Feature Category: Article

Dreams Have a Nasty Habit of Going Bad When You’re Not Looking

The computer’s dim purr evaporates into nothingness as the final button press turns the last of my enemies into a bloodstain on the wall. How did I reach this point? It all started eleven years ago. I was young, naïve, innocent. My world was about to be turned upside down by a nightmare that built into a crescendo of carnage.

The machine whizzes like an impatient drug fiend looking to score, noisy and brimming with nervous energy as I provide it with its fix. Max Payne. I had heard the name in hushed circles. It crept through the school walls, invading my every waking thought. I was consumed by bloodlust and gave in to the urge. A cesspit of corruption, crime and carnal lust awaited me. My finger was restless on the trigger as I levelled my pistol.

I was in a world not quite my own, consuming itself with the appetite of a voracious vulture feeding on violence. Not too long before I’d had a wife and kid. They had been swallowed up with everything else that was sacred in this city. A new designer drug, Valkyr, was running rampant on the weak and the desperate, preying on their desires and exposing the truth behind their facade.

I had a front row seat to hell and a loaded pistol was my date. I drifted along streets paved with sin and lust, curing the wicked of their disease with a bullet injection. Time stood still for what felt like hours. It must have been seconds but the adrenaline coursing through my veins like a river of fire had a way of making me see things differently. I shot a path to hell, carrying the lament of the innocent and weary with me as I painted the road red with the blood of the corrupt.

I worked my way through the minions and the acolytes, finding respite in every reload before returning to rain fury onto the mob’s rank and file. I was searching for the big fish, the shark amongst the shrimp. Lupino lured me further into his lair. I gunned him down in 10 seconds and forgot about him in 5.

Then I met her. Mona Sax. An acid trip on legs. She put me to sleep while my eyes took her to bed. I awoke from a crimson coated nightmare surrounded by a hovel of corruption. Secret experiments and corporate conspiracies race by like a cheetah on crack. I kill my way to the Inner Circle, my mind awash in a sea of destruction, my body guided by a Russian named Lem. Things were about to go from bad to worse.

The Circle sent me to assassinate a ruthless suit named Horne, but hired goons flew through the door like an unwanted surprise instead. I escaped with my life and wandered, lost, into an elevator right into her sights. Mona Sax. Our reunion didn’t last long. A bullet to the head brought me crashing back down to Earth. All that was left was to finish what I had started.

I stopped Horne’s escape by destroying that which she had built, her empire literally collapsing around her like a mountain turned to dust. My nightmare was over, my story finished and my safety guaranteed by a society hidden in shadows even as the police led me from the scene of my crimes.

You Can’t Run From Your Past. You’ll End Up Running in Circles

It was two years later. I was sat in front of a black box with a control pad in my hand. A different vehicle leading to a new dread. The screen lit up like the eyes of a serial killer as he lunges at his victim. Max Payne 2. It had been a long time coming. For a while I even believed that I was free to live my life with only the torment of my memories to remind me of my last bullet-riddled fantasy.

But here I was, lying in a hospital bed and wondering just how in the hell I had gotten here. My mind wandered and I was snapped back to my life as an NYPD detective. I had quit the DEA after the events of two years ago, but I could never truly escape the grip of organised crime. I wasn’t chasing somebody else’s high anymore. Instead I was hunting down men who killed for a living. The other side of my coin. The sinful Yin to my “heroic” Yang.

They called themselves the Cleaners. I had tracked them down to a warehouse deep in the heart of a city I had long thought heartless. Instead I found one as black as night and these were the men who kept it ticking. I shot a path through the facility, just another day on the job. Then she appeared. A spectre from a blood-soaked story, back from the dead and hitting me like a punch to the gut. Mona.

We took her to the station. She had a rap sheet as long as my arm and the attitude that said she would do it all again if we pushed her. We didn’t have to. The Cleaners came back and Mona slipped into the night. I couldn’t resist. I was drawn to her, my ship long since crashed on her jagged rocks. When I found her, they found us. The Cleaners again. We slaughtered our way out and decided to investigate the attacks ourselves.

Our search led us to a construction site. A smokescreen of progress in a city that was crumbling under the weight of corruption. The Cleaners ran as we rained down on them like the horsemen of the apocalypse, but we hadn’t counted on Detective Winterson. A gun pointed at the head of Mona brought a bullet to the chest from my 9mm. Mona escaped as Winterson took her final revenge. A blast for my betrayal put me on my back and I woke up in a sterile daze.

My old associate Lem made his return. He had provided aid and ammunition in my war against Lupino, but now we were on different sides of the fight. I discovered that the Cleaners worked for Lem and he was less than impressed that I had been clearing out their ranks. To make matters worse, Winterson was his mistress. When it rains it pours and this rain pierced my skull in the form of a bullet to the head from the barrel of Lem’s gun.

I wasn’t finished yet. Mona rescued me from a towering inferno that was to be my ticket to Hades and took me to save Alfred Woden from the Cossack’s coup. Like a flash Mona put me on my back. She had me exactly where she wanted me, staring down the barrel of her gun courtesy of Woden himself. Her hesitation heralded my saviour, but Lem had other ideas. His first shot hit Mona and his second killed Woden. His third was saved for me but the girl had bought me some time. The fire fight built to a horrifying crescendo and, in the end, Lem was dead and I was the knight in shining armour for the dying princess in my arms. Finally it was all over.

I Don’t Believe in Heaven. I Believe in Pain. I Believe in Fear. I Believe in Death

I walked into the cinema and found seat after seat filled with the wretched children of the damned. Excitable chatter filled the air and my feet were sticking to the floor as I made my way to my chair. I sat down to be faced with a blank screen. Soon it would be filled with my worst fears. A fresh horror.

The screen lights up and, for nearly two hours, I’m absorbed back into the world of Max Payne. Only things aren’t as they were. I wake up in a river with an icy chill doing a tap dance on my spine. How did I get here? Suddenly I’m back at the NYPD, trying to avenge my wife and son’s death. What is this? I had already killed that drug-peddling scum Lupino. I had betrayed the NYPD. How could I be back here?

I was reliving what had come before, only now things were different. My family were still dead. The more things change the more they stay the same. But things were not as they had been. I saw Mona for the first time since she had died in my arms, only now she had a sister. Natasha Sax. Every bit as seductive as her sister and twice as confident about it. I resisted her advances and she wound up dead and discarded on the streets of New York. Another death I couldn’t stop.

