IN PRINT - INFINITIES 19

 

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Ah Sutekh. 

I'd almost forgotten that had happened. For many reasons. The foremost of which is that he looks downright constrained once you've seen the Demon Ghost of Omega emerge from Gallifreyan Hell.

I remain angry that remains a sentence.

Sutekh being part of the TARDIS only works if it happened recently. There's no way he went unnoticed through any of the Time Wars. Or when the 10th gave the Meta Doctor a piece of TARDIS coral. Or when the 7th Doctor lost his TARDIS in a tar pit and hijacked a dead version of his's TARDIS.. Or when the 8th Doctor lost his TARDIS and briefly travelled with a sentient TARDIS.

I could go on. It's not hard to pluck instances of why this wouldn't work out of 60 years worth of Continuity.

This is the last time we'll see a version of the Doctor commenting on the TV series. That wasn't meant to be a judgement on what came next, but I'm not overly upset by finishing here.

Though as I say that the idea of two Omegas (Three Doctors and 'Arc of Infinity') walking a the bestial form of Omega tickles me. I'll leave that idea for Jim and Ness.

The next two strips will be tying up the Infinites story within the strip. The moment is hurling towards us at tremendous speed now. And given that we know the Moment resembles Billie Piper that feels strangely appropriate. 

IN PRINT - INFINITIES 18

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Tying up loose ends of various natures here. 

This is the last time Ness will draw these Doctors for me. In my mind that's part of why they look downright cross in that last panel. 

There's a couple more Infinities to go, but we're going back to our roots with them.

When we started Infinities it was meant to represent the two strips being smashed together, it never quite panned out that way for various reasons, but the fact remains that this is the last regular strip with 7 and 8 in it. 

I'm going to miss this version of these two. 

Doctors, I let you go...

IN PRINT - INFINITIES 17

 

Previous

I love the idea of Moffat's Two 9ths interacting. It's proper 'there but for the grace of God' type stuff. I'd have loved to have had Cornell's 9th (Shalka) as well, but I had my hand forced by Rogue. Ah well, this is still a nice wee moment. 

Cosplaying Moffat's 9 would have been a serious option for me if only I'd been that way minded when it came out. I forget the name of the shop they outfitted them from, but it works despite being from the High Street. I live in hope of seeing Matt Berry turning up as the Doctor dressed exactly like this one day. 

Or Richard Ayoade. 

Though, at this point, I'd settle just for seeing the Doctor again. 

It's unsettling being in the Third Great Wilderness Era. Is anyone doing anything with the 16th Doctor or is everything being poured into the Fugutive Doctor? As much as I loved her, my ongoing issues with prequels stops me investing completely. I want the future, the past is a whole Other thing...

IN PRINT - INFINITIES 16

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Not the first time that set up has appeared in the strip and I still have the same damn question.

The hell does the Doctor have torture equipment in the TARDIS for?

Seriously. I need to know. 

I could have bought it if it had really been the Master's TARDIS, but it wasn't. 

That and the Gallifreyan robes don't match any other era of Time Lord regalia we've seen. Just when is this TARDIS from? 

There's just five strips left in the current Infinities run, we're getting close now.

It wasn't that long ago that I was writing for Kasterborous, the DWC as well as In Print and The Infinites before it became Infinities. It's weird to think that I'm stepping away from Who altogether. 

Kasterborous shut down unexpectedly. The DWC replaced it, but I chose to leave after... a disagreement with a fellow writer and one of the editors. I look in every so often and have yet to regret my decision. None of my work is available in it's archive as the editor chose to purge my articles after I called out ableist attitudes. 

But I digress.

I usually do...

IN PRINT - INFINITIES 15

 

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You have to dig a bit to get back any kind of backstory for the Shalka Doctor.

DWM published a short story by Paul Cornell giving a brief history which rang fairly close to the history of the 8th Doctor in EDAs. 

Of course he also left instructions to never refer to this had a series be commissioned. 

