25 Best Episodes of New Era Doctor Who

It is just over a week until we finally get to see the 50th Doctor Who Anniversary Special and things are already getting really exciting. The bow ties are getting dusted off; the sonic screw drivers are at full charge and the stage is set for some amazing fun. If you haven’t seen the short film the BBC released on the weekend called Night of the Doctor you really need to – it is perhaps the most significant development in the last several years in Who canon.

In the lead up to the celebration though, let me take you on a journey through Doctor Who’s re-boot in recent years, covering the 9th, 10th and 11th Doctors – Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant and Matt Smith. Here I will have a look at my favourite 25 episodes of this era and at the end give some thoughts on Night of the Doctor and the lead into the 50th Anniversary episode Day of the Doctor.

Follow me under the jump for more!

The Best Things to Come From Batkid's Rescue of San Francisco

Meet Miles. He's 5 years old, and he has leukemia. He was able to have a wish granted by the Make a Wish Foundation to be Batkid, and this might be the most epic wish-granting I think I've ever seen. The city of San Francisco transformed parts of itself into a makeshift Gotham City, and Batkid got to ride around with Batman in the Batmobile, stop crimes, diffuse a bomb to save a damsel in distress, rescue the San Francisco mascot, and arrest the Riddler and Penguin to cap it all off.

Absolutely amazing.

The story is here, but I wanted to share some of the cooler stuff I found about it over the course of the day. The Make-a-Wish site about Batkid is absolutely slammed, but if you have a few bucks and can throw it toward a charity that makes a hard life for little kids a little easier, I can't think of a better reason right now.

SFIst has a photo gallery of the event, but my favorite goodies are behind the jump. Might get a little dusty in here...

DC Comics New 52 - Stryder's Weekly Top 5

Hey everybody happy 11-12-13!  It feel like just yesterday it was only 11-11-11....how time flies!

So anyone reading current issues of Batman (or just reading about me reading them) knows that they've been retelling his origin for the New 52 in a big and surprisingly awesome event known as "Zero Year".  This month several other titles are getting the "Zero Year" treatment, with one-shot issues focusing on what so-and-so hero were up to during the same time period.  Try not to get confused as "Forever Evil", set (just barely) in the future of the DCU, is also still rolling along....

Sooo...that being said, you can imagine what we'll be discussing this week!  All of these titles were released on November 6th, 2013:

Action Comics #25 - "I admit it...it's not the best quip ever...but it sets them up for a heck of a punch line."

"Zero Year" comes to Metropolis along with a brand new creative team for the Man of Steel!  Writer Greg Pak and artist Aaron Kuder take over Action Comics starting this month and are out to impress right away!  The major unifying event of "Zero Year" is a massive super storm on the East Coast threatening Gotham City, which is also in the midst of a complete blackout (Riddle me this: What clever Batman villain could shut down power to the city just moments before a catastrophe? - Stay tuned for this month's Batman!) Clark Kent, young and inexperienced and mysteriously CAPELESS, decides that maybe...just maybe...he's actually strong enough to FIGHT the STORM!  Can the Man of Steel tame the elements?  Maybe with the help of a young lady from his distant past...

I was super (no pun intended) impressed with both the writing and the artwork this issue!  The characters look good and sound like themselves...the storytelling is solid...everything works together very well!  This is easily my favourite issue since Grant Morrison left the book...so if you've been looking for a good "jumping on" point for Action Comics...here ya go!

More "Zero Year" and some other stuff, too...after the JUMP!

The Book Was Better Podcast Episode 68: The Lizzie McGuire Movie! (with guest host Lizzie Unpronounceable!)

This week we discover what happens what happens when culturally ignorant, poor-decision-making, spaghetti-fueled American teenagers travel to Rome, as we read the lightweight junior novelization of The Lizzie McGuire Movie? Who the hell is Lizzie McGuire? Luckily I have resident Lizzie expert, frequent guest host Lizzy Unpronounceable by my side to help unravel this rich tapestry. When in Rome...
You can download it right now from the official site!

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FPcast! The Fruitless Pursuits podcast for November 11th, 2013! Nightwhinge!

This week Luke and Jacinta soberly and succinctly discuss new Nightwing rumours in Superman vs Batman movie, Ghostbusters III, leaked Transformers 4 dinobots, Marvel television news, new World of Warcraft and MORE! Stick it in your nerd hole!

Download here! (Click to stream or right-click to save)

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