THE INFINITES - Strip 55

                                       Previous Infinites Next Strip

Hello loyal In Print readers. NESSHEAD here. This is a historic moment. My first blog. :) I hope you are all enjoying the new strips. Seems like yesterday that I drew the first strip as a guest artist. Drawing for In Print has lead to other Doctor Who assignments. Two annuals and a magazine so far. 

Always a pleasure to draw these non cannon Doctors for you. If you are a member of our Facebook group, please leave some comments about the strip. Would love to here your input. Take care and thank you for reading THE INFINITES.

Al says: So I've given some early 10 dialogue to the Fatal Death Doctor, I'm comfortable with that.

I'm enjoying the hell out of seeing the Merlin Doctor interacting with the Infinites. There should really be more of that, but there's really not a lot of Merlin stuff out there from a Doctor Who perspective. Google will just tell you that a bunch of fans really, really want Colin Morgan to play the Doctor.

IN PRINT - 'SOMETHING' NATURE Part 5

First     Previous  Next  Latest

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 -The Snowman

This is my daughter's fault.


She loves 'Frozen' and I've seen it far too many times to count now. So when I was trying to come up with things for Mike Key to draw it was only really a matter of time before 'Frozen' popped up.

I love the idea of these two Doctors building Snowmen in the TARDIS to Disney music, which fits in pretty well with the Shalka Doctor's love of show tunes. For all of you that have 'Do you want to build a snowman' stuck in your head for the rest of the day now, I can only apologise.

We have a couple of more strips coming in Mike's style of mashing Doctor Who with other programs and then we return to the regular strip with Jim.

Nesshead will be returning soon, but his laptop is still giving him issues and is slowing him down. If you want to see Nesshead back sooner then there's always 'Nesshead's Emergency Laptop Fund'

IN PRINT - CLIFF NOTES

First Previous Next Latest

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!

THE INFINITES Strip 23

                                                             First Previous Next Latest


That's a lot of 8th Doctors. Can you identify them all?

For a man that has only appeared twice on the telly Paul McGann's Doctor has had quite a significant mileage in terms of adventures and looks. Nesshead has drawn the most note worthy versions, plus one of my favourites, for this strip. Which begs the question; do all these versions exist within the Print Verse?

Perhaps, time will tell on that one.

We're coming to the end of the Grand Tour, there's only a handful left and once we're done we have a brand new arc drawn by Jim coming up. The fall of the 11th.

Wonder what that's about....

THE INFINITES Strip 21

First Previous Next Latest

And we're back on Tour. There's a bit of a change this time as we find the Great Intelligence setting up a regeneration we've already seen. Mel's outfit should have told some of you that this set just prior to 'Time and the Rani' and provides an alternative explanation to the crash. The New Adventures suggested that the aspects of the 7th Doctor caused the early regeneration of the 6th Doctor, quite frankly the most disturbing reason for a regeneration apart from the 2nd Doctor's. So how does that fit in with what we're seeing today? I'll leave that up to you guys to discuss in the comments.

Next week sees the next instalment of the Tour and it's the one I've been most excited about. I can't wait to see what Nesshead makes of it.

Don't forget that we have Twitter and Facebook pages and that you can support us by visiting our store and buying something.

THE INFINITES Strip 13

First Previous Next Latest

Previous Watcher

And that brings us to the end of the 'Who Watches the Watcher', and in true classic style we're ending it on a cliff hanger. We'll be coming back to it towards the end of the year, but first we'll be kicking off the Infinites are that will take us through the 50th. You'll be glad to know that the bulk of the strips for the that are written already. Quite how I managed to get them done and miss the concluding chapter of this arc I'll never know, but Nesshead knocked it out of the park in about half the time I usually give him.

So why is the Watcher picking up these four rather than the Infinites I hear you ask?

Well there's been so much speculation about the Hurt Doctor being a future version that the Watcher has picked up on it sub conscientiously. The language used at the end of 'The Name of the Doctor makes me think that he is a past version, but that's by no means been proven yet. Although this observation from Bleeding Cool seems to back up my thinking.

The Valeyard of course has been a future incarnation ever since 1987 and his appearance here would suggest he has something lurking up his sleeve. Perhaps he's not quite as stable as he's been making out...

The ginger fellow is the Ginger Doctor from 'The Last Regeneration' as designed by Lee Sullivan back in 1998. I interviewed Lee a while back about this Doctor and couldn't resist asking to use him in the strip. Lee Sullivan is a bit of a legend in the Doctor Who art world and has been involved in more than a few areas of the Whovian universe. This recent feature on Kasterborous will catch you up if you don't already know Lee's work.

