Child of Radd

Something something profane. Something something profound.

[childofraddblog]

Recently I finished the 4th Eighth Doctor Adventures novel 'Genocide' (1997). This mixed with book 3 'The Bodysnatchers' is a one-two gut punch of mediocrity. And I think I disliked this one more than the previous book.

It's got an interesting premise, there's a time paradox happening thanks to a war between humanity and an alien race known as the Tractites. It's a sort of time war that is creating mutual assured genocide between the two races and this is tearing the fabric of reality apart. The Doctor and Sam have to stop it.

It's trying to delve into some very big topics such as at what point does someone do something so heinous to you that causing them the equivalent pain is deemed necessary, especially when it comes to war. There's even some discussions on evolution, humanity driving different species to extinction, and then some.

Jo Grant makes a return in this adventure as well.

There are some interesting concepts thrown around primarily involving the Tractites and just how alien they are in their appearance, their culture, etc. that I appreciated and found interesting. At times there's even some really cool sci-fi imagery that DW is great for.

Unfortunately....it's just an exceptionally boring story. The style of writing too stands out as really bad, from descriptions of scenes and action as well as dialogue between characters. I don't know if Paul Leonard had much experience writing before this novel, but it feels very much like a debut novel or fanfic written by someone who is still learning.

The villains are pretty weak, there are a couple of side characters that are given way too much page time for ultimately contributing next to nothing to the story. Jo could've been swapped out for any past companion and/or new character. But it was nice to see her. Even Benton of UNIT gets a cameo.

The Doctor and Sam are still a good pairing, but I didn't love Sam in this and the Doctor is still finding his footing for characterization.

At one point he's straight up godlike just out of nowhere and never again.

It's a fascinating book with how I'm just surprised it got published at all. But here's to hoping the next one 'War of the Daleks' is better [Spoilers: I'm already well into the next book and already enjoying it so much more.]

---

Looking into Leonard, he has written a good deal of DW in the Wilderness Years even before this one. So cool. Hopefully any of them are better than this.

[childofraddblog]

EVERYWHERE AND ANYWHERE (2023)

- Spirit of the Season

- All's Fair

- Sins of the Flesh

Another really solid entry in the Eleventh Doctor Chronicles featuring his adventures with companion Valerie Lockwood.

Spirit of the Season is the Christmas special of this run and both characters along with a few others have to confront some tragedies of their past. I enjoyed this story for the most part, which will be a theme for all these stories. It felt like the side characters got a bit of the shaft with the hour runtime, but as usual Valerie and the Doctor get some really good character work with and without each other.

All's Fair sees Valerie and Roanna (from The Yearning) go on a first date, but everything goes absolutely sideways immediately and gets worse and worse from there. I don't love this particular story, as it does a lot that while is very timey-wimey I think could have benefited from having at least one more story in-between when we first met Roanna and this one. I dunno. Regardless, the real star of the show is once again the stellar character work, the high emotional scenes, and the slow emotional scenes. But unless time is changed, knowing elements of this story is where things ultimately are supposed to end up lessens those future stories a bit because I don't like where some of these characters ultimately end up. Lol

And finally Sins of the Flesh is a Cyberman story that tackles head on the very real, very evil practice of "conversion therapy" through the lens of Cyberman conversion. Again, not a story I whole heartedly loved, but I think this did a pretty good job at having a conversation about this topic, this is the kind of stuff I'd love to see the TV show do more often, and I think it works well for the Cybermen to be the villains to tell this story with. Again, character work is great.

One more box set left in this run. I'm both excited and I don't want it to be over.

[childofraddblog]

I've been trying really, really hard to get back into reading comics more often lately. So in the last few weeks I've revisited some books, experienced some old series that are new for me, and jumped into some current stuff.

Revisited the Stargirl comics from a few years back, the Spring Break Special and The Lost Children mini-series. Both are good, though TLC does try to cram a bit too much into its short issue length. Still, I enjoyed them.

Revisited Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E., Stargirl's original series. It is more rough than I remember it being, but it's got so much spunk and character to it that it's just a lot of fun. I really enjoy it.

