Morbius

I'm not sure why 2022's Morbius got so much hate. The film isn't very long, clocking in at about 1 hour and 40 minutes. An origin story, it doesn't drag things out too badly. The plot is pretty cut and dry.  Jared Leto's acting is way better than his Joker from Suicide Squad. Matt Smith is fantastic. The visual effects are pretty good. With exception of just 1 fight scene, the dreaded slo-mo effects are virtually non-existent in the movie. In fact, it's a pretty fast paced action horror movie that seems more on par to star Wesley Snipe's hybrid vampire hunter, Blade than being a Sony Pictures film set in the Spidey-verse. 

So why am I not singing it's praises? Mainly, because I was so bored with this movie.

I DVR'd Morbius last Thanksgiving. I had passed on going to see it in theaters because of how much hate the movie was getting in the reviews as well as my social media feeds. Going to the movies has gotten so expensive, if it's not something I'm thrilled to watch, I'm not going to suggest my godson and I go out to see it. I tried watching it during the holiday break. Then again at Christmas until finally finishing it yesterday. I just couldn't get into it.

The story of Morbius is fairly simple. Guy with a rare and crippling blood disorder becomes a doctor in hopes of curing himself. Using vampire bat DNA, Dr. Michael Morbius develops a cure. Only, it turns him into a living vampire. One who must consume blood in order to live; with all of the powers and none of the weaknesses of the traditional vampire. 

It all sounds a lot like the story of the Batman nemesis Man-Bat. It also sounds very similar to the origin story of another Spider-Man villain, the Lizard, who's work with iguana DNA in hopes of restoring his missing arm instead transforms the scientist into a rampaging reptile! While all 3 of these characters are certainly tragic figures, what separates Morbius from the others is that as far as I know, he's never been cured of his secondary affliction. To this day, Morbius struggles with the endless blood lust that boils inside of him, preventing him from becoming full vampire. 

If I had my choice to be able to affordably own the first comic book appearance of the Lizard, Man-Bat or Morbius, I'd choose Morbius every time. His role in the Legion of Monsters and Midnight Sons has made him such a bad ass character. Plus, he's got such a freaking awesome appearance and super cool looking costume design by legendary Gil Kane. For some reason, that level of excitement just didn't transfer very well onto the screen for me.

There's 2 extra scenes. I had to search for them on YouTube as the channel I recorded the movie from omitted them. Those 2 scenes piqued my interest into the potential of a Secret Six movie finally coming to fruition. However, I'm starting to think that if you can't use your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man in the film, there's really no point for these movies. A good villain can sell tickets. But if he doesn't have a greater hero to battle, it won't be entertaining. 

In other words, despite being a fan favorite character, not every Marvel based friend or foe deserves their own movie. Maybe it's time for Sony to let Spider-Man remain at the House of Mouse along with all his amazing friends...

Rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

Countdown to New Who: Advent 2016: Day 4

   Music plays a very large part in both Doctor Who and Christmas. So why not combine the two? For today's advent gift, I present to you Strax the Sontaran singing Songtaran Carols (with special appearance by the 11th Doctor.

    Enjoy...

Doctor Who #14 (2011-2012)

Variant Cover C, an example of the artist's
abstract style. Here, the Doctor looks like
Ebeneezer Scrooge instead of Matt Smith. 

    Nazis... Poisonous fog... assassination plots...Silurians... Fezzes! It's an adventure that could only star the Eleventh Doctor and his companions Amy and Rory.
    The second chapter of 'As Time Goes By' was as good if not better than chapter 1, but that artwork is lousy. It looks hardly anything like Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, or Arthur Darvill. The Silurians however, actually look pretty sweet in the Picasso abstract fashion. But that's the only plus to it. Weird how the artwork of Matthew 'Dow' Smith can have both pluses and minuses in the same frame...

  Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who (2011-2012) #6

 The Doctor, Amy, and Rory are looking for a chance to unwind. They set the TARDIS to a pleasure station that sits atop a temporal rift in the farthest reaches of space. Here, multiple timelines throughout history can play out within a matter of feet from each other. The Doctor has been here many times before and has had nothing but great memories of the place.

