I am totally jazzed about this!  While I haven’t read much of Gaiman’s stuff since Sandman, there is no denying that he’s an amazing writer! His work on Sandman kept me reading comics in 1989 when I considered dropping everything.  I started with Sandman #8, Death’s debut story, and stayed with it all the way to the end.  Given his ability to tell really emotional tales, he could possibly give Blink and Caves of Androzani a run for their money as the best Doctor Who episode ever.

Here is what he told SFX Magazine:

As anyone who’s read my blog knows, I’m a big fan of a certain long-running British SF TV series. One that started watching — from behind the sofa — when I was three. And while I know it’s cruel to make you wait for things, in about 14 months from now, which is to say, NOT in the upcoming season but early in the one after that, it’s quite possible that I might have written an episode. And if I had, it would originally have been called “The House of Nothing”. But it definitely isn’t called that any more.

Countdown. You’ve got about 14 months.

Watch this space in 14 months for the, “OMG! It was brilliant!”

]]> http://onceuponageek.com/2010/02/09/neil-gaiman-to-write-doctor-who-episode/feed/ 0 http://onceuponageek.com/2010/02/09/neil-gaiman-to-write-doctor-who-episode/ http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/OnceUponAGeek/~3/YzaQFJRCAYg/ http://onceuponageek.com/2010/02/08/review-sentinels-the-shiva-advent/#comments Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:00:27 +0000 Shag http://onceuponageek.com/?p=2716 Van Allen Plexico’s latest novel, Sentinels: The Shiva Advent, is an engaging and fun read. At first I was unsure whether I’d enjoy the book as I’m not usually a fan of superhero prose. Compounding my concern was the fact that this is the fifth book in the Sentinels series and I haven’t read any of the previous volumes. Well … I’m pleased to report that I was enthralled before the first chapter was over! The mysteries presented early on compelled me to continue and I found myself wanting to learn more about the interesting characters.

This novel makes a great jumping on point in the adventures of the superhero team called the Sentinels. In the first chapter, the team is decimated by a murderous robot called the Vanguard. The rest of the novel features the rebuilding of the team either through rescue or the addition of new members. The story concludes with a huge confrontation against Vanguard. This is an ideal scenario for someone new to the series like me. By tearing apart the team, it provided an opportunity to learn about each hero individually and to be on the ground floor for the new characters.  The Sentinels team features several of the typical superhero archetypes (i.e. super-strong flying man, displaced god, armored avenger, etc.), with some characters having direct analogs amongst Plexico’s favorite team, Marvel Comic’s Avengers. In fact, the title character Shiva has many characteristics in common with the mighty Thor.  While some characters may be representative of established heroes, they are not mere carbon copies.  These characters have original back stories and interesting personalities.

I was shocked that once I started the book I couldn’t put it down.  As I mentioned, I’m not typically a fan of superhero prose, but Plexico has somehow managed to capture the essence of comic book adventures using only words on a page.  While the story is evocative of the superheroic Bronze Age of comics, it lacks the corniness that sometimes accompanied those tales of yore.  You’ll find the spirit of Stan Lee’s characters and Roy Thomas’ plots living-and-breathing in Van Allen Plexico’s writing.

The novel represents the first chapter of “The Rivals” trilogy and features a great cliffhanger.  If you love old school Avengers tales, especially ones dealing with cosmic forces, then this book is for you.  Sentinels: The Shiva Advent was published by White Rocket Books in 2009 and is available by clicking here.

Doctor Fate is making his first live action appearance ever on Smallville tonight!  We’ve seen him in animation on Superman: The Animated Series and the Justice League cartoons, but never in the flesh.  I’m keeping my fingers crossed that we get to see some Ankh bolts tonight.   Click here to read an interview with actor Brent Stait on playing Doctor Fate in Smallville.   Here is a lengthy episode description:

A man named Sylvester Pemberton tracks down Chloe (Allison Mack) and tells her he knows about her team of superheroes and needs their help. However, before he can explain who he is, he is attacked and killed by Icicle (guest star Wesley Macinnes). Clark (Tom Welling) and Chloe’s (Allison Mack) investigation leads Clark to the former headquarters of the Justice Society of America where he meets up with Nelson AKA Dr. Fate (guest star Brent Stait), Carter Hall AKA Hawkman (guest star Michael Shanks) and Courtney AKA Star Girl (guest star Britt Irvin). Courtney pleads with Hawkman and Dr. Fate to help her catch the killer that is targeting their group but they are reluctant to resume their duties as superheroes. Clark, John Jones (guest star Phil Morris), Green Arrow (Justin Hartley) and Chloe team up to help the JSA stop Icicle before he murders another member of the group. Meanwhile, Lois (Erica Durance) receives a package from a mysterious agency called Checkmate, run by Amanda Waller (guest star Pam Grier). Geoff Johns wrote the two-hour episode. Glen Winters directed the first hour and Tom Welling directed the second hour.