JSA: All Stars, a mini-series where the JSA have to confront some emotional baggage of their own issue by issue, character by character. It's a fine enough series, but I overall liked it. It's also where Courtney Whitmore stops going by The Star-Spangled Kid and changed her moniker to Stargirl. Some issues were stronger than others.

Finally started James Robinson's 90s Starman run. A series I hadn't read before. So far I've read the first story arc and I'm really enjoying it.

I also checked out his 90s Elseworlds mini-series JSA: The Golden Age, which takes a look at what life could've been like for the masked heroes of the second world war after it's over. I really, really, really like this. This is some of the strongest, more concise comic writing I've experienced in a while.

My interest in the Absolute DC universe has finally piqued so first I checked out the book where it began, DC All-In Special from a few years ago. It basically tells the birth of this new universe. It's pretty good, tells the same story from two different viewpoints and I like that. Though the way it's set up it does kind of feel like the AU has a finite time to it. Curious how long it will last.

Checked out the most recent AU release, Absolute Green Arrow where Ollie might be a demonic serial killer from beyond the grave? The story primarily follows Black Canary. It's an extremely modern story with supernatural twists, but I liked it a whole lot. Very good stuff here.

And finally the new Ben 10 reboot comic. A lot of people love this, I thought it was okay. There's a bit more of a realism to it that I dunno sort of takes away from the whimsy of the cartoon, but I also haven't watched the cartoon in years and years. Regardless, I plan on following it.

[childofraddblog]

CASUALTIES OF WAR (2017)

- Pretty Lies

- The Lady of Obsidian

- The Enigma Dimension

Finished John Hurt's War Doctor audio run. Overall, the experience was underwhelming. More often than not the stories themselves just weren't that compelling or entertaining. This set has at least two that I pretty well liked, that being the first two stories. And the last one has some great moments, but the concept being explored is really undercooked I felt like.

Hurt himself is phenomenal in this role and I'm glad he got to reprise it for a few years after his TV appearance. And I was really happy that his Doctor got to interact with Leela (Louise Jameson) by the end. Jacqueline Pearce's Cardinal Ollistra never fully grew on me, but she was at least interesting. I'm curious if she shows up in any other earlier War Doctor stories. And the Dalek Time Strategist who was the main villain of this series had a lot of potential, but like much of this run just felt like that was little explored.

Overall, not an incredible journey, but I am glad I went on it.

[childofraddblog]

AMC+ is going to be the new home for revival era Doctor Who from Eccelston to Whittaker (Gatwa's seasons will probably remain in Disney legal limbo for a while). For right now I'm gonna say this sucks, only because it's breaking up the franchise even more so on where you can watch everything. Like if you're only interested in the main show, you buy or jump to another streamer.

But if you want to watch the three major shows of the revival era, all of which feed off of one another and have a big crossover at one point--those being Doctor Who, Sarah Jane Adventures, & Torchwood--you could originally watch them all easily on HBO Max, but now you'll need both Max and AMC+ to get that full experience. Not to mention that as far as I'm aware you can only still buy Class, another spin-off, in order to stream it, and if you're really digging deep the K9 show is on Tubi and Hoopla. The latest two seasons of DW are still on Disney. And the spin-offs Tales of the TARDIS and The War Between the Land and the Sea are still region locked in the UK. So the number of avenues have now increased where the big three were once just on the same streamer together. So until I hear that SJA and Torchwood at least are joining it, I'm not a big fan.

I don't mind if it gets a new streaming home, when the Gatwa era was announced I had really hoped it'd last awhile and maybe Disney would eventually end up with the earlier era of Who, alongside the others, but that was not to be.

And this is just discussing modern Who. Classic at least has a dedicated YouTube page, although the TV movie you have to buy it, and I don't remember if K9 & Company and Dimensions in Time have official easy to watch releases, although thankfully they're pretty easy to find on the Internet.

‘Doctor Who’ Library Lands New Streaming Home With AMC+

The 2005-22 run of the sci-fi series will debut there in June.

[childofraddblog]

THE PUNISHER: ONE LAST KILL (2026)

[SPOILERS!!!]