Instead of investigating the deaths of my family I was thrust into the story of Natasha. My friend Alex was back by my side, investigating the case. He dies again. A different course leading to the same hell. During the search my path crosses Mona’s again. She’s coiled up like a spring and ready to fire in my direction. It takes me some time to convince her that Natasha didn’t die at my hands, but it makes me feel no less guilty. We join forces again in a never-ending fight against the cesspool of crime in the city. We have to find out who is behind this.

From here it’s a familiar story. Lupino, Aesir Pharmaceuticals, Nicole Horne, Valkyr. I’m living a lie based on a kernel of my previous truth. Lupino dies at the hands of my mentor B.B as he tries to drug me, leaving me free to wage my personal war with Aesir for introducing this filth to the scum of the streets.

Treachery follows on my heels like a rabid bloodhound. No sooner has B.B saved my life than he reveals himself as the true force behind the drug. My future is like looking into a black hole. A bleak, obsidian void from which there is no escape. Icy water feels my lungs. It feels like a dagger cutting a swathe through my body. But they don’t finish the job. I’m left to die but the Valkyr that damned my family was to be my saviour. The rush from the drug helps me to escape my icy tomb and I set my sights on B.B.

My chase continues and the story reaches its climax. My life is a tormented tragedy but my rage pulls me through. With the help of Mona I finally confront B.B. His bullets ravage my body but, when all is said and done, he becomes just another victim of Valkyr. For a single, brief moment I see my family. But my time has not come yet. There is still Aesir and Nicole Horne to deal with…

The trance is over, ended faster than the crack of a whip. I leave this coven of the ruined and emerge to be greeted by the inky night sky. I’m not sure what I’ve just experienced but I’m glad it’s over. It’s all, finally over…

It Wasn’t Pretty, But I Guess None of What Was About to Happen Was Gonna Be

It all started with social media. The burden of our era and the means for the sort of people who need to know everything to communicate with the sort of people who don’t have secrets to hide. All I knew was that Max Payne’s story had not yet ended.

It all starts with bodyguard work in Sao Brazil. From there I’m to be sent into a downward spiral as my work provides the catalyst for the retelling of the eight years that have passed since I brought the Inner Circle to their knees. I’m not quite sure what awaits me. I just know that I’ll be ready to greet it with a smile and a shotgun when it arrives. Come May 2012 the book of Max Payne reopens for another bloodstained chapter…

MAX PAYNE 3 is out now on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC, from Rockstar Games.

Last year’s inaugural Kapow! Comic Con – championed by Mark Millar, organised by Lucy and Sarah Unwin – was an instant success. With panels on Thor, Misfits, Falling Skies, Being Human and Merlin, it was the UK con that wasn’t just for comic book fans, the so-called ‘UK San Diego’ (except in the considerably chillier North London). 

Somehow a year has passed since that jam-packed weekend, and it’s time for Kapow Mark 2. This year, while the TV and film schedule is considerably weaker (with The Amazing Spider-Man being the only truly A-list movie on display, and one disjointed panel covering the entire world of TV) the comics line-up is pretty damn huge, with both Joe Quesada of Marvel and Dan Didio of DC attending the same UK convention for the first time ever. Both of the Big Two have more than one impressive panel on show, while Image and the various indies have a big presence too.

Kapow! has already developed a reputation as the convention for people who have never been to a convention before. So if you’re going but are worried about being under-prepared, then fear not – Starburst are here with your handy insider’s guide to thriving at Kapow!

1. Make sure you have enough fuel

Pop a bottle of water, a Mars Bar and – if you don’t mind slightly warm sarnies – a sandwich in your bag. The cafe queue is invariably huge and the culinary venues around the Business Design Centre are mainly of the burger and kebab oeuvre.  If you don’t want to spend a long time away from the con floor, bring a packed lunch.

2. Have a schedule

You’ll end up missing a panel or signing you were really looking forward to if you don’t have a timetable with you – preferably one with highlighter scrawlings all over it. Work out where you want to be before you even get there.

3. High heels are not your friends

One for the ladies here, but it applies to guys too. Unless you’re wearing a costume that absolutely demands stilettos, stick to comfy shoes. You will be on your feet a lot. The queuing starts before you even get into the building. There’ll be so much to see inside that the only time you’ll stand still will be, yes, when you’re queuing, so on this particular occasion, comfort should definitely come before fashion.

4. Try to obey the rules

Last year’s guide categorically stated that you could only start queuing for a panel 45 minutes before it began. Being a recovering teacher’s pet, I heeded the advice. Which is how I missed out on the Thor panel. No-one obeyed that rule, and the staff, who hadn’t been briefed on it, certainly didn’t enforce it. So, guys, to save everyone having to queue even more than they already do, please stick to the 45 minute rule. Also, be aware that any attempts to push in are undertaken at your own (considerable) risk.

5. Don’t forget the freebies

There are tonnes of great stands stuffed full of indies showing off their goods, so don’t let the big name creatives distract you from getting on board with tomorrow’s big names. They’re not giving away everything for free, but there are usually some cool samples you can pick up to give you a flavour of someone’s work.

6. Set a budget

Then ignore it completely when you spot that must-have Batarang.

7. Get Tweeting

Kapow is a friendly con and the best thing about the endless queues is the people you meet in them. But who exchanges numbers in this day and age? Tweet them. That way you won’t miss out on the inevitable impromptu drinks afterwards.

8. Get your cowl on

Don’t be afraid to dress up – you won’t be alone and it’s a great way to get talking to people. But if you’ve only got one costume and you don’t want it to get sweaty, save it for the Sunday – the day of the cosplay parade.

9. Get noticed

Kapow runs portfolio reviews with Marvel, DC, 2000AD and Clint. If you’re a budding artist or writer, put together a portfolio of your work and hand it in. Just remember to register beforehand by emailing [email protected] and requesting an application form. Writers – bear in mind that only illustrated portfolios are considered, not scripts. So make friends with an artist ASAP!

10. Don’t forget the Total Film/SFX stage

Like last year’s IGN stage, this one will be hosting interviews with all the main guests and panellists, especially for those people who couldn’t get in the panel/couldn’t be bothered to queue. It’s easy to forget that the stage exists – and in fact I didn’t notice it until towards the end of Saturday last year, just in time for the Chris Hemsworth/Tom Hiddleston interview. There will be a schedule next to the stage – check it when you arrive to factor these guests into your busy schedule.

There are still some tickets left if this article has twisted your arm into attending. You can get them through the official website here: www.kapowcomicconvention.com

And if any of you lovely readers do make it, say hi to the girl in the Donna Troy circa 1984 costume. (Or, pending fabric paint mishaps, the girl dressed as the Eleventh Doctor.)