My thanks to Luke over at the Hawkman blog (Being Carter Hall) for sending me tons of great information on Doctor Fate’s appearance on Smallville.

Firestorm finally returns to animation after nearly 25 years!  Firestorm was a regular on the last two seasons of the Super Friends in the mid-1980s.  Since then, he has been absent from our airwaves.  He didn’t even get a cameo in Justice League Unlimited.  Well tonight he returns in a big way on the animated series Batman: The Brave and the Bold.  Click here for an interview with Michael Jelenic, Producer and Story Editor for Batman: The Brave and the Bold, about Firestorm’s appearance on the show.  Here is the brief episode description:

A school field trip goes awry when Dr. Double X causes a lab explosion that fuses slacker science teacher Ronnie to his genius pupil Jason, creating the reluctant hero Firestorm…and unbeknown to them, it leaves Batman divided into three parts!

Smallville “Absolute Justice” airs tonight at 8pm-10pm eastern time on the CW network.

Batman: The Brave and the Bold “A Bat Divided!” airs tonight at 7:30pm eastern time on Cartoon Network.

Hooray for Doctor Fate and Firestorm!

Bill Watterson gave an interview this week to Plain Dealer reporter John Campanelli.  This was Watterson’s first interview since 1989.  Below is an excerpt:

JC: Because your work touched so many people, fans feel a connection to you, like they know you. They want more of your work, more Calvin, another strip, anything. It really is a sort of rock star/fan relationship. Because of your aversion to attention, how do you deal with that even today? And how do you deal with knowing that it’s going to follow you for the rest of your days?

BW: Ah, the life of a newspaper cartoonist — how I miss the groupies, drugs and trashed hotel rooms!

But since my “rock star” days, the public attention has faded a lot. In Pop Culture Time, the 1990s were eons ago. There are occasional flare-ups of weirdness, but mostly I just go about my quiet life and do my best to ignore the rest. I’m proud of the strip, enormously grateful for its success, and truly flattered that people still read it, but I wrote “Calvin and Hobbes” in my 30s, and I’m many miles from there.

An artwork can stay frozen in time, but I stumble through the years like everyone else. I think the deeper fans understand that, and are willing to give me some room to go on with my life.

To read the entire interview, click here.  My thanks to Joel Schroeder, OnThink, and my wonderful wife for sending me information about this interview.

While on the cruise I got to snorkel in some of the clearest, most beautiful water in the world (St. Maarten and Grand Turk).  Sped around on a waverunner at Emerald Beach while on St. Thomas.  Met Nick Maley, known as “That Yoda Guy” (more on him in a later post). Saw Transformers II: Revenge of the Fallen (boy was that movie the suck!).  And did a zillion other things, but most importantly I spent some quality time with my gorgeous and brilliant wife.

It’s worth mentioning for Terry’s benefit that I read a Thor trade paperback.  I read my copy of Thor Visionaries: Walter Simonson volume 1.  It was a great read.  Awesome art, solid storytelling, and good adventure.  After reading this, I think I can quantify my dislike for Thor a little further.  When written well, I really enjoy Thor’s adventures in Asgard.  It makes for good fantasy/high-adventure.  However, I don’t care for Thor on Earth.  I feel like he sticks out like a sore thumb.  This fits with my dislike of Thor all these years in the Avengers.

Finally, saw Avatar last night with my 10-year old step-son.  What a movie!  Now I see what everyone is talking about.  Not the most original storyline, but breathtaking visuals, great action, and very enthralling.  Definitely worth seeing on the big screen.

Talk with y’all later!

Welcome to ONCE UPON A GEEK’s part of the Crisis on Earth-Blog: The DC Challenge! ONCE UPON A GEEK is a blog that focuses on a variety of geeky topics, including: comic books, Doctor Who, Star Wars, role-playing, 80’s TV shows, and science fiction in general. If this is your first time here, welcome aboard! If you’re a regular, I think you’ll enjoy this crossover event.

Today and throughout the next few weeks on comic book-themed blogs across the internet, DC Comics characters are being spotlighted in a series of challenges. In my case I’ll be representing Doctor Fate, one of my all-time favorite superheroes. Your DC Challenge, if you choose to accept it, involves visiting each of these various blogs and tackling their particular challenge.

The objective of these challenges is to go from blog to blog until you reach the goal-page featuring a lush scan from an obscure George Pérez pin-up of every major character involved in this crossover event. We all hope you enjoy this online scavenger hunt, and the new comic blogs you’ll be exposed to! Many thanks go out to mastermind Frank Lee Delano (of the blogs: Idol-Head of Diabolu, Justice League Detroit, and …nurgh…) for coordinating this massive effort! Way to go, Frank!