-- I'm incredibly partial to this iteration of the character as portrayed by Jon Bernthal. From his amazing first outing in Daredevil season two, to his own TV series which is one of my favorite MCU shows, to his recent appearances in Daredevil: Born Again. It's been quite a road for this character and I've enjoyed the journey tremendously.

And especially after such a good second season of Daredevil: Born Again, I was riding high into this Special Presentation and primed to wholly love it. This was made for me.

Unfortunately, I don't love it, and I'm pretty lukewarm on it if I'm being honest. As a stand alone primer for this character for anyone who's not seen his past outings, is wanting to know his whole deal before he shows up in Spider-Man: Brand New Day, it's not bad. As the continuation of a character who's gone through these beats time and time again where he must live through the horrors of his family's death, try to not be the Punisher, and then inevitably finally become the Punisher at the very end...it's tiring.

But what's it about? It's basically one bad day in the life of Frank Castle, he's down on his luck, continuing to spiral backwards, he's suicidal, ready to hang up the Punisher gig, he's exhaustively killed every person even remotely related to the death of his family--the Gnucci's being part of that ring I'm pretty sure is a retcon, but it's fine it's just adding another layer to the conspiracy and doesn't negate anything from before--and when someone he missed returns to get their revenge all hell breaks loose.

Conceptually, pretty solid. But the short runtime and that vast majority of the special focuses on Frank mowing down assassins trying to take him out in admittedly pretty good action scenes, there isn't a lot of room left to explore the character beyond ground we've already covered time and again.

Also while I do understand what they were going for, I've heard people talk about how the over the top violence in Little Sicily is meant to mirror Frank's own mental state until he decides to bring order to it and himself, I get that, but it was pretty laughable to watch all this hell breaking loose and not think why hasn't a state of emergency been declared, the AVTF or National Guard been called in or something? lol

Like, don't get me wrong, I'm more of a fan of these projects even in a shared universe telling a story that works for them, doesn't need a lot of big connections to everything else, it was just SO MUCH happening nearly to the point of parody. And that was before the assault on Frank happens.

Also, if you're wondering why it's One Last Kill I have a theory, and I'm going to combine it with one I've heard other say. Mine is that Ma Gnuuci is the one last kill, she's the LAST living link to those who killed Frank's family, her survival of his own rampage against her family makes her a perfect foil for him, but also her being left alive gives this version of the character a motive to keep going. Seeking that ultimate revenge.

Others have said Frank himself is the one last kill, that when he kills himself then it will all be over because everyone he needed to kill is dead and now he can leave this mortal coil as well. I don't disagree with that, I think it shifts from him to Ma by the end of the special. That's my perspective.

Bernthal of course continues to be great in this role, love him to death. Judith Light as Ma Gnucci completely steals her scene and instantly becomes a villain I would love to see again, and it was nice to see Jason Moore, Deborah Ann Woll, AND Kelli Barrett return to their respective roles they play in the MCU (Frank's friend Curtis, obviously Karen, and Frank's wife Maria to be precise).

This is also one of the best looking MCU projects we've had in a hot hot minute. The action is good, but it LOOKS good as well. The cinematography is excellent and I found myself really happy with what I was staring at even if I wasn't always enjoying the story being told to me.

Also, because we don't have a great timeline for Frank and this muddled that a bit more it feels like, here's MY personal perception of Frank's life in the MCU up until now:

His family dies.

Goes on revenge spree.

Before he can get full revenge and "move on" from his family he gets blipped.

Five years taken from him.

He comes back, goes into hiding, begins to spiral.

DDBA happens, he unwittingly gets pulled back into the fight.

Bails on the events of that series, continues his revenge spree.

Kills the Gnuuci's leaving a power vaccuum within himself and Little Sicily.

This adventure happens as he's spiraling even more, not sure how to continue living now that he has nothing to live for.

Ma Gnuuci shows up and gives him purpose again.

Then we head into Brand New Day.

Knowing Marvel, that probably makes too much sense so that is probably not what happened, but until stated otherwise, this is my head canon to make sense as to why this specific special needed to exist with the story that is has.

So, yeah, I didn't love it. I needed just a bit more. Maybe if it had been an hour long, or truthfully if they'd chosen to explore something new with the character, perhaps I'd enjoy it more.

Still, we got more Bernthal Frank Castle on screen and that I'm not complaining about.