Two of this decade’s most hotly anticipated films released new trailers this week. 2-3 minute long trailers, with plenty of spoilers it would seem. There has been increasing media attention on spoilers in trailers in recent months, with some critics believing they are going too far.  Not that this would put off any Alien or Batman fans one bit…

PROMETHEUS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAN_6t2klJg

In case you’ve been in stasis in outer space for several light years, Ridley Scott is returning to sci-fi with Prometheus, a project that started off as a prequel to his own Alien. Then it wasn’t a prequel, then it was, now it officially isn’t. But it does inhabit the same world, and will explore the planet and the dead alien race that the crew of the Nostromo first encounter in the 1979 film.

A stellar cast was assembled, namely Noomi Rapace, Michael Fassbender, Guy Pearce, Idris Elba, Logan Marshall-Green and Charlize Theron, all of whom have been in some of the most memorable film and TV in recent times.

Prometheus looks set to be a film you can watch even if you haven’t seen any of the Alien movies (unlikely amongst Starburst readers), but if you have the following might make a bit more sense.

As an Alien fan finding out that the movie would not feature the dreaded xenomorph, I was wondering where the horror was going to come from. I anticipated a sci-fi/adventure for most of the film, with a facehugger cameo and/or something nasty at the end. But then I saw the most recent trailer, and any doubts I had (which had already dissipated with each new viral campaign) were gone.

As well as featuring some new nasties, notably some kind of intergalactic cobra and a face-eating/DNA altering entity or two, we also have the beings Scott promised to reveal more of – the ‘space jockey’ race that has kept fans talking for over 30 years. In the trailer we learn that they ‘are leaving’ – for Earth. Do they know what’s already there, or coming, or are they just unsocial and hell-bent on interplanetary domination? We know they are stopped – but by the Prometheus crew, the xenomorphs, or both? Perhaps it is the humans’ fault that the bane of Ripley is unleashed on the planet in the first place? The music sounds incredible, the art design is true to Giger’s original vision, and the planet created seems just as mysterious and spectacular as it was in Alien.

There is also some more insight into the characters.

Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace) is obviously the new Ripley, an enthusiastic archaeologist who becomes a reluctant warrior; although Rapace stated that she was her own character.

David (Michael Fassbender) is the obligatory android, who seems to be a Bishop but could easily turn out to be another Ash.

Peter Weyland (Guy Pearce) makes his first appearance (although his descendants have been in the other Alien movies), and it’s no surprise to learn that he’s got something of a God complex. Although not in the feature length trailer, he has his own viral campaign in the recent futuristic TED conference video. According to Pearce, he’s ‘only in the film for a minute’, so we may have even treated to his entire performance already. Perhaps we’ll see Yutani at some point too, Weyland’s future partner and the other half of one of the most evil corporations in movie history.

Meredith Vickers (Charlize Theron) seems to be the amoral corporate presence on board (and perhaps another android?), similar to Ash, Carter Burke or Weyland himself.

Janek (Idris Elba) is the ship’s captain and has already been likened to Captain Dallas from Aliens, although like Rapace has distanced his character from the other.

Of course at least one of the other character’s will be meeting a gruesome and untimely end (the trailer certainly suggests so), but perhaps not due to a post-dinner chest complaint unless Scott wants to get a bit postmodern and in-jokey. Doubtful.

The generous trailer follows on from the aforementioned Weyland TED viral release, and the more recent and impressive David 8 ‘advert’.

Scott won’t be resting easy though; he’ll soon be working on the prequel/sequel/remake (not this again) to his own Blade Runner, another sci-fi epic. And with Scott, you can count on there being no crystal skulls in sight.

***

THE DARK KNIGHT RISES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g8evyE9TuYk

Not to be outdone, the caped crusader has a new equally long and spoilerific trailer out this week too. In case you’ve been living in a bat cave for the last year or two, Christopher Nolan is bringing his take on the Batman franchise to an end with The Dark Knight Rises, as well as his own take on the Bane (Tom Hardy) and Catwoman (Anne Hathaway) characters, and the alleged introduction of Talia Al Ghul (Marion Cotillard), return of Ra’s A Ghul (Liam Neeson) and Scarecrow (Cillian Murphy) once more.

The rumour mill was in full motion for some time, with many fans expecting The Riddler to appear (and to be played by Johnny Depp), and a hope for some unexplored characters to finally make the big screen, with Dr. Hugo Strange a frontrunner at the end of 2010. While there are still rumours and question marks over several characters and the role they will play, the plot seems pretty well known already. Well, to an extent.

The film is partially based on graphic novels Knightfall, No Man’s Land and The Dark Knight Returns. The main arc of Knightfall is Bane, a muscle-bound terrorist with a strength-inducing serum who has the brilliant idea to break all of Batman’s foes out of Arkham Asylum to weaken him. When the time is ripe he breaks him, literally. In No Man’s Land an earthquake hits Gotham City, isolating it and resulting in gang warfare breaking out. In Dark Knight Returns, an older Batman comes out of retirement to fight crime once more, without the support or want of the government or Gotham City Police Department. Dark Knight Returns was the original inspiration for the originally intended relaunch of Batman under Darren Aronofsky, with Clint Eastwood rumoured to be playing the retired hero.

It is already well known that Bane is the central antagonist and most of the viral campaigns, from the initial picture of Bane on Twitter to every recent trailer focusing on him. Although not quite as huge as he is meant to be, he is still big and strong, a military strategist/terrorist who instead of a strength serum has some kind of anaesthetic/steroid release attached to him to alleviate pain from an old injury. Which handily will make him impervious to pain in hand to hand combat. Scenes of chaos and gang fights have been shown, and in the most recent trailer we see a bridge to Gotham being destroyed, although not by an earthquake, with the main suspicion resting on Bane. After all, we’ve already seen him watching over the destruction of a football field in a trailer that many fans believed contained clues to the first appearance of Robin in Nolan’s Batman world. Although Robin seems to be a cop played by Joseph Gordon-Levitt.

It has already been made obvious that at some point Batman loses a fight to Bane, and leaves Gotham for some time, linking in to the Ra’s A Ghul angle, possibly returning to where he first escaped to and trained after the death of his parents. Lots of chanting and mystery in the trailers has fuelled speculation that the League of Assassins will also be appearing.

So, to catch up, so far we have Bane, broken Batman, gang warfare in Gotham, Batman retiring/returning, and anywhere between 1-5 foes to fight and a possible sidekick or two. The biggest spoiler and game-changer in the most recent trailer is the emphasis on Catwoman. A surprise addition to the ‘final’ film (and originally rumoured to be played by Cher at one point), she was first portrayed as a villain but now seems to be an ally. But anyone who knows Catwoman knows she can switch allegiances in the time it takes you to say ‘Whiskas’. She may also be a love interest, harking back to the Burton films and the more graphic depiction in the recent DC Catwoman comics.