The last potential Doctor is of course the Warner Doctor from the Unbound arc. Why's he here? He's certainly been popular enough, but he's very much a 3rd Doctor. Maybe he's here to foreshadow his increased presence in the strip, maybe it's hinting at an unexpected twist. The truth? Well the last Doctor was meant to be the person that just got cast as the 12th Doctor, but as it turns out Nesshead doesn't know who has been cast. He's actually managed to stay spoiler free, which in this day in age is pretty incredible. I don't know how long he'll manage to go, but I'll be damned if I'm the one that spoils it for him. Maybe we'll update this strip when he finds out.

Please don't forget that we have Twitter and Facebook pages and that you can support us by visiting our store and buying something.

IN PRINT EPISODE 52

                                              First Previous Next Latest

Previous Watcher Next Watcher

Of course this plot point has since been addressed in one of those ever popular minisode type things that see to be growing in popularity. But still, that's not what's really important in today's strip. I love the way the Watcher doesn't even change his pose slightly as the Infinites cart him away into the crossover finale, which incidentally I only Emailed to Nesshead a few hours ago, so it might not be ready quite in time.

Totally my fault. I've had some pretty serious personal stuff going on the last month or so and I've not had the chance to finish off the last script. Luckily though the rest of the scripts are written up until November, so that's that particular panic over. No. Wait. I still need to give 2ndFade some more scripts for the Prop Cupboard.
         
Speaking of the various strips I'm in the process of putting a reading guide together and updating the previous and next buttons so that you can read the strip as a whole a lot easier. That was due last month, but took a fair bit of a hit as well. Which begs a question, would you guys prefer the buttons at the side took you to the latest version of each strip or are you happy with the taking you to the first? They're there for your benefit, so let us know which you'd prefer.

So, yeah, in other Whovian news we seem to have a new Doctor. As you can see Jim has drawn him already and its making me even more exited about Peter Capaldi taking charge of the TARDIS. I'm pretty damned excited about this bit of casting. I had resigned myself to a younger, less well known (but talented given the most recent evidence) individual taking the role. It wouldn't have been terrible news, but I have been missing the days of the slightly older Doctor. Mind you I am going to miss Matt Smith, he has brought a real feeling of an old man in a younger man's body to the role and if he has to go then I'm very excited to see an actor of Capaldis calibre stepping into his shoes. Its also nice to see a Scot in the role again, but I'm a little biased that way.

I haven't seen Malcolm Tucker by the way. I totally missed that at the time, although Ill be catching up on that very soon. My experience of Mr Capaldi comes by way of Local Hero, The Angel Islington and Frobisher from Torchwood. We have a nice little penguin joke brewing, but you'll have to wait for that.

Yes, In very excited to see what happens next. Especially as there's been a few hints that we might see his Doctor alongside the John Hurt version. We might not have had as any episodes as we would have liked this year, but we really cant complain about the number of Doctors or the men playing them.

Can we?

Don't forget that we have Twitter and Facebook pages and that you can support us by visiting our store and buying something.

THE INFINITES Strip 12

                                                        First Previous Next Latest

Previous Watcher Next Watcher

Its true you know, he never kissed anyone before 1996 and it seems to have become something of a compulsion for him of late.

I wonder if the 12th will be quite as guilty of it as his immediate predecessors? I guess well have a better idea about that once hems (or she, I'm really not bothered by gender as long as they play the part well) unveiled tomorrow. Personally I'd be quite happy if the rumours were true about Peter Capaldi, it'd be nice to have a fellow Scotsman back in the role, especially an older one. We'll see what happens I guess. Jim's going to waiting with pencil and paper waiting to see who gets cast...

That's us half way though our crossover, there's one more part from Jim next week and then Nesshead finishes it off for us the week after that. Are you guys enjoying this or should we keep the two strips seperate? Do let us know.

Don't forget that we have Twitter and Facebook pages and that you can support us by visiting our store and buying something.

IN PRINT EPISODE 51

                                           First Previous Next Latest

Previous Watcher Next Watcher

It's a valid question. The Great Intelligence never hid what it was yet the Doctor still had an epiphany about his identity.

Oh well.

Seven shouldn't get too judgemental though as he's blatantly missed five extra Doctors. One of whom bears a striking resemblance to a certain foe he may or may not be watching. The crossover continues next week with another strip from Nesshead.

So were you at SDCC? Nesshead was meant to be there, but missed out at the last moment to a technicality. The trailer sounded like it was a lot of fun, oh well, maybe we'll all get next year...

