Paul Cornell

In this exclusive preview of Demon Knights, Etrigan and Vandal Savage slay the heck out of dragons

We really dug the first issue of DC Comics’ new rough-and-tumble fantasy series Demon Knights. Hence, we’re psyched to debut an exclusive sneak peek of the second issue. In this preview, Paul Cornell pens Vandal Savage wrestling with scaly fauna. That’s a platform I can get behind. The second issue of Demon Knights hits stores…

An exclusive preview of Strange Adventures, DC Comics’ new scifi anthology

Here’s an exclusive first look at “A ‘True Story’ From Saucer Country” by Action Comics and Doctor Who scribe Paul Cornell and artist Goran Sudzuka. This short story will appear in the resurrection of DC/Vertigo’s science fiction anthology Strange Adventures. The 80-page Strange Adventures #1 hits stores this Wednesday, May 25. In addition to the…

How does one write Lex Luthor? Action Comics writer Paul Cornell gives us tips

How does one write Superman’s greatest nemesis (and noted pastry bandit) Lex Luthor? We asked Action Comics author and Doctor Who screenplay scribe Paul Cornell for some advice on how to write the most diabolical villain with the shiniest head. https://gizmodo.com/a-brief-history-of-lex-luthors-cake-stealing-antics-5784465 Despite his fancy armor, allegiances with colorful characters, and megalomania, Lex Luthor doesn’t consider…

Comic Wednesday brings us Orange Lanterns and an Infinity Gauntlet

Comic book Wednesday always delivers the most prescient fashions. Who wouldn’t want to sport a dapper Orange Lantern (your friends will be so envious!) or a gem-encrusted Infinity Gauntlet (that Soul Gem is 24 carat!). Let this week’s comic haul teach you that superheroes wear more than spandex. First Issues If burly, super-manly dudes are…

Lessons that 2010 taught the entertainment industry

This was a year of hard lessons. Movie attendance and ticket sales fell. Television shows struggled and died. Book publishers faced an electronic future. And through it all, some great works of the imagination thrived. What did 2010 teach us? 1. Ruling Comic Con doesn’t guarantee a winning box office. The writing’s been on the…

Why it’s good that Death is meeting Lex Luthor

In October’s Action Comics 894, the DC Universe’s baldest baddie, Lex Luthor, will meet an unlikely guest star…Death from Neil Gaiman’s Sandman. These characters come from two very different corners of comicdom, but their confluence is a win for readers. In Paul Cornell’s current run on Action Comics, Lex is attempting to unlock the secrets…

This book could teach Hollywood to do superheroes right

You might think superheroes are played out as heroic archetypes or sources of fresh stories. But you’d be wrong, and a new anthology, Masked, proves it. Anybody who writes superhero comics or movies, or just loves superheroes, should read it. Spoiler warning! Masked, edited by Lou Anders, is a really strong collection of stories that…

Merry Whomas From Paul Cornell

Get your holiday season properly underway with an early gift from writer Paul Cornell: An all-new Doctor Who story about the end of time (But not the one you’ll see on television in just over a week). The story, “The Last Doctor,” is the first of what Cornell’s calling his 12 Blogs of Christmas, a…

The Year’s Most Important SF Anthology Is Out Now

If you wish science fiction would have a bit more actual science (and focus on the near future instead of the year 5 billion), you’ll be thrilled that When It Changed, an anthology pairing scientists and SF authors, is out. To create When It Changed, editor Geoff Ryman (author of the multiple award-winning novel Air),…

Steam-Pumpkin Proves Steampunk Needs A Nice Nap

Jonathan Strahan may call steampunk "Victorian cyberpunk," while Paul Cornell dubs it "the moment the future died," but this "steampunk pumpkin" is the ultimate proof of steampunk overload. Since when do pumpkins need to be steam-powered, anyway? [Instructables]

ScarJo’s Secret Sexy Past Revealed In Year One Comic

If you like what you’ve seen of Scarlett Johanssen’s Black Widow from Iron Man 2 so far, Marvel has your future needs covered: Doctor Who writer Paul Cornell will be telling her back story in Black Widow: Year One. The new series, announced in yesterday’s LA Times, takes the character back in more ways than…

How Realistic Should Sci-Fi Be?

Should science fiction make more of an effort to keep up-to-date with science fact? As part of the UK’s National Science and Engineering Week, that’s the question that the BBC asked four well-known SF authors. Unsurprisingly, none of the writers involved – Paul Cornell, Iain (M.) Banks, Ken MacLeod and Ian Watson – feel constrained…

Get Your Summer Movie Thrills Early

With the major publishers taking it easy after recent big events, it falls to independent books to come up with movie tie-ins and new ideas this week… Thankfully, they’re more than up to the task. Firstly, let’s get Marvel and DC out of the way; the former is pushing Secret Invasion pretty hard this week,…

Ian Fleming in Space, Courtesy of Paul Cornell and Pyr Books

Want to read an awesome alternate history, space-colony spy story from Doctor Who scribe and comic book writer Paul Cornell? Pyr Books publisher Lou Anders posted a free preview of Cornell’s story “Catherine Drewe” online last week — the tale serves as the opener to short story collection Fast Forward 2, which Anders calls “all…

Doctor Who’s Paul Cornell Tells io9 Why Darkness Is Overrated

Paul Cornell helped to reinvent British time-travel soap Doctor Who, with his contributions to the New Adventures novels, his webcast starring Richard E. Grant, and some of the most moving scripts of the new series. He’s also worked on Marvel Comics, including the new Fantastic Four: True Story, and he’s adapting an Iain M. Banks…

Why Hacking History Is Harder Than You’d Think

You’d think that messing around with the timelines would be fun and easy – after all, we’re always hearing that the slightest change to history could change everything. But it’s not that simple, as we learned at a panel yesterday at Worldcon. For one thing, history is a lot more resilient than you’d expect, according…

This Week’s Comics Are All Choppers And Blogging Hookers

Even though the entire industry spent the last week sunning themselves (and by “sunning themselves,” I mean, “slowly roasting themselves in large windowless rooms talking to nerds like me”), your local comic book store will still find itself with a full selection of brand new books tomorrow as regular as clockwork. But, considering that one…

Proving that the UK recognizes the lure of a tall man in a good suit, the third season of Doctor Who has won the British Writers’ Guild Award for Best TV Series, beating out another time travel show, Life On Mars, which starred John Simms… who also played the Master in the third season of…