Monster Monday

Doctor Who: The Almost People

Spoilers ahoy!!!



So, did the Doctor's shoes dissolve when he sonicked fake Amy? Because he'd swapped them with the fake Doctor's earlier and as far as I could see he didn't swap back.

More importantly why did he sonic fake Amy? After an episode which tried to show that flesh versions of people were really no different to the regular people - so much so that a couple of flesh versions took over the lives of the regular humans at the end - the Doctor's melting of fake Amy seemed a little... harsh.

Anyway, I guess this episode of Doctor Who - the second part of the Rebel Flesh - will mostly be remembered for the last five minutes or so which was something of a game changer for this season (and which I've already spoiled above). Yet the rest of the episode was pretty decent too. Nothing wonderful, and it felt a little padded out, but reasonably thrilling, scary with a intriguing delve into what makes a human. The physical effects were pretty good although some of the CGI, such as when fake Jennifer turned into her monstrous form, were a little iffy. Some great characters and acting too - I especially like Cleaves, the leader of the group.

Still, it's that last little revelation concerning Amy that really ramped this up from an above average episode to an excellent one. It also means this "filler" episode was actually strongly linked to the series long storyline. So when was real Amy swapped for the ganger? When the Silence captured her? Or prior to that when Amy and Rory were on Earth sans Doctor? And why has the Eye Patch Lady taken Amy and so interested in her baby?

Next week it's the mid season cliffhanger and then a break over the summer. Unfortunately (well, sort of) I'll be on holiday so I won't see it until the week after. Eeek! I may have to steer away from spoilers until then.

Who - SNES style

(Click to see the vid. Hopefully)

By DoctorOctoroc.

Fishy Friday

Hydroman

Strength: 3

Toughness: 5

Special Powers: 7

Status: 2

A forgotten Golden Age hero who could turn himself into water, he's now been revived in the pages of Project Superpowers (where he's simply called Hydro so as not to be confused with that well-known Spidey villain Hydro-Man). Like Seaguy, one of the best things about him is his sidekick - Rainbow Boy! - who can fly at the speed of light leaving a rainbow trail behind him.

Aviator #4: "Superstitious, Cowardly Lot"

"I'm here for the interview. For the librarian position", Rob answered the young but slightly dowdy looking woman who stood behind the desk. Other younger people milled around them, heading this way and that, and one or two glanced at Rob in his cheap suit and tie. Rob shuffled his feet a little and tried to smile in a polite but studious way.

"Oh yes. You must be Robert Tomlin, right?" The woman smiled back, her eyes a sparkling green behind functional glasses, Rob noticed.

"I'm Alyson Rosenberg. I'm also one of the librarians here. Well, I suppose you guessed that. And I guess you're not technically a librarian here yet either. But you know what I mean".

The small, brown-haired, squirrely woman called Alyson giggled nervously for a moment and then removed her reading glasses.

"Eh, I haven't been here long myself" she said in explanation and, after briefly looking around, continued. "I can't seem to see Dr. Armitage at the moment - he's the head librarian here  - so if you'll just wait a moment I'll go and find him. He's probably in the stacks somewhere, erm, stacking books".

She started to giggle a little again, stopped herself, and feeling a little embarrassed walked around from behind the desk before heading towards the deeper parts of the Lovecraft Library. Rob began to say something along the lines that it was alright, he could wait a while (it wasn't as if he had anything else on), but he sort of just mumbled his thanks whilst he was left standing there musing about his recent change of fortune.

Ever since discovering he could fly, things seemed to be turning around for Rob. Well, sure, he'd tackled that armoured guy Feuerkraft and gotten a fair number of bruises plus a broken rib for his interference. And he had tried to stop some sort of intelligent ape called General Ursus from letting his fellow hominids out of the Knight City Zoo just the other day but that hadn't quite gone to plan.

On the other hand though, Kath had come back and had now been staying with him for the last couple of days. She tended to stay in all day and then they'd go out at night - to bars and clubs generally - before returning in the early hours to the bed they shared.  And now he had his first job interview - at the library of Miskatonic University.

