth or just near it, this series began exploring planets outside of Earth, showing just how the series had evolved since its revival.

At the same time, Series 2 also provided the starting foundation for the two spinoffs complementing Doctor Who and elevated David Tennant’s popularity to the point that he is basically the revived series equivalent of Tom Baker. After the difficulties that plagued Series 1, Series 2 showed that the series had found its footing and could continue evolving by leaps and bounds.

Stay tuned for Part 3 where I give my 10 takes on Series 3.

[theultimatefan]

FAN EXPO New Orleans Adds Seven ‘Back To The Future’ Guests For Franchise’s Largest Reunion Ever

Do you see what happens to slackers? Back to the Future fans know all too well, and today FAN EXPO New Orleans added James Tolkan, who as “Mr. Strickland” in the original 1985 film and sequel and his ancestor in BTTF III made the term famous, Claudia Wells (“Jennifer Parker”), Jeffrey Weissman (“George McFly”), Donald Fullilove (“Goldey Wilson”), Harry Waters Jr. (“Marvin Berry”), Frances Lee McCain (“Stella Baines”) and Charlie Croughwell (Michael J. Fox’s stunt double) to the BTTF reunion, January 10-12 at the Ernest N. Morial Convention Center. Alongside headliners Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Lea Thompson and Tom Wilson, the celebration of the 40th anniversary of the first installment in the franchise is the biggest reunion ever of the trilogy’s stars.

Tolkan has appeared in more than 80 films and television shows, playing memorable characters in WarGames, Top Gun, Masters of the Universe and many others. He portrayed “Mr. Strickland” in BTTF and BTTF II, and his grandfather “Marshal James Strickland” a hundred years earlier in III. Wells had numerous spots on TV series and TV movies before gaining wide notice as Marty McFly’s girlfriend in the original film. She had regular runs on comedies “Fast Times” and “Off the Rack” among her 30 credits.

Weissman was cast in both BTTF sequels as Marty’s father “George” as part of an extensive resume that includes more than 80 films and series that spans six decades.

Fullilove has taken turns as a live actor and voice actor ever since portraying Michael Jackson in the animated series “Jackson 5ive” in 1971. He played “Goldie Wilson,” later “Mayor Goldie Wilson” and has appeared in such notable series as “The Fall Guy,” “Hill Street Blues,” “21 Jump Street” and “American Dad.”

Waters Jr. had guest appearances on hits like “Laverne & Shirley” and “Cagney & Lacey” before making his mark as the lead singer “Marvin Berry” at the pivotal “Enchantment Under the Sea” dance in the original. He was a cast member of the 1992 Disney show “Adventures in Wonderland” and is a Faculty Emeritus at Macalester (Minn.) College in the Theater and Dance department.

McCain has had roles in several blockbusters, notably Gremlins, Footloose and Stand By Me as well as appearances on hit shows like “Three’s Company,” “St. Elsewhere,” “Better Call Saul” and 80+ others, spanning more than 50 years. Her portrayal of “Stella Baines,” Marty’s grandmother-to-be in the 1955 scenes in the original BTTF earned laughs and later references to jailed “Uncle Joey.”

Croughwell has performed stunt work in nearly 150 productions, including all three BTTF films, and blockbusters like Who Framed Roger Rabbit, Masters of the Universe, The Sandlot and others. He has done Michael J. Fox’s stunt work on other films, including Light of Day, The Secret of My Success, The Hard Way, Casualties of War and others.

In addition to the BTTF reunion, FAN EXPO New Orleans will feature the “Smallville” trio of Tom Welling, Michael Rosenbaum and Kristin Kreuk; plus "Firefly” standout Alan Tudyk, original Star Wars standout Anthony Daniels, “Superman & Lois” headliners Tyler Hoechlin and Bitsie Tulloch, “The Mandalorian” star Giancarlo Esposito, “Doctor Who” Thirteenth Doctor Jodie Whittaker and “Buffy the Vampire Slayer” star James Marsters, “Resident Alien” standouts Alice Wetterlund and Sara Tomko and teen romance “High School Musical” regulars Corbin Bleu and Lucas Grabeel).

FAN EXPO New Orleans features the biggest and best in pop culture: movies, TV, music, artists, writers, exhibitors, cosplay, with three full days of themed programming to satisfy every fandom.

