Who's Who? The 12th Doctor!

Just announced! The Twelfth Doctor will be Peter Capaldi! He'll be taking over for Matt Smith after this year's Xmas special.

I'm personally very excited. I enjoyed Matt Smith but am ready for a new face/attitude, and I'm hopeful considering Capaldi's history (he was a W.H.O. doctor in World War Z, should have seen this coming). I'm not familiar with him beyond what IMDB tells me, but I AM happy they picked a bit of an older Doctor. Really, it will be his first time on screen that determines if this is a good decision or not. He's definitely different than anyone we've seen since the re-start, so let's see if our generation can accept someone who

Now the wait for the 50th Anniversary Special begins, when they bring back my favorite Doctor, David Tennant!
isn't young-ish. He's got some big, goofy shoes to fill after Matt Smith.

Magnificent7 Part 2: Bow Ties are Cool

The Flash: The Greatest Stories Ever Told

By John Broome, Gardner Fox Carmine Infantino, Cary Bates, Mark Waid, various

Recommended Listening:          Born to Run- Bruce Springsteen (1975)

“Together we could break this trap/ We’ll run till we drop, baby we’ll never go back”- Born to Run

Motion, fluidity, and a promise of escape to somewhere better are all that the Flash and the E Street Anthem can offer to you, gentle reader. At first it may seem too obvious a stretch in pairing the two, but to someone who spent high school in a small ignorant town repetitiously and ritually running around a track with lines like “Baby this town rips the bones from your back/ It’s a death trap, it's a suicide rap/ We gotta get out while were young” I hoped I could make it out alive from the Time Bomb High School just a little faster via light speed into a brighter future a million miles from my hometown. Springsteen’s song and the Flash both extend a hand to anyone to run along side them into the unknown, which isn’t what they are running from, but boldly towards.

The Flash’s design and conception is like a butterscotch Fender Telecaster. Elegant and simple in design, yet versatile in doing anything from melancholy doo wop to razor edged punk. The coolest Flash, Barry Allen, broke out in 1956 and on the heels of Rock and Roll. In the 50s and 60s he visually looked someone you'd see on Mad Men. In his crew cut and bow tie he juggled between making deadlines as a forensic scientist and showing up late to dates with his fiancee, who was in the latest fashion. A dashing combination of a nonviolent Dexter and a monogamous Don Draper as Barry, but as the Flash he was chasing the dragon into psychedelia.

Possessing only super speed, Barry Allen can do just about anything his writers imagine and make it believable in a Pop fused SF manner. Grant Morrison once wrote that the Flash has to use his powers like a science fiction writer writes. In most of the Silver Age stories and the ones in this volume, the Flash rarely ever just punches out a non super powered foe, which is lazy and maybe more importantly, recklessly dangerous. As someone who abhors real world violence, it’s always a delight to see a fictional hero intelligently dispose of a villain without using fists.

 It needs 1.21 gigawatts of electricity

If you’re a fan of Doctor Who, then Barry Allen, the Fastest Man Alive, is the other guy in the cool bow for you. Besides always standing up against injustice like the Doctor, in this volume the Flash is also an explorer of time, alternate worlds,, a hidden city of super evolved gorillas, and meta fiction. Barry, just like his readers is a comics fan. He even visited our world and went to the offices of DC Comics in NY to ask the then famous editor, and an architect for revamping many DC properties in the Silver Age, Julie Schwartz for help building a version of his Cosmic Treadmill to return back into his fictional reality.

Once bestowed with superpowers, he never needed a plausible reason to become an altruistic hero other than a childhood of reading simplistic superhero comics from the Golden Age. Of course his favorite was the 1940s’ Flash, Jay Garrick, who he meets in the classic “Flash of Two Worlds”, which introduced the idea of multiple universes existing on different vibrations in the DCU.

A sad trend in many current comics is to provide characters with lost family in order to justify them becoming heroes, but that’s actually quite insulting to at least a few decent paramedics, social workers, 9/11 First Responders, and others around the world with vocations in which they try to do the right thing in life for humanity, and they probably do it without needing to avenge dead relatives.