It wasn't a job as a chemical engineer or a lab assistant or something similar but right now Rob was glad of anything that paid a bit of money. And, at least, this beat selling greasy slabs of meat at MacDonalds. Back as a student, he'd spent many hours here in the library so he knew his way around the place. Plus he was intelligent, a graduate from the university and he liked books so he had a good feeling about this job opportunity.

That good feeling vanished as Rob looked around, wondering where Alyson the giggly librarian had got to, and saw a guy dressed in a blue and white spandex costume barge in through the front entrance.

"Where is it, eh?" the man called out. "Where's the book!?"

One of the other librarians, an older man called Mr Giles that Rob recognized from his time here, approached the brightly-dressed man.

"Excuse me sir", he said in his courtly English accent, "but please keep your voice down. This is a library".

"Yeah, I know that. What d'you take me for, stoopid?" The costumed man stopped for a moment, raised his right hand and then snapped his fingers together like a cool beatnik from the sixties. Instantly, the temperature inside the library dropped. Ice crystals suddenly formed around Mr Giles and quickly grew until, less than a second later, the man was completely encased in a gleaming, transparent block of solid ice.

Someone nearby screamed.

"Shush", the supervillain admonished. "Keep quiet like the man said". Laughing he sauntered over towards the main desk.

Now Rob recognised the man from news reports. He was a one of Knight City's lesser supervillains; a man named Howard Lyon who called himself Coldsnap. A mercenary by trade, the man sold his talents to whoever would pay, as long as the job wasn't too difficult nor too dangerous. The police considered him a coward but still a threat to civilians due to his ability to freeze people and objects just by clicking his fingers together.

"Right, so who can tell me where the book is, eh? How 'bout you, missy?"

Coldsnap had stopped near the desk where Rob stood and was now pointing those threatening fingers towards Alyson, who had just returned. She quivered a little as the man questioned her but did not back away or faint.

"I... I don't know. If y...you mean the Necronomicon it... isn't here", she answered bravely, her voice stuttering but strong, although she didn't look directly at Coldsnap.

"Not that, you bitch! The one by Baum or whatever his name is. The one on display that's been in all the papers".

"Oh, that. Th...that's over there," Alyson blurted, pointing to an area at the side of the building. A number of rare and unusual books were on display there, some on loan from other libraries whilst others were part of this library's collection. One of those items taking pride of place in the centre of the display was Lyman Frank Baum's own handwritten manuscript which supposedly contained his notes and story ideas concerning his many Oz books.

As Coldsnap turned away and walked towards the display, Rob decided he had to do something. He was still wearing his suit and tie but in his pocket Rob kept his Aviator goggles from the leather flying helmet. Earlier he'd put them in his pocket as a sort of good luck charm but now it appeared he'd actually need to use them. Donning the goggles, Rob rose a few inches into the air (the strange sense of vertigo washed over him still - though not as strong as it used to be) and then shot towards the supercriminal.

"What the f...?!?" Coldsnap cried as Aviator slammed into him, driving him smashing into the display. Shaking his head as he sat on the floor around the bits of broken glass cabinets, Coldsnap looked up. There above him floated a man in a dark suit with goggles over his eyes.

"Who the hell are you?" the villain cried, shuffling his legs and bottom, trying to crawl away.

"The name's Aviator" Rob called out. "I'm here to stop you villain".

"Yeah? Well buddy, you need to chill" Coldsnap replied, and bringing his hand up he snapped his fingers.

The air around Aviator  suddenly became colder - a lot colder. His breath caught in his throat as the sudden chill shocked his lungs. His arms and legs began to stiffen as he felt his skin start to freeze. Aviator began to rise up away from Coldsnap but it was too late - a thick layer of ice formed around his body, trapping him and holding him immobile.

"Thought you could take me, fly boy?" Coldsnap sneered. Still backing away, his hand brushed against a thick, old book and he looked down.

"Hey, whatya know! Just what I was looking for..."

But then gravity decided enough was enough and Aviator fell to the ground.