And it's a big thank you to all of you, our faithful readers! We hit a half million views last night. This literally couldn't have happened without you, so a big thank you fro all in In Print!

 I'll leave you with a reminder to check out our Twitter and Facebook pages and that you can support us by visiting our store and buying something.

THE INFINITES Strip 7

Previous Next

And here we go; the latest Infinites. Nesshead has been working on this pretty much constantly the last few days, in fact I'm pretty sure he hasn't even slept yet. This strip was due last week, but due to a hardware fault Nesshead found himself without his computer, so Jim stepped in with the strip that was due in today. There should be another Infinites next week as the strips need to both be in a certain place so that they're ready for their crossover.

A crossover? Yes, we're going to attempt a crossover of the strips. Now don't worry if you only tend to read one of the strips (although why you would is beyond me, their both a lot of fun) they've been written so that they read just as well separately as they do as a whole. I hope you're taking notes Marvel and DC.

As for the strip itself; I'll apologise now for the lack of punchline, but I needed to progress the story in this one and that meant introducing the five shadows in this particular strip. Who are they? Well I'd like to hear your guesses, I'll neither confirm nor deny until next week, but I'm really looking forward to seeing these guys in the strip. 

In case you're wondering the Valeyard just referred to 'Trial of a Time Lord'. It can be argued that it was the Valeyard's interactions with the 6th Doctor that cemented his place in the Doctor's timeline. Until the trial he was merely a possibility, one of many. It's an argument that I'm certainly convinced by and it would seem that the current production team on New Who feel the same way. I wonder if Michael Jayston could be convinced to come back..?

Anyway, I should get going. I'll leave you, as always, with links to our Facebook and Twitter pages. I'l also remind you of the 'Donate' button at the side of the strip. If you fancy donating to Nesshead's repair costs then click and leave a message in the notes. The same goes for myself, Jim and 2nd Fade. There's always items and costs that go towards putting this strip together.

Anyway, enough hinting. See you all next week.

IN PRINT EXTRA... 7

Spoilers.

Maybe, perhaps, could be.

Probably not though.

There is a strip here, it's just underneath this text to give you guys a chance to decide if you want to risk being spoiled. In my opinion we've presented nothing but fan speculation and as such the strip is a perfectly safe read. But it wouldn't be the first time we've managed to hit the nail on the head completely by accident as a community.

Let's just say that it involves the casting of the Anniversary episode. Someone not unfamiliar to being cast in genre media. Someone who may, or may not, be dressed in some familiar clothes and a very familiar coat.

Anyway, the strip is just underneath. Make your mind up and I'll talk to you again in a moment...

                                           First Previous Next Latest

And there you have it; possibly the first bit of fan art of John Hurt as the new 9th Doctor. Or 8 and a half Doctor. Or something like that.

I personally think that Jim has knocked this one out of the park. In fact I have the initial sketch he did for this strip and if I ever get my own office then it'll be getting hung up there. It'd be a hell of a shame if John Hurt wasn't the Doctor now.

Maybe we'll find out tonight if he is. Who knows? Apart from the handful of Americans who recieved an advance copy of the DVD, I've kept out of their way though. I'll find out once my kids have gone to bed, much like I did for 'Nightmare in Silver'. Which was fun, wasn't it? I certainly enjoyed it. The last time Neil Gaiman wrote for the Doctor we got the wonderful 'The Doctor's Wife' which spawned this Extra for us and later introduced the character of Mrs T into or strip. 2nd Fade is currently working on our second Gaiman themed strip and I look forward to showing it off.

In the mean time I plan to go back to bed and try ignoring the rest of the world until I can commandeer the living room telly for myself.

How hard could that possibly be?

We can be disturbed through Facebook and Twitter as always.

THE INFINITES Strip 6

Previous Next

And there we have it; as far as In Print is concerned the Dream Lord IS the Valeyard's younger self. I do enjoy the 'unregenerate' feature of Doctor Who's Death Star, I wonder if that could be a bigger plot point down the line. Hmmm.

It's never been explicitly stated on screen, but they really have to be the same person. Apart from having exactly the same origin they also teleport in EXACTLY the same way. Don't believe me? Go and watch 'The Ultimate Foe' and then re-watch 'Amy's Choice'. Exact same guy. But then there is a lot of that in the In Print Verse. It's almost like there's a theme developing....

I also love how the Valeyard seems to have stuck as a name for this Doctor. The Valeyard was merely the identity/role he assumed for 'Trial of a Time Lord', he's still the Doctor.

