Make Your Pledge For The Latest Issue of The Atlantean

The heroic team-up of writer Randy Zimmerman and artist Russ Leach have launched a new crowdfunding campaign to finance the fourth issue of The Atlantean, an amazing sword-and-sorcery comic based on the works of Robert E Howard.

This particular 50+ page, squarebound issue features an adaptation of The Mirrors of Tuzun Thune, which I just happened to have listened to on audiobook at the start of the week.

You can pledge your support for the campaign here, where you will also see several sample pages of gorgeous black and white artwork. You can also purchase back issues and the original graphic novel of The Shadow Kingdom, that started this line.

The campaign has already smashed through its initial target, the pencil artwork is all finished and the comic is currently being edited and inked.

You'll Have To Pry My Blu-Rays From My Cold, Dead Hand

My new Frieren blu-rays along with the Frieren Funko Pop! Paul got me for Christmas

One of the few things I picked up for myself in the Boxing Day/New Year sales this year was the blu-ray box set of the first part of the first season of Frieren: Beyond Journey's End.

But, you say, that's available "for free" on both Netflix and Crunchyroll, so why buy it?

To which I retort that not only does 'solid media' rule, but that just because the show is currently on those two streamers that doesn't guarantee it will always be.

Netflix, for instance, is always churning through its contents and removing great swathes of material to make way for new stuff. 

But, owning a show or movie on solid media (Blu-ray, DVD, even VHS) means it's always yours for as long as you have the means to play it (and you treat the media with enough respect to prolong its life).

Even if you purchase something digitally, you're essentially just renting it.

The Case of The Missing Music

Several years ago I purchased - via iTunes - the album Stand By For Action! The Music Of Barry Gray, which was essentially all the beautifully bombastic and inspirational themes and tunes from the Gerry Anderson shows I grew up with.

A magical collection of music that could very quickly carry me off to my happy place, thanks to some of the greatest theme tunes ever composed: UFO, I'm looking at you in particular.

Only, when Rachel and I went for a car journey the other week and I fired up my "driving playlist" (a mix of tracks from throughout the ages and across multiple genres) I realised that the opening track - Stand By For Action - wasn't there.

When I later checked the listing for my Barry Gray album on my iPhone, I saw more than half of the tracks were "faded out" (see picture at top of this article), and when I tried to click on them a message would pop up saying these tracks weren't available in my country!!!

WTF? I bought and paid for this music years ago.

This being Apple there's no customer service, no recourse for the angry customer to get an explanation.

Then late last year the tracks magically reappeared in my library, without a word or an apology. So now I can start blasting them out again.

But how long before they disappear again? Or tracks from other artists? God, what if all my Atarashii Gakko! music vanished over night? I don't even want to contemplate such an apocalyptic scenario.

But this isn't really a dig at Apple per se, as I love my iPhone (thank you, Rachel!), it's more about the fact that when you're talking about digital media... it doesn't really exist, it never feels truly your own, and it is vulnerable to the whims of the digital realm. 

Combine this with the numerous hic-cups I've had buying movies from Sky Cinema (I've given up pre-ordering movies this way and have reverted to Blu-rays), it's no wonder I'm sticking to physical media.

I know they take up room (not as much as a VHS cassette, of course), but they look cool and have all those spiffy extras that someday I'll get round to watching.

When you have a solid disc - or book, or whatever - in your hand, it's yours until you give it up. No megacorporation can arbitrarily decide - without explanation - that that object is no longer yours and remove it from your possession like a thief in the night.

Admittedly, on the music front I still actually err towards digital these days, but most of the time now I simply stream tracks via Rachel's Spotify account anyway.

PS. I know this is slightly hypocritical as I am a massive proponent of audiobooks, particularly the material produced by Big Finish, which I primarily purchase as digital downloads and play through their own app. 

My theory here is that these will exist at least for as long as Big Finish does... and I couldn't imagine living in a world without Big Finish!