As he hit the marble floor, the smothering block of ice smashed into hundreds of sharp, glittering pieces that slid across the library. In the middle knelt Aviator, startled, shocked, somewhat chilly and a little short of breath but otherwise unharmed. He took a deep lungful of sweet air, shook some warmth into his body, and stood up.

Meanwhile, Coldsnap had grabbed the book and was backing away towards the exit.

"Damned lucky bastard" he cursed. "But I'll put you on ice again soon enough".

Again he clicked his fingers together but this time Aviator was ready for him. Lifting up into the air, he dodged to the left. Particles of ice formed in the air where he'd been just a split second before and, with nothing to latch onto, they fell tinkling to the ground. Coldsnap snappeded his fingers together again and this time Aviator dodged right missing the icy blast once more.

"Stay still ya flying freak!" shouted the villain as Aviator floated forwards towards him.

"Well, I can't say I approve of your frosty reception", the hero replied, preparing to launch himself at Coldsnap.

The cold-hearted criminal sneered and was about to try to freeze the hero again when another idea struck him. Instead, he turned to face Ms Rosenberg who was approaching from the left, and grinned. Snapping his fingers together, he turned and ran for the exit.

Aviator followed the villain's gaze and watched in horror as a white sheen of ice started to surround the startled librarian. Leaving Coldsnap for now, he flew over to Alyson, who was now covered from foot to neck in a block of bone-chilling ice.

"H..h...help m...m...me!" the small woman stammered. The lips on her pale, unblemished face were beginning to turn blue and her sparkling eyes were wide in terror.

For a moment, Aviator was at a loss regarding how to get her out. Then he remembered that as well as being able to fly, the chemicals that had somehow empowered him a few months ago had also increased his strength to superhuman levels. He drew back his fist and looked Alyson directly in her frightened eyes.

"Hold on. And keep still" he uttered, before bringing his fist forward to smash into the ice. There was a crack but nothing more. Aviator's now bloodied fist felt incredibly cold and numb but he tried again. And then again.

On the third mighty punch, there was a much louder crack and the block of ice shattered. Alyson came tumbling out of the crumbling remains and fell into Aviator's arms. olding her close, he quickly wrapped his suit jacket about her shoulders before someone nearby rushed up with a warm blanket.

Leaving her to the administrations of others, Aviator zipped out of the library after Coldsnap but by now the cold-hearted criminal had vanished - taking Baum's notebook with him. The aerial avenger flew upwards to get a better view of the surrounding area and university quadrangles but the villain was nowhere to be seen. Cursing himself, Aviator flew back into the library to check up on Alyson.

He was glad to see that the little librarian appeared to be getting some of her colour back. He approached her and asked if she was okay. Alyson nodded, shivering. Although still somewhat shocked, Rob could tell by the look on her face that she recognised him behind the goggles and, of course, knew who he was.

Before he could say anything another woman, this one in a crisp-looking business suit with what looked like a small voice recorder in her hand, strode forwards and stopped directly in front of him. She had a stern look on her business-like face.

"Lucy Harvey of the Herald", she stated abruptly. "So, 'masked' avenger, can you tell me who you are? Are you another of those Agents of C.O.M.P.A.S.S? What did Coldsnap want in this quiet university library?"

Her questions were snapped off so quickly, Aviator was somewhat taken aback. His mouth opened and closed a couple of times as he tried to engage his brain to answer. Thankfully, Alyson answered for him.

"He's c...called Aviator and he j...just tried to stop that villain from taking a valuable b...book that was on loan to us," she said, her eyes cutting into the reporter in front of her. "And he just saved my life!"

"Well, one could argue that if he hadn't intervened Coldsnap would not have attacked you...", Ms Harvey started before Alyson interrupted.

"He was trying to stop a w...wanted criminal. Not poking his nose into other people's business like some...", the librarian tutted and turned away to look at Aviator.

Aviator said a quiet 'thank you' and smiled at Alyson before turning back towards the reporter. "No comment Miss Harvey other than to say that no, I am not one of those Agents. And given the current situation I think it's best that I go and leave things to the proper authorities".

Then he turned towards Alyson.

"Tell your boss that I'll be back in touch later. I hope he'll understand," he explained as he began to levitate upwards. Then, with a smile and a wave, he was off out of the main doors.

