IN PRINT - 128

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And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a running joke.

I'm afraid I've slowed down on updating the navigation links the last week. I'll hopefully get back into it next week.

See you all then.

IN PRINT - 127

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Because we needed one more cast member.

As much as I enjoyed Bradley's Doctor I couldn't quite buy him as Hartnell's Doctor. So he's getting a space in this strip.

As Jim might have mentioned I turned 40 last Saturday. I'm still recovering. Was a good weekend though.

And a month from now we're getting new Doctor Who in about a month. Finally. There's a script I wrote when she was first announced that I might get Jim to revisit. Especially as I've been relistening to Exile this week. 

If you're in the Glasgow area tomorrow you should come and join me at Lok's to see Peter Cushing deal with a Dalek Invasion. It'd be nice to see you.

IN PRINT - 107

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And that's it for this arc. Seriously this time. I've checked with Jim and everything.

The two 10s are looking as if they're going to be quite the visual double act. I can see them cropping up in the back of panels even when I've not asked for them to appear. Luckily I trust Jim's visual judgement on these things. Speaking of which; as much as I would like to take credit for 'The Doors' joke at the end that one was 100% Jim. Kind of wish I'd thought of it though.

Back to the Infinites next week and you guys are in a for a treat. I can't say anymore than that, but just wait....

IN PRINT - 106

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Yes that was my little swipe at people that thought the War Doctor was perhaps the Master or the Valeyard despite having 'as the Doctor' in big flaming letters right next to him the very first time he appeared.

I love the Valeyard, you might have noticed, but I really do get tired of all the 'It's the Valeyard!' yelling each time someone vaguely resembling him or an aspect of him appears. The only exception being the Dream Lord, I mean just look at the direction of 'Amy's Choice' compared to 'The Ultimate Foe'. Not only have the same root (darkest part of the Doctor type stuff), but the teleportation plot device they both use are directed identically!

Anyway, safe to say this new 10 is not the Valeyard, he's just what he appears to be, an earlier form of 10.

Jim was saying to me the other day how chuffed he was that we had enough strips that we could do flashbacks. For my part I was ecstatic to finally address the 8 to 9 regeneration we did in one of early strips. It's been annoying me ever since 'Day of the Doctor'.

In other news I've started back with Loose Canons, a conversation about self publishing with a friend of mine has given me the much needed kick I was needing, More on that in the coming weeks...

IN PRINT - 105

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The other three of him last turned up here and the Other guy was introduced here.

I still want to see the Others put onto a print or a Tshirt. What do you guys think?


 The next few arcs of the main strip and the Infinites are slightly connected, so Nesshead's ones need to run before Jim's ones. The thing is I can't remember if I typed up the last set for Jim. And if I haven't I'm not entirely sure where I left the hand written copies.

All will be well.

I'm sure.

Reasonably....

IN PRINT - 104

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And there we have it. For those of you that hadn't cottoned on yet there are now two versions of ten floating about the Print Verse. He really should have been here years ago. It was my son that pointed it out to me, he has a fairly firm grasp of numbers for his age and has been studying the Doctor's regenerations intently thanks to having 'Legacy' on his tablet. Once I explained to him about the War Doctor and the Metacrisis regeneration he's since insisted on calling the War Doctor Nine instead and Ten has become Eleven and Twelve. And he knew it was true because my 'Infinite Doctor' print has both versions on Ten in it. It was only really a matter of time before he asked how many Tens were in In Print and once he did....

Yeah, so this arc may have been kick started by a conversation at the Glasgow DW Society, but it's been my son's refusal to let go of a concept that's kept it rolling.

In other news I got to read a advanced copy of Battlefield thanks to The Doctor Who Companion. What did I think of it? Well you can read the answer here. Knowing me and alternate Doctors you can probably guess....

IN PRINT - 103

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I'm currently typing this on my phone whilst at one of my kids' climbing clubs. I had planned to type this last night, but I've cracked some of my ribs and it's slowed me down slightly.