Join Sophie Aldred On An Ace Odyssey Through The Whoniverse

This week saw the launch of Sophie Aldred's new Doctor Who-adjacent podcast, Ace Odyssey.

Sophie, of course, played The Seventh Doctor's companion, Dorothy 'Ace' McShane from 1987, has appeared in countless Big Finish audios, and returned to the TV show in 2022 for The 13th Doctor's send-off, The Power of The Doctor.

Depending on the format of other podcasts you listen to, Ace Odyssey might come across initially as a bit unusual, with the host's chatty companions - such as Hobbes, her robotic butler, and Mrs C, the Cockney goldfish - taking a moment to get used to.

However, what shouldn't come as surprise is that Sophie's first interview subject is The Seventh Doctor himself, the marvellous Sylvester McCoy, chatting about his early life and his first exposure to the business known as show. It's a wild and fascinating conversation!

Next up for an interview is Big Finish writer Ali Winter, talking about her own fandom and how she found her way to working on Doctor Who for Big Finish.

For Appleheads, the podcast can be found here on iTunes, otherwise search your podcatcher of choice for Sophie Aldred's Ace Odyssey.

The full show description is shown below:

Strap in, adjust your gravity boots, and mind the Patmats! You’ve arrived on the Nosferatu 2.5, the intergalactic pop-culture research vessel captained by Sophie Aldred herself. Your journey through time, space, memory, and fandom begins here.

At Sophie’s side is her unwavering (if occasionally exasperated) companion Hobbes: a clockwork butler with the heart of a neutron star, a head full of circuits, and more opinions than his maker strictly intended. Between them, they navigate cosmic curiosities, improbable technology, mysterious doors, and the occasional rogue goldfish.

For our maiden voyage, the ship’s unpredictable Time Scoop whirrs to life—summoning none other than Sylvester McCoy, the Seventh Doctor himself. Once the temporal dust settles, Sophie and Sylv settle into the Sofa of Infinite Understanding for a conversation spanning career, chaos, and the curious corners of the Whoniverse.

But the adventure doesn’t end there! Every episode journeys into the Ffantaface—the sprawling, shimmering reservoir of collective fan knowledge. Guarding the gateway is Mrs C, Sophie’s Cockney goldfish, who swims in telepathic water from the moon of Helixotrix Minor and ensures no-one approaches the interface uninvited (or unscolded).

Together, Sophie and Mrs C dive deep into fandom’s memories, mysteries, and marvels and encounter Big Finish writer extraordinaire Ali Winter.

Meanwhile, other questions linger aboard the ship, not least the unnerving presence of The Door We Can’t Open! What lies behind it?

Some secrets may have to wait until the Time Scoop is feeling cooperative…

HAPPY 62nd BIRTHDAY TO DOCTOR WHO!!!

On the evening of November 23, 1963, the BBC aired An Unearthly Child, the very first episode of Doctor Who... and history was made.

Back in 2009, I convinced Rachel to watch this episode "to gauge her opinion of what I regard as one of the single, finest episodes of science-fiction ever screened". 

Here's what I wrote at the time (with some mathematical adjustments): 

I'm pleased to report that she enjoyed it; her only problems were the graininess of the image (well, it was filmed in 1963) and she couldn't accept Susan (Carole Ann Ford) as a 15-year-old. Rachel said: "She looked more like 30!"

Could anyone have imagined, when this episode was first screened [62] years ago, the infinite possibilities for storytelling that were being opened up?

Kicking off with a pitch-perfect first episode helped Doctor Who hit the ground running, dropping hints about the mysterious genius schoolgirl, Susan, and her enigmatic Grandfather (William Hartnell) and posing many questions that - to this day - remain unanswered!

Coal Hill School teachers Ian Chesterton (William Russell) and Barbara Wright (Jacqueline Hill), teachers of science and history respectively (the two subjects the series was initially most interested in), want to find out more about their star pupil and head to the address the school has for her.