[childofraddblog]

DAREDEVIL: BORN AGAIN - Season Two (2026)

-- I'll try not to get spoilery as the season is only freshly over, but if you weren't big on s1 of DDBA I hope s2 gave you something more to chew on. It definitely did good for me and I like s1.

In four of five seasons so far, counting both DD and DDBA, Kingpin has served as the main villain and foil to Daredevil which has been both a blessing and a curse. A blessing because the MCU has had a reoccurring villain problem since its beginnings, almost always killing them off (it's been great to see Kingpin get so fleshed out over the course of four different shows counting Hawkeye & Echo), and a curse because it limits the big bads Daredevil has been allowed to face.

However, over the course of this season and really these first two seasons of DDBA we've gotten what has felt like a natural second step for the rivalry of these two characters. The first season saw their explosive grievances against one another spill out into the open by the end, but in some ways the details they both had on one another kept much of their struggle underground, hidden.

With Fisk's ascendancy via the mayorship and Murdock on the back foot the only way it could end this time is if everything was revealed to everyone affected by their holy war.

While the season wasn't perfect, I do think it's odd the Punisher was absent through all of this, there were beats that at times just felt odd like for instance a certain character's turn in the finale felt strangely abrupt as we just hadn't spent enough time with him to earn that I think, thematically the season held strong and its focus on both Kingpin and Daredevil remained its guiding light, its northern star if you will.

Even Bullseye got great character work this season and it was so nice to finally see him come into his own. Much like Kingpin, it's nice that Bullseye got to stick around for as long as he did and get to be built up as a character, villain, and potentially more.

I think Mr. Charles is still a bit nebulous as a character right now and I hope we learn more about his whole deal next season. Daniel and BB's storyline was just chef's kiss I thought it was one of the strongest subplots of the season (side note, in the finale we see a prop that was originally used in the old Daredevil show, but was then a big old reference to Agents of SHIELD which means there is yet another direct reference to that show in a Marvel Studios production and it's not like a small thing, it references a pretty big storyline from that show. So the clown make-up goes back on!).

It was wonderful to see Jessica Jones again, I know we're gonna get to see more of her next season, but I hope we get like a One-Shot or another series for her filling out the missing years. They can do it in flashbacks while the actual story is contemporary.

Everyone pulled out the a-game performances and gave us yet more of the definitive takes on some of these characters. I cannot speak highly enough of the acting being done by Charlie Cox, Vincent D'Onofrio, Deborah Ann Woll, Krysten Ritter, and the rest of the cast.

If Loki didn't exist this would be my favorite Marvel Studios TV show, but as it stands it is a very close second (with Echo coming in third, something about that Fisk guy I guess).

Is it better than the og Daredevil show? Not yet, nor do I really care to make that distinction at any point other than on my personal enjoyment rankings (of which it's still second even to the og series).

I do, however, hope this show continues on longer than the Netflix Daredevil series. I'd be happy with a minimum of five seasons, but would always welcome more. I am very much looking forward to season three. As long as Cox is willing to continue returning to this character I hope we get to keep returning to his exploits.

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With The Boys series finale coming up I thought I'd go ahead and get properly caught up by checking out much of the in-universe tie-in media that has been released over the years. I usually love this kinda shit and realized I had not really interacted with them.

Listened to the Audible original in-universe podcast episode DEEPER AND DEEPER, which released around season three. It's an interview with the Deep and his then wife centered around his storyline at the time. I really enjoyed it, the Deep is such a punchable loser.

I also checked out two Butcher centric shorts, one called MR. BUTCHER which was a promotional short for season one and the other titled simply BUTCHER that takes place between seasons one and two.

And now I'm currently going through the Vought International YouTube page watching all the videos they've uploaded there. Is any of this important to the finale? Not at all, but they're fun, and I should probably get them out of the way now in case next week leaves a bitter taste in my mouth. Lol

[childofraddblog]

Another round of Doctor Who and related audio media. Because I'm always listening to them at work these days.