In case you're wondering where Jack came from he's been running since the end of the I-files - I Files Part 3

I'll see you all next week.

Read the whole I Files story here - The I Files

IN PRINT - 102

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Everyone's a critic!

Five years ago today Jim and I were nervously watching the stats back on the DWRS website to see if anyone was reading the first ever In Print strip. Thankfully people were enjoying the strip and five years, 102 strips, umpteen specials and some additions to the team later we're still going.

There's been the odd bump along the way. Babies, illness, divorce and life will have that effect, but through it all we've kept going and there's no reason to think I won't be copying this entry five years from now to use in our 10th anniversary!

In other news I'm sure you've all heard that the new Companion is being announced today in the middle of something called a Fut baal mitch. I'm sure I'll find out through Facebook afterwards...

IN PRINT - 'SOMETHING' NATURE Part 6

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Ah yes, after all the abuse 7 has given 8 and 10 about their respective romances it's about time one of them confronted him about Joan.

We're approaching the end of this arc, which means a return to the Infinites soon. Which is slightly concerning as I have written the next few strips, but I haven't typed them up and sent them to Nesshead yet. And I've been tidying up my house since I wrote them. Once I've finished this blog I'm off to see if I can find them. Please keep your collective fingers crossed!

I was at the Glasgow leg of the Symphony Spectacular last night and had an absolute blast. Even if Peter Davison kept insisting that David Tennant and Steven Moffat came from Glasgow rather than Paisley. I may not belong to Paisley, but I do stay there and didn't overly appreciate that lack of distinction. But that's pretty much the worse thing I can say about the night.

I was meant to be out with the Glasgow Doctor Who Society after the concert last night to celebrate one their members turning 30, but a bug from earlier in the week meant I had to skip it. Still, hoping to catch up with all of them next Sunday. Presuming of course I'm not frantically Emailing every artist I know looking for a filler strip because I can't find the next one for Ness....

IN PRINT - 'SOMETHING' NATURE Part 5

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The first time we saw the Doctor diving through the sky was during Lance Parkin's 'The Dying Days' in a scene so intense and exciting that it could have come straight out of a series finale, which is perhaps why it felt slightly familiar when the 12th Doctor did something similar in the last finale we had. We've also had the Shalka Doctor, as written by Paul Cornell, free falling in what remains the best TARDIS entrance in any medium. It's not hard to to imagine that the current Who team had those two scenes in mind when 12's free fall was put together.

Of course it's also possible that they'd been watching 'The End of Time', but then today's strip kind of falls apart if we go down that road.

In other news I'm still working on fixing the navigation links, unfortunately my plan to do them last Sunday was foiled by my five minute nap lasting significantly longer than planned. Soon though.

Maybe even tonight if I can shake this hayfever.

IN PRINT - 'SOMETHING' NATURE Part 4

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He really, really has. A lot of ideas from the EDAs have been recycled into the new series, too many to go into just now. All you need to know for today is that the Doctor encountered his biodata in physical form once before, in 'Unnatural History' by Kate Orman and Jonathan Blum and that last panel is meant to represent 8 and 11 scanning it at the same time, but from different locations.

After over half a century of ideas I suppose old ideas are going to get recycled, the Daleks and Cybermen are prime examples, but ideas from the 91-05 books seem especially ripe for picking as a minority of fans have managed to read them for various reasons. Certainly Kate and Jonathan were tweaking with the Doctor's biodata long before Great Intelligence tried it in 'The Name of the Doctor'.

Right, time to go. There's going to be some more book references next week, this time in a panel that I'm thinking about ordering off of Jim as a print...

IN PRINT - 'WHOVIAN' NATURE Part 3

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It's always heartbreaking that scene. Doesn't matter how often I watch it.

We've gone for 'Whovian Nature' this week, these titles just won't stay static.