It turns out to be a junkyard where they meet a strange, white-haired old man (The Doctor) who tries to drive them off and stop them poking around an old police box (where Ian thinks the man might be holding Susan prisoner!).

Instead Susan opens the door of the police box and the teachers walk in... to find themselves in the control room of the TARDIS... and nothing will ever be the same again, either for them or for the viewers.

How mind-blowing must it have been in 1963 to watch these people step through the doors of a 'normal' police box and find themselves in the vast, hi-tech expanse of a space and time ship?

William Hartnell's Doctor, at this stage, is still rather irascible and certainly doesn't appreciate the interference of two busybody teachers into his time on Earth (fixing the TARDIS and, we discover many years later, dealing with the Hand Of Omega).

Hence, his rather impetuous way of keeping his and Susan's secret - transporting the TARDIS away randomly, taking Ian and Barbara with them!

The TARDIS clearly isn't fully repaired as its first televised journey manages to knock Ian and Barbara unconscious and The Doctor and Susan appear rather strained by it as well.

They have travelled back to Earth's Stone Age and that is a story (called variously The Tribe Of Gum, 100,000BC, The Stone Age, The Cavemen etc) which I've always, rather cheekily, considered its own entity. I feel An Unearthly Child suffers if lumped in with this subsequent, less-than-enthralling adventure.

Of course, the main thing is that Rachel didn't fall asleep or wander off while An Unearthly Child was playing and allowed me to explain to her why this one episode is so important - because without it we wouldn't have over [60] years of Doctor Who and all the books, CDs, magazines, action figures etc

The TV listing in November 23's issue of the Daily Mirror.
NB. The actual broadcast was slightly delayed because of
the assassination of President Kennedy the day before.

To mark the Doctor's anniversary - which really should be a national holiday - here are a small selection of special online episodes from the show:

And this fan documentary looks at the return of Doctor Who after its extended hiatus through the "dark times":

Stuart Gordon's Lovecraftian Oeuvre

Lovecraft’s stories have inspired a lot of horror movies — some good, some not so much. But Stuart Gordon’s take on them always stood out.

NEWS OF ELEVEN: Revisiting Classic New Who

Iconic TARDIS travellers Karen Gillan and Arthur Darvill (aka Amy Pond and Rory Williams) are reuniting for a new podcast, looking back at their adventures with The Eleventh Doctor (as played by Matt Smith).

Former Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat has already been revealed as a guest on the upcoming Pondcast, although all other details - including the launch date - remain a closely-guarded secret.

For a teensy-wheeny bit more information pop over to the Radio Times website here.

Meanwhile, Big Finish - masterful purveyors of official Doctor Who audio adventures - has announced a new range of full-cast audio Eleventh Doctor plays, beginning March next year, with Miles Taylor supplying The Doctor's vocals.

He will be joined by a new companion, Eleanor Fong, played by Jasmine Bayes (who appeared on the TV show as UNIT's Corporal Alice Sullivan in The Legend of Ruby Sunday and Empire of Death).

To learn more about the first box set of The Eleventh Doctor Adventures, and pre-order them, click here to be transported to the Big Finish website.

And Now For Something (Almost) Completely Different

My bargain haul

Like a great many geeks of a certain age, I love - and am continually inspired by - Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars series of pulp novels.

Way, way back in 2018 Modiphius Entertainment was Kickstarting a John Carter roleplaying game (one of their 'everything at once' splurge releases of multiple books, miniatures, dice, tile sets etc) and, for a minute, I was 'all-in'.

But then, it struck me that (a) I'm not really a fan of their 2d20 house system, (b) releasing everything at once means a LOT of reading (and their books tend towards the tiny text-heavy), and (c) none of my gaming group had ever expressed any interest in Barsoom or John Carter, which would mean having to 'teach' them all about the Martian cultures, language etc on top of a new set of rules.

So, I cancelled my Kickstarter pledge and consigned the game to the dusty halls of my "what could have been" dream storage unit.