New Orleans is the first event on the 2025 FAN EXPO HQ calendar; the full schedule is available at fanexpohq.com/home/events/.

[themarvelproject]

Continuing our celebration of the 40th anniversary of the Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars limited series (1984) with Mike Zeck's spectacular cover art from Secret Wars #1. In the pencils and inks, note the inclusion of Kitty Pryde, who ultimately didn't appear in the series, as well as Mister Fantastic and Thor, who were removed to fit the logo on the final printed cover.

[comicchannel]

Marvel Legends Series Secret Wars Avengers Captain America Hasbro G0781

Link para compra BR: *Possível importar pelo Link abaixo

Buy here: https://amzn.to/3XIJZmi

[nfcomics]

SPIDER-MAN: BLACK SUIT & BLOOD no.3 • cover art • Marco Checchetto [Oct 2024]

40th Anniversary of SPIDER-MAN's black costume—BLACK, WHITE & BLOOD—style! AL EWING (THE IMMORTAL HULK, VENOM) spills a super-secret from SECRET WARS!

Comic • 40 pages • $5.99 US

🕷

[generalpierrotdameron]

As you can tell by the cover of the first novel in the series, The Mask of Fear by Alexander Freed (writer of the absolutely incredible Alphabet Squadron series) Reign of the Empire will examine the struggle against the Empire through the eyes of some familiar faces. Mon Mothma, Bail Organa, and Saw Gerrera–all with their own differing perspectives on what must be done to stop Palpatine–play key roles in the trilogy, alongside a new cast of original characters as the galaxy begins to reckon with the grip of the Empire. Here’s the official logline for The Mask of Fear:

Before the Rebellion, the Empire reigned. “In order to ensure the security and continuing stability, the Republic will be reorganized into the first Galactic Empire! For a safe and secure society!” With one speech, and thunderous applause, Chancellor Palpatine brought the era of the Republic crashing down. In its place rose the Galactic Empire. Across the galaxy, people rejoiced and celebrated the end to war—and the promises of tomorrow. But that tomorrow was a lie. Instead the galaxy became twisted by the cruelty and fear of the Emperor’s rule. During that terrifying first year of tyranny, Mon Mothma, Saw Gerrera, and Bail Organa face the encroaching darkness. One day, they will be three architects of the Rebel Alliance. But first, each must find purpose and direction in a changing galaxy, while harboring their own secrets, fears, and hopes for a future that may never come, unless they act.

The Mask of Fear will be followed by two more novels: the first written by Resistance Reborn‘s Rebecca Roanhorse, and the second by Fran Wilde, marking her full Star Wars novel debut after writing for the From a Certain Point of View anthology celebrating Return of the Jedi‘s 40th anniversary. While the first novel will be set in the very first year of the Empire’s rule, Roanhorse and Wilde’s books will jump forward in the Star Wars timeline by several years to explore key turning points in the myriad growing movements of rebellion across the galaxy.

“I’m enormously excited to be a part of this project and explore an era of Star Wars especially rich with the nuanced stories of ‘ordinary’ citizens–people living inside the machinery of the Empire, still figuring out what’s happened to their government and in violent disagreement over ideas of democracy, resistance, revolution, and complicity,” Freed said in a statement provided to io9. “It’s a chance to write a political thriller and spy drama and sweeping historical epic all at once, as well as spotlight Mon Mothma–a character I’ve been passionate about for ages. I can only hope the end result does justice to the grand themes of the prequel films, and manages a similar blend of timelessness and relevance.”

The Mask of Fear will release February 25, 2025, and is available to pre-order now. Books two and three in the Reign of the Empire trilogy are scheduled to release in Spring 2026 and Spring 2027, respectively.

[komicoshea]

SDCC 24 - Secret Wars Wolverine revealed

Hey, my fellow Plastic Addict. After the reveals from Friday, Hasbro wasn’t done it seems as earlier today, the slipped in one more figure. This time it was an updated brown and tan Wolverine. This is primarily based on the original Secret Wars toy. Thus, we can assume this will be part of the Secret Wars wave rumored for the 40th anniversary. My guess is that the wave will be revealed in…