Behind him Lucy's eyes narrowed, her reporter's nose twitching, as she watched Aviator fly away. "I'll get your story", she muttered to herself whilst people around her started to tidy up the mess.

(Another short piece of fiction set in the Acrobatic Flea's Knight City Chronicles Universe)

Winsome Wasp's Wardrobe #18

art by Barry Smith (Avengers #100 1972)

Damn volcano!

Another year, another Icelandic volcano erupts and disrupts flights!

Last year this didn't affect me but this time I'm flying up to Glasgow each week during my secondment (yes, the company I work for is mad enough to fly me up/down. And put me up in a decent hotel during the week). Currently many of the flights to Glasgow are cancelled. The Grimsvotn ash cloud may mean that instead of flying back later in the week, I'll be driving back home to just south of Manchester (not a huge distance, I know).

Thankfully the Met Office's current prediction is for the ash cloud to thin out from tomorrow. So, fingers crossed...

Monster Monday

from the Zombie Nation

Doctor Who: The Rebel Flesh

Part way through this week's episode of Doctor Who I thought we were going to see Rory die. Again. It was when the woman with the electric taser thingy was threatening to zap the Gangers and Rory tackled her to the ground. I thought he'd get zapped, die, but then we'd discover he was actually a Ganger all along.

But no, amazingly Rory remained unharmed this week. Although he has gone wandering off to save Jennifer (leaving his wife to the other Gangers) so who knows how he'll fare.

This weeks episode was good but not wonderful or exciting like last weeks or the first two weeks. Though it was better than the pirate episode. The pace seemed somewhat slower than previously and the story was given room to breathe. That also meant that occasionally things moved a little too slowly for me. Still it was enjoyable and suitably scary - it was the first episode my daughter had watched since the Christmas episode and it'll probably be the last for a while. She found it a bit too "freaky" (as she called it).

Quite a bit was made of the fact that the Doctor and the rest were unconscious for an hour or more but we haven't really seen the effect of that. Are Amy and Rory gangers? Perhaps even the 'original' people are actually gangers and the originals are elsewhere?

We'll just have to wait until next week for the second part. And then the week after it's the midseason cliffhanger. Already!

More Glasgow

Another week, a different hotel in Glasgow. Here was the view out of my (grimy) window...

The fly-over to the M8 is visible to the left and the tall Hilton hotel is on the right. 'Nice' view, eh? And here's some more of Glasgow's architecture...

At the top is Glasgow's City Chambers and at the bottom is the Gallery of Modern Art. It was very cloudy when I took these so they look a bit dull.

iTunes hacked

When I came back from Glasgow I unfortunately found that my iTunes account had been "hacked". I had a couple of email receipts from Apple telling me that most of the money in my account (from a gift card) had been used to purchase poker chips for a Texas Poker game by some company called Kamagames Ltd.

Seems I'm not the only one and this has happened before to others.

This is just a warning to anyone else out there with an iTunes account. Hopefully Apple will sort things out (they haven't yet).

Fishy Friday

Seaguy

Strength: 2

Toughness: 3

Special Powers: 1

Status: 4

Grant Morrison's weird and wacky, scuba suit wearing hero who exists in a world where all evil has been defeated. And of course, Seaguy has to have a sidekick called Chubby, a talking, cigar-smoking tuna fish. Because it's Morrison.

Winsome Wasp's Wardrobe #17

art by Sal Buscema and Sam Grainger (from Avengers #72 1970)

Q&A with Neil Gaiman

Over on The Guardian website, Neil Gaiman has answered a number of questions about his Doctor Who episode The Doctor's Wife.

It explains a number of those niggling questions about that episode, such as why we didn't see more rooms inside the TARDIS or learn more about Idris (a lot of it boils down to limited running time and money).

Monster Monday

Doctor Who: The Doctor's Wife

So that's where the Tenth's control room appears. We'd seen pictures of Amy and Rory in the old control room and here it appears as an archived room in the TARDIS. A back-up, as it were.

This week's episode was all about the Doctor's relationship with the TARDIS as 'she' finally found her voice. And what a fantastic episode it was. Just brilliant.