   But that’s all about to change when a badly damaged Sontaran ship approaches the space station in need of repairs. Leaking a special type of plasma fuel, The Doctor fears that if the Sontaran craft touches the temporal rift all of existence could be wiped out for light years around in a massive explosion.

   Well, the Doctor was right about the explosion. But instead of becoming one with the universe, the Timelord and his companions find themselves separated throughout the many time zones of the space station, each facing menacing problems of their own; such as rampaging dinosaur robots, an old west lynch mob, or Nazi Sontarins?!

   This opening chapter looks to be a fun Doctor Who adventure. The writing by 2000 A.D.’s Tony Lee captures the Doctor, Amy, and Rory very well. The Sontarans too! But the art is really strange.

   Artist Matthew Dow Smith, who does a fantastic job on many Mike Mignola titles such as BPRD, just isn’t a Doctor Who artist. On the Mignola titles, Smith’s job is to replicate the artwork of Mignola from the Hellboy books from which BPRD have spun-off. But Doctor Who is an entirely different animal and shouldn’t be drawn like Hellboy unless the two franchises were going to meet. (Oh wow! A Hellboy/ Doctor Who crossover! Put me down for a full series run of that please!)

    Great premise. Excellent writing. Art not meant for a Timelord… But still, when you boil it all down it’s worthy of some fish fingers and custard.

   Worth Consuming

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who: Hunters of the Burning Stone (Doctor Who Graphic Novels Volume 17)

  Hunters of the Burning Stone collects a trio of comics from Doctor Who Magazine starring the Eleventh Doctor. 

   The first story has the Doctor, Amy, and Rory on a tour of the Doctor's 1,000 Favorite Places To Visit. He means to take the Ponds to modern day Prague but winds up behind the Iron Curtain prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain. Things couldn't a more dangerous turn as Rory ends up kidnapped by Soviet agents and Doctor reveals that history could be altered as the fall of the Berlin Wall isn't a fixed point in time.

   Then take a look at a holiday adventure from Amy and Rory's childhood. It's a fun adventure filled with the dastardly Krampus, some evil elves, and a mysterious schoolgirl named Mels! Don't skip the last page of this story it is is such a beautiful goodbye to the Ponds after the events of 'The Angels Take Manhattan.'

   Lastly, the Doctor is reunited with his very first companions, schoolteachers Ian and Barbara. It's DWM's take on the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who and it was a surprise filled journey full of Easter Eggs, cameos, and much more. 

   These are the rarest of the Doctor Who comics to find. Published from the British publisher Panini Press, unless you find a comic book store willing to carry these imports, you have to either go on Amazon and hope the price is right or you get lucky like I did and find it at a used book store for a decent price. 

   Though all three of these stories are stand alone reads, they all continue a storyline that starts in the companion piece The Chains of Olympus. I do feel like maybe I should have waited until I found that book and read that one first- but it's British Who comics and like a kid at Christmas, I couldn't wait to tear into this this. I was a bit lost at times but this was worth it!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who: Free Comic Book Day 2015 (Family Comic Friday)

This week's Family Comic Friday focuses on the classic British sci-fi series, Doctor Who. Now, you might be saying 'Wait a minute Madman, Doctor Who isn't for kids!" And you'd be wrong! When the show first aired in November 1963, not only was the show aimed at kids- it was an educational series to boot. One week, the Doctor would fight crazy aliens, the next he'd take his little blue box, the TARDIS, somewhere back in time and meet cavemen or Marco Polo. Eventually, the aliens and monsters episodes would prove to be more popular and the time travelling adventures would be phased out completely, unless the Doctor went back in time to meet someone like Shakespeare and battle some aliens posing as the three witches from Macbeth.

    Though Doctor Who is a little scary and a little violent, at it's very heart, this is a kids show. I started watching about 1981-82. This was when the first Peter Davison (The Fifth Doctor- My Doctor!) episodes as the Doctor were airing on PBS in America. I was 4 or 5 and I'd come home from Kindergarten and plop myself right in front on the tube and watch me some Doctor Who. I loved it!