Let’s also not forget an ageing Commissioner Gordon (Gary Oldman), Lucius Fox ( who said he wouldn’t help Bruce Wayne anymore in the last film) and a flying Batmobile and it’s enough to make you as emotional as poor old Alfred (Michael Caine).

***

The Dark Knight Rises on July 20th / Prometheus lands June 1st.

 

Jonathon Frid, who portrayed the iconic, tortured soul that was vampire Barnabas Collins in the legendary ’60s gothic television series Dark Shadows, recently passed away of natural causes at the age of ‘87.

Born in Canada, Mr. Frid served in the Royal Canadian Navy during World War II. After the war ended, he studied drama at McMasters University and continued his education receiving a degree in directing at Yale University.

Leaving America, he studied at the prestigious Royal Academy of Drama in London where he later focused his acting talents in stage plays around town including working with the late Katherine Hepburn.

But, it was his performance as Barnabas Collins in the TV series and the feature film, House of Dark Shadows that brought him worldwide fame.

When asked what drew him to the role when producer Dan Curtis offered it him, he described Barnabas as being very multidimensional. A man who was human at one time, but was now cursed with a flawed soul. He had depth combined with regret. That’s what made him interesting.

In 1969, the Dark Shadows series at its peak drew over twenty million viewers, which was a record for the time.

After the end of Dark Shadows’ run, Mr. Frid appeared in two movies; the Devil’s Daughter with Shelly Winters and Oliver Stone’s first feature film, Seizure, alongside Hammer film actress and Bond girl Martine Beswick and the late Herve Villechaize.

Mr. Frid’s final performance can be seen in the new Tim Burton directed Dark Shadows feature where he plays a party guest and meets Barnabas Collins, now portrayed by Johnny Depp.

In the summer of 2010, in Hollywood at the Vista Theater, a special, 35mm film screening was shown of House of Dark Shadows with Mr. Frid in attendance. It was here a gala ceremony took place with the aid of the Dark Shadows convention fans, where Mr. Frid placed his handprints in cement and signed his name in front of the theater.

A true gentleman. An iconic character. A childhood hero.

We will miss him.

In a recent interview with Digital Spy regarding Doctor Who, Steven Moffat said that the companion was “the main character” in the series. This was a comment that the website chose to run as the headline and that instantly got fans’ backs up, their contention being that the Doctor himself was the main character. And although I might have had one or two problems myself with how Amy Pond has been written (not enough of a problem to ruin my enjoyment of what has been one of the most entertaining periods in the show’s history, however), I do feel that among the hyperbole that has followed Moffat’s declaration, the meaning of his statement has been lost and that, basically, people have been protesting the wrong end of this particular stick.

For Moffat’s meaning was quite plainly not that the Doctor is anything less than the most important character in the series, simply that in order to tell a story in Doctor Who (especially when you consider the distinction between ‘story’ and simply ‘plot’; with ‘plot’ being what happens in an episode, and ‘story’ referring to whom it happens and for why and with what consequence), then you must do so from the perspective of a character who is not a constant within the series’ framework. The companions come and go, yet the Doctor always remains. Moffat even makes this distinction himself: “The story begins again, not so much with the new Doctor, but with the new companion,” he says. “It’s the story of the time they knew the Doctor and how that began, how it developed, and how it ended. The Doctor’s the hero, but they’re the main character.”

There’s a little ‘media studies’ speak in there, with Moffat identifying the word ‘hero’ with a definition more along the lines of ‘central character’ (in other words, somebody who is threaded throughout the entire piece and is at the core of resolving the story – and yet conversely, who can only fulfil a fairly two-dimensional aspect within that story, on account of his heroism), while using the expression ‘main character’ to mean something different (our eyes and ears into the story, and the character for whom change and development is more of a likelihood; ultimately more three-dimensional, by way of their having almost by definition to go through changes and developments). I’m not going to argue with the fact that Moffat might not have handled some of these aspects particularly well with Amy (and making her the mother of the Doctor’s wife certainly hasn’t helped us to see Moffat’s words for what they actually mean, rather than jumping to the wrong conclusion), but he wasn’t talking to Digital Spy specifically about his own take on Doctor Who, more about how the series works in general. And he’s not necessarily talking about ‘audience identification’ characters (as some have assumed; although that does come into it), nor is he referring only to the modern series (as others believe, although this is because the distinction is more of an obvious one in the 21st Century).

When Doctor Who began, it did so from the point of view of two young teachers investigating some anomalies that had come to light concerning one of their pupils, their investigation leading them to the junkyard wherein the TARDIS was to be found. Immediately (and conventionally) we meet the Doctor (and his equally alien granddaughter) by seeing them from Ian and Barbara’s perspective, helping to cement the two Time Lords’ ‘otherness’ – along with the sense of danger that the very early Doctor engendered. And so the first two series of Doctor Who continue, with Ian and Barbara being our touchstones and along with their ongoing acceptance of the possibilities of time (and space) travel, so too the Doctor mellows into something more like the character we know and love today.

I’m not going to argue that there’s never any development in the character of the Doctor, but during the tenure of Hartnell’s first interpretation, once that mellowing has occurred (and the Hartnell interpretation is more or less settled by the time Ian and Barbara come to bid their farewells), there’s little more for the actor to really accomplish with the part. Which is not to say you can’t have a ball playing it (and Hartnell was loathe to let it go, even in spite of his onsetting illness), but the Doctor is the Doctor and, with one or two readily identifiable exceptions, so it has been these past 49 years. However, a closer inspection of those first two series of Doctor Who throws up any number of interesting insights into the role of the companion figure; given that the stories which deal specifically with character development in the eponymous role can be numbered on the fingers of about half a hand, it’s astonishing to note just how many stories there are which either focus almost exclusively on the introduction or removal of a companion (The Rescue being the most blatant, The Chase being almost six episodes of an excuse to see Ian and Barbara safely home). Indeed of the first sixteen Doctor Who stories, fully a quarter of them deal with companions either leaving or arriving, and it’s very rare that these changes are incidental to the stories being told, more often the episodes concerning arrivals and departures being tailored to achieving just those things.

