Pop Culture Roundup Nov. 6, 2007

Paul Norris, co-creator of Aquaman, has passed away, reports comics historian/writer Mark Evanier.

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A "lost" Stan Lee/Jack Kirby "Fantastic Four" story appears as an on-disk bonus item in the new "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer" DVD. Marvel Comics announced some time ago that a print version of the book was also in the works, but a release date hasn't been announced.

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Here's a pic of Doctor Whos 5 and 10 on the cover of Britain's Radio Times. Actors Peter Davison and David Tennant are starring together in a BBC "Children in Need" TV special.



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Speaking of Doctor Who, some of the Doctor's British comic book adventures from the 1970s and 80s will be seeing print again. Details from publisher IDW:

When Doctor Who's TARDIS lands in U.S. comic book stores in December, the stories will be classic, and the scarf will be color: rescuing a catalogue of beloved tales from the timestream, IDW Publishing will release Doctor Who Classics, printing in all-new color the black-and-white adventures that originally appeared only in Great Britain as part of Doctor Who Magazine in 1979 and 1980.

The stories feature the incarnation of the character very familiar to American audiences, Tom Baker's Fourth Doctor, with new state-of-the-art colors over art by Dave Gibbons, who drew the British magazine's main comic strip for most of the issues, from #1 until #69, before going on to co-create the industry-shaping graphic novel Watchmen.

Writing the stories are celebrated authors Pat Mills, nicknamed "the godfather of British comics," and Scotland-based John Wagner, both of whom are given credit for revitalizing British boys' comics in the 1970s. The new, modern colors will be handled by Charlie Kirchoff, with new covers recreating old scenes provided by Joe Corroney, the fan-favorite artist from IDW's Star Trek books.

"This series is appealing to fans because it's rare for these stories to have been available to readers in the United States," says Chris Ryall, IDW editor-in-chief and publisher. "A lot of people have never seen these comics at all, let alone in the full, vibrant colors that Gibbons' art deserves."

IDW will follow the launch of its classics reprints a month later with all-new monthly adventures of the latest Doctor, the Tenth version of the character portrayed by David Tennant in the BBC revamp of the show that drew raves from British critics and fans when it debuted in 2005.

"We're giving fans the best of the old and the best of the new," says Ryall. "The first series looks back at most popular Doctor of the past, and the upcoming series focuses on the best of the present."

Doctor Who Classics #1 will be released in December.


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Deal alert: Amazon is offering a bunch of TV on DVD season sets for under $25 each, including "Bewitched," "I Dream of Jeannie" and more.

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