Running can be an isolating sport. You’re often trying to beat your past glories. You might not even notice your opponents struggling to keep up or outdistance you. The Flash’s race is a relay and a legacy of passing the baton and yellow treads on to another speedster. That legacy and the family created from it runs across the history of the DCU from the rebirth of superheroes in the Silver Age, through the Dark Age when Barry Allen sacrificed himself to save the universe, and helping usher in the Renaissance Age with writer Mark Waid’s character building on Barry’s former kid sidekick, Wally West, and worthy adult inheritor of the lightning bolt sigil.

Although the person in the suit changes every now and then the Flash is always running towards a better tomorrow, which is something that helped me and I hope others to get over hurdles. That was a lame pun, and I apologize. I never did hurdles. I ran long distance, even in winter with shorts and a hoodie, thinking if I kept moving I wouldn’t get cold or bitter. Something that the Flash can teach you that can’t learn from track or cross country is that you don’t get the chance to stretch when it really counts.

"Don't look back"

Friday at the Movies: Best of Netflix

Hi all,

Just posting this as a place holder. I spent far too long beating my first campaign of XCOM tonight and didn't set aside time for... well, anything else.

Sorry again for being late! Now, I'm going to list my Netflix Streaming suggestions, give a brief line as to why, and then move on with my weekend!

TV Series

Supernatural - Click the link to see the blog post I wrote about Supernatural previously!

Doctor Who - I did a couple blog posts about this, too. There will be more, when I eventually re-watch the remaining seasons...

The Firefly's Crew

Firefly - Follow Malcom Reynolds and his crew about their spaceship, Firefly. The cast is fantastic, the storyline amazing, and the universe feels unique. And remember, Captain Reynolds aims to misbehave...

Lost - One of the first TV series I watched completely on Netflix, Lost is a rollercoaster ride of a show. It all starts when an commercial airplane crashes on an apparently deserted island. There are survivors from the crash, and they have to adjust to their current living situation, as well as each other. Oh, and to the island, which isn't exactly uninhabited. Or in any way normal. Show is amazing for those who like suspense and twisting storylines. I will warn you, the first few seasons are the best, then it is downhill. Worth it, but downhill. And the ending is crap. But worth it!

Heroes - I really enjoyed watching the first season of Heroes. I felt it was an interesting view on what would happen if normal people randomly got super powers. Unfortunately, the later seasons decided that premise wasn't enough (I think they watched too much Lost), but it's at least interesting.

Breaking Bad - I'm only a couple seasons in, but this show is fantastic. Walter White, a suburban dad and high school teacher, finds out he has cancer. He turns to cooking and selling Meth to support his family.

That's the premise, anyway. It gets all sorts of nutty and awesome after that. If you're not hooked by the first 2-3 episodes, you're nuts. Another rollercoaster, but it ossilates between suspense, action, and "WTF?" moments.

Twin Peaks - This show's premise isn't exciting. A girl gets killed in a small, secluded town and an FBI agent arrives to try and find out who. What is interesting, however, is the FBI agent, Agent Cooper, and his really, really strange approach to... well, everything. Seriously, this show is 100% worth watching, simply because of him.

It IS another example of a show that starts good but doesn't maintain it. I loved the first season. It hits the suspense just right, it introduces phenomenally interesting characters, and focuses mostly on Cooper. The second season pulls a bit away from Cooper to include additional side stories, and, once the main suspense elements are cut in the second season, the show falters. In fact, it goes a touch too crazy, which is when I stopped.

Still, the first season alone makes it one of my favorite television shows, ever.

Movies

The Fifth Element - My favorite Bruce Willis movie (well, tied with 12 Monkeys, which is also on Netflix...), The Fifth Element takes place on Earth in an advanced future. The end of the world is approaching (literally), and it's up to an unusual group to put a stop to it.

Really, really interesting characters, and I especially love the main antagonist. Additionally, it has one of the best shoot-out scenes ever, especially since it is set during a Space Opera.

Blade Runner - Another futuristic movie, though Blade Runner features a much darker, grittier Earth. Harrison Ford plays Rick Deckard, a retired private detective type character who specializes in hunting down artificial humans, also known as Replicants. He gets called out of retirement when a gang of Replicants get loose on Earth.

