The Dressing Room Part 3 - Jim Wilkins

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In Print - 98

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We're fast approaching the 100th strip. Well the 247th strip if you take into account the Infinites, Prop Cupboard, Who's Cat, Guest Prints, the extras and of course the Christmas Specials. But it's the 100th main strip, the strip that started the whole ball going. I read once, somewhere, that the average length of a web comic is somewhere around the 30 strips mark, because that's when the creator exhausts his ideas and enthusiasm for the project. So it's with more than a little bit of pride (mostly in the rest of the team, especially Jim) that we seem to just keep going and have only ever missed one Saturday. Although to be fair it was over Christmas...

Today's strip serves to highlight the range of characters we've had on here as well as point out how much of a continuity we've built up. And Jim's chosen to homage Lee Sullivan's 'The Usual Suspects' to highlight our rogues gallery. That made me smile.

I should really try and write the 101st strip before I get cocky though.

I really, really enjoyed 'The Zygon Invasion', it was nice and dark and once again the two part structure allowed for the tension to be cranked up significantly.

I won't be at the Glasgow Doctor Who Society this week due to prior commitments, but you should still go along anyway. They've just posted a video of various members (including myself) talking about 'The Woman who lived'.

See you all next week.

IN PRINT - Curation Part 8

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Round about this time last year I asked Jim if there was anything he'd like to see appear in the strip in 2014.

"More Tom Baker."

There we go Jim. That's more Tom Baker than I ever banked on including in the strip. Four fours. A Fantastic Four if you will.

That's a Tshirt right there.

Right, well it's Christmas and I have my kids to look after so I'm going to be going. I will however linger long enough to apologise for the lack of a Christmas Special this year. We'll have one next year.

Probably.

Hopefully.

Maybe...

See you next week for some Infinites.

IN PRINT - CURATION Part 7

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Dun! Dun!! Dun!!!

You didn't think we were done with all the wig related surprises did you? For those of you who don't recognise this version of the 4th Doctor, it's from when he was prematurely aged in 'The Leisure Hive'. I'm fairly sure it's a wig and false beard, but you just never know with the 4th.

We're bringing you the final part of Curation next week, but we're still working on what follows. Nesshead's laptop is still down, but we do have the first strip in the new Infinites arc. We'll see, we've not missed a Saturday since we started and we're not about to miss one now.

Nesshead's laptop fund is still open.

I only mention that because in the last few weeks both Jim and myself have had close calls with our Turing machines. We can just about get by if one of us loses our IT, two would be pretty awkward, but if all three of us went down at the same time it'd mean a short break for the strip. Hopefully we can keep struggling on with our current tech.

Right I'm off for just now. See you all next week for the conclusion of Curation.

UPDATE:

"But, Mousie, thou art no thy lane,

In Proving foresight may be vain;

The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men

Gang aft agley,

An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,

For promis'd joy!"

This is what I get for talking about it. Jim's computer took a massive hissy fit this morning. Which is why you've been looking at a substandard, reduced in 'Paint' type strip today. Jim's hoping to get on and post it properly when his machine starts working again. 

If it starts working.

So, below Jim has his own button now. Same deal as with Nesshead's, no pressure, no obligation. But it would help bring you regular In Print.

Thanks and apologies.

IN PRINT - CURATION Part 3

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Yeah, that was a Star Trek reference. There are other Science Fiction shows out there you know.

And of course we couldn't have a wig arc without having Hartnell's wig making a cameo of some description. If you don't recognise him you need to be reading 'The Prop Cupboard of Obscure Doom'. It's a throwaway gag that's taken on a life all of it's own. Literally. 

Jim's had an idea for keeping track of the wigs, you'll see the results of that in a few weeks.

It's the beginning of the end tonight. Trailer spoilers ahead and then some speculation.

Still here?

Really?

Right, on we go.

Last weeks trailer seemed to indicate that Clara was going to turn and that perhaps Clara was never really Clara. If this plays out the way I think it's going to then Steven Moffat is a bona fide genius and a master of the long game.

