The Doctor's trading up...

Interesting things going on as per usual in the world of comic books.  First off, fans of the popular series Smallville - the series that told the tale of Clark Kent as he discovered and honed his talents before finally becoming Superman - will be happy to hear that the series finale last May won’t be the last we’ve heard from this continuity.

DC Comics has announced that it will be taking a page out of Joss Whedon’s book (seriously, the man is ahead of the curve in every way!) by launching the new title Smallville Season 11. The season will be written by Smallville writer Bryan Q. Miller, and will be released first digitally on April 13, 2012, with print versions being released on May 16. According to the press release:

The new comic book series picks-up where the show left off (with Clark officially now as Superman!) and features other fan-favourite characters including Oliver Queen/Green Arrow, Chloe Sullivan-Queen, Lois Lane, Lex Luthor, and General Lane. The book features an all-star creative team – in addition to Miller, Smallville Season 11 creators include print cover artist Gary Frank (Superman Secret Origin) digital cover artist Cat Staggs and interiors by Pere Perez (Batgirl).

“Six months after Clark Kent donned the cape and took to the skies to save Earth from Apokolips… enter Season 11!” enthuses Miller. “New allies abound! New enemies afoot! And old friends return where they’re least expected! Pere and colourist Chris Beckett have done a fantastic job of capturing the look of the show and the players, and Gary and Cat are knocking it out of the park on covers. I couldn’t be more excited to help give seasoned viewers and new readers an all-access pass to Clark’s first year in the cape.”

Personally, this has me really excited, yet not quite as excited as the next piece of comic book news I’ve received.  IDW Publishing is planning on a Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover title, due in stores this May. Star Trek: The Next Generation/Doctor Who:  Assimilation 2 will find The Eleventh Doctor joining forces with Jean-Luc Picard as they face a united force of Borg and Cybermen. Both are villains that are similar yet vastly different, so to see them working together is very exciting.

According to IDW’s website:

“We are excited about this new adventure for the Doctor and the fact that he will be travelling with Captain Jean-Luc Picard and his iconic crew. This is a perfect partnership for not only Doctor Who’s incredible fans, but also for the brand. We have just celebrated our most successful year yet. Doctor Who’s latest season delivered record ratings for BBC America and it was the most downloaded full TV season of 2011 in the U.S. on the iTunes Store,” says Soumya Sriraman, executive vice president Home Entertainment and Licensing.

This eight-issue series will be written by Scott and David Tipton, the authors of critically acclaimed Star Trek: Infestation, with a helping hand from longtime Doctor Who writer Tony Lee, and will feature fully painted artwork by J.K. Woodward (Fallen Angel).

This isn’t the first time a Doctor Who/Star Trek crossover has been proposed. According to RTD, he was in talks with Trek producers to do a crossover before Star Trek: Enterprise was cancelled. And with the long list of crossovers that the various crews of the USS Enterprise have been a part of, including DC’s Legion of Superheroes and Marvel’s X-Men (which, ironically, happened years before Patrick Stewart was ever cast as Professor X), it’s no surprise that the two long-running sci-fi franchises would finally hook up (Doctor Who began in 1963, while the original Star Trek pilot “The Cage” was filmed a year later, although it took until 1966 and a new pilot to get underway).  Check these titles out at your local comic book shop when they’re available!

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