We've got a couple of running jokes rearing their heads this week. We've already covered the mini Death Star, but we also have the fact that the Cushing Doctor always referred to himself as 'Doctor Who' has always amused me and it strikes me that the other Doctors would take exception to that.

I rather enjoyed last week's Who, although I was rather concerned that Mr Sweet was going to be the Candy Man. That would have been a little awkward. I seriously can't wait for tonight's episode. Neil Gaiman and Cybermen? You just know this is going to be good.

We have a surprise cameo next week. It's a brand new 'In Print Extra' strip featuring a star of the 50th Anniversary special and a potential spoiler. We're still working out how to bring this to you without spoiling anyone. We've got seven days, we'll be fine.

The Special Weapons Dalek has become something of a regular in the strip, I'm sure his appearances here have contributed to this new figure of him being released.

Fairly sure.

See you all then. Keep an eye on our Facebook and Twitter pages, you never know what might crop up.

THE INFINITES Strip 5

Previous  Next

The Valeyard is canon you know, I'm not just making that up. The evidence is rather overwhelming; he appeared on the show itself after all. Indeed given that he was in every episode of Series 23 he's actually clocked up more screen appearances than Christopher Eccleston and Paul McGann put together. I've discussed this in more detail over at Kasterborous if you're interested.

Nesshead has actually met Michael Jayston, the man behind the robes, recently. Nesshead actually showed him a copy of this strip and the Valeyard himself pronounced it "Excellent". You have no idea how happy this has made us here at In Print Hall.

We've seen behind door 11 before during 'the Duel of the Time Lords' arc and I have to confess I enjoy the idea of The Valeyard hiding in plain site within the Doctor's own Post Temporal Psycho Construct. He sits so neatly between canon and non-canon that he just had to be The Infinite's contact within the Post Temporal Psycho Construct. He even has a Big Finish story al to himself, 'He Jests at Scars' is part of a wonderful little range called 'Doctor Who: Unbound'. Go and get a copy if you haven't heard it already, there's a link at the bottom of the page.

The Doctor returns tonight and I personally can't wait. They still insist on calling it Series 7b, but it's 8. I'm starting to get used to the idea that we're only getting half a series and a special in the 50th Yeat of the Doctor. Not happy about it, but getting used to it.

Our Twitter or Facebook accounts remain open, but please remember that I have three kids these days so the chance of watching it live are greatly diminished.....

THE INFINITES Strip 2

Previous Next

                     



Emergency broadcast!!

Jim here this week instead of Alasdair... Alasdair's quite busy this weekend but I'm sure he'll let you all know more about that next week.

Second edition of the Infinites today from our very own Ness-Head... He's busy too this week hanging around the stars at Gallifrey One 2013. I've even heard news that he showed the Valeyard himself - Michael Jayston, this very comic strip!
Only a couple more weeks before the regular In Print starts again, and believe me we've got a fun packed year ahead of us... Plenty of twists and turns so make sure you tune in every Saturday because you wont want to miss what we have in store for you all.

As usual big thanks to everyone involved with In Print - Alasdair Shaw, 2ND FADE, Ness Head, Tone Cartoons, Paul Salvi, Michael David Key and Jesse Lax - you're all stars in your own right. And everyone that helps pushing In Print out - The Daily Dalek (also by Tone Cartoons), The Doctor & the Tardis by Craig Hurle, Inferno Fiction.. We wouldn't reach such a great readership without you guys... Thank you!

Anyway, enough of me and remember you can catch us on Twitter and on our Facebook page. We'll be back for more mayhem next week!

THE INFINITY DOCTORS - Strip 8 Jesse Lax

                                                             Previous Next

And that concludes 'The Infinity Doctors'.

It's not the end of the story though, not by any means. In fact if you've been paying attention to these blog posts then you'll know that we've been looking for an artist to take over from Jesse.

And we found one. That's his version of the Web of Caves Doctor just to the left. We're over the moon to be adding Nesshead to our team of artists. We asked Nesshead to tell us a little about himself.

"I'm an artist with a love for cartooning & Doctor Who. I'm from Pacoima, CA."

So these you have it. Nesshead has already submitted his first strip, in fact it was his audition for 'The Infinity Doctors'. We'll be posting that in the very near future.

But it won't be 'The Infinity Doctors'. Not quite. We're re-branding the strip as 'The Infinites'. Partly because we'll be focusing on just where they come from now that we now why they're here, but mostly because I was starting to get nervous when people were referring to "The Infinity Doctors by Alasdair Shaw". 'The Infinity Doctors' is of course by Lance Parkin, we were merely borrowing the title as the premise for the strip came from Jesse and myself discussing the identity of the Infinity Doctor. As the strip seems to have acquired an ongoing status I felt it was wise to rename it to avoid confusion.