As far as I could tell, after the initial gush of books (that were part of the Kickstarter), Modiphius didn't do anything else with the setting and let it fade, with the system only popping up in the occasional sale listing.

Books from Modiphius tend to be beautifully produced, often hardbacks, and sport a heft price tag. 

I've got their Conan The Barbarian core rules book and the more recent Dune one, but mainly to look nice on my shelves. Both of these were acquired via eBay for a fraction of their 'recommended retail price'. 

Conan - like John Carter - is another property that Modiphius no longer supports (although old John Carter books remain available at full retail cost). 

The license for Conan has reverted to Heroic Signatures, who are publishing a fresh roleplaying game through Monolith, which is due out later this year.

Conan RPG from Modiphius

The last, active, mention of John Carter in connection to roleplaying I remember seeing was a 5th Edition Dungeons & Dragons supplement as part of a Kickstarter for an audiobook series.

And with that, John Carter - as a roleplaying game - slipped out of my mind.

Until, the other day, when an advert popped up somewhere for a Modiphius "moving warehouse" sale. And I thought: why not take a look?

And I was gobsmacked: the few John Carter items they had listed were going for pennies.

I didn't really need a new game, but how could I resist the core, hardback, rules for £4; tile sets (airships and ruins) for £1.50 each (which have potential utility in a variety of settings); and a player's guide and character cards/tokens set also for £1.50 each?

With postage, I got this lot (see picture at top of article) for under £20, saving almost a hundred quid on their original list price. 

Will I do anything with these rules? Who knows? Or will they just sit prettily on my shelves next to Conan and Dune?

At least, now, seven years later, I actually have the John Carter core books in hand, and I'm sure there are other companies out there manufacturing John Carter-inspired miniatures to sword fight across the deck of my airships!

Of course, I could let this slide on a technicality by reminding you that John Carter himself - before he was transported to Barsoom/Mars - was an American Civil War veteran, a Confederate captain from Virginia, which kinda makes him part of my on-going Western theme.

THROWBACK THURSDAY: School Daze

Having somehow fluked a scholarship to the prestigious Tonbridge School (I think I used to be smart... but also lazy; some things haven't changed, at least), I attended Yardley Court Prep School for three years and the picture above is our class photo from 1979, when I was a mere twelve-and-a-half years old.

I still recognise about 50 per cent of my classmates; that's me on the front row, at the right end.

My best friends were Nicholas Drewett, to my left - whose dad was an ambassador (or some such) and so often during the holidays Nicholas would stay with us as his parents were out of the country - and Tom Edwards, at the left-hand end of the middle row. His parents owned a massive farm house just outside of Tonbridge that I loved visiting.

Tom and I used to play Dungeons & Dragons in the school dormitory (even though neither of us were boarders, and probably shouldn't have been in there). I particularly recall a series of adventures inspired by Hitchhikers Guide To The Galaxy (Tom had introduced me to the radio show, for which I owe him eternal thanks).

Our form teacher was the Rev Gary Dobbie, who was one of the first (after one of my primary school teachers) to encourage me in the field of creative writing.

As with much of my past, the combination of time and brain damage means that much of my school days are a blur or simply gone forever, but looking at this array of innocent young faces I can't help but wonder what my peers have all got up in their lives since then.

Sadly, when I left Yardley - not to go to Tonbridge School (as, even with a scholarship, there was no way my parents could afford the fees, and - to be honest - I wasn't that bothered anyway) - I lost contact with them all, to a man.

Either through my parents, or my job on the local paper, I made fleeting contact with a couple of them in later years, but nothing of enduring importance.

All-Star Audio Treatment For Beloved Superman Story

One of the most highly-regarded and universally-loved Superman stories, Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely’s award–winning All-Star Superman, will be released as a five-hour, full-cast audiobook in June (and is already available to pre-order on Audible).

Adapted to audio by Meghan Fitzmartin, All-Star Superman was originally a 12-issue comic book series, published between November 2005 and October 2008, recounting Superman's final deeds as he comes to terms with his impending death.