This has always been the case (just check out the number of comings and goings between Season 18 and Season 21 for proof; while an average of a story per year of that period deals with either a departing or arriving Doctor, fully thirteen stories during that time depict companion changes, or concentrate rather more fully on the companion’s development than the plot in which it takes place – Tegan has four arrival/departure stories and Turlough pre-empts the arrival of Ace in the manner in which his character is the focus of anything from Enlightenment to Frontios; there’s nothing new about the way the new series concentrates on Rose or Amy to the apparent detriment of the character of the Doctor), and although because of the way the series was and is made, there has always been a problem with incoming writers sidelining companions and their development from time to time (although even this wasn’t always so, as a look at Season Eight and its story of how Jo Grant develops from experiment-ruining novice to self-sacrificing and world-saving indispensable will show), the most cursory look at the numbers will demonstrate that there are any times as many stories dealing with the companions and their baton-passing as there are about the Doctor and his changing face.

Because for the writer, or the showrunner these days, that’s always been the same problem with the Doctor: he’s always there. He’s always been the ‘hero’, he’s always been on the side of good, and he always saves the day. And he’s always been there, the series’ one constant (in ‘human’ terms at least). Tom Baker often complained, especially latterly, that his stories were always the same and as an actor, he never had anywhere to go, and the same is more or less true of all the actors who’ve played the part. Colin Baker might have begun from a similar place to Hartnell, with an intended mellowing to come, but he was still playing ‘the Doctor,’ the eccentric, alien and unknowable – but most certainly benign – hero of the series, and David Tennant was given a year’s worth of Specials (well, The Waters of Mars and The End of Time anyway) with which to enhance his portrayal of the part before his own departure. There’s no doubt that the character of the Doctor is a fun and in many ways rewarding role to take on, just as there’s little doubt that it can also be rather frustrating for an actor with ambition in his craft. In fact, there have only been two Doctors who haven’t suffered from playing the role in a manner making development (and actorly expression) unlikely, and one of those was Paul McGann, who was the Doctor (on television) for a little over an hour.

Christopher Eccleston was probably the luckiest actor to take on the part, his single series on the show being deliberately geared towards taking the Doctor from an outsider who we might not necessarily take to as an audience (the war-damaged survivor with the guilt conscience to match), to the Doctor that we knew and remembered from years gone by. There had been a gap of a decade-and-a-half without regular production before Eccleston appeared on the screen, and so fifteen years’ worth of development was channelled into his thirteen episodes. Had he stayed on for another series (and this might very well be the reason why he didn’t), all that development would have been over and the actor would have been back to playing a (relatively-speaking) generic interpretation once again.

The only time the Doctor really sees any development is generally in his regeneration story, during which the writers can develop the character in any way they see fit (often assigning to him some kind of ‘conversion’ – Planet of the Spiders being a prime example), before hitting the reset button as the actor regenerates into a new, and ostensibly slightly different (but always the same underneath) version. Terrance Dicks has made great play of the fact that he can write ‘any’ Doctor, he just writes ‘the Doctor’ and it’s the actor who brings the definition to the role. It’s the companions who can, and will, allow the writers the opportunity to try different things, and to achieve different ends.

The modern series has placed great store in the need for the companions to prove themselves to the Doctor, to show their worthiness as fellow travellers. Both Rose and Martha (and particularly Amy in The Beast Below) had moments (Pop Idol-style moments, in fact – but that’s an essay for another time) in which they had to demonstrate to the Doctor that they were worth their place in the TARDIS. The Doctor never has to prove himself to us.

And of course, beyond that, beyond the companion proving that they’re worth our investment in the programme, we also need to know where they come from, and why the Doctor notices them in the first place, and subsequently there needs to be a good reason for their not wanting to continue their travels. The Doctor is an entirely fixed point in the series; this sort of thing is never in need of explanation with him. You never need a rationalisation for why he is there.

That’s the distinction Steven Moffat was making when he said the companion was “the main character.” He meant from a writer’s perspective – and also from the perspective of an audience who need verisimilitude and validation when it comes to wanting to continue watching the adventures of such companions. We all know that Doctor Who will have the Doctor in it; that’s very rarely a reason for wanting either to watch or not to. But for the more casual viewer, the one who might get hooked if there’s a storyline in place that will make them want to tune in again the following week – and the week after and the week after that – it’s the companion, their charisma, and their relationship with the lead character, that’s more of a hook. We saw it absolutely with Rose – in the way the nation took Billie Piper’s portrayal to their collective heart and turned her into a television icon, over and above Christopher Eccleston’s ninth Doctor – and it’s what Steven Moffat was talking about in that interview.

The companion isn’t the most important character necessarily – you couldn’t have Doctor Who without the Doctor – but the companion is, as far as the writers of the series are concerned, the one they must spend the most time understanding and the most attention to getting right. Thus from Steven Moffat’s point of view, the companion is the main character. And that’s what Steven Moffat meant.

Despite a less-than-glowing critical reception, 2009’s whizz-bang action extravaganza G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra raked in a whopping $300 million plus at the worldwide Box Office. Like the film itself, some might have said (and probably did), a sequel was pretty much a no-brainer.

Starburst was fortunate enough to get the chance to see the new extended trailer for the soon-come sequel G.I. Joe: Retaliation as well as nine minutes of additional, unfinished footage from the feature, introduced on video by producer Lorenzo Di Bonaventura, at a special Press preview in London. We’re happy – and mildly excited – to report that this is looking more like the sort of G.I. Joe picture fans might have been expecting last time around. You’ll remember that Stephen Somers’ original effort was pretty much a gadget-fetishist’s wet dream but Retaliation, directed by Jon Chu, whilst looking equally hi-tech, seems to be a tougher, grittier and more mature piece. The vibe here is very much Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol – no bad thing – as we see the G.I. Joe Corps pretty much wiped out whilst an evil Cobra duplicate of the President of the USA (Jonathan Pryce) is preparing to hold the world to ransom with a death-wielding super-weapon in orbit around the Earth. London, it seems, gets it.

Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson is on board to keep the spirit of G.I. Joe alive along with the man who was there right at the very beginning, the original G.I. Joe Colton (Bruce Willis). Whilst not exactly a guarantee of quality, the presence of both Johnson (resurgent after the success of Fast 5 and Journey 2: The Mysterious Island) and Bruce Willis (always worth a look) suggests a movie casting a greedy eye at an older demographic than just teenagers who love to watch stuff blow up.

 

There’s plenty going on for action fans, with some energised, fast cut martial arts fight sequences featuring Byung Hung lee as Storm Shadow, nifty exploding robot fireflies, a rocket-launching motorcycle and what promises to be a dazzling and balletic mountaintop ninja showdown.