And lawsuits.

But that isn't the only news today regarding new artists and strips.

Another strip has been percolating at the back of my mind for the last couple of years and I was hopeful that I might find an artist to help bring it to life amongst the artists submitting.

Then Tone Cartoons, of The Daily Dalek, submitted.

Not just a strip (which we'll be posting at a later date), but head shots of ALL the Doctors, not just the infinity ones. Then just when I thought he'd gone that extra mile he went further, he submitted a video using his head shots. Since then he's gone on to modify and update the video to reflect the new strip we're now working on.

It's called 'The Wrong Doctor' and we'll be releasing more information on it over the current months. In the meantime you can find the trailer for it here.

Those of you that know me from Gallifrey Base may find that title familiar and if you do some digging you may encounter some clues about the premise as well as proof that it's been on my mind for the last couple of years.

But in the meantime let's give Nesshead and Tone Cartoons a warm welcome to the In Print team!

And once you've done that you can go and like and follow us on Twitter and Facebook if you haven't already.

THE INFINITY DOCTORS - Strip 6 Jesse Lax

                                                    
Previous Next

And the Infinity Doctors Spin off/Side strip continues.

Have you all been enjoying it? I ask mostly because Jesse will finishing up drawing it in the very near future so that he can get back to illustrating our other joint project; Dangling Threads.

I find myself somewhat torn; on one hand I can't wait to get more of the Threads out there, but on the other I had more plans for the Infinity Doctors before finishing up the run.

So.............

Are there any budding web artists out there that fancy picking up from where Jesse is about to finish off? If so then you should contact us immediately through inprint@doctor.com. If you know someone who you think would be perfect then throw this page their way.

There are about 20 strips stretching over the course of next year and finishing up around the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who.

So, there you have it. Your very own chance to become part of the In Print strip.

Providing you can draw legs of course.

Jim will be drawing next weeks strip as normal, for those of you that were worried about that. I know I worry about it most weeks.

On a completely different note; wasn't 'Dinosaurs on a Spaceship' fun? Jim pointed out that there hasn't really been a purely fun episode since the RTD era, I had to check but he's right. As much as I enjoy watching the long game that Mr Moffat is playing it was nice to sit down and enjoy the ride.

As usual keep an eye on our Twitter and Facebook feeds and we'll see you all again next week.

THE INFINITY DOCTORS - Strip 5 JESSE LAX

Previous  Next

Well that worked out nicely timing wise.

Most of the strips you read on here were written months ago and when I wrote this one there wasn't even the slightest hint that Richard E Grant was about to be cast in New Who.

Those of you wondering why Rowan Atkinson regenerated into another version of Richard E Grant haven't watched Curse of Fatal Death yet, have you? You really should, it makes these strips a lot funnier.

Ok, it makes them make a bit more sense.


Paul Hanley has released another installment of The Doctor and I. You should have a read as we seem to share some guest stars, although I think Paul may a good bit more ambitious then us in regards alternative Doctors.

Jim didn't meet Katy Manning last week. Mostly because it's today she's signing at Forbidden Planet. So those of you autograph hunting today should keep their eyes open as they might be able to get a signature off of Jim as well.


As usual you can keep up with us on Twitter and Facebook. See you all next week.

THE INFINITY DOCTORS - Strip 3 JESSE LAX

                                                                                                                       

                                                             Previous Next

  Ok, be honest; how many of you thought the Valeyard's first appearance in Paul's Guest Print was a throw away joke?

Oh he's here alright and he'll be appearing in the main strip further down the road. The Shalka Doctor is still around as well. I'm slowly, but surely, filling the strip up with my very favourite Doctors.

This is the same version of the Valeyard that writes for Kasterborous. I've written an article about our history with that website.

Speaking of personal selections of Doctors you should go and read 'The Doctor and I' by Paul Hanley and Shawn Van Briesen. The scripts are literally teaming with out of continuity references and the art is to die for. It's still a work in progress, but their previous collaboration is complete and available. 'Fade Away' is quite possibly the best Brig story I've ever encountered and it deserves to be in continuity. Go and read it now.

Next week sees the return of the main strip and marks our 50th strip (including guest slots). Yay us!                                              

During the week Jim received a tweet from Miss Jo Grant herself; Katy Manning. It would appear she was quite taken by her Jim's rendition of her. I suspect it may have been something of a high point for him and well deserved to boot.

As usual you can follow us on Twitter and Facebook




http://www.facebook.com/inprintcomic