a_silver_story | The New Torchwood Book Covers ...

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The New Torchwood Book Covers ...

Okay, so The Undertaker's Gift, Consequences and Risk Assessment are all due for release in the UK on the 1st of October, and I just went over to play.com to see if they'd released the cover images yet. Lo and behold! - what a kick in the teeth!

Ianto doesn't even get his own cover this time around! Why does this annoy me so much? - aside from the fact these books are supposedly Ianto's final outing in the Whoniverse and he doesn't even get his own cover? Talk about kicking a fictional construct when he's down!

_{... and they cropped out his gun ...} THE GUN THAT HE NEVER FREAKIN' HAD!! ... come to think of it ... were any of you watching CoE thinking "Maybe he steals the gun from Johnson's men ... oh they're at an army base. Does he get his machine gun now? Okay the hand gun didn't burst the tank ... maybe he grabs his machine gun to do it ... WTF? He's dying and he didn't even get the big arse gun they've spent the past nine months drumming into us via publicity shots and photographs he's going to lay his hands on?" - anyone else, or just me?

*goes away to reminisce about Bay of the Dead and The Twilight Streets covers ... with a couple of passages from Pack Animals and Almost Perfect for good measure ...*

EDIT: Also ... in the bottom images of two of the books, Gwen is front and centre like she's the main character (something I've noticed on a couple of CoE promos). I thought Torchwood was Jack's series? Hmmmm

EDIT 2: Rile ye'selves! The original covers released in April had a Ianto cover!

Thanks goes to

lawsontl

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I know, but Jack really is in front for those- yes she's upfront, but Jack seems to be the front runner there. She's always been upfront for the most part, but I just didn't see the point of all of a sudden she has taken the place that Jack usually had.

But....not even one? *pouts* They could've at least given us a team cover. That would've been cool.

Was nothing in CoE original?

Only RTD thinks it is... lol

I'm hoping that the Ianto cover may have been printed and will be accidentally circulated.

I just didn't see the point of all of a sudden she has taken the place that Jack usually had.

It was the ultimate plan! The true immortal in Torchwood is Gwen! Not Jack. Bah!

Don't we all know it. She's the only one to come out of EVERYTHING unscathed. SHE gets the baby, SHE gets the husband who knows everything (and I'm not saying that's a bad thing, Rhys is brilliant- but everyone else has no one to tell!), SHE gets to have the affair and then make it all go away, SHE gets Torchwood, and best of all: SHE gets to have her high fucking horse...

No, I'm not bitter at all am I?

Bitter? You? Not one iota! ;)

And don't forget a blue shirt instead of a red one. :)

The blue shirt Yanto boughted for her :(

I wish I could fit all that onto an icon.

*must try harder*

No! What is there to be bitter about?! **laugh** I'm glad I can bitch somewhere.

Maybe if we got pictures of a baby, Rhys in Meat (or her badgering Jack in Meat), Her retconning Rhys, (how would you picture a high horse? maybe one of her tirades of love and compassion?)and then a picture of her with the words 'The true immortal of Torchwood'

Or maybe that pic at the beginning and then all the pics and at the end put- She gets everything!

**runs off to see if she still has the Photoshop and animation shop installation from her old computer**

BTW- You're icon is so made of win!

And that's why he was sacked from the show.

Guilty of outshining the REAL STAR.

I was very unhappy when I saw the new covers. Why fix something that's not broken? I just don't understand... I hate that Ianto doesn't get his own cover now :(((

Why fix something that's not broken?

Isn't it the same thing they did with CoE?

They already had a successful show, with well beloved characters, they had to go and break it.

Ah yes, its WonderGwen in all her awsomeness. I'm still betting on Jack's Angels with Jailbait Habiba and Emma Peel retread Johnson. Lots of bikinis and spandex.

Jack will be reduced to cameo/guest appearances.

RTD wanted a show about a policewoman hunting aliens and now he's got it.

Rhy's may bite the dust, but the baby will live. You know, got to keep the American Rightwing Nutjobs happy. So save the baby and kill da gay.

The best thing you can do is don't buy the merchandise. Everything comes down to $$. Borrow the books from the library or buy them on ebay if you must read them, but don't spend your money supporting a show you don't like. Cause your purchase will be used as proof that the fandom still loves TW - even if the books are pre-CoE.

And the worst part is that, even if Ianto is still in the books, Jack will still treat him like a "part time shag" so I have no interest in reading that stuff.