Bigger, bolder, brasher but more confident than it’s noisy predecessor, G.I. Joe: Retaliation looks like a much more sophisticated entry into the series and, when all the Batman/Spider-Man summer hoohah dies down, could well be the big surprise sleeper hit of the season. Looking good. But don’t blame me if it isn’t.

G.I. Joe: Retaliation is due to be released in the USA on June 29th and in the UK on 3rd August.

Watch the latest G.I. Joe: Retaliation trailer here.

He’s the greatest archer in the world, but he’s got an attitude and ego to match his talent. He’s Hawkeye, the Avenger with the arrows and the guts to take on any adversary, anywhere, anytime. Being a supreme marksman with no super powers means Clint Barton’s pushed himself to excel in other ways and when he really shines, he’s a leader and a winner without compare.

Hawkeye’s life has taken him down strange avenues of light and shadow and he’s stared death – real death – in the eye more times than he can put a notch in his quiver.

First Shot

An orphan and a young man ripe to follow the wrong person, Clint Barton fell in with an embezzler, the Swordsman, who, along with a master archer called Trickshot, trained him in many forms of marksmanship. Barton excelled in archery, but once his teacher’s criminal behavior came to light he parted ways with him and built the persona of Hawkeye, archer supreme.

As Hawkeye, the young man wanted to become a hero, but a misunderstanding on his first outing against crime soon placed him in cahoots with the Black Widow, a Russian spy, and in opposition to the invincible Iron Man. Eventually, he jumped on the straight-and-narrow path and his career as a super hero began.

Avengers: East and West

Pardoned for his crimes, Barton found himself invited to join the mighty Avengers with the sponsorship of Iron Man himself. Though argumentative and always butting heads with team leader Captain America, Hawkeye proved to be an indispensable and valuable asset to the team, fighting alongside them against menaces large and small. At one point, he even adopted the name and powers of Goliath to continue his Avenging, but once again took up the mantle of Hawkeye when a rift grew between him and his teammates.

After many solo adventures and even a brief stint with the Defenders, another super hero team, Hawkeye found his way back to the Avengers. That too proved to be short-lived as he entered into a long period of an on-again-off-again status with the famous team, always searching for his place in the grand scheme of things. 

Two dividends of this time came in the form of the beautiful heroine Mockingbird, whom Barton eventually married, and Hawkeye’s founding of the first Avengers franchise, the West Coast Avengers. Based in Los Angeles, California, that team’s rocky tenure under Barton’s leadership continued until Mockingbird’s estrangement from her husband, her seeming death and the West Coast Avengers’ disbanding after the tragic events.

Death of an Archer

After a strange adventure on a parallel Earth, the original Avengers beckoned once more and Hawkeye buried himself in their missions until the chance to lead the Thunderbolts, a team of reformed super villains, presented itself. Barton even went so far as to take on a prison sentence to clear the former criminals’ names; once freed, the archer left the team and returned to the Avengers. There he stayed until Earth’s Mightiest Heroes shattered under the madness of the Scarlet Witch’s assault on their mansion and their lives. Hawkeye, injured in the battle, laid down his own life to save the others from an invading Kree warship, ending an incredible career.

But, a final resting place and a heroic death proved to not be in the cards for Hawkeye. The reality-warping powers of the Scarlet Witch brought him back to life, albeit at first with no memories of his own demise, and then to his costumed crusade as the Avengers’ battling bowman. One of the first events the resurrected Barton witnessed happened to be the murder of his old sparring partner and friend, Captain America.

New Face and Old Friends

Alongside the latest team of Avengers, the New Avengers, Barton set aside his guise of Hawkeye once more and adopted the persona of Ronin, a master of martial arts and weapons. During the Secret Invasion of the alien Skrull shape-shifters, Barton learned the shocking truth behind Mockingbird’s apparent death: She’d been replaced by a Skrull at the time and the real heroine had been held captive by the aliens all along. Reunited with Mockingbird, Barton stood helpless as his old Hawkeye identity became a tool for former Green Goblin Norman Osborn to use in his Dark Avengers.

Once leader of the New Avengers, Barton ultimately dispensed with his Ronin guise and went full-throttle against Osborn. Luckily, a time-lost Captain America reappeared and aided his fellow Avengers against Osborn and his Dark Avengers, a long battle that culminated in the mad man’s siege against the fabled home of the gods, Asgard.

 

Hawkeye Heroic Age

Once again wearing the costume and weapons of Hawkeye, Barton not only joined the new incarnation of the original Avengers team, but also joined Mockingbird on solo missions, trying to rebuild his relationship with her. He also learned of his oncoming blindness and had to deal with the return of his old mentor, Trickshot.

Currently, Hawkeye divides his time between his membership in the Avengers and his duties as the leader of the Secret Avengers.

Marvel Avengers Assemble hits UK cinemas April 26th.

Click HERE to watch the Theatrical Trailer

or

Click HERE to read Essential Avengers: Black Widow

Click HERE to read Essential Avengers: Nick Fury

It’s the film no-one thought would ever actually happen. With a ton of A-list actors to juggle, over half a century of comic book lore to boil down and legal wrangles over which studios own which characters, The Avengers seemed doomed to development hell and wouldn’t-it-be-cool-if conversations. But now, a mere four years since Iron Man first ignited the possibility of a company-wide team-up, The Avengers (or Avengers Assemble as it’s known in the UK) is hitting screens to rave reviews. And the production team seem just as surprised as everyone else.

“From five years ago, when we started the first Iron Man,” says Robert Downey Jr, whose Tony Stark is the Granddaddy of The Avengers franchise, “to today with all these folks you see here, it honestly couldn’t have gone any better. All three franchises that were launched had to work. If this didn’t work, then it affected all of the previous franchises extremely adversely. I just don’t understand how everything has gone this well! But that, in this one instance in my life, seems to be the situation.”

There were no illusions among the producers about what a tough task they had on their hands. “We’re having to be faithful to the movies we’ve already put together and then at the same time having a look back at the comics as well to make sure we’re faithful to everything in them so it was a real challenge trying to find the right source material for this film,” confesses producer Kevin Feige. “Luckily Joss Whedon, our director and writer is really, really good at assembling all that material. Which made it much easier.”

The Fearless Leader 

That seems to be the general consensus – that writer/director Joss Whedon deserves a big chunk of the credit for making The Avengers work. Known as one of TV’s chief visionaries, Whedon was nevertheless untested when it came to a movie on the scale of The Avengers. But it was his character work on ensemble TV shows and the film Serenity that made him Marvel’s choice for the director chair.