Amazing dystopian setting, mind bending questions, and a not too clear ending make this one of my favorite films of all time.

Kick-Ass - This is a movie that is based on one of Mark Millar's graphic novels which mocks super hero comics. The "super heroes" in this movie are simply regular folks who dress up and try to fight crime.

Sounds a little lame, but it is awesome. And, despite the premise, it quickly picks up the pace and turns into an action packed comic book movie with a main character that you can't help to sympathize with.

Bunraku - This one... is hard to explain. It stars Josh Hartnett, Woody Harrelson, and someone named Gackt as protagonists set in a dystopian world where guns are outlawed and the only fighting that occurs is with melee weapons. It is a super-stylized film and has a very different art style, but the fight scenes are awesome and it reminds me of a good anime, only with real people.

Highlander - An immortal guy has to cut off other immortal guys' heads to take their power. It's set in a relatively contemporary world for when it was made.

A Knight's Tale - Heath Ledger masquerades as a knight to win fame and honor on the tournament field.

Also features a kickass soundtrack the most interesting depiction of Chaucer I've ever seen.

Serenity - This movie is the sequel/ending to the tragically short Firefly show. It's decent in its own right as well, though you'll appreciate it more if you watch Firefly first.

Tomorrow, When the War Began - I actually just watched this last night. It's basically Breaking Dawn set in Australia, which is pretty awesome. The characters are mildly archetypal,  though that doesn't stop them from being enjoyable and interesting to watch as they react to their homeland being invaded.

Apparently it's based off of a book series, which I will now how to hunt down and read.

Daybreakers - In this movie, vampires rule the world while humanity is a natural resource that is running out. It's really this premise that makes it interesting, but that's enough if you want to try a different take on vampires.

If I remember correctly, it's a touch gory at times, but I enjoyed it from start to finish.

Anime 

High School of the Dead - Watched this recently and enjoyed it. There isn't too much plot until the end, but the setting of a zombie outbreak and a group of high school students having to fight their way to find friends and family was done much, much better than I would have expected. Being only one season, there are a lot of loose ends -- I'm hoping a second season eventually sees daylight.

Trigun - Check out the recent blog post if you missed it!

Other

The Guild - These "episodes" are done in the style of a video blog. They are very short, though interesting none-the-less. The cast are a group of MMO players that, at the start of the show, end up setting into motion plans to meet in real life for the first time. It is very, very funny.


Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog - I've already blogged about this because I love it so damn much. Go watch it NOW!


This post was more difficult than I thought! I didn't realize how many shows rotated OFF of Netflix Instant Streaming after I'd watched them -- this list is more of suggestions as of today, I really could post all my actual favorites, because they're disc only now.

Either way, this list will get you started. Maybe I'll do a different list on another Friday for my top five movies of all time... That'd be interesting. And Difficult.

Answering the Question: Doctor Who? (Part 2)

This is the continuation of the "Why you should get a Doctor" post. If you need to brush up, the first post is the introduction, anything following functions as a mini-review.

I have finished inundating the Wife to season 2 of Doctor Who. It is the continuation of the Doctor and Rose's journey through time, space, and possibly an alternate dimension or two.

Mild spoilers follow, but nothing you couldn't tell from looking at the cover of the season.

The end of last season left us with a new Doctor. Same man, different face and mannerism. At first Rose is upset at the changes she sees, but before long their relationship grows to become stronger than ever.

This season is particularly strong because of the new Doctor -- he steals the show. Also, there are a lot of particularly memorable episodes:

School Reunion: We meet someone from the Doctor's past (as in, the seasons before Chris Eccleston). Don't worry, they explain everything -- Rose, per usual, is our medium.

Rise of the Cybermen/Age of Steel: Like the Daleks, the Cybermen are enemies out of the Doctor's past. They are found in a different dimension, which is the first time we've seen that in this series of Doctor Who.

The Impossible Planet/The Satan Pit: This is just a really interesting, two-part episode. Want to know where the idea and images of Satan come from? This might be the episode for you.