For more details on the audio production, cast and so on check out DC's website here.

Reading Goals 2025

I'm reading Westerns again... for the first time in decades

For the last 18 months or so I'd hoped that I could convince myself to do do more 'constructive' things with my free time. 

Ultimately, though, I found myself spending a lot of time watching television. And I mean a LOT.

I've always enjoyed TV and movies at home, but really this got out of hand. 

I certainly wasn't helped by the constantly expanding library of channels available to us, through Sky and various streaming platforms.

So, it wasn't as though I was consuming mental garbage, but still the number of shows I became addicted to ended up eating into my time more than I could really justify.

I also watched a lot of movies (although possibly not as many as usual... for reasons), and was particularly impressed by the second part of the epic Dune adaptation.

This convinced to take another crack (my third or fourth?) at trying to read the book. So I acquired the gorgeous new edition from Gollancz, then got Dune Messiah from Rachel as a Christmas present (see below).

The third of the original trilogy, by Frank Herbert, comes out later this year, so I have set myself the possibly overambitious goal (given how slow I actually read these days) of reading the three books in 2025.

My new editions of the first two Dune novels

However, in recent months I've also discovered a pair of "booktubers" who have inspired me to focus more on reading, beyond my usual "I have to read stuff that informs whatever gaming project I'm thinking about at the time".

Both McNulty's Book Corral and and Michael K Vaughan (who is not the same person as comic book writer Brian K Vaughan, despite what my addled brain kept trying to tell me) love pulp books, horror, old sci-fi, westerns, and vintage comics, which corresponds to my own preferences.

The Book Corral even piqued my interest in reading Westerns again (something I haven't done seriously for decades).

So, following the show's recommendation, I picked up Peter Brandvold's Nordic & Finn, the first book in a new series, as it tells the tale of a rugged mountain man who adopts a stray dog, and the scrapes they get into.

Rather chaotically, as is my wont when I'm suddenly "inspired" in this manner, I've also started listening to an audiobook of another of Brandvold's books, Bloody Joe.

I know it's kind of 'cheating' but I still consume a majority of books via the audio format, which allows me to "hear" a story in the bath or last thing at night, before I grab a few hours of sleep.

This also allows me to revel in the many, many Doctor Who (and Whoniverse-adjacent) audio dramas being produced by Big Finish. Currently this is the best source for new Who material, the present run of televised episodes being very underwhelming.

Comics-wise, my pull-list continues to get whittled down, but, unexpectedly, DC is making a strong comeback these days, which - along with indies such as Mad Cave's excellent Flash Gordon range - are now dominating Marvel. 

Wishing Myself A Super New Year!

How better to mark the start of "super" 2025 than with the unexpectedly speedy arrival of my 'New Year' present to myself: Superman - The Definitive History, by Edward Gross and Robert Greenberger?

The first thing that struck me wasn't just the surprisingly large size of the box the book arrived in, but the sheer weight of it (we're talking something like the weight of Superman's key to the Silver Age Fortress of Solitude).

I wasn't even sure I'd be able to lift it!

I honestly hadn't realised it was going to be such a hefty tome (although it explains the matching price tag).

But that was a pleasant surprise. The book, itself, is an artifact in the history of one of my all-time favourite superheroes.

Published this week by Insight Editions, Superman - The Definitive History comprehensively charts the history of the Man of Steel from his very first comic book appearance in 1938's Action Comics #1 right up to the modern day, covering all the media that he's appeared in (TV, film, radio, music, animation, public service announcements, and video games as well as - of course - comic books), as well as merchandising and the character's impact on the superhero landscape.

It's also packed with inserts: replicas of comics, correspondence, art work and so on.

Clearly a lot of love and attention has gone into the production of this giant 480-page book.

I suspect I might need a reading lectern to peruse it safely - I'm half-terrified that I'll damage it and half-terrified that it will fall on me and pin me to the ground!

Can't wait to dig into it, though.

The obligatory Alice size comparison