On a side note; have we featured Martha in the strip before? I'm not sure we have. Probably because I'd struggle to poke fun at her in a way that the BBC hasn't already. The unrequited love aspect of her character was constantly played up and apart from that aspect there isn't much to make fun of. I remain gutted that she didn't join Torchwood, a seriously missed opportunity in my opinion.

Anyway, short entry this week. See you all next time.

IN PRINT - 'NOT' HUMAN NATURE Part 2

 

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 'Human Nature' does raise a number of issues regarding continuity and just how the NAs fit into the overall continuity.

I'm not even going to try and address them, that's a minefield I'm not prepared to on a Saturday morning. All I'll say is that my own, personal, take on it is that the events of the novel got wiped out during the Time War and history hates a vacuum.


The initial script had the last panel set in Mr Cornell's office. Jim decided to put him at a signing at my local Waterstone's either because he likes subtle nods or because he's not stalkery enough to know what Mr Cornell's office looks like. Incidently 'Love and War' has been out on CD for a while. The fact the poster is still up either suggests particular things about just when this strip is set and how much time has past since the Christmas before last when we were last here or that the Glasgow staff are really bad at changing displays. I know the answer of course, but I'd never say anything unkind about people who have their own Dalek.


Right, I need to get moving as I'm actually meant to be in Glasgow in about an hour and a half. See you all next week.

IN PRINT - HUMAN NATURE Part 1

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 It doesn't happen often, Jim and myself have been putting In Print out for four years now (as of this week) and we've rarely argued about anything to do with the strip. Sure there's been times when we've disagreed about certain elements, but we've always managed to discuss things in a civilized and friendly way and devise a solution that keeps everyone happy. In fact sometimes I forget that Jim and I have never actually met, we've not even talked on the phone. Our entire working and personal relationship is carried out through Email and text messages. Something we really should correct at some point since I've come to regard him as a good friend as well as a colleague.

But I digress. I usually do.

This week was different though. As I mentioned last week the name of this arc has been giving me trouble. Turns out it's been bothering Jim as well since he texted me yesterday with a bunch of suggestions and I replied with some of own. Things weren't heated, but we were definitely at a stand off, we just couldn't agree on a title and then my phone died. By the time I'd got my kids to bed and got some charge back into the phone Jim had found a solution to our predicament that fitted the actual story arc quite well. Unfortunately he'd suggested it right as my phone died, so I was worried he'd think I was ignoring it. Didn't help that I sent another suggestion before Jim's solution was actually delivered. More about that next week, in the mean time the adjustment to the title arc today was Jim's suggestion.

Anyway, I love 'Human Nature', I like to view the televised version as a reprint of sorts of the book form. Both pack an emotional stomach punch that always makes me sad that we've not seen Paul Cornell in these parts since. I would love to see him writing for the 12th Doctor, Capaldi seems to have sprung straight from the NAs and I can think of few other writers better equipped to write him in that style.

Anyway, time for me to go. See you all next week.

IN PRINT - HUMAN NATURE Cover

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A new arc. I didn't mean to call this 'Human Nature', that was always a draft name that I never got round to replacing with anything better. So, 'Human Nature' it is. Just don't expect it to be a Cornell type masterpeace.

In fact now that I think about it, why haven't we seen Paul Cornell write anything for New Who since 'Human Nature'? A mystery for another day.

Those of you that have enjoyed Jim's covers in the past will be happy to see that we're starting each arc off with them now. The strip proper starts next week and thanks to our newly reinstated buffer I can tell you that Jim already has it in the bag, in fact it came in whilst my Best Man was over visiting from the States and it got a chuckle from him so hopefully you guys will enjoy it.

Anyway, I'll have a lot more to say about the Cornell versions next week when the arc starts off properly.

See you all then.

IN PRINT - CLIFF NOTES

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I honestly hadn't thought too much about it when I first started coming up with the idea of 'In Print'. I just knew that I loved the old multi Doctor stories and the fact that the Doctor can never get on with himself. I'd just finished re-watching them all, mostly because I'd read 'Cold Fusion' by Lance Parkin shortly before that and it had made me nostalgic.