   The series went away from American airwaves about 1986 and stopped being made altogether in 1988-89 in Britain. Years of waiting and rumors of the Doctor's return meant having to get your Who fixes by either watching old episodes on VHS or finding a novelization of his new adventures. We got a small glimmer of hope with a 1996 TV movie on FOX, no less. But it was another 9 years before the TARDIS would rematerialize on the airwaves. 

   From when Christopher Eccleston's Ninth Doctor advised his future companion Rose and us to "Run!" in 2005, three other actors have assumed the role. David Tennant's Tenth Doctor is by some considered the best Doctor of all-time. I would have to agree (though I am very fond of the Fifth Doctor.) Tennant's successor, Matt Smith is my wife's favorite and really the incarnation that helped make the series become more mainstream and more universally kid friendly. Currently, we are at Doctor #12, played by elder statesman, Peter Capaldi. His Doctor is a little more obtuse, grouchy, and very original series Doctor Who, but the kids and established fans love him anyway!

    If you want to catch up on any of the new Doctors in comics, Titan Comics is where it's at. Concurrently, they run 3 different Doctor Who series containing all-new adventures of the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelveth Doctor. At this year's Free Comic Book Day, Titan offered a book that featured 3 short stories starring the Tennant, Smith, and Capaldi Doctors. Let's take a look at them individually:

   The first story starred the Capaldi Timelord as he and his companion Clara travel to a planet that's seen some odd storms brewing. When the Doctor discovers that the lightning in the storms is alive, he must rescue the creature before it overloads the power core of the planet's research station. The art was very good with great renderings of the Doctor and Clara. But, the story jumps around a little as if the script was deemed too long and edited for time. Only, those cuts removed vital information to making this a very coherent tale.

   Next up is Matt Smith's Doctor as he and his companions travel to London, 2015, where all of the residents are going ga-ga for Free Comic Book Day. The Doctor uncovers an alien plot in which the menace is using his comic to control the London populace. This was a very funny story. The only issue here was that the Doctor travels with 3 all-new companions and this short tale doesn't give very much time for the reader to adequately become familiar with them all.

    Lastly, we have the Tenth Doctor and his new companion Gabby. It's laundry day in the TARDIS and when the Doctor accidently leaves his handy sonic screwdriver in his coat pocket, it turns the dirt on his clothes into a rampaging gunk monster. The best story of the book- it had fun, adventure, and most of all hearts (as Timelords have 2 of them compared to humans who only have the one.)

    This Free Comic Book Day offering has me excited to start diving into these series; especially the Smith and Tennant books. One very awesome teaser at the end of the book was that Titan is to start publishing miniseries based on the 10 other versions of the Doctor with Eccleston's incarnation being first up.

    Another cool announcement (and the reason I choose this book for today's Family Comic Friday selection) is on August 15th (2 weeks from tomorrow), Titan will be hosting the second annual Doctor Who Comics Day at various comic book shops and libraries around the globe in celebration of the release of the first Titan Doctor Who Crossover event. Be sure to check the Doctor Who Comics Day page for more details. And then check with your local comics retailer or library to see if they are participating in this event. Hopefully, they are and you can pick up some free goodies, meet some fellow Whovians (fans of Doctor Who- DON'T LET ANYONE TELL YOU IT'S CALLED 'DWEEKS' AS THAT'S COMPLETELY FALSE!), and have to some fun!

   So, what are you waiting for- check out these fantastic comics today and become the newest companion to the Doctor!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating:  12th Doctor tale: 8 out of 10 stars.
               11th Doctor adventure: 9 out of 10 stars.
               10th Doctor story: 10 out of 10 stars.
    AVG Rating: 9 out 10 stars.

Doctor Who #4 (2011-2012)

Original Cover to Issue #4.

  Thanks to Amy's meddling, the timeline has been changed. Now, Jack the Ripper's reign of terror is no longer limited to 5 women. That means that no woman in Whitechapel is safe- including Mrs. Pond! Now the Doctor and Rory race against time and space to prevent the feisty Scottish redhead from becoming victim #6.

   A fast-paced conclusion to the "Rippers Curse" that I found lacking slightly in the art department.  There are at least 2 characters that I kept getting confused because they look so similar. I had to go back several times just to keep these two straight.