The Sarah Jane Smith audio series was pre-Sarah Jane Adventures, starring Elizabeth Sladen returning as her onscreen character and taking on various threats to the world with the help of her new friends Nat and Josh. Honestly, this was a difficult series to get through. I just never truly loved what I was listening to, the closest I got were literally the last two stories which end on a major cliffhanger until she returns into the TV show with absolutely no mention of her adventures here. Though I remember reading somewhere that RTD considers this series canon, which really raises some questions regarding K9 and how he's treated here versus the shape he's in in DW in Sarah's return episode as well as how we never got an answer it seems for whatever happens to her at the end of this run.

I liked her compatriot Josh for the most part, Nat was on and off for me. The series feels very of its time at times, but Sladen true to form does give an incredible performance each and every episode. I liked season two more than season one so at least it got stronger as it went along. Overall, for me personally, it was just an okay series.

Beyond the Sun was one of Big Finish's first audio dramas because before they released their adventures with the Doctor proper they were adapting the novels of the New Adventures Bernice Summerfield books, Benny being a companion to the 7th Doctor during the 90s novels run. Again, it's fine. Nothing really to write home about. Though Sophie Aldred gives probably her best audio performance I've heard so far as the villain of this story. It follows Benny and some of her students having to save a planet from a potential doomsday device. I think there might be some potential anti-communism to this story? I tried not to think about it too much. I'll examine that some more when I eventually read the book it's adapting.

The War Doctor - Agents of Chaos is the third box set in John Hurt's audio run as the War Doctor before his passing. Like much of his stories before these, the three stories of this box set are just okay. Hurt and co. give great performances, but the stories themselves just aren't that compelling and the main villain story here is really weak compared to what I know Big Finish is capable of delivering at times. I've got three episodes left in this series and it's just a shame that still the best War Doctor story Hurt has been a part of is his one big televised adventure. The Sontarans were fun tho and the Dalek Time Strategist is growing on me. I also like how one of the lasting impacts of the 90s TV movie allowed for a really cool explanation for how one can access the Eye of Harmony from Gallifrey within a TARDIS, it required some re-wording on the parts of later writers, but they've made it work.

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Just learning about these illustrations from the Rose novel adaptation that include every televised incarnation of the Doctor, some Morbius Doctors, and two incarnations created specifically for this. Would love to know more about those two.

And for a real exploration of the Doctor's timeline, we're reaching the point where the mystery is too cumbersome and more annoying than simply intriguing.

[childofraddblog]

We finally have some information regarding the upcoming DW multimedia project CIRCUIT BREAKER focusing on the Fugitive Doctor played by Jo Martin, spanning comics, novels, short stories, games, audio adventures, and some sort of home media DVD/Blu-ray release (infographic says DVD, website says Blu-ray) that some have speculated is just another re-release of this Doctor's appearances on the show + extra related episodes. I hope it's more than that and has something original on it.

I'm interested and excited, just cause I like multimedia stories, Time Lord Victorious was ambitious and pretty good overall, Doom's Day wasn't great, but I liked the character.

The story, however, is fine sounding. Several items in UNIT's care are pulled through time and reality and could destroy everything so this Doctor ends up having to stop the threat. We'll see what happens! It's nice we are getting a bigger story focused on Jo Martin, she's still the most enigmatic Doctor considering how she was under utilized in the show.

The countdown to 'Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker' starts now | Doctor Who

The global multi-platform story begins 25 June, and The Fugitive Doctor is at the centre of it all!

[childofraddblog]

STAR TREK: STARFLEET ACADEMY (2026)

- Season One

-- I've enjoyed getting into ST, and while I still have a lot of the older shows to watch, I'm happy to have dove in and watched so much of the modern shows. I've liked more of them than not, and Academy is thankfully no different.

An overall strong first season with really fun characters and a nice school setting, I liked a lot of the dynamics between everyone. I really like how this framed the rebuilding of Starfleet as an entity in the far future through the primary lens of the future cadets who will shape it.

My biggest gripes are that I didn't fully get invested in Caleb's personal family issues, and the second half of the show moved way, way too fast for some character changes to really hit primarily with someone like Sam. I also am so over so much of modern Trek ending their seasons with monologues on how good Starfleet is. Maybe it doesn't happen as much as I think, but it certainly feels like. Just keep showing me, quit telling me.