When the only complaint I can make was that the only bit of the TARDIS we saw (other than that old control room) was lots of the same corridor then it can't be bad. Well, sometimes it went a bit too fast to keep up as well I suppose...

Still all I can say is marvellous!

Then there was that little prediction at the end: "the only water in the forest is the river". What with a river, a forest and the silence this all sort of points towards the Silence In The Library/Forest Of the Dead episodes from a couple of series ago. Are they still in the library then? Perhaps saved in the computer like River?

And, of course, a pond is made of water. So does this mean River is Amy Pond? Or that Amy doesn't really exist, only River?

Yet another mystery to add to the rather large list.

Next week there's another two parter and it looks pretty spooky!

Glasgow

...or at least a little part of it with some modern architecture.

Fishy Friday

Fathom

Strength: 3

Toughness: 6

Special Powers: 8

Status: 5

Yet another superhero called Fathom, this one by Michael Turner. She also has water manipulation powers. And looks sort of similar to the Comico version of Fathom (except that Fathom had green skin and more clothes). Hmm. Maybe it was all just a big coincidence on Turner's part...?

Winsome Wasp's Wardrobe #16

art by Sal Buscema and Sam Grainger (from Avengers #69 1969)

Aviator #3: "In Brightest Day, In Blackest Night..."

Returning to the open window of his apartment after tackling Feuerkraft, Rob stumbled into the bathroom to see to his wounds. His side ached enormously and vicious pain shot down his torso whenever he turned but, after a careful examination, he appeared otherwise intact.

After showering, dressing his wounds and then fixing himself up with a quick sandwich and a beer, he sat down on his couch and turned on the TV. He watched the end of an episode of American Hero - the latest reality/talent show - before the nightly news bulletin. There was a piece about kids going missing across Knight City and then Rob smiled as coverage of the police raid on the warehouse was shown, recorded just a short while ago. Feuerkraft was being hauled out, his wrists fixed in thick restraints and bundled into the back of a large armoured police van.

The news then flicked to something about a breakout at Dunwich Asylum, when there was a knock at the door to his apartment. Putting down the remains of his beer, Rob sauntered over to answer it.

"Yeah, who is it?" he asked lazily, opening the door a fraction.

"Rob? Hi it's, erm, me. I tried to call earlier so I don't know whether you got my message...?" A woman's voice called furtively from the corridor beyond his door. The attractive- though somewhat gothy and dishevelled-looking - owner of the voice kept looking around and behind her anxiously and, for a moment, Rob didn't recognise her.

"Who...?" he wondered aloud until he looked up into her eyes. Briefly, they glimmered a deep flaming red before turning to a sparkling emerald green. How could he forget those eyes?

"Kath? Is that you?" he breathed, his eyes opening wide.

He looked her over again, realising now that she appeared scared and distracted. He closed his open mouth and blinked a few times.

"My god, it is you!" he exclaimed.

The woman outside the door winced slightly and nodded. "Yes, of course it's me. Can I come in Rob?"

"Sure, sure" he quickly replied and, closing the door slightly, he removed the security chain and let the woman inside.

"Thanks, Rob", Kath, said, a little relief breaking across her features as she stepped through the open doorway. She quickly scanned the living area beyond before turning back to Rob.

"Sorry to just drop in on you like this it's just, well, I had nowhere else to go".

"Hey, that's okay", Rob replied, closing the door. "It's good to see you again. Really good. I mean, I haven't seen you since... well, for about 7 years now. How are you?"

She smiled and shrugged but didn't answer. Instead she looked across at the almost empty bottle of beer and asked, "Is there anything to drink in this place?"

"Sure", Rob replied, trying to smooth down his hair. "Do you want a coffee, water, a coke, a...".

"I was thinking of a beer". She pointed towards Rob's bottle and turned to look at him, winking. Smiling, she lowered herself onto the couch, tucked her legs underneath her, and gazed towards the TV.

"Hmmm... okay, yeah".

