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UPDATED: I’d say I like to keep personal news out of these posts for the most part. But if you’ve read anything I’ve ever written on here, you know that’s a crock and know more about my life than I should probably reveal to strangers on the internet. Whatever. I do, however, have some personal/professional news that’s both exciting and, I hope, relevant to your interests. 

'Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor' Issue #8 Review

This week brought us all kinds of Doctor Who action, at least as far as the pages of comic books are concerned. We saw The Eleventh Doctor, an uneven narrative experience to be sure, deliver what might be the strongest issue in its run, or at least a nice piece of the best arc they’ve explored thus far. Now Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, which has been the high point of the continuing titles published by Titan Comics, drop another new issue, number eight.

'Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor' Issue #5 Delivers Fast-Paced Adventure And Death Cults

While we won’t likely see new episodes of Doctor Who on TV until much later this year, Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth incarnation of the venerable Time Lord shows no signs of slowing down on the pages of Titan Comic’s Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor. In fact, the latest issue, #5 in the continuing run, delivers the fastest paced adventure we’ve see yet from this title.

'Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor' Issue #7 Weeps With The Angels

The last issue of Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, introduced a new creative team and kicked off the most grim, desolate of these new adventures of David Tennant’s version of the venerable Time Lord. Now they’re back with Issue #7, “The Weeping Angels of Mons.” Trapped on the front lines of World War I, and if things weren’t bad enough, they go from bad to worse as one of the Doctor’s most sinister foes has tagged along for a ride.

'Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor' Issue #4 Is Full Of Death Cults, Murder, And Mystery

The show may be between seasons at the present time, but Titan Comics is certainly churning out Doctor Who comics like nobody’s business. Now they’re back with the continuing adventures of The Twelfth Doctor, and issue number 4 finds the Doctor and Clara right where we left them, in two drastically different time periods, both dealing with incarnations of the same ancient evil.

'Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor' Issue #7 Brings The Eternal Dogfight To Earth

Titan Comic’s Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor has been all over the place quality wise. Every time it takes a step in the right direction, the next issue takes two back, or at least diagonally. In fact, the last issue, the sixth in the run, was literally a story told backwards, from end to beginning, in a gimmick that was just cheap and aggravating—it begins with the death of a key character, only pull an, “Oh, he’s not really dead” move that leaves a bad taste.

'Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor' Issue #6 Goes Dark And Grim

Of the three continuing Doctor Who titles Titan Comics currently has running, The Tenth Doctor has easily been the best of the bunch. The latest, Issue #6, ushers in significant changes, however. Not only does it kick off a whole new story arc, it brings an entirely different creative team to the table. Writer Robbie Morrison and artist Daniel Indro replace Nick Abadzis and his cohorts, and put their own stamp on David Tennant’s Time Lord. While there is definitely a different mood and tone going on here, they’re still playing the long game, letting the narrative arc unfold and the characters develop over multiple installments, and Issue #6 reads like what it is, the first chapter in a larger story.

'Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor' Issue #3 Delivers A Blast From The Past

Of the various continuing Doctor Who titles that Titan Comics has going right now, The Twelfth Doctor is something of an anomaly. The others, the Tenth, Eleventh, and, soon, the Ninth Doctors, are all gone and the comics serve as a way for fans to continue to go on adventures with their favorite Time Lords. But Peter Capaldi’s Doctor is still going strong, and will be for some time now that we know both Capaldi and Jenna Louise Coleman will be back for season 9 of the long running sci-fi series. There’s no nostalgia to trade on here, and I won’t say it’s unnecessary, but as we look at issue #3, “The Swords of Kali,” it has a distinctly different feel than the others.

'Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor' Issue #6 Goes Backwards In Every Possible Way

If you read the latest installment of Titan Comics’ Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, issue #6, and get seriously annoyed with the narrative storytelling gimmick it employs, you are not the only one. See, the story is told backwards, beginning with the end and moving through time in reverse. It gets really, really irritating.

'Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor' #5 Takes On Universal Art

Of the three Doctor Who titles Titan Comics currently has going, The Tenth Doctor continues to show that it is far and away the best of the bunch. Issue #5, the conclusion of the two-part “Arts in Space” arc, further illustrates that this incarnation of the Time Lord, along with his travelling companion Gabby Gonzales, are easily the most relatable, connected duo running around the comic book pages, while also showing that writer Nick Abadzis isn’t afraid to take his time in letting a story or thread unfold and evolve.

'Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor' #5 Takes A Step In The Wrong Direction

Right now we’re in that awkward place where we try to kill time between the end of Doctor Who season 8 and the annual Christmas special (how can you not be excited at the prospect of Nick Frost playing Santa Claus? That’s going to rule so hard). Lucky for you, we have the continuing adventures of the Doctor on the pages of the funny books to keep us occupied. This time, the Eleventh Doctor is back for the fifth issue of his title, and this bubbly installment bears the moniker “The Sound of my Voice.”

'Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor' #2 Wakes Up A Fiery Old Foe

We now know that Peter Capaldi will be back to front Doctor Who for at least season 9 of the long running BBC sci-fi adventure series, but his run on the pages of the funny books is just getting started. I admittedly haven’t caught up with his tenure on the show, but from the general feed back form Whovian friends out there, it sounds like it started out strong, but had some missteps along the way as the episodes progressed. But now that season 8 is in the books, and if you need to kill some time before the Christmas special (which stars Nick Frost as Santa), he’s back for his second issue.

'Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor' #4 Give The TARDIS A Whole New Definition

Of the three continuing Doctor Who titles that Titan Comics currently has going—one each for Doctor Ten, Eleven, and Twelve, with Nine reportedly on the way—it’s Ten that is the real standout. Twelve is more dour and serious, like Peter Capaldi’s version, and Eleven, much like Matt Smith’s portrayal, is super bouncy and cartoony, and though it’s improving each issue, it has a ways to go. Ten, however, uses a different narrative approach than the others, and the writing his more introspective, which gives you more of an emotional connection to the players. And this continues in Issue #4.

'Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor' #4 Adds Much Needed Weight And Substance

It took a couple of issues to really find a groove, but Titan Comics’ Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor has found a nice groove over the two installments of the continuing adventures of Matt Smith’s incarnation of the venerable Time Lord and his new companion, former library assistant Alice Obiefune. Each new book still functions very much like a standalone episode, but in issue #4, writer Al Ewing has struck a solid balance between that and the larger narrative arc that gives these tales a more substantial texture.

Comic Review: 'Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor' Issue #1

As Doctors Ten and Eleven continue to live on in the pages of new comic books, one series for each Time Lord, Peter Capaldi’s twelfth incarnation has been bringing layer of dark grittiness to the airwaves every week for the last few months. But that’s not enough for him, oh  no, the newest Man from Gallifrey is also getting his very own monthly title from Titan Comics. Clara is along for the ride, too, though she’s still having some issues coming to terms with the Doctor’s new face, and personality. It’s also getting increasingly difficult to juggle her teaching duties with adventures through space and time—she’s one of the cool teachers, even though the kids call her Ms. Oddwald or Ms. Oddbod.

Book Review: 'Fringe: Sins Of The Father' Just Makes You Miss The Long Gone Series

Fringe is gone, that’s just a hard fact of life that I’m going to have to accept. Luckily, I’ve had a couple of years to get used to this, which is more than enough time to marathon the entire series, a couple of times, just in case you’re wondering. And if you’re also a fan, it’s good to resign yourself to this, because these Fringe novelizations—they’re really tie in novels, full of cursory stories from the lives of the main characters—just aren’t cutting it.

'Gone Girl' Movie Review: Low Trash As High Art

When David Fincher’s “Gone Girl” starts out, Ben Affleck’s Nick Dunne is just a normal guy, taking out the trash on what looks like just another normal morning. But this day is anything but normal. First, it’s his fifth wedding anniversary, and you know from word one that it’s not a happy marriage. It’s also the day that his wife, Amy (Rosamund Pike), goes missing and Nick becomes the most notorious man in the media-hungry world. What follows is part mystery, part thriller, and part razor sharp indictment of our news-as-entertainment society, all wrapped up with constantly shifting ground and a wicked sense of humor you don’t see coming.

Comic Review: 'Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Issue #3'

By now we’re well into the reign of Time Lord number twelve on Doctor Who, played with swagger and an edge of dickishness by Peter Capaldi. Still, there are likely some, possibly many, of you out there who miss the human cartoon that was Matt Smith’s eleventh incarnation of the character. But fear not, that version of the long-lived, beloved character is still alive and well, albeit in a drastically different form, that of comic books. It does actually seem like a fitting medium for a rendering of Smith, and the newly minted continuing series is back with issue #3, “What He Wants…” and it has what you need.

'The Art Of Jim Burns: Hyperluminal' Book Review

Even if the name Jim Burns doesn’t immediately ring any bells, odds are that, as an avid consumer of science fiction over the previous decades, you’ve encountered more of his art than you know. He has worked on movies, games, and books for longer than many of us have been alive, and his shelves at home are speckled with trophies that include multiple Hugo Awards and numerous British Science Fiction Awards, among others. His gorgeous new book, The Art of Jim Burns: Hyperluminal is scheduled to hit bookstores (both brick and mortar as well as digital) at the end of this month and collects may of his paintings and covers, both that you’ve seen and that you haven’t.

'Plague World' Book Review

Zombies are hard. As great as they can be—see Night of the Living Dead, Dawn of the Dead, and Wild Zero, among others, for movies, and the likes of World War Z for books—they’re also incredibly difficult to pull off with any originality or zest. For every title, book, movie, or comic, that hits, that really, truly delivers, there is a nearly endless list of those that completely miss the mark. One of these that never lands like it needs to is Dana Fredsti’s new undead novel Plague World.