“The best thing about Joss,” says Feige, “is, in all his work, whether it be vampires with Buffy or outer space with Firefly, it’s always the characters that rise above. And certainly if you look at the cast assembled right now we wanted them to shine more than the visual effects. My favourite scenes in the movie are just watching these characters.”

But Whedon, for his part, had to think about whether he wanted to take up the reins of The Avengers. “When first came to me, Thor and Captain America were not even close to being finished and I just felt like ‘okay, you have all these moving parts, but how can you possibly bring them together?’” he says. “Iron Man, The Hulk, Thor and Captain America don’t seem like they can co-exist and ultimately that is what intrigued me and made me go, ‘this can be done and should be done’. These people don’t belong together and wouldn’t get along, and as soon as that dynamic came into focus I realised that I actually have something to say about these people.” 

The announcement of Whedon as writer/director was of course a huge hit with fans, and his filmmaking sensibilities proved to be a perfect fit for the biggest comic book movie of all time. “My visual style as a director comes from comic books. My understanding of visual storytelling comes from panel art”, he says. Kevin Feige agrees: “For me it was the notion of reading Marvel comics and not knowing who would appear. They all exist in the same universe. It hadn’t been done before. But then we started making our own movies and we had our entire library I thought it would be fun for our characters to start doing that.” 

If the cast are believed, Whedon’s recruitment didn’t just help bring the storytelling together – his script also played a big part in bringing such a high-profile cast together, as Loki actor Tom Hiddleston explains. “The thing that was the most impressive to me about Joss initially was the incredible script. I mean, it’s an achievement in itself, it was simply phenomenal. It’s the answer to the question of how you get so many superheroes into one film. I take my hat off to him for that. That was probably his hardest job. Must’ve made directing seem like a walk in the park.” Hiddleston thinks twice about that, and smiles as he adds, “Maybe not a walk in the park. Maybe a light jog.”

The A-List

As directing jobs go, wrangling The Avengers cast can’t have been an easy task. With six Avengers, three S.H.I.E.L.D. agents, one Oscar-winning love interest and one villainous god in the line-up, there were a lot of balls in the air throughout the 92-day shooting period. It didn’t all sink in, though, until Day 11, when the Avengers all shared a scene for the first time. “The day everyone remembers was the first day they were all together on the Helicarrier,” remembers executive producer Patricia Whitcher. “The energy in the room was simply electric. After the first scene everyone on set just stopped and looked at each other and spontaneously started clapping.” Mark Ruffalo blew his first lines of dialogue thanks to nerves, and even Captain America Chris Evans was overwhelmed, as he recollects the fight scene between Cap, Iron Man and Thor: “This was actually the first time I’d seen Chris Hemsworth walk on set in full costume with the long red cape. And then Robert Downey Jr comes on set in his full Iron Man armour. It was such a cool moment for me standing there next to them both, because all of a sudden I felt like my Captain America suit took on a new meaning. I felt that I was a part of something much bigger.”

What was already pretty damn big got even bigger with the introduction of new characters, while other characters, like Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury and Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow, were expanded. Known for his female characters, it came as no surprise that Joss Whedon introduced Cobie Smulders as S.H.I.E.L.D. agent Maria Hill (“For the love of God, I needed another woman in this movie!”) and developed Johansson’s character far beyond the two-dimensional persona seen in Iron Man 2. “I was very clear from the beginning that it was unacceptable to have an all-male Avengers team,” Whedon says frankly. 

Johansson particularly enjoyed the process of working with the director: “Joss met with us all individually to talk about what we wanted to see from our characters and we talked about my character’s plight and her dark past and all of those things and never did he say anything about her gender at all. I think Joss is gender-blind in some ways. He wants his female characters to be dynamic and competitive and assured and confident and that has nothing to do with anything but the fact that he just celebrates those kind of strong female characters. He’s just a charming fella that way.” 

The biggest new arrival to the Marvel franchise in this film is Mark Ruffalo, picking up where Eric Bana and Edward Norton left off by tackling the role of Dr Bruce Banner, the team member with anger issues. “Mark was my dream choice and I had my heart set on him,” says Whedon. “I wanted a completely fresh take on the character so I went to Marvel very early on and said ‘I know the guy who would be a great Bruce Banner’ and they said ‘unless it’s Mark Ruffalo, we really don’t know’.”

“What appealed to both Joss and I about the character,” adds Ruffalo, “is that he would have a common man sort of feel to him and possess this world-weary charm. We also agreed he should have a sense of humour about his situation.” But of course Ruffalo wasn’t just playing the troubled doctor – he was playing The Other Guy too: “I liked the idea that I’d be the first actor to play Banner and The Hulk. The one thing that we enjoy now – technology – has taken us to a place where an actor can play both roles.” This meant a long time for Ruffalo spend in a green leotard that “made all the wrong places look big and all the right places looks small” while motion-capturing his performance as The Hulk.

Coming onto such a big project was a nerve-wracking prospect for indie-darling Ruffalo: “I was overcome by a moment of very poor judgement early on by going online and seeing the response to me stepping in as the Hulk. I won’t do that again. It wasn’t glowing. And I found the fan’s exuberant passion to be very very brutal,” he smiles good-naturedly. That tide seems to have turned the other way, with the actor earning huge plaudits for his work on the film and already being proclaimed as the best Bruce Banner/Hulk yet.

With the Avengers assembled, they needed a villain to fight, and the producers went back to the comics for inspiration. “In the very first issue of The Avengers comic, it’s Loki who is causing trouble and brings them all together,” Feige says. So Tom Hiddleston, the British actor playing the God of Thunder’s resentful little brother in Thor, got a surprise visit: “Towards the end of the production for Thor, Joss Whedon was coming into Marvel Studios a lot because he was writing The Avengers screenplay and he asked me to go out for tea. We were sitting in a coffee shop in Santa Monica and he said ‘so here’s the thing, Tom. There’s a lot of talk about multiple villains in the film and I don’t want any of that. I want Loki to be the bad guy.’ After I picked my jaw off the floor, I did backflips in the tea room and then we just talked for hours about who Loki was and what his motivations were and the kind of spiritual damage that was at the heart of the character as well as the delight he takes in being a mischievous trickster and an agent of chaos.”

“Action!” 

Character might be the most important element of the film, but this is a superhero film, and action is required. Lots of action. “I’ve got bruises all over my body, but it’s called The Avengers and if it wasn’t action-packed, we’ve failed to do our jobs” said Hiddleston during filming, who, as Loki, goes toe-to-toe with every single one of the Avengers at different points of the movie. Johansson adds “I think me and the most satisfying because it was grounded in reality. Incredible choreographed hand-to-hand sequences that were hugely impressive.”