Or if by chance there's an actual relationship in the books, that will make me even angrier because their relationship couldn't be portrayed on the telly, oh no, but let's have it relegated in the books so not to offend the casual homophobic viewer.

I wouldn't say that you were bitter at all. I would say that you were being completely honest. To be completely truthful, I would have never tuned in to Torchwood if I knew all along that everyone else in the series was there just to act as decoys to deflect anything that could possible hurt Gwen emotionally, mentally, and physically . I never really understood her role in the team. I can understand that she has a relationship to the police department, but if you're going to tell me that a newbie PC is the most qualified of anyone in Cardiff to liaise with the police, then I'm just going to have to laugh in your face. She's the emotional center? In RTD and the writers' eyes does that being the 'heart' or 'emotional center' of the team equal being the least emotionally mature and the least professional? If I wasn't already a gay man putting up with her shit every day would turn me. There's absolutely no doubt about that in my mind. I think that RTD wanted to recreate Rose or even rip off of Buffy Summers when he thought up Gwen. But she's not Buffy Summers, she's Gwen fucking Cooper and she doesn't hsve 1/10th of the cultural influence or value as a role model as Buffy.

Actually if they show a vision of the future in which the baby turns out gay then the American right-wingers would likely have no problem with killing off the runt. Especially if that would provide further opportunity to 'de-gay' Jack.

she doesn't hsve 1/10th of the cultural influence or value as a role model as Buffy.

... don't even get me started on the cultural influence and value - as well as neglected social responsibility - RTD fails to see in Ianto.

I miss Buffy!

Edited 2009-08-14 08:39 (UTC)

Agreed. They keep repeating us that Gwen is "the heart" of Torchwood.

Ianto was the real heart of Torchwood!!! He was able to love with fiery passion and loyalty and unconditionally. And always put the others before himself.

Gwen is a an hypocrite to say the least. She thinks that everything revolves around her. How many times she managed to disregard the feelings of all those around her? Miss "I have a boyfriend and you losers don't!"

Remember what Owen said:
"Why is it that only Gwen seems to have a heart? I don't know if you've noticed but the rest of us are human and amazingly we still manage to get on with our jobs."

When did Owen say that? It sums up so many of my feelings about the character. In a way I feel cheated for having ever watched Torchwood, because I thought that I was supposed to be watching an ensemble cast. In reality I was supposed to be watching a one-man show (or one-woman show) with a set of ancillary characters that were removed when no longer needed for her 'development.'
I'm of the persuasion that John Barrowman's future in Torchwood is uncertain in the eyes of the producers, even if John has stated his desire to continue for as long as possible. That's why RTD was saying "I would think so, I would hope so" in response to the question of Jack's return. He was giving him self leeway and distancing himself from the answer. They may feel that there is inevitably a point when you can't have an actor in his mid-forties playing the role of an immortal. It's crass and disrespectful to John, but we've seen that producers are very often crass and disrespectful to their underlings when they no longer serve as much purpose. Plus, RTD has never made any attempts to conceal his attachment to Gwen as a character and to Eve Myles. In part I've often wondered and have written a post on it at AfterElton whether Gwen is somehow Russell's placement of himself in a female character; that she is the female him. I don't mean that he wants to be a woman, but that he has invested his own personality into her more so than in any other character. Which probably explains why I don't like her much. That's also part of the reason John made idiotic jokes (piece of ass anyone?) and acted so hyper trying to diffuse the situation at panels and signings, because he knows that he's the weakest link now that newspapers and magazines are identifying Eve Myles as the primary star of Torchwood.

I know I probably shouldn't but I would love to get you started on how poorly RTD uses his characters to mean anything.
Post-CoE I've felt my dislike of Torchwood growing, which is somewhat strange, but I've finally figured it out. I always saw Torchwood as a series with potential to develop its characters and the central idea of the series (see Jack's opening monologue every episode). But then along came CoE and through all of that out of the window. I also think that we could potentially spend days and days discussing how RTD and his writers redid so much of what Joss Whedon and his peeps did on Buffy (rift=hellmouth), but the difference that would quickly color the entire discussion would be that Buffy succeed where Torchwood has failed. Buffy never abandoned its initial concept whereas Torchwood first borrowed it (which I can live with) and then abandoned it for the style of another show (24 or any ridiculous film by Michael Bay). That's not just a failing of the characters to reflect anything, that's a failing of the show to ultimately mean anything.