Army of Ghosts/Doomsday: The end of the season, and you really don't want to miss it! I won't spoil it, but it is one of the more emotional episodes we've seen.

The best part of this season is the relationship between the Doctor and Rose. If you're looking for a romance story line, this is it, and it is something other seasons tend to lack.

The Wife: "I want my Doctor back!"

She still hasn't gotten over the change in actors, from Chris Eccleston to David Tennant. I'm more of a Tennant fan myself, so I struggle with Matt Smith, the current Doctor. That being said, we've started the third season and I will continue with my mini-review then.

Ratings so far (since I haven't yet):

Season One: 7/10. It's awesome, but it does lose some points for being a bit campy and having some episodes that fall flat.

Season Two: 7/10. I personally like this season more, but there are also more episodes that fall flat and are fairly uninteresting.

Note: I am rating these seasons as a relative scale for Doctor Who seasons. As a series, Doctor Who a 9/10 for me,. It literally has everything (or the potential for everything), the writing as a rule is phenomenal, and you really do anticipate the next episode/season almost the entire time. But I strongly feel some seasons are stronger than others.

If you weren't hooked by the first season, the second season my be more for you: David Tennant as the Doctor makes the show that much different.

The "Catalog"

I know I'm a bit behind on my pull list posts, I've been unable to grab my pull list in a while. Maybe next weekend, maybe not.

For now, here are some screen shots of my comic catalog! Yes, it's just a series of folders for now, but I'm ok with it.

The Catalog! I feel like reading...

Venom! But none of that awesomely-terrible '90s junk, I want something new...

This is the folder for the current Venom title being released, different from the other series of the same name due to Flash being joined with the symbiote, hence the folder's title of "(Flash)".

With liberal use of the back button, I can get the the previous sections. No series of folders goes further than three levels (at the moment -- Spider-Man is pretty convoluted, though).

(I may eventually post (bigger) screenshot of all the folders somewhere, but that's for a later date!)


Every issue has been sorted by series and, if needed, sub-series. From there, every issue has been named and numbered. There are some additional changes I need to make with this, but I'm happy with it for now.

The main thing left for me to do is to copy items that fall under different sections, and I'm interested in creating a series of folders that lists where each item is in my boxes (or on my wall). The multiple section items would be items from the TPB section and some of the sets come from overarching series (IE, Secret Wars is a set unto itself, but Maximum Carnage isn't). Crossovers are still give and take as well.

Other than that, it will just be up to me to keep up on taking/uploading pictures.

Question for anyone who reads this: for your issues that are worth more money or are potentially collectors items, how do you store them? Some of mine will be on my wall, but I'm not sure if I should just leave the others in the boxes or move 'em somewhere special.

... AND I just found out about http://www.collectorz.com/comic/, which looks exactly like what I would have loved a month ago, before I started all this. Maybe I'll look into it, but I don't feel like paying for it at the moment.



Other updates:
Finished the second season of Doctor Who with the wife, so I'll need to post about that soon.
I've been neglecting my "Suggested Reading" series, I think I'm going to make it a weekly item. The next time I post it, that will determine what day you can expect the series.
I started to watch Breaking Bad this week and have already finished season 1 (I didn't realize it until three episodes into the 2nd season). The show is amazing and I think I'll do a season by season review of it.
Speaking of TV shows, there are several series that I've really enjoyed and could use some spotlight on here. Specifically, I'm thinking of other shows I've seen every episode of: Gilmore Girls, Supernatural, Lost, etc...

That's all for now! If you happen to know anyone who might be interested in the BS I'm posting, send 'em over! I'd love to get some discussions going in the comment section on here, and more followers would always be good!

Dustin Update

Haven't been able to post much in a bit, so here's a few updates you probably weren't waiting for:



Get a Doctor: This series of posts will be extended from the initial concept. Instead of doing a post per Doctor, I will do a post per season. I am in the process of re-watching the series and started season 2 last night. Once I finish (or find a spot I think is appropriate), I'll update with a review and what makes the season worth watching. This will be the wife's first time watching them all, so I'll see if I can't get her to chime in as well.