Still a little shocked, Rob walked over to the kitchen area and opened the fridge. Kathleen Pendergast was back in his apartment. Well, a different apartment now, but still - it was her. He never thought he'd see her again but here she was, looking as gorgeous and wonderful as she did back when they were both at university.

He'd been in his final year when he'd met Kath, a freshman just starting her time at Miskatonic University. She had been so full of energy and vitality on that day, laughing and smiling, that Rob had immediately become smitten with her. And she was beautiful, in a sort of gothic way, with her black hair and dark clothes and make-up. Somehow, he'd managed to overcome his usual reticence in asking out a girl and soon they'd been an item. It was, Rob reflected, one of the brightest times of his life.

They'd been together around 18 months when Kath suddenly changed. She'd sort of disappeared for a few days, probably out travelling or doing some sort of charity work, but when she returned she was different - quiet, sullen, pale. Soon after they'd had an argument and, well, that had been the last he'd seen of her. By that time, he was working at Knight City Pharmaceuticals and when he got back one night he'd found that she'd packed up her things and left.

That had been one of the blackest nights in his life.

Grabbing a cool bottle of beer, Rob closed the fridge and turned to look at his ex-girlfriend sat on the couch. She hardly looked any different than she had that day she had left him. Why was she back? What had she been doing? Did he really care?

Rob walked back into the living area and handed Kath the bottle, noticing that she'd switched off the TV. Kath smiled her thanks and then took a long gulp.

"That's better" she sighed, her eyes momentarily closing in pleasure. She patted the seat of the couch next to her.

Rob sat down, picked up his own bottle and took a sip.

"I'll glad you're back Kath but, erm, what brings you back to Knight City?" He asked the question cautiously, unsure of where to start the conversion and not wanting to upset the woman beside him nor give her any reason to leave.

"Oh, I've actually been back for a while now. But the last place I was in... wasn't right. So wrong". She shuddered and hung her head at this, her dark hair falling over her face. To Rob, she seemed scared.

"And now, me and some friends of mine are out and about", she continued after a moment. "I don't really know anyone else in this city, so I came here. I hope you don't mind, Rob?"

She tilted her head up to look at Rob, her eyes almost hidden by her hair. The red gleam was back in her eyes. Strangely it reminded Rob a little of Feuerkraft's fiery blasts.

"No, of course I don't mind", he stammered. "You said something about some friends?"

"Oh, they're off doing their own things. They won't disturb us". She took another mouthful of beer, her tongue gently licking the lip of the bottle as she finished, and sighed in delight.

"Rob, can I ask a favour? I need somewhere to stay, somewhere... quiet. Can I stay here for a few nights? Please?"

Rob almost choked on the last of his beer but managed to recover. Kath was back and she wanted to stay. With him. Here. Together.

He smiled and nodded eagerly.

Monster Monday

by LeightonNoyes

Doctor Who: The Curse of the Black Spot

I thought the sonic screwdriver didn't work against bolts? Hmmm....

So, the first of the "filler" episodes in the sixth series of Doctor Who aired yesterday and although it wasn't terrible (I don't think any episode of New Who has been rubbish) it wasn't very good either. It didn't help that - as Heropress pointed out - it was just a rehash of The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances story (though not as good by a long way).

The problem with the Moff's plan to have a fascinating and complicated series long mystery, one that even stretches back to the beginning of Series 5, is that he hasn't written every episode. Some of them will be written by others and, although they may be competent, they feel a little jarring because they don't advance the series plot. Russell T Davies' didn't really do this sort of things - his "Bad Wolf" and Harold Saxon running themes were merely hints pointing towards the final episode(s) - and so different individual stories written by others (though often rewritten by Davies which helped give them some consistency) weren't a problem.

Of course, individual episodes not written by the head writer can sometimes produce some wonderful results. Take Blink for example. But the Curse of the Black spot wasn't one of those.

Whereas last week there seemed to be too much crammed into 45 minutes for my liking, here there seemed to be too little. A Siren who "attacks" a pirate ship and apparently "kills" anyone who has injured themselves turns out to be a holographic doctor from an alien, alternate-dimension spaceship which has somehow 'fused' with the pirate ship. There wasn't enough to fill a whole episode so let's throw in the captain's son and a long drawn-out sequence where one of the companions appears to die, shall we? And, y'know, I thought travelling from one parallel dimension to another wasn't generally possible...?