Think about it; when did we first see Clara? Well technically it was 'Asylum of the Daleks', but we'll come back to that. What we all thought was going to be 'The Snowmen' although that turned out to be a shard of Clara against the Great Intelligence. Nope we first met the 'real' Clara in 'The Bells of St John' when the Doctor went up against the Great Intelligence. Apart from linking Clara and the Great Intelligence and having Clara's personality up and down loaded at varying rates of success what this episode really did was show us that the Intelligence could have a false personalty installed for most of a persons life.

I think Clara has been an invention of the Intelligence the whole time. It would explain his apparent lack of planning in jumping into the Doctor's timestream in 'Name of the Doctor', it was all a bluff to allow Clara to jump in as well and planting the ultimate sleeper agent into the Doctor's life. 

If this is right then what we'll find the Doctor with a companion with a familiar face, but different personality. Which is what Madame Vastra was foreshadowing all the way back in 'Deep Breath'. Let's see if the Doctor can handle the same kind of change he usually inflicts on others....

IN PRINT - CURATION Part 1

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I don't understand people that say they miss Tom Baker playing the Doctor. As far as I'm concerned he's never really stopped. With the exception of 'The Five Doctors' he's never passed up an opportunity to step back into the TARDIS. So as far I can tell it's the same character that appeared in every panel in today's strip including the character we've come to know as the Curator. It just fits for me.

Sometimes you can't bring things into alignment as much as you'd like to and other times things just slot into place without any effort whatsoever.

Today for example. Jim left me a message in the blog draft, he's never done that before. Hold on, here it is:

Jim says: The Image of the I.M Foreman gate doors in frame 2 of today's strip is provided curtsy of Alan Watson-Henry who actively makes his own sets for Doctor Who figures and has a great interest in stop-motion animation.

Thanks, Jim.

He even left a few photos of Alan's work for you to admire.

As for myself, well I'd been planning on sharing a photo I received from one of my Kasterborous co-contributors, Joe Siegler, on a modification he'd made to one of his TARDISes to update it prior to tonight's episode.

It amused me no end, but it also got me thinking about an old subject; custom figures.

For a while now I've thought about dipping my toe into the model game. I figured I'd like a set of figures to reflect the Doctors that appear in In Print and it's easy enough to get Doctors 1-11, but no where does any of the Infinites. Which means you're relying on commissioned models to get a full set and not only is that pricey it's a bit of a lucky dip as well.

So, any advice you guys would like to offer about how to make up such a collection would be very much appreciated.

IN PRINT - CURATION Prelude II

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We take this break from our regularly scheduled Infinites to bring you another Prelude to an upcoming arc. We've done this once before...

I'm working on Curation just now. Kind of. Actually the truth be told I've finished it, but two things are bothering me about it. There's not enough drama, situations that should have you guys jumping up and down are kind of flat. I need to sharpen that a bit. The other thing that bothers me about it is that Jim came up with a belter of an ending for it and I need to reshape it slightly to try and slot it in. Not that I mind that last one, because it is a stonking idea.

Actually....

I've got it! I know how to fit it in...

But I'll finish on here first.

So, yes, Nesshead and the Infinites (sounds like a Hanna Barbara cartoon) will be back next week along with a fan favourite from the expanded universe. I'm trying to remember if I've told Jim about this, if I haven't I'm expecting an excited text during the week when the strip arrives in our inboxes.

Right I'm off to redo Curation....

IN PRINT GUEST STRIP Curation Prelude- PAUL SALVI

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One last guest strip before we return to regular service. This time it's another of our recurring guest artists, Paul Salvi, on art.

Those of you that have been with us for a while might recognise today's strip as something of a reprise of his last guest strip for us. In fact his last strip acted as something of a prelude for Paradox Now, I wonder what come of this one...?

So, yeah, in the space of a few weeks I've added the War Doctor and the Curator to the cast of In Print. There's two more additions coming in light of the 50th celebrations and I'd love to see if any of you can guess who they might be.

2014 is going to be a fun year.

Jim's back next week folks and you'll get him for 3 continuous strips before he hands over to Nesshead to finish off the Grand Tour. After that we're going to be implementing a chance in the publishing schedule; you'll get one complete arc from Jim before another complete arc from Nesshead. The guys reckon this'll help them with their respective buffers.