Beginner's Guide - Comics: I've been taking my time with this post, expect to see it soon(ish). I've been focusing on the digital cataloging of my own collection, and it has been slow going. I only have a few pictures left to take and then I can begin re-naming images/organizing the images into a makeshift (or official, who knows) database.

I did pick up supplies for physical storage/ordering this weekend, so that's a plus!




Pull List: I think I will make a "Pull List" series of post that I update everytime I pick up my selection of comics from The Joker's Child. It will be a mini-review of each issue I picked up, including random back issues I tend to grab. Expect to see one of these posts soon, I was also able to grab my list this weekend.


Now Playing: Several changes to this list, I'll need to work on a new post soon.


The Blog: I've gotten some suggestions on keeping my posts a bit shorter an including more images. In this vein, I'll be ending this post shortly and will try to keep these suggestions in mind for all future endeavors!!


And, on a personal note, I've been married for one year today. It's been a good one :)

Dustin's Weekend

Howdy!

This weekend, since I am stuck being on call for work and my wife is away at the in-laws (in MA), I finally decided I had time to organize my comic book collection.

I haven't been collecting forever -- as a kid I always had comics, but I never took care of them. During high school/college, I didn't have the time, money or local shop for comic books.

I randomly got back into them in my Senior year of college -- I was getting reading material for a flight to Florida and noticed a comic book rack and Barnes and Noble. I happened to idly browse through it and, on a complete whim, bought a few issues of Venom: Dark Origin (not that good) and the first issue of The Dark Avengers (which I enjoyed). After graduation, I moved in to my to-be-wife's apartment, which just so happened to be within walking distance (not that I ever walked...) to one brand new comic book store and (a little farther down the road) a comic book store that had been in the area for years.

I timidly set up my first Pull List at Rubber Chicken Comics in Franklin, MA and have been happily collecting ever since. My favorite way to pick up back copies is to go to conventions and find cheap bins or collected sets/runs at discounted prices. Also, finding a comic book store with 25 cent bins during the summers worked too (Comically Speaking in Reading, MA is awesome for this).

Now, I've got a little over four long boxes of single issues and one box full of TPBs. I prefer singles but grab trades when they are cheaper.

That's not a lot of comic books, compared to any hardcore collector. I have, however, only organized them in the most basic of ways, which is to say I tried to keep the same titles in the same boxes. Being that I'm more of a reader than a collector, I often got this mixed up between a "read" box and an "unread" box. And the "misc" box that gets all the odd stuff that I pick up on a whim.

As of this weekend, however, that will all change.

I have emptied all my boxes and piled my comics on the floor, taking up the entire living room. The cat and I have to jump from room to room.

I'm going to make a digital catalog of all my comic books. I'm organizing them into series (alphabetically) and then taking pictures of every single issue. So far, I have TPBs and Complete Sets/Runs (issues that either aren't from a series or aren't from a series I want beyond the run). Now I have to work on the comic series that I collect, and that looks like it will take a very long time.

That being said, I'm enjoying the work. If I find a way to make a functional database that I can even link online, I think it'd be interesting for me to do so. Otherwise, I'll just label the pictures and organize them into folders, which, while time consuming, should be pretty easy.


... I might not take pictures of the misc box. If they migrate to a series a follow, maybe. Otherwise... Well, they can wait!


Does anyone else do something like this? Is there a program that would be extra easy to use? I'm sure I could use Microsoft Access, I just haven't used it since high school and don't know how well it will take/display hundreds of images...

Well, we'll see. And, before I use any more ellipsis in this post, goodnight!

...

P.S. The wife is two episodes in to Doctor Who and not hating it! Success, we'll have another convert soon, I'm sure of it.

Why You Should Get a Doctor (Part 1)

The question is...



Obviously, I'm not trying to convince you to get a medical doctor, seeing as I haven't been to one regularly in years. This post will serve to try and convince you to watch Doctor Who. If you're not already dying to get on the TARDIS, then this post is for you. I STRONGLY suggest you read this post if you haven't seen Doctor Who or have seen an episode or two and didn't enjoy it. I didn't find out about Doctor Who until I began watching it on Netflix a year or two ago, but I am glad I took the time to catch up.