The idea that the 'siren' appeared from reflections seemed somewhat inconsistant as well. Was it only when a reflection of an injured person occurred that the siren appeared? If so, how did the Doctor and Amy (neither of whom had any injuries at that point) summon the siren to go and save a drowning Rory? It all seemed a bit vague.

Oh and why were all the others strapped onto beds in the 'sickbay' when the siren brought them to the alien ship whereas the Doctor, Amy and the Captain were just left unattended in a corridor somewhere? And why did the Doctor run out of the TARDIS when it started dematerialising? Why not stay in it to see where it went?

I could go on. There were a number of niggling things that didn't really work.

And throwing in a few bits linking to the main mysteries of this series - the Doctor looking at a TARDIS monitor of Amy's quantum pregnancy *again* and the strange woman with an eyepatch at a little window - didn't really raise this above just okay. In fact, all it probably did was remind people how much better the last two episodes were.

Next week though, it's Neil Gaiman's episode which hopefully means we'll get something a little better. The trailer certainly looked interesting!

Fishy Friday

Fathom

Strength: 4

Toughness: 6

Special Powers: 7

Status: 2

Looking a little like She-Hulk, Fathom was a member of the Elementals - a group of four heroes each with (as you might guess) power over one of the elements. Created by Bill Willingham, Fathom could convert her body into water, shoot jets of liquid from her arms as well as all the usual aquatic powers.

Winsome Wasp's Wardrobe #15

art by Sal Buscema and Sam Grainger (from Avengers #68 1969)

Things are quiet 'round these parts...

For the forseeable future, I suspect we'll be seeing a lot of tumbleweed 'round these 'ere parts and not so many posts. I've just started a secondment up in Glasgow for at least 3 months (probably 6) and, due to travelling and stuff, won't have as much time to waste spend on this blog. :(

Doctor Who: Day of the Moon

WTF?

Well, the ending of last Saturday's exciting episode of Doctor Who - Day of the Moon - was a bit of a shock and pretty much added yet another question into the mix. Is the girl a Time Lord? Or, perhaps, she was the one in the spaceman suit who shot the Future Doctor, stole his regeneration energy and is now using it. Maybe...?

Can't say I was keen on the old 3 months later start. It seemed a bit of a cheat after last weeks cliffhanger ending and meant things were a bit messy at the beginning of this episode. Amy shot the girl but it seems they did check on her, or ask her who she was or take her with them. And the Doctor didn't investigate the tunnels or the Silence. Instead they just seemed to run. But surely as soon as they looked away from the Silence they would have forgot about them?

And why was Canton pretending to hunt down the Doctor and his companions? It wasn't because the Silence made him do it. Nor was it because they were interested in the Doctor - he's been on Earth a lot of times before and they've not bothered. It just seemed to be because the whole subterfuge thing would be cool.

The forgetting the Silence thing came and went as well. Sometimes as soon as they looked away they'd forget everything whereas later, in the TARDIS, they were talking about them (but this time just couldn't remember what they looked like). A bit inconsistent.

Anyway, after a shaky start, things improved. It was a very action-packed, fascinating episode and the time just flew by. But I felt it tried to pack too much into 45 minutes. This storyline could've been used for a 13 episode series in some shows.

Then there was that wonderful ending (after the Doctor had turned everyone who watches the moon landing into a murderer!) with the girl that came as a bit of a wonderful shock. Slightly ruined by the bit beforehand where the Doctor said that maybe they'd go on a few adventures for a while. Why isn't he investigating Amy's quantum pregnancy? Or the Silence and where they got that makeshift TARDIS? Or find the girl? No, instead let's suspend the series story line for 4 episodes of "filler" - thoroughly entertaining and wonderful episode (no doubt) - but filler nonetheless. Ah well.

So a good episode but not perfect. And there's still lots of questions left to be answered (i hope they'll be answered). Roll on Saturday and y'aaaahhh - pirates!