   Now for the plus side- the writing finished strong. With lots of great twists and turns, I was on the edge of my seat. Well, I would have been had I not been lying in bed when I read this. But you get my point.

    One interesting turn in this story was how much of a bad a$$ Rory was. My wife hates him. She thinks he ruined Doctor Who by marrying Amy. I think he added a quirky dynamic to the show. Either way you look at the character, Rory often is more of a buffoon than an action hero. While he's still socially awkward in ways, he shows real leadership when his beloved Amy is in mortal peril.

    Bravo!

  This series just keeps getting better and better in terms of plotting and the script. Hopefully, the art will rebound in the new storyline next issue.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who #3 (2011-2012)

Original Cover to issue #3.

   

   Chapter two of 'The Rippers Curse' sees the Doctor in handcuffs after he is mistaken for being Saucy Jack. Alarmed by another murder, Amy Pond decides to warn the final victim of her impending doom and winds up changing history. Now the future is no longer set in stone and the real killer's crime spree now might not stop at just 5.

   Another great issue by IDW. The art is very good, but the real reason for reading this book is the excellent storytelling. One of the things that make the new Doctor Who TV series so good are the time travel episodes, particularly when the Doctor is bound by the laws of physics to not change the timeline. Somehow, he finds a way to tweak it just a little bit. But this time around, he's affected by the meddling of one of his companions. I love the twist in this story!

   A great read that is very much Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who #2 (2011-2012)

Photo Cover to Issue #2

  

I hoard Doctor Who stuff, but it's not what you think. I grew up watching classic Doctor Who on PBS as a kid and was heartbroken when it went away. Then in 1996, I was elated to the thought of Fox bringing the show back with the Doctor Who movie. But that went nowhere. Then in 2005, my years of waiting were over as a new series was finally realized and has been going strong ever since.

   So for me, Doctor Who anything is a rare commodity. I now collect the books, comics, and DVDs. (Shirts too but I wear them all the time!) When I buy new Who, I hold on to it until I need another Timelord fix. Like an addict without their drug of choice, I like Jones for some Doctor Who often. When the show is on during it's new run on BBC America, I don't use any of my Doctor Who materials I amass, except for the shirts (I wear the heck out of those!) That way when it's in between seasons I have something new to look forward to.
   
Well, it's been about 3 weeks since the 2014 Christmas Special and I need my Doctor quick. The prescription this time around is some unread issues of IDW Publishing's first series to star the Eleventh Doctor played by Matt Smith.

    This 2011 issue has the Doctor, Rory, and Amy tackling a topic I am surprised has never been addressed in the 51-plus year history of Doctor Who: Jack The Ripper. When the trio stumbles upon the bodies of one of The Ripper's victims, the Doctor notices an unusual amount of radiation at the crime scene. Thus Britains most notorious murderer was, in fact, an alien from the future!

    Naturally, Amy wants to save the rest of the victims before it's too late. However, this is a fixed point in time and the Doctor must prevent Amy from changing history least she accidently cause the next Hitler to be born or worse- the universe could cease to exist!

  This opening chapter was very well written. The staff at IDW captured the colloquialisms of the characters quite well. It was funny and exciting. The painted art by Horacio Domingues was very good. But I really liked the art in the first issue of this series. There's nothing wrong with the art in this book. The renditions are done quite well. I just prefer the previous story's artwork a little more than this one.
A great issue to read snuggled up on a cold night wearing striped pajamas and a Doctor Who t-shirt (Did I mention I like to wear those a lot?)
 
   Worth Consuming

    Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time, Volume 3

Well it took upwards of a year, but I finally have completed the epic Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time 50^th Anniversary miniseries by IDW. It was so very much worth the wait. In this volume, the identity of who was kidnapping the Doctor’s companions from the time stream is finally revealed. I wouldn’t in a million years have guessed who it was. I won’t reveal who, but I’ll give you a hint: this modern era companion is one that Whovians often refused to talk about. (Need more clues, go to the Doctor Who Hub on Facebook and looks for the companion we “don’t talk about.”)