Your ONCE UPON A GEEK challenge is the crossword puzzle below. I couldn’t embed the crossword puzzle itself, so you’ll have to click the image to be taken to the interactive puzzle.  Each question in the puzzle relates to either Doctor Fate, a character participating in this crossover, or other well-known DC characters. Just a heads-up, I removed any spaces or hyphens from the answers. For example “Captain Amazing” would simply be “CaptainAmazing”; or “Locust-Man” would simply be “LocastMan”. Once you’ve finished the challenge, follow Doctor Fate’s mission beneath the puzzle. Have fun!

Hope you enjoyed the crossword puzzle!  Now you’ll have to work your way through Doctor Fate’s mission and a few of the blogs below if you want to reach the goal-page featuring an obscure George Pérez pin-up of every major character in this crossover.  Some of these blogs are participating in the crossover today, others will be in the coming weeks.  Visit them now, visit them later, visit them often!

1986

Inza Nelson sat on an antique couch, working a personalized other-dimensional crossword puzzle, within her invisible tower home in Salem, Massachusetts. Many wives find themselves “widowed” by their husbands’ obsessions with sports, gambling or what have you.  You could say Inza was a sorcery widow, as the unnaturally youthful woman had been since meeting her husband-to-be in the 1940s. It was then that Kent Nelson began his career as the crusading mage Doctor Fate, serving the cause of Order alone, and later as a member of the Justice Society of America. In the years since, Kent has become withdrawn from humanity and increasingly isolated in his studies, leaving poor Inza to her own devices.

Or not. Dr. Fate strode into the room, his features almost entirely obscured by his mantle of power, the gleaming Helm of Nabu. “Take cover,” he demanded, “I’m expecting uninvited guests.” Just then, otherworldly luminescence filled the room, followed by the material forms of three strangers.

The first looked like a derelict, with his unshaven face and long, unkempt black hair, streaked with crimson. He scowled, “I remember you two, even if you were withered old prunes when we met.” This menacing fellow, with a red ankh tattooed over his right eye, drew a golden blade on Dr. Fate. “I took that helmet of yours, and turned it into something useful. I was supposed to be the balance between Order and Chaos, but everything turned rotten, and I’ll end up with my own blade stuck between my ribs.”

The second figure exactly like Dr. Fate, but his tone was less haughty. “We took on your duties, and it will destroy us, body and soul. They warned us. We will stop you from cursing us.”

The third figure was also strikingly similar to Kent, but less poised, and with a costume bearing an ancient Egyptian motif. “I am Hawkman’s son. Why couldn’t I just defend the skies? Why did magic rot away my life, killing me, taking my lover’s mind and my son’s soul? Why couldn’t you do your own job?”

If Dr. Fate found any of this disturbing, he showed no sign of it. “I can sense the touch of Nabu in each of you, but you are not in a time of your own, and you each forget your place. Not a single one of you will carry the weight of my responsibilities for a fraction of my length of servitude. One day, you may each claim my place as Fate, but for now, begone.” With that, Dr. Fate dismissed these future inheritors of his mantle, seemingly with all the effort of an afterthought.

Inza rushed to the being who was both her husband, and something else entirely. She wondered who these Fates were, and what their appearance meant. “They were representatives of a possible future, manipulated into adulterating our present, and they are not alone. All across the Earth, these agents of a grim tomorrow haunt other superhumans. They do not belong, and I will see to their removal.”

With that, Dr. Fate exited his tower, leaving Inza to fret and displaced super-heroes to dread his pursuit.

Follow Dr. Fate’s mission through these blogs…

• The Aquaman Shrine
• The Atom: Tiny Titan
• Hawkman/Hawkwoman at Being Carter Hall
• Metal Men at Comics Make Me Happy
• Flash at Crimson Lightning
• Green Arrow at Dispatches from the Arrow Cave
• Black Lightning and Unknown Soldier at El Jacone’s Comic Book Bunker
• Firestorm Fan
• Black Canary at Girls Gone Geek and Wonder Woman at Girls Gone Geek
• I Am The Phantom Stranger
• Martian Manhunter at The Idol-Head of Diabolu
• Elongated Man and Zatanna at Justice League Detroit
• Captain Comet at …nurgh…
• Doctor Fate at Once Upon a Geek
• He-Man and Battle Cat at Pretty, Fizzy Paradise
• Mister Miracle at random picture day
• Adam Strange at Reilly2040’s Blog
• Supergirl Comic Box Commentary
• Sgt. Rock at when is evil cool?
• Batgirl at The Anti-Didio League of America
• Plastic Man at The Continuity Blog
• General support from Toyriffic

If you enjoy blog crossovers, then you may want to check out the previous comic blog crossovers we’ve done. The first major Crisis on Earth-Blog celebrated the gorgeous George Pérez/Alex Ross painting from the Crisis on Infinite Earths 1998 hardcover. The next blog crossover was a celebration of the Super Powers Collection’s 25th Anniversary.