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Two weeks ago (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--The Year In Review In Advance"), I was going over the projects I was looking forward to this year. First up was Phineas and Ferb: Star Wars, a one hour special featuring Disney’s super scientist brothers operating in the Star Wars Universe. Somehow I forgot to send ICv2 the poster for it and to justify including it in this week's Confessions I'll mention the write-up the show recently got on The Huffington Post. Along with being a very well written appreciation of the series "What Makes 'Phineas and Ferb' the Most Original TV show Since Ernie Kovacs?" by Michael Levin reveals what exactly makes this humorous take on the George Lucas franchise different from the Robot Chicken and Family Guy Star Wars specials.
In what I'm sure is just a coincidence, like the Dark Horse Comics Star Wars Tag & Bink comics by Kevin Rubio, the Phineas & Ferb special uses the Tom Stoppard play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead (in which we follow what two minor characters in Shakespeare’s Hamlet get up to between scenes) as inspiration. Meaning the P&F cast will appear as more or less their usual selves except in scenes that take place just out of camera range of events from Star Wars: A New Hope. Now I'm really looking forward to this one.
Something which was recently added to my "Things To Look Forward To" list also belongs on my "Things I Never Thought I’d Live To See" list: I write of the impending completion of Doc Frankenstein, created by Geoff Darrow and Steve Skroce back in 2004 when the premise of The Frankenstein Monster as a monster hunter was actually original (Grant Morrison’s revamp of DC's Spawn of Frankenstein came a year later and Kevin Grevioux's I, Frankenstein graphic novel came after that). It was one of my favorite comics and I’ve written repeatedly about it here (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--The Marriage Penalty"), but after increasingly long delays between issues I had pretty much given up of ever seeing another one. But according to an interview with Steve Skroce that was just posted on the Bleeding Cool website issues seven and eight of Doc Frankenstein will appear later this year in a trade paperback that also collects issues five and six. So far there’s been no word when we’ll see it but Doc Frankenstein Vol. 1: Messiah of Science Resurrected which collects the first four issues, has already been solicited for August.
If you’re looking for something "new" to watch during the summer doldrums Hulu has recently (at least I think it’s recently; it may have been there for a while and I only just now noticed it) added Fat Dog Mendoza. It's a series I've mentioned before (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--Whatever Happened To Fat Dog Mendoza?") but never thought I'd get to see (other than clips on YouTube). It’s an animated series based on a Scott Musgrove comic published by Dark Horse back in the 1990's that comes with an eccentric pedigree; it's a co-production between Cartoon Network UK and Sunbow Entertainment (the people who gave us G.I. Joe, Transformers, Jem etc,). So technically it's a British series, and though in English (the voice cast is entirely Canadian), it's never been broadcast in America.
Now that I have finally seen it, I’ve got to say it's more unusual than actually good. The characters are definitely original; it's hard for me not to love a planetoid-sized dog; and I have to admit it's not like not anything else. I just wish the scripts, voice work, and stories were a whole lot sharper.
And finally, I can't believe I forgot to include the new season of Doctor Who that’s coming this August to BBC America on my "Things To Look Forward To" list. As previously established I'm a longtime fan of the show (see "Confessions of a Comic Book Guy--Ready, Set Squee") and being an older guy myself I quite like the idea that Peter Capaldi, the new Doctor, is someone closer my age and not (in the words of series showrunner Steven Moffat) "another handsome yet quirky young man with entertaining hair." And not to be a spoilsport, but I never really cottoned to The Doctor being romantically pursued by so many of his female companions. So as you might imagine I was well pleased to read the story on The Mary Sue website "Moffat To Disregard Peter Capaldi's Animal Magnetism, Will Cut 'Flirting' From Doctor Who" by Rebecca Pahle, that suggests there'll be quite a bit less of that sort of thing with this Doctor.
The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.