I just checked back, the TVM is only 9 minutes long than Scream of the Shalka. Huh.

I was always upset there wasn't more Shalka, especially given how much I loved that version of the Master.

I actually wrote a short story about the Master for Kasterborous before they shut up shop.

I might have a copy sitting around if anyone wants a read...

IN PRINT - INFINITIES 14

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There was a period where Richard E Grant was the 9th Doctor. Very, very officially. 

I can remember having to plug my computer into the phone line and make several attempts at using what eventually became Playwright.

God I feel old just typing that.

But he was the 9th Doctor. When the show returned in 2005 it took it's time dropping the numbering system back in. Even when it did there were still those of us who thought the Shalka might still exist as a proto-War Doctor. His appearance in The Tomorrow Windows along side the Valeyard did little to convince us otherwise. 

He does seem to be cannon now. The actual 9th Doctor is also in Rogue, so God only knows where Shalka actually fits.

We may never know. 

Isn't that a little exciting?

IN PRINT - INFINITIES 13

 

Previous

I don't do enough TVM references. I really don't. 

Have I used that line before? It feels like I should have. Checking the archive isn't as easy as it was 15 years ago. 

I suddenly want a picture of 8's feet with 'THESE SHOES' as the caption. 

I'm also wishing I'd paired up these two before now. Ah well. 

I'd really hoped we'd have some new Who on the horizon by this point. Circuit Breaker seems to be kicking off, but I honestly have little enthusiasm for it. Which is a shame as I love Jo Martin's Doctor. 

Seriously does anyone have Lance Parkin's number?

IN PRINT - INFINITIES 12

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Back in 2008, five years before 'Day of the Doctor', IDW released 'The Forgotten' by Tony Lee. It was the comics equivalent of Terrance Dick's 'The Eight Doctors' and told several joyous stories of the previous 9 Doctors.

The War Doctor was absent as Moffat hadn't written him as yet, but his presence is felt throughout the section dedicated to the 8th Doctor. You can see what I mean from these panels drawn by Pia Guerra. (Presuming Jim has included them. I'm currently working from my phone as one of my children broke my monitor.)

The memory wipe, the great weapon and the Doctor being the one to push the (big red) button are all foreshadowed here. It's really very well done.

And there's a throwaway line to explain the half-human line from the TVM that still makes me laugh each time I read it.

Anyway, the reason I mention all this isn't just because I think you should read it, although you should, it's because during the 8th Doctor's chapter he's locked in a prison cell. Ness took time to study the panels and recreate the cell for this strip. 

When I wrote this strip I had intended to move 9 into the Infinites permanently. He's a canon Doctor, but has always felt slightly on the edge. I was looking forward to writing him in the group. Ah well.

Right, I've re-ordered a copy of 'The Forgotten' from Amazon. There are still a few reasonably priced copies on there and some on Ebay.

Just saying.

*From The Forgotten (IDW) by Tony Lee. Art by Pia Guerra 

IN PRINT - INFINITIES 11

 

Previous INFINITES

And welcome back Ness.

I bloody loved this episode. If only they had all been like this one. 

This was Gatwa's Doctor moment. This was his Doctor as he should have been.

And that's even before get to the Shalka Doctor appearing on the show proper. That was bloody massive. 

I enjoyed replacing 8 with the Shalka Doctor, it felt pretty fitting given the Withnail connection. I really want a Tshirt of 8 and Shalka sitting in the chairs with the caption "We've come to Gallifrey by mistake."

If you don't get that you should go and watch 'Withnail and I'. Trust me.

I guess I should talk about Who going out to tender. I'd be more upset if we hadn't essentially been drip fed the news over the last year. 

I'd love to think we have a new NA equivalent incoming, but I think those days are behind us.

I hope to be proved wrong.

Anyone seen Lance Parkin...?

