Saturday, December 23, 2006

Friday, December 22, 2006

For All the Whos in Whoville

Parts 4-6 of "The Three Doctors" - Episode 2


Thursday, December 21, 2006

Spider-Man, Spider-Man, Does Whatever A Spider Can...

Another lucky find: http://www.wallopinwebsnappers.com/
Lots of information about the production of the 1967 Spider-Man animated series straight from the voice of Spidey himself - Paul Soles.

Sing along with this!


Anyone else notice that the storefront "At the scene of a crime" is spelled 'Fine Jewlery' before he swings in , but as he swings in, it's 'Fine Jewelry'?

Because I'm in a Who-ing Mood

With much gratitude to CrackedCosmo at YouTube, I'm posting "The Three Doctors", a serial from the Jon Pertwee era, guest-starring Patrick Troughton and William Hartnell. Split into three parts, this is Episode One.

Part Two.

Sadly, as you see in Part Three, William Hartnell was too ill to participate beyond pre-taped segments. He passed away only a few weeks after filming was completed.

Yowza.

Is it possible to sleep until next July? I don't think anything this cool will happen before then.

Wednesday, December 20, 2006

Pieces of DC Comics History

Life is full of happy accidents. Today, through some means I don't even recall, I found AIBQ. This page is an amazing collection of comics - specifically, DC comics - that run from the 1930's all the way to the 1980's. You will have to download the cdisplay viewer, but it only takes a moment and it is incredibly worth it.

There are 81 different series, for example:

Batman (Spring 1940 to December 1979)

Adventure Comics (November 1938 to September 1983)

Green Lantern (v.1: 1941-1949, v.2: 1960-1986)

Justice league of America ( Oct.Nov. 1960-April 1987)

And of course, my favourites:

All-Flash Quarterly (1941-1948)

The Flash: First Appearance Showcase #4 Sept./Oct. 1956 (as you see here!), plus the full series (1959-1985)

This is, of course, just a few of the comics available - full scans, including advertisements (which is half the fun in reminiscing!). Some of the other famous and infamous titles include Prez; Brother Power; The Phantom Stranger; OMAC; the Metal Men; Plastic Man; the Atom...Well, by now you get the idea. With Xmas vacation coming up, I am truly in DC geek heaven.



God bless us, every one.





Justice League of America #1, Oct./Nov. 1960

Sunday, December 17, 2006

Whose Who?

Welcome back, folks. Real life forced a bit of a hiatus there, but I've got some particularly geekified thoughts running around my head, so here goes.

Over the past few months, I've been enjoying the new 10th incarnation of The Doctor, better known to the masses as Doctor Who. I think the new Doctor, David Tennant, is particularly effective in conveying a mix of humour and menace in facing foes both old and new. If I have any complaint it's the growing 'love interest' between DW and Rose. It just seems a bit contrived. In other words, just like everything else on television. For the most part, however, I find it extremely entertaining.

A side note here to the CBC: okay, I get that Holiday programming is par for the course at this time of year, but a five week hiatus between parts one and two of an episode? Come on.

Anyhoo, I started thinking about why exactly I like his characterization, and a life wasted on YouTube has allowed me to watch several of the other Doctors in action, adding fuel to the speculation. I finally realized that Tennant is not just creating a great character, he's playing pieces of many of the best incarnations before him.

Which led me to ask myself: Which of the 10 Doctors are my favourites and least favourites? So, here's a list of my 5 favourites. I'll cover my least favourites in a later post.

Favourite Doctors:

6. Peter Davison - 5th DW - Almost slid onto the least liked list, but there's something about his relatively low-key performance that appeals to me. I recently watched 'Castrovalva', and his playing of the flawed regeneration was great. By far the kindest and softest-spoken DW of the group, but no less determined to right wrongs. I got a bit annoyed at his companions, though. Like Alice, I try to believe three impossible things before breakfast.

5. Christopher Eccleston - 9th DW - A unique take on the character, which is maybe why he's not my favourite - there's no particular sense of continuity. Still good, I wouldn't have missed it for the world. The final two episodes of his run were, dare I say, Fantastic.

4. Tom Baker - 4th DW - Everybody's vision of DW who doesn't watch the show. The version that has appeared on the Simpsons at least twice, which is as good an indication as any that he's by far the most popular of the Docs. There seems to be sort of an emotional distance to the character, though, which is why I don't love this incarnation as much as most. Gotta love the tin dog, though. Jelly baby?

3. Jon Pertwee - 3rd DW - The 'Dandified Doc'. Some of the gadgets are a little out there, and I hated that car, but generally played the Doc as thoughtful, intelligent and caring. He's out there fighting evil for a reason - because it's right. Reverse the polarity of the neutron flow!

2. David Tennant - 10th DW - As I've said, a terriffic mix of humor and menace, and loyalty as well. Competent as well, and supremely confident, as befits a very old character such as the Doc. From The Christmas Invasion:
Sycorax Leader: Blood control is just one form of conquest. I could summon the armada and take this world by force...!
The Doctor: Well...you could do that...yeah, you could do that, of course you could! But...why? Look at these people, these human beings; consider their potential! From the day they arrive on the planet, blinking, step into the sun, there is more to see than can ever be seen, more to do than... no, hold on. Sorry, that's The Lion King. But, the point still stands...leave them alone!
1. Patrick Troughton - 2nd DW - Befuddled, bewildered and supremely clever, this incarnation is what comes to mind when I think of the Doctor. He's doing what's right against the wishes of his all-powerful Time Lord race, and defeating evil through deception and force of will. In many ways, David Tennant is adopting small but recognizable pieces of many of the Doctor's personalities to give us the current incarnation. The best pieces, however, are of Troughton.

All together now: When I say run, run!

Well, there we are - feel free to argue and stomp your feet if necessary, I'll be back with the other side of the Time Lord coin shortly.