Winston would like a word with you

International Day and Date

I just wanted to share my thoughts on the announcement from DC Comics that all their comics will be going day and date digital starting in September with their relaunch. I haven’t seen any talk about the international comic market so I thought I’d weigh in.

(If you’re looking for more information about the DC comics relaunch go check out this definitive guide at iFanboy.)

I live in Australia and currently pay more than double the cover price of a single issue to get it the same day it’s released in the US. To put a monetary value on it, I bought two US$3.99 books a few weeks ago and it cost me just under $18. This extra cost covers shipping of the comics to Australia and then same day delivery from the airport to my LCS.

Assuming that digital comic prices are the same for international customers I can’t see myself buying another paper copy of a DC comic while I live in Australia.

My LCS is great and I’ll still buy my non-DC books from there but if more providers start doing day and date digital then I simply won’t be able to ignore the pricing disparity.

Coming Soon – Doctor Who Season 6

We’ve all seen it but I haven’t talked to any of you about it. Let the speculation begin!

The Doctor Who 2010 Christmas Special – Review

“A Christmas Carol” written by Steven Moffat

or

A Wibbly Wobbly, Timey Wimey Christmas

While engaging in some Centurion/Police Officer role-play on their honeymoon cruise in space, Amy and Rory’s ship runs afoul of a planet’s strange clouds. With the crew unable to stabilise the ship, the companions call upon the Doctor to save them. There’s a hitch, though, because the clouds are controlled by this planet’s very own version of Scrooge, Kazran Sardic. Now the Doctor must work to change the mind of this intergalactic Ebenezer before Amy, Rory, and thousands of other passengers perish in the crash.

Oh, and there’s also a sky shark.

The title says it all, really – this is Steven Moffat’s version of the classic Dickens tale “A Christmas Carol” and it is something to relish. The Doctor Who Christmas specials have tended to be rather ordinary in the past, but this one well and truly breaks that mould. It’s a very intimate episode, so much so that you can often forget the peril Amy and Rory are in. That isn’t a criticism; far from it. Moffat doesn’t let the big shiny spaceship get in the way of a very dark story. It’s a classic fairytale, but with a time travel twist as the Doctor gives himself the moniker of Ghost of Christmas Past and sets about to change Kazran for the better.

Time can be rewritten
When Kazran refuses to let the ship land, the Doctor takes it upon himself to change his mind by going back in time and changing Kazran’s life. By giving him new experiences the Doctor hopes that Kazran won’t grow up into the bitter old man that he is at the start. This appears to be carrying forward the season 5 theme of time being rewritable. Either that or the writers aren’t letting ‘rules’ get in the way of a good story. Thus begins the Christmas Eve montage as the Doctor and Kazran, soon to be joined by the winsome Welsh Abigail, enjoy a string of Christmas Eves together. As these fun romps play out we get glimpses of the older Kazran as he begins to discover these new memories.

Ladies and Gentlemen, Michael Gambon
Michael Gambon is fantastic in this episode. He begins playing the horrible old miser and then over the course of the episode has to convey Kazran’s personal evolution as the Doctor changes his life one memory at a time. It’s incredibly well done but the best performance is when Kazran reveals why, after all of the Doctor’s changes, he is still willing to let the ship crash.

“Everybody has to die. Tonight’s as good as any other night.”
Amy, acting as the Ghost of Christmas Present, confronts Kazran in an attempt to show him the plight of the people on the ship. Even that doesn’t faze him though, and he explains why: Abigail is dying and has only one day left to live. Kazran, not wanting his beloved to die, told the Doctor to end their Christmas Eve tradition and leave them alone. This whole scene is stunning, with Gambon conveying a very quiet rage and sadness. Here we see that despite all the Doctor’s actions, the ship will still crash. Only now Kazran, instead of simply being a heartless old man, is one filled with bitterness and anger at having his heart broken.

Beautiful Blonde, Tiny Tim
Abigail, pivotal though she is, is really just Kazran’s ‘Rosebud’. She is there as a totem of the young man’s kind-hearted nature, and the absence of her is what sets him down the path towards total bastardry. It’s only when the Doctor, quite literally, reconnects Kazran with his young self that he agrees to let the ship land. Unfortunately, the Doctor has changed him too much and the machine controlling the clouds no longer recognises Kazran. Luckily, Abigail’s singing transmitted through the machine is able to stabilise the clouds and the ship can land safely.

Sky Shark
Long story short, this planet has a cloud/fog layer that fish can swim in. While all this looks pretty cool and the shark is quite terrifying and then oddly cuddly, I must admit that this part felt a bit mechanical. It was as if they had the Kazran/Christmas Carol story idea but needed some way to get the Doctor involved. Thus cloud barriers and sky sharks were born. As complaints go, this is pretty minor. I’ll happily take some strange science when the rest of the episode is as stellar as this one.

Moment(s) of the episode
Much like “The Eleventh Hour” (Steven Moffat’s first episode as show-runner), “A Christmas Carol” takes a bit of time out to showcase Matt Smith as the Doctor. His first scene with young Kazran is very reminiscent of the scene between the Doctor and young Amelia Pond. This mysterious stranger appears out of nowhere and leads this child on a wild adventure that will forever change their life. Moments like this are peppered throughout the episode, from the Doctor and young Kazran showing up wearing matching fez headgear to a shotgun marriage to Marilyn Monroe. The best parts of this episode, though, were really just letting the Doctor be the Doctor.