Over at the news site Comics for Sinners you’ll find my review of Doctor Who: The Fourth Doctor #1, currently available from Titan Comics. Written by Gordon Rennie (2000 AD, Judge Dredd Megazine) and Emma Beeby (2000 AD) and illustrated by Brian Williamson (Torchwood, Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor) it’s the start of a five-issue miniseries starring the most famous iteration of television’s time-traveling hero, as played by actor Tom Baker, and his number one traveling companion, Sarah Jane Smith, who was immortalized by actress Elisabeth Sladen. In this adventure, the Doctor and Sarah Jane visit Victorian Age London to take in Buffalo Bill’s Wild West show and end up being accosted by top-hat-wearing Cyclopses from beyond time and space. Head over to C4S to learn more.
Sure, Doctor Who doesn’t exactly fit into C4S’s focus on bad-girl comics—for one thing, you don’t find too many scantily clad ladies in Doctor Who—but every now and then management allows me to indulge myself. And if you’ve read this post and this other post from 2013, in celebration of the show’s 50th anniversary, you know I’m a major Whovian, especially when it comes to the Fourth Doctor.
Speaking of immortals and their plucky companions who protect the Earth from monsters, have you met Sebastienne “Annie” Mazarin, the 400-year-old, shape-shifting monster hunter who acts as mentor to teenaged Goth adventuress Pandora Zwieback in my young adult novel series The Saga of Pandora Zwieback? Pan is a 16-year-old Goth girl who’s spent the last decade being treated for mental health problems because she can see monsters. It’s only after she meets Annie that Pan discovers she’s never been ill—her so-called “monstervision” is actually a supernatural gift that allows her to see into Gothopolis, the not-so-mythical shadow world that exists right alongside the human world. You’ll find Annie battling evil in the following titles:
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0: A free, downloadable comic that serves as an introduction to Pan and Annie—with an 8-page story written by me and illustrated by Eliseu Gouveia—as well as Pan’s first novel, Blood Feud (via a pair of preview chapters).
Blood Feud: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 1: This critically acclaimed novel is the beginning of Pan’s story, explaining how she, her parents and friends, and Annie are drawn into a conflict among warring vampire clans searching for the key to an ultimate weapon (or so the legend goes)—a key that just so happens to have been delivered to the horror-themed museum owned by Pan’s father. It’s a character-driven action-fest that leads immediately into the second novel:
Blood Reign: The Saga of Pandora Zwieback, Book 2: Pan and Annie face even greater challenges as the vampire clans draw up plans to go to war with humanity. Leading the charge is a fallen angel named Zaqiel, whose previous attempt at subjugating the world was stopped by Annie—who, back in the day, was Zaqiel’s lover!
The Saga of Pandora Zwieback Annual #1: A spinoff from the novel series, this 56-page, full-color comic special finds the teenaged Goth adventuress battling vampires and a jealous, man-stealing siren. It features stories by me and Sholly Fisch (Scooby-Doo Team-Up), art by Eliseu Gouveia (The Saga of Pandora Zwieback #0), comic-art legend Ernie Colon (Amethyst, Princess of Gemworld), and Elizabeth Watasin (Charm School), and cover art by award-winning artist Henar Torinos (Mala Estrella).
Blood Feud, Blood Reign, and the Pan Annual are available in print and digital formats. Pandora Zwieback #0 is a digital exclusive. Visit their respective product pages for ordering information, as well as sample pages and chapters.