First note: I have NEVER seen anything from the original Doctor Who series. All of my knowledge starts with the first season that came out in 2005. You, like me, do not need to do any research or watch old episodes to jump into the series. It may help, but I can't speak towards that; I have a hard time watching older shows/movies if I don't already have nostalgia goggles for the given items.

Second note: Anyone who ever reads this, please comment with your personal opinions that are opposed to mine or helped you become a fan (or not, though I doubt that is the case) that I missed.

Third note: I'll break it down one post per Doctor. There will be some mild spoilers, but nothing that would detract from your enjoyment of the series. They may even explain a few things to those wondering why the main character has had three different actors over the course of six seasons (more actors if you go before that!).

On to the main course!

Doctor Who is a show that has characters travelling through time and space (and the odd dimension) on a myriad of adventures, always helping when they can, and causing more trouble when they can't.

There are some fans who say that your first Doctor will always be you favorite. For a long time, I thought this was true. I really enjoy the first season because it introduces (or re-introduces) you to The Doctor, the main character of the series. He is a Timelord, an humanoid-looking alien species that have excessively long lives, two hearts, and a unique perspective of time, aided by the machines/spaceship they created to travel through time. The Doctor travels in one such machine, a (the) TARDIS (which stands for Time And Relative Dimension In Space).

The TARDIS always looks like a Police Box due to a faulty chameleon chip (or just the ships temperment) -- it should be able to take an inconspicuous disguise based on where it travels to, but the TARDIS has become stuck as a police box. Trust me, it's bigger on the inside.

The first actor to portray The Doctor is Christopher Eccleston. You may (or may not) remember him as a villainous military commander from 28 Days Later. He portrays a man who has become hard-hearted after the destruction of his entire race during something called the Time War. We only learn about the Time War from The Doctor, there is no episode it takes place in prior to this series. The Doctor finds his first companion during the first episode in the character of Rose Tyler. A companion is a character who travels with The Doctor during his adventures and provides the viewer with the human element The Doctor lacks. The Doctor almost always has a companion. Without one, he becomes lonely and erratic (more so than he already is). Rose is my favorite companion out of the six current seasons (and four/five major companions); she develops the deepest relationship with The Doctor and experiences a lot of firsts with him at the same time as viewers.

The first season has the smallest budget of the six. This leads to some campy visuals (the first enemies/aliens are possessed mannequins) and strange storylines. It does pick up, however, and by the end you should be well and truly be addicted. There are enough twists and turns and things you pick up on only as they are revealed to you in the last episode of the season. I won't spoil the story elements leading up to it at all, but the last episode does witness the first act that allows Doctor Who to change actors: The Doctor regenerates.

When The Doctor takes mortal damage, he goes through a process of regeneration. It takes a lot of energy and dramatically changes The Doctor, both in body and personality, as it heals him. For the viewers, this is when a new actor steps in to the role of The Doctor. Same character, different face and personality, which keeps things fresh.

Recap: Season one is campy and very silly at times -- this continues in the later seasons but loses most of the camp as the budget is increased and the visuals become much improved. You do get introduced to a lovable cast in this season that will stick with you for some time to come. The Doctor's scenes with Rose's mother are priceless.

I've convinced my wife to watch the first four episodes with me (with an option to fast forward through one if she finds it unbearable). I'll make a post detailing that as an additional note to this post when we finish the four. Based on that, I'll include how long I think it takes to watch the first season and become hooked. Initial estimate is three episodes.

For next time:

The second season introduces my favorite Doctor. He isn't my first, but that doesn't matter; he is the right mix of quirkiness and seriousness that The Doctor needs. After his introduction, the series starts to pick up in production value. He spends another season travelling with Rose and the character relations with the entire supporting cast are phenomenal.

More on him in the next post, keep an eye out for it -- it will be a bit longer because it spans 3 seasons, but I won't make it excessive, promise!


Note: This series of post will feature the tag "Get a Doctor". Keep an eye out for it in the near future!