Blog: And The Universe Cried "DOOM!"

Today I have written TWO (2) songs, both in the space of about four hours! That's almost unheard of in the twenty-first century - back in the 1990s when there was NOTHING TO DO I had songs spilling out of me in a quite undignified manner all the time, but these days I can go MONTHS without a glimmer of a tune, so getting two in quick succession like this is Quite Exciting.

Both are for the Data and Doctor Doom show what I am currently a) WRITING b) trying to book shows for. As ever, trying to do the latter is a delicate and intricate process which is progressing gently, but the former is ZOOMING along like nobody's business. It's helping that I'm trying to sit myself down at the desk first thing and do half an hour or so of BASHING OUT THORTS, many of which appear to have magically manifested overnight. It feels like my BRANE is really getting into it, and so, on today's evidence, is THE UNIVERSE.

For LO! Two great SIGNS have appeared to me on this day of double song writing! The first was during the writing of a song tentatively called "If You Want To Know What People Think", which is about the process of doing a SURVEY about Doctor Doom. As I'm sure you will recall, back in 2020 I put out a TWEET (if anyone remembers what those were) asking people to help me by answering some questions about Doctor Doom. It looked like this:

As part of my PhD on Doctor Doom as a transemedia character, I'm doing a survey on what his core characteristics are - any help would be much appreciated, full details are here (then an old link)

I wanted to include this in the song so copied out the text and thought "OK, how can I move these words around so it SCANS properly and how can I then make it rhyme?" but then, to my astonishment, realised I didn't need to as IT ALREADY FLIPPING WORKED!! THUS:

Have you got 20 minutes to answer some questions
About Doctor Doom for my PhD?
It would be very much appreciated if so
Details here and please RT
Please take my Doctor Doom survey!

All right, I concede that it only SCANS if you sing like what I do, but it definitely RHYMES!

I had JUST finished this, the second song of the day (the first is about Random Stratified Sampling, and yes, THAT RHYMES TOO), and turned on the internet when LO! I saw Mr Paul Cornell announcing that he had a new book out as part of a new series from Bloomsbury. The series is called 'The Marvel Age Of Comics'* which mixes personal narratives with a history of specific characters or teams within Marvel Comics. If anyone is now thinking "Gosh Mark, maybe you could write up some sort of 'pitch document' suggesting something similar for Doctor Doom?" then I would reply "WAY ahead of you chum!" for I wrote EXACTLY that a few months ago and asked my Literary Agent to send it out to various publishers. I am sure it is a matter of DAYS now until they get back to me with a MULTI-POUND deal to write it up!

Even if that doesn't happen (seems unlikely) it does rather feel as if THE COSMOS is calling out for information about superhero characters presented in an accessible, even FUN, way, possibly in the format of SONGS. If so, I am READY for it, The Cosmos, CALL ME!

* Anyone unsure of what 'The Marvel Age Of Comics' means could always read the article Periodizing 'The Marvel Age' Using The Production Of Culture Approach which explains what it means and how it can be precisely defined. It's available for free via Open Access and - OH YES - is written by ME! ALL RIGHT, The Universe, I HEAR YOU!

posted 19/2/2025 by MJ Hibbett

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