It's not that he doesn't use his characters to mean anything - it's just they never mean what he wants them to!
Take Gwen - meant to be the heart of Torchwood. Ianto - meant to be a dogsbody and PA.

That's not what they actually are. Ianto was something huge to the public - suddenly, a real representation of a bisexual/homosexual relationship that was ... well, all it was. No massive "Am I gay, am I not? What will my mammy think?" story line, not big battle against homophobia and internal struggle. It was just a normal, healthy relationship. I can only speak for British TV, but Jack and Ianto's relationship was the only homosexual one of its kind (not a parody, not a big plot, not a problem) on television at the moment. He was a role model - a normal bloke, struggling to find himself, working to hard for too little appreciation and having the same relationship issues as the rest of us (Unlike Her Gwendom, who has her perfect realtionship - despite her affair, and drugging of the loyal boyfriend - is constantly being told how wonderful she is and how important she is, when really she does nothing other than imitate Jack. She can criticize him for going in there all guns blazing - but what about the whole issue with Flat Holm? So what if she didn't actually have a gun - she went in there all mouth and righteousness and fucked everything up for Nikki and for Jack and for herself.

I know of so many people who identify with Ianto and Jack because of their comfortableness within themselves - all other portrayals of homosexuals on telly are all going through a Huge Fucking Drama - and I speak from personal experience when I say "NOT ALL HOMO RELATIONSHIPS START LIKE THAT - shockingly, some of us are very comfortable in our realisations, and so are our families." << which is also true of Ianto, even if he was a little worried (but weren't we all?)

The Rift/Hellmouth thing I could ignore, because that was set up before Torchwood was even conceived (wayy back in DW S1), and while the female role models like Buffy (strong, independent women) have been dwindling (is it me, or are all TV heroines just interested in shopping and shoes?), Gwen does have an appeal on the feminism front - and also guys like her because she's thin, has a leather jacket and a sexy, sexy gun. Then again - now she's the perfect image of a nuclear family, what else has she got left for her in life?

I'm confused with the message RTD is sending out about Gwen now. Strong and independent - or a happy little wifey with her husband and baby. What are females supposed to take from that message? Be strong and confident, don't take shit from nobody - then get married, have babies and shut up.

*sigh* CoE was such a mess - RTD can't even write a continual character. One moment Ianto (in TTLM) is saying he's going to die young - then he mentions to Jack about dying of old age? In "The Dead Line" it makes it perfectly clear that Ianto doesn't expect to reach 30, never mind "watch his hair turn grey - or god forbid: fall out". Jack sacrificing children alllll over again. Jack and Ianto's relationship going from caring to Jack being a total bastard.

This relationship - that means so much to straights as well as GBLTs - has suddenly become very one-sided and WTF??? Suddenly it's all Ianto pining after Jack??? Have you read

nikki4noo's picspams? It's pretty clear, there, that Jack fell for Ianto first. The kiss in Cyberwoman is proof enough that Jack has been pining after Ianto since day one - not to mention his open reaction to liking him in "Fragments".

I feel like I may have been typing for too long, so I'm going to give my little lecture a rest now. I can't even remember what it started as making a point of :S

Sorry if I rambled at ya ^_*

Owen's line is from ep "Random Shoes" S1. Ep that was almost entirely a Gwen episode, as the others barely appear in it, and the less favourite TW episode EVER! I wonder why...

There is some press already stating things like 'Torchwood, starring Eve Myles'... so let's prepare to say bye bye to Capt. Jack soon.

It's no secret that RTD wanted to do a show called "Rose Tyler: Earth Defender" and that the BBC turned that down because not interested. So RTD came up with Torchwood and put Capt. Jack in it to sell the product. Now that Gwen Cooper is an established "wonderwoman" there's no need for other, more interesting, characters. If Torchwood will go on, it will probably be as a mini series format, with the awesome Gwen Cooper and a supporting cast of replaceable redshirts.

If you go back and rewatch all of S1 and S2, Jack was never the main lead. Gwen has always had more screentime than anyone else.

I always wondered why, with a character like Jack, they never took any chance to explore his original timeline as a time agent in the future or even better why they never went into his past. I mean, a man who lived throughout the whole of our most recent history. The only time they did that was in "Fragments" when they showed Jack in the Victorian period and his recruitment by Torchwood. Then it's been 1 flashback (Lahore 1909) and... nothing else!

Talking about wasted potential? Not only they never bothered with Ianto, they never bothered with Jack either.

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The New Torchwood Book Covers ...

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