Talk soon turned to who had the coolest moves. “Natasha’s favourite fight move is probably… what’s it called? The thigh grip? The Thigh Master hold?” Johansson asks. “That’s my favourite move,” Jeremy Renner quickly adds with a grin. Cobie Smulders had a different idea, citing “anytime Hawkeye is shooting in one direction and looking in another,” while Clark Gregg, as the cool-headed S.H.I.E.L.D. agent, says “Generally Agent Coulson’s action moves consist of only one thing, which is a snide retort. But in this movie, when faced with this threat, he reaches for the biggest gun you can possibly imagine.”

Passion and Care

 

As the cast discuss who would win in a fight (”If Thor lost his hammer…” Renner muses, “he’d still kick my ass, probably, but at least I’d have a fighting chance. I’d still have a skillset”) and interference starts playing havoc with the sound equipment (“Nick Fury”, Ruffalo says with a sage nod), it becomes clear just how much of a challenge it must have been for Whedon to keep this group on task. As the cast head off to the next round of their press tour Ruffalo grabs Hiddleston from behind in what can only be described as a Hulk Hug and Downey Jr bursts into song. Here are a group of people who had a lot of fun making one of the biggest movies of all time. “All of the actors came to me with an extraordinarily positive attitude,” says Whedon. “Not just about the project, but about each other. All of the conflict that we create amongst the Avengers is acting, because these guys are really rooting for each other and helping each other.”

That seems to be an attitude that the fans have shared during the making of this film. Ruffalo’s “brutal” experience at the hands of fans is shrinking into the distance as the fans willed Whedon to succeed. “One of the things about this film is that we’re lucky enough to have a fanbase,” says Hiddleston. “It’s so often that you make a film and you put your heart and soul into it and you care about it and you think it’s half-decent and then you turn up and say “does anyone want to see it?” and maybe nobody does. And we’re lucky that we already have an audience who love the characters as much as, if not more than, we do and I find it thrilling that there’s this pre-existing passion for the material. It’s a privilege, actually. It really is a privilege to have people care so much.”

That passion and care has clearly translated into every aspect of the film, and it’s paid off. Best superhero film ever made? Maybe. Most ambitious? Certainly.

Avengers Assemble opens in UK cinemas April 26th, and the US on May 4th. Read our review here.

Related Reads: Avengers Assemble Preview – What Can We Expect From Whedon

Pick up Starburst #376 for more lots more Avengers coverage. Available from all good newsagents and online here.

Adam Baker has recently made a big splash in the world of zombie horror. His breakthrough novel, Outpost, had enjoyed critical success and this year’s prequel, Juggernaut, has proven just as popular. Adam Baker is known for his tense, action-packed writing that casts a new look on the zombie menace.

Recently, on behalf of Starburst, Adam agreed to share his thoughts on the rules of zombies, and the parameters of zombie behaviour.

Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2Hxkmps4-E

Adam Baker’s Juggernaut is out now, and you can read our review HERE.

A zombie virus of guest articles, Q&As and excepts from new urban fantasy novel, Plague Town, will be infecting websites, blogs and social media accounts across the globe to offer readers the chance to win a signed copy of Plague Town and have a character named after them in the next novel in the series!

Starburst are the third stop on the ‘Plague Town Pandemic Tour’.

Collect the first word hidden in CAPS at the end of this article along with a sequence of eight others on blogs and websites outlined in the link below; tweet the sentence you’ve discovered to @TitanBooks and @zhadi1 with #PlagueTown before April 23rd.

***

Dana Fredsti on her inspirations

I still remember the day my sister Lisa gave me a copy of The Silver Chair by C.S. Lewis.  I was about seven years old, sitting in the rocking chair in our living room, when she walked up to me, plopped the book in my lap and said “Read this” in a tone that brooked no argument. Not that I’d argue with my older sister anyway. I was convinced she knew the answers to everything (even if she did tell my mom to put me back where she got me when I was born) and promptly began to read. 

I was totally captivated by the story. It had magic, different worlds, shape-shifters, a heroine (Jill) close enough to my age that I could imagine myself adventuring in her place, and … it had giants who ate people.  And the flesh-eating giants of Harfang were what stood out to me more than any of the other very cool elements of the book.

The Silver Chair led to other books. Trips to the library resulted in Lisa and I bringing home piles of books, as many as the limit at the time would allow. I quickly found the Prydain Chronicles by Lloyd Alexander, another great fantasy series.  My favorite parts involved the Cauldron Born, deathless warriors created by tossing corpses into the Black Cauldron. Deathless, tireless, pitiless, the Cauldron Born stalked the heroes relentlessly throughout their adventures. Deliciously creepy!

I moved onto vampires and werewolves. My copy of Bram Stoker’s Dracula was well-worn within no time. Grimm’s Fairy Tales were also a favorite (my parents had one of those complete sets of the classics bound in green leather with gold lettering), especially whenever there was a bad guy or critter that ate human flesh.  The Cyclops in The Odyssey, the Morlocks in The Time Machine (the movie with George Pal remains a favorite and I can’t hear a siren without thinking of the Morlock’s dinner bell), ghouls, just to name a few, all made me very happy. Not because I wanted to eat human flesh, mind you, but because something about the concept of something that looked even vaguely human and ate living human flesh was about the most horrific thing I could imagine.

I enjoyed other books too.  For instance, another childhood favorite was The Red Room Riddle, by Scott Corbett, about two boys who accept the offer of a strange kid to meet the ghosts in his house. The entire book was spooky, but the bit where a mural depicting the infamous Slaughter of the Innocents comes to life, with Roman soldiers slaughtering infants.  We’re talking gruesome to the max, the stuff of nightmares, even though the soldiers didn’t actually eat the babies.  Er … and I did read books that weren’t morbid: E.S. Nesbitt’s fantasy novels: Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books; Susan Cooper’s The Dark is Rising series, plus many more.

But I really really really loved the stuff with nasty human-flesh eaters. My first “date” movie was the original Dawn of the Dead (yeah, I know that carbon-dates me, but I’m okay with that). So it’s not too surprising that I am now in the middle of writing a series being touted as “Buffy meets The Walking Dead” and loving every minute of it!  I do have to wonder, however, how C.S. Lewis would react if he knew one of his faith-based books started my love of zombies. Then again, Lazarus and Jesus did rise from the dead…

***

CODE WORD 3:  DYING

For full details of the tour and terms and conditions visit:

http://titanbooks.com/blog/dana-fredstis-plague-town-pandemic-tour/

Plague Town by Dana Fredsti is published by Titan Books, 20th April, £7.99.