IN PRINT 166 - THE GIGGLE

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This wasn't meant to be the last regular strip I wrote for Jim. But I don't think I could have written a better last one. It's incredibly full circle and meta.

There have been other characters, but the heart of the strip has always these two, so I'm quite pleased to finish with them 

It's the moment, but I'm not prepared. Not really. I'm not ready to stop getting strips from Jim. It's been a regular event for the last 15 years. That and the continued push to do more and more ambitious strips. It started with the first Christmas Special and brought you Hearts 2 Hearts.

Speaking of pushing boundaries...

I grew up on Garfield. I especially enjoyed the way Davis could tell multi strip stories and still land at least one joke a strip. Such was the impact on me that when I started writing In Print I did so using the three panel format. Every regular strip was written with three panels in mind. Including this one.

Now the more eagle eyed among you will have noted this strip has double that number. Jim has always pushed the amount of art needed for the strip. I don't think he ever phoned in a single strip. 

So next week we have the start of Ness's last run with Infinities which should run for 2 or 3 months. 

But yeah, today was definitely a milestone. 

Going to miss this.

IN PRINT 165 - THE STAR-BEAST

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Ah Deja Fu. 

I honestly thought I'd come up with that phrase when we used it in the strip nearly 15 years ago. I was properly mortified when, whilst attending a Terry Pratchett talk, it came to light that Sir Terry used it well before I did. I still regret not apologising for it during the Q and A Session. 

Ah Deja Fu.

I actually went digging through our archive looking for DJ Foo and am now kicking myself that I didn't bring back the one original character in the strip to see us off. 

Ah DJ Foo.

Damn it. https://www.inprintcomic.com/2012/09/in-print-episode-34.html

So this is the penultimate strip of Jim and I's regular run. I'm able to put off the crushing feeling of finality as we have a run from Ness coming up before 'The Last Print'.

It's the... Nope. Not quite yet.

IN PRINT 164 - POWER OF THE DOCTOR Part 6

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Ah yes. I'd forgotten that I'd all but accused a certain showrunner of plagiarism. 

Though to be fair In Print probably looks like it's riffing off of Timewyrm: Revelation, but I promise you it's not. 

Cornelly did it first and better. We've done it for longer.

It's almost time to start referring to my run in the past tense. That's a daunting thought. There's a couple more from Jim covering the 14th Doctor run and then we're onto tying up Ness's run on the Infinites/Infinities, which will also briefly touch on the 15th Doctor's run. 

Briefly.

Then we have what I've rather pretentiously called 'The Last Print' after telling you all that Jim is the driving force behind naming the strips. 

I'm quite proud of it. I'm looking forward to seeing how Jim brings it to life. 

It's the moment, but I've resisted using that line. At least in the final strip. 

IN PRINT 163 - POWER OF THE DOCTOR Part 5

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Right. Let's try this again.

I blogged earlier on this morning, but something went wrong and the contents are now lost to the vortex. The one sodding time I didn't keep a back up of the text.

So. Yeah. We're doing this. Though whether this is us incorporating 'The Power of the Doctor' into our current run (which Jim gave the same name to, I don't tend to name the arcs) or the 13th Doctor wandering into the In Print 'Verse. 

It's very much Obi-Wan syndrome.

Jim and I have discussed it as you can imagine. Jim's pretty sure Chibnall would have read the strip at some point. I think it's just as likely that he was riffing on 'Time Wyrm: Revelation' or 'The Name of the Doctor'. But I can't rule out, with any degree of certainty, that we didn't play some part in the genesis of this particular part of the episode. The prominence of the 7th Doctor's tank top could just as easily be a nod to the Cornell origin. 

Either way, what we saw on the screen is very close to the In Print 'Verse. Pretty damn cool. 

Of course now that I'm thinking about it the cobbled together mish mash of past TARDISes in the 'Tale of the TARDIS' and 'Empire of Death' feels a lot closer to the TVM TARDIS set we use as a setting than the edge does.

Hmmm.