But, like I said, overall I like this show. I'm excited for season two, and I'm sad to see it go because we know it's not getting a third.

THE BOYS - Season Four (2024)

-- I originally watched the first three seasons shortly after season three aired, and then I didn't watch season four when I came out despite catching up with the show as well as Gen V. I did not realize season four came out two years ago, but as you can understand it's been a WHILE since I last watched the Boys then. But I wanted to be caught up for the series finale so I recently watched season four.

Now, the biggest hurdle for this season for me was simply that because it's been several years since season three came out and watching that it was difficult for me to remember some plot beats and relationships between characters. Like the close relationship between Hughie and Victoria just didn't hit for me because of the gap.

That being said, I felt the season was still strong enough that I still enjoyed it, I still enjoyed the characters, a lot of the emotional stuff throughout still worked. Butcher's arc was pretty great, Hughie really went through it, Starlight was put through the ringer as well thanks to Firecracker, and Sage was super interesting. And Homelander's continue descent into madness is so tense.

I'm very curious to see if season five can truly wrap this series up in a satisfying way because between this and Gen V there are so many pieces on the board that are stressful in there own right. But I liked season four on the whole.

GEN V - Season Two/Final Season (2025)

-- We just found out the other day that this series has been cancelled after two seasons, which is a shame. If they didn't want to carry on too much further after The Boys they should've at least given this series one final season to wrap these characters' stories. It's also another academy based show gone after only two seasons...sigh.

That being said, I just finished this and wow what a great season. Now, as much as I love integrated multi franchise entries, I was shocked by just how integral this season is to the story playing out in The Boys. It kind of falls into the trap that the Book of Boba Fett did where the Mandalorian show hijacked the back half of that series, but at the very least Gen V is able to keep a consistent focus on its primary cast all the way to the end so you know you're still watching this show for it story and characters.

The brightest part of this series for me was the villain Cipher, though I won't say too much because there is something about the character that I simply don't want to spoil even on accident because it left me gobsmacked when it happened. Though I will admit the final episode does leave the character just a little less interesting than they were for most of the season.

I loved Marie and everyone's personal journeys, and the hanging shadow that was the very real death of the actor who played Andre in season one was honored nicely throughout this season and thankfully the writers used his memory to give other characters really compelling arcs this season.

It really is a shame we won't get anymore of this particular show, but I hope we see the characters again one day (not just in The Boys presumably). Gen V was really good.

[childofraddblog]

Some recent gets!

UNIT: Operation Fall-Out and Other Stories, an anthology of UNIT tales.

Black Angel & The Blue Angel, two films on VHS.

The Little Prince, book.

A shirt from Favorite Vegetable celebrating the Daicon III & IV anime shorts!

[link to get the shirt here, no affiliation: https://www.favoritevegetable.com/product/elotaku]

[childofraddblog]

Finally exploring the War Doctor. Started with Engines of War then Only the Monstrous box set. All very Briggs heavy. EoW was marvelous, I truly enjoyed it a lot. OtM has a great John Hurt performance, but none of the stories did much for me. It was only okay. Onward to the next.

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Recently started listening to the 11th Doctor Chronicles, the first volume was pretty hit and miss for me, the second volume was an improvement. My favorite story overall was from vol. 2, "The Melting Pot" I thought it was really, really good.

However, I am now halfway through the 11th Doctor/Valerie adventures and overall it's been pretty solid! Great opening story, some solid ideas and high concepts, with only one story I didn't fully enjoy. But the one-two punch of Curiosity Shop+Broken Hearts really got me.

[childofraddblog]

Of the 8DA novels, I've read in full the first three. 8 Doctors is an insane opening book for a run, Vampire Science is so good it's become one of my favorite DW stories, and unfortunately I didn't care for The Bodysnatchers. Currently working my way through book 4.

[childofraddblog]

Recently got a bunch of TWICE lomo cards (unofficially printed cards), there's a few official ones in there (that I got from my TWICE light stick). A Chaeyoung keychain, an official Rosé photo card (from Black Pink). A Dahyun lovely keychain and card book. And my wife got a Mamamoo keychain and official Mamamoo light stick (it comes with stickers you can put on it to give it a face).