The Forbidden Planet International Blog Log

Another Thursday and as the false dawn of spring gives way to a sudden return to wintry conditions here’s Alex giving us a reason to stay in where its warm and tune in (dropping out optional); as ever check the Panel Borders site for more details and links to podcasts of previous shows:

Strip!: Daredevil by Alex Maleev and Alex Irvine, tonight at 5pm on Resonance FM, extended podcast after transmission on Panel Borders

Classic heroes month continues on Strip! with a look at the red-suited vigilante Daredevil – blind lawyer by day and superhero by night. Trying to break the record for the largest number of people called Alex in any one episode of the show, Alex Fitch talks to the Bulgarian artist Alex Maleev who with writer Brian Bendis brought the periodical back to the forefront of Marvel Comics’ line in an award winning four year run on the title in the mid 2000s. Alex also talks to novelist Alex Irvine whose anachronistic reimagining of the comic – Daredevil Noir – starts next month and combines the Chandleresque storytelling of Frank Miller’s iconic run on the title with the look and feel of classic Film Noir, relocating the adventures of Matt Murdock to Hell’s Kitchen in the 1930s. Alex also wrote the Vertigo Encyclopedia, a definitive look at DC’s mature reader’s imprint which has been host to some of the most acclaimed comics of recent years; you can read an interview with Alex here on the FP blog.

I’m ready for my close-up extra: New World Cinema on Resonance FM on the 26th at 10.30pm

In a special extra edition of I’m ready for my close-up, heralding the start of Spring, Alex Fitch and Jessica Fostekew look at two new critically acclaimed World Cinema releases. Alex interviews the director (Christophe Van Rompaey) and star (Jurgen Delnaet) of the new Belgian rom-com “Moscow, Belgium / Aanrijding in Moscou“, while Jess talks to director Paolo Sorrentino about his new film “Il Divo“, which chronicles the life of Giulio Andreotti who over the last 37 years has been Italian Prime Minister three times, Italian Minister of Defense and Foreign Affairs and has also been tried and acquitted for murder, kidnapping and ties to the Mafia…

Recent podcasts:

Reality Check – Have you heard the one about the Vampire, the Ghost and the Werewolf…?

Alex Fitch talks to Toby Whithouse, writer of BBC3′s excellent horror / dramedy series Being Human about his writing and acting career, the slow process of turning an ordinary series about a flatshare into a supernatural drama and writing the episode of Doctor Who (School Reunion) which brought back Sarah Jane Smith and K-9 to the series…

Panel Borders: The Mighty Thor by Walt Simonson

Continuing ‘classic heroes’ month on Panel Borders, Alex Fitch talks to artist and writer Walter Simonson, whose exceptional 4 year run on the Marvel comic The Mighty Thor in the early 80s remains the most appreciated version of the character since Stan Lee and Jack Kirby brought the Viking hero to Marvel comics a generation before. Alex and Walt talk about combining European mythology and space opera, esoteric character design (why does Beta Ray Bill have a face like a horse’s skull?), turning the Norse god of war into a talking frog and the joy of revisiting classic heroes.