I really enjoyed the last panel of this strip. So much so that it gave me an idea that I brought to Jim. And Jim being Jim he ran with the idea to come up with a graphic that sums up the connection between the strip and the show perfectly. So much so that I'm hoping he makes it into a Tshirt with 'Guardians of the Edge' underneath it in the TVM font. 

We'll see.

It's the nearly the end, but the moment... well, you get it.

IN PRINT 162 - POWER OF THE DOCTOR Part 4

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I remember the joy I felt when 'Night of the Doctor' turned up. That was such a lovely surprise and though he didn't appear in a full on episode this felt like the next best thing.

That would have been enough.

The 8th Doctor always felt like he had a foot in both New and Classic Who. Rewatch the opening credits to the TVM if you need proof. 

Of course we got a second or so oh him in 'Day of the Doctor', but that was the case for every Doctor. As a side note; I always felt it was a shame they didn't have McGann record new footage for that scene whilst he was in recording 'Night of the Doctor'. Ah well.

So to see him appear as a Guardian of the Edge was just something else. It was next level. Even if he didn't do robes.

It felt like a live action version of In Print. 

Only one thing was missing...

IN PRINT 161 - POWER OF THE DOCTOR Part 3

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That was pretty much my response to watching this episode. It felt, very, VERY familiar. 

Now granted Paul Cornell visited the concept first (and also coined the phrase Other fu...), but it still feels... well... yeah. 

So strap yourself in, we're about to get pretty meta. Art imitating life imitating fiction imitating... well art.

In other news I'm blown away by Jim's opening panel. 

IN PRINT 160 - POWER OF THE DOCTOR Part 2

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I never, EVER thought we'd see that jumper on New Who. 

And how much did Dhawan suit being the Doctor. If Big Finish fancy doing some proper Unbound with him then sign me up now.

The Fan Wankish Doctor. 

Well the Master's DNA is now in the Doctor's gene set, maybe down the line...

If I was staying on the strip I'd probably have used this Doctor as an antagonist down the line. But alas...

When we watched this episode in my house we misheard "Dalek hunt!"... Make of that what you will.

Dugga-Doo, Dugga-Doo, Dugga Dugga Dugga, Dugga-Doo! 

IN PRINT 159 - POWER OF THE DOCTOR Part 1

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Forced Regeneration has always fascinated me. Or rather the circumstances surrounding the 2nd Doctor's regeneration did. It's essentially the Time Lord version of execution and that choice casts a rather dark shadow over what was, essentially, a fairly light incarnation. 

The only other time we've dealt with forced regeneration was in 'Exile' from Big Finish. But we don't like to talk about 'Exile' given it's take on mental health and gender roles.

Which brings us back to 'The Power of the Doctor'. Geez, even the name makes it sound like a budget version of the 'Name/Day/Time of the Doctor' trilogy.

This should have been epic. This should have been dark. This was meant to be Whittaker's last chance to shine as the Doctor. Yet instead we get to see what might have happened if they'd cast Sacha Dhawan as the Doctor. 

And of course he's absolutely bloody glorious. Of course he is. 

I've spoken quite a bit about how much I actually like the Timeless aspect of this particular run despite reservations about almost everything else. However, casting Sacha Dhawan as the Master was absolutely genius. I've been a fan of his ever since I saw him in 'The History Boys' and he kept me coming back to 'Iron Fist'. He's bloody fantastic and I absolutely love his version of the Master. 

Once again I've not been keeping up with Big Finish, so I don't know if his Master series is worth listening to. I'd be surprised if it wasn't, but I've not been back to Big Finish since Colin Baker gave us his version of the War Doctor. 

Not that I disliked Baker's performance, not at all, I was just disheartened by Big Finish not quite grasping their own Unbound concept. Their subsequent rebranding of David Bradley's 1st Doctor as Unbound shook my confidence further.

But, as I usually do, I digress. I'm sure the new Master stuff is worth listening. Maybe I should pick up them and the Fugitive Doctor stuff. 