Anyway, the art was fantastic and I was glad to finally read issue 12 after getting some top secret hints from that issue’s artist, Kelly Yates. Plus, in that issue, all 11 Doctors converge with just about every companion imaginable to defeat this top secret villain and his even more super-secret partner. Sorry, John Hurt fans, there’s no War Doctor in this book!

This was a fantastic finish to a wonderful series that had a marvelous mystery to unravel. It’s truly a love letter to the world’s longest running science fiction television program and proof that IDW should be allowed to renew their licensing agreement with the BBC and continue producing more classic Who stories for generations to come!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars!

 

Doctor Who: Apollo 23 by Justin Richards

Sorry, you can't look inside...

In this full length novel, when an American Astronaut all of a sudden winds up in a London burger joint, it’s up to the Doctor and Amy Pond to discover just what happened. Their inquiry takes them to a secret base on the dark side of the Moon, where some very questionable mind altering experiments on prisoners is being conducted. Soon, the Doctor winds up like the astronaut, stranded in a desert in the American west, without his trusty TARDIS, which is still on the lunar surface. Now, a never used Apollo capsule is all that can aid the Doctor in order to not only restore order on the base, but to save Amy from a possible alien invasion.

I try very hard not to judge a book by its cover. However, I was heavily influenced by the cover of Apollo 23, thinking the astronaut might in some way offer some hints into the Impossible Astronaut who kills the Doctor at Lake Silencio in Season 6- or at least some further inside. But, that’s not the case here. I wonder if other readers were fooled by this premise too.

Regardless, it was a very good story. I loved it. I started reading it during last month’s Doctor Who reading event, but it took a little longer than expected to finish, because I tend to read novels slower than I do a comic book. (Plus, I misplaced this book for about 4 days before remembering I left it in my wife’s car.)

I love to read Doctor Who novels, and this is actually an original story, not a novelization of an episode. I thought the writer had a very fluid style that captured the Doctor and Amy on paper very well. Though, some of the action scenes and technical jargon just seemed a little far-fetched and un-survivable to me.  I am very interested to read more original offerings not only from this author but in the series as well.

Worth Consuming.

Rating 8 out of 10 stars.

Wibbly Wobbly Timey Whimey rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Happy 50th Anniversary, Doctor Who!

Doctor Who #1 (Matt Smith, 1st Series), (Doctor Who Month)

 

In this first Matt Smith “Doctor” Doctor Who issue, the TARDIS is experiencing a sort of computer virus after the Ponds decide to check their emails with the TARDIS phone. It’s pure craziness when just about every sort of SPAM imaginable attacks the crew of the Big Blue Box.

Not only is the story good, but the caricatures of the characters is spot on. Though, maybe some anatomy lessons are needed. For instance, in a panel where Amy points at Rory, her finger is so huge; I thought it was a guy’s digit. Plus, I wonder if this artist drew for MAD Magazine, because it looks some much like those movie parodies.

A very well executed issue that’s a very funny satire on society’s internet culture. I look forward to future issues.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Wibbly Wobbly Timey Whimey rating: 5 out of 10 stars.

The Cast of Doctor Who unauthorized, #1 (Doctor Who Month)

In this Blue Water Comics offering, we’re giving the biographies of 4 actors to portray the Doctor. Along with the first actor to ever play the Doctor, William Hartnell, this book introduces readers to Tom Baker (4^th), Paul McGann (8^th), and Matt Smith (11^th and current Doctor.)

It’s a very sweet tribute to the long running science fiction series that is just days away from celebrating 50 years! Each biography is great as is the art. I like that a different artist is used for each actor and the segue ways are beautifully done as a tribute to the Doctor.

TO my knowledge, there hasn’t been a second issue. That’s a shame, because there are 7 more actors who could use the bio treatment (8 if you could Peter Cushing’s movie tenure as Doctor Who, not The Doctor. I would love to read more. I’m not sure if Blue Water didn’t make more because this didn’t sell or if IDW or the BBC ordered a cease and desist. If anyone knows, please let me know.

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Timey Whimey, Wibbly Wobbly rating: 3 out of 10.