Domain Registration

Look’s like Lex Luthor didn’t keep an eye on one of his domains. This is from one of the Superman Secret Files issues from the late 90s when – as odd as it might be to say these days – the internet was still in its relative infancy.

Don’t you just love the now retro square menu buttons on the top?

DC had a habit at the time of embracing the net by putting websites in all sorts of comics without necessarily thinking things through. Even then, I seriously doubt anyone at DC registered

Hey look – a camel case address! Do any sites still do that now?

as an actual domain that they owned.

These days that address will redirect you to what appears to be an Italian law firm’s web site.

At least I hope it does, otherwise my spam filter’s going to be working overtime.

Dr Why The Hell Not?

So the new Dr Who is Jodie Whittaker, the first woman to take on the role.

I have to admit to not being the biggest Dr Who fan at all – of the last series, I watched only the first episode; I don’t know why but Capaldi’s Doctor never really grabbed me. I enjoyed David Tennant’s run and most of Matt Smith’s but after a while it all got a little samey. By the time Capaldi took over the role, I’d lost track of how many times the universe had been re-set, who knew who the Doctor was, whether the Time Lords and Gallifrey were still in existence or not and how often Davros had died and returned.

With Jodie Whittaker taking over on the Christmas special, I’m interested in Dr Who for the first time in ages and I’d like to see what they do with the series with the breath of fresh air and the subverting of expectations that this casting affords them. I doubt it’ll make me a die-hard fan (hell, Tom Baker couldn’t do that when I was a child) but it should be interesting.

And on a side note, I really, really hope the internet isn’t going to lose it over this. It would be so sad to read of people reacting with rage over the casting of a woman in a role that has previously been played by men. If the series had been called Mr Who all these years, they might – might – have a point, but if the Master can become the Mistress, why can’t the Doctor become . . . well . . . a Doctor?

Green Lantern: Earth One

Here’s some good news: Green Lantern will be joining the Earth One collection of books next year.

I have all three Superman titles and both Batman books, along with the Teen Titans (volume 1 – volume 2 is on order) and the Wonder Woman book (though that one’s still on my ever growing too read pile) so I’m looking forward to a new take on GL.

I have to admit to a little disappointment, though, that it’s Hal Jordan in the starring role. One of the strengths of the GL stories is the sheer number of characters – any of the main GLs of Earth aside from Jordan (John Stewart, Guy Gardner, Kyle Rayner, Simon Baz, Jessica Cruz, even Alan Scott) could have just as easily played the lead.

But Jordan is Green Lantern in the same way that Barry Allen is the Flash; other characters will come along but they’ll always cycle back to those, I suppose.

Mind you, the set-up sounds promising. In this version, Jordan is an . . .

astronaut for Ferris Galactic, and all of the Green Lantern Corps have been murdered by the Manhunters – and its up to him to re-start the group.

Ferris Galactic? Sounds like any future/alien tech of Earth One is a lot more accessible than in the main DCU.