Anyway, strap yourself in as we're back with Power next week. Of course we are. You all saw it, you had to have known we'd be tackling it.

IN PRINT 158 - THE VANQUISHERS

 

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Yeah, that's absolutely the Doctor quoting from Season 2. So technically none of the words in this strip are really mine, but I think the placement of the quote works as a call back.

I also wonder if the Doctor being re-unified here had something to do with how self aware the 15th Doctor was or if that reunification was undone by the Toy Maker in The Giggle.

When you stop and think about it we've gone through an awful lot since this episode aired. Three Doctors (there's a precedent for that) and the threat of cancellation.

Below is an excerpt from the Hearts 2 Hearts set of strips we did a while back, Jim thought the call back was appropriate. I'd have to agree.

Talking with Jim earlier this morning (we do talk outside of the strip, though still never actually met in person) we were discussing a video that Jim's put together using various techniques including AI. It looks and sounds great, but kind of got me thinking about how much we'd probably struggle if we were to launch In Print today. When even RTD is using AI it's time to accept that it's become a staple of the creative process. 

I don't understand AI, I've been pretty up front about that. I've lost count of how often I've stopped reading an article when it became obvious it was written by AI. The idea of being replaced by a software algorithm feels pretty Who in and of itself, but also quite terrifying as a writer.

But Jim's managed to use it whilst not losing his signature style, which I'm thankful for. 

In fact, talking of Jim and I having a friendship outside of In Print, we've been discussing animating one of my short plays.

My run on In Print might be coming to an end, but not our creative partnership. It's almost as if it's regenerating...

IN PRINT 157 - ONCE, UPON TIME

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I love that line. I'm quite proud of that line. I think it would sit comfortably in anything from Series 25 onwards or even the New Adventures.

The punchlines are getting harder. That wasn't technically a punchline. It was more a thinly veiled dig at the Flux era of the show.

Though to be fair you could probably level that criticism at most showrunners and not just from the 2005 series onwards. We've always complained, and we're all complicit to some degree, that the folk in charge of the show aren't cognisant enough of what went before.

There's more than a hint of the Other in the Fugitive Doctor and the more she's featured in extended media the harder it is to squint at her and see the Other standing behind her as if they were posing for the cover of Lungbarrow

I've not really delved into the extended media concerning the Fugitive Doctor. I'm happily living in ignorance and thinking of her as a variation of the Other. At some point I'm going to have to dig in and and explore her story, but I'm not quite ready yet. 

I'm being ridiculous of course. If being a fan of the 7th Doctor has taught me anything it's that there's room for multiple versions of the Doctor's past. It shouldn't have taken reading 'Blood Heat' for 'Too Broad and Too Deep' to remind me

Of course it was that attitude that lead to me missing the 11th Doctor actively referring to himself as the Other whilst talking to Rassilon in Gallifrey's past.

I didn't really enjoy much of the Flux, but I did enjoy 'Once, Upon Time'. Even the episode name had a subtlety that was missing from much of the series. If you'd told me that the Chibnall era was going to contain scenes from the Dark Times of Gallifrey I would have had a hard time believing it. But here we are.

Speaking of places we're at...

This is the beginning of the last run of Jim and I's run on the strip. Ness handled the 15th Doctor stuff, which will be posted after this run. 

Though the very last strip that I've written is going to be drawn by Jim, because of course it had to be. 

"It's the end, but the moment has been prepared for..."

IN PRINT 156 - THE TIMELESS CHILDREN Part 8

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Still not a fan of this era, but it explicitly made the Morbius Doctors canon.

The Morbius Doctors.

I actually punched the air. Seriously.

We've treated them as regenerations of the Doctor for a while here at the Print 'Verse, but it was nice to see the BBC following suit.

In other news I started wearing a sensor for my diabetes this last week, I'm hoping it's not the first step in Cyber conversion. Time will tell...