Lets all be thankful that it wasn't Paul Cornell's entry for the 'Timewyrm' series instead, if I'd read that before I started doing 'In Print' then I would never have started.The trip into the Doctor's mind in that book is very, very close to how I see the strip's reality working, although Paul's version has more ambition and scope. That and some of the imagery featuring the poor 5th Doctor just wouldn't work for the humourous tone of 'In Print'.

Luckily though I read 'Timewyrm: Revelations' months into the strip's run. I spent about a fortnight panicking about it though.

Anyway, the point is that I just plonked 7 and 8 down in the TVM TARDIS and figured that people wouldn't question the logic of that given that this was a blatantly non-cannon comic strip.

I underestimated the pedantry of Whovians.

The above strip chronicles my various attempts to explain just what's going on. Although Handles puts it most succinctly, my favourite remains the Shalka Doctor's explanation.

In other news I've been reading 'Engines of War' the last few days. It's not been sold as such, but it is definitely a PDA. It ticks all the boxes; features a past Doctor and is published by the BBC. I'm halfway through and loving it so far. If I'm reading it right it also features a semi regular member of our cast, but I'll confirm that on Gallifrey Base once I've finished reading it, not before.

 Plans are still a little in flux for next week, but rest assured we have a Plan A and Plan B. So there'll be something new for you guys. See you then!

IN PRINT - Place holder

The final stage of Con Wars will be with us very soon.

In the mean time you can enjoy a place holder strip that Jesse came up with.

Back soon...

IN PRINT EPISODE 63

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Right. Well.

I rather enjoyed that.

Lots to talk about. Lots to discuss. However for various reasons not all the team has seen it yet, so I'm going to wait until next week to tell you what I thought of it.

Short version: I really enjoyed it. It had a few flaws, but they're very easy to forgive given the sheer amount of things they got right.

The only other thing I'll say is that I am totally in love with the character of the curator. One single scene and I already love him.

Oh yeah and there's a strip. Stuff happens, but in 1D rather than 3D. We'll have more for you next week. We'll be releasing them as Jim finishes drawing them so keep your eyes peeled.

I'm off to watch it on my telly now. Won't be as cool as 3D on the big screen, but there are a couple of moments that demand revisiting.

I'm going to file it under research for the strip....



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IN PRINT EPISODE 62

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So that's what happens, you get five versions of the same Time Lord regenerating at once.

Right, be honest; who was expecting that?

Jim really knocked that one out of the park didn't he? So, yeah, everything just changed in the In Print Verse. We've lost two of our cast and those that are still around have post regenerational trauma and a new wardrobe to deal with. At least they will have once they deal with the Grandfather.

Presuming they do deal with the Grandfather that is...

Right, I'm booked to see 'The Day of the Doctor' at 9.30pm UK time, presuming my wee girl is doing ok. Jim's going at the same time, but to a different showing (a shame really). Anyone trying to discuss the Special with us before we've finished seeing it will be ignored. Sorry guys, I've gone this long without spoilers...

See you on the other side!

Episode 57 Paradox Now Part 1
                        Episode 58 Paradox Now Part 2
                        Episode 59 Paradox Now Part 3
                        Episode 60 Paradox Now Part 4
                        Episode 61 Paradox Now Part 5

IN PRINT EPISODE 61

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Nope, it's not good. Not good at all.

I've just shoe horned in a Star Trek joke. Oh well.

"A chronologically advanced and evil version of Movie boy." I'd forgotten I'd gone for that description. That works a lot better than my attempt at describing the Grandfather yesterday. 

So, one of our Doctors is no more. What do you think happens when part of the Doctor's hard drive gets wiped? I mean apart from Matt Smith rolling on the floor in pain that is.

You'll get to find out tomorrow. I'm sure it'll be the highlight of your day.

Can't imagine there's anything else happening...



Paradox Now Part 1

Paradox Now Part 2

Paradox Now Part 3

Paradox Now Part 4