It has been a bit of a mixed bag with scheduling though. New Who started with four seasons/series over a four year period between Eccleston and Tennant. But then Tennant ended with a handful of specials over a period of a year and a half. Smith started with two series in two years, but then his third series was split over two calendar years. And Capaldi had two series over two years, before taking a year off before his final season.

So if Chibnall and Whittaker wanted to do, for example, half a series in 2020 and the other half of the series in 2021, that wouldn't really be a departure from how things have been with New Who. I'm just glad to read (in the Wikipedia article), that Jodie second series/season has started production and will air in 2019. I remember somehow upthread passing along a rumor that there wouldn't even be a season in 2019. That would've been a bit much.

I wish they could work something out. Or maybe a new showrunner could agree to do a third season with Jodie. Because if Jodie's total episode count (including specials) only ends up at 21 or 22, she may not leave her stamp as much as the last three Doctors.

Many UK comics, such as 2000AD, Star Wars Weekly, Battle Picture Weekly and Look-In, had free gifts come with them on occasion in the late 70s and early 80s. The practice may go back a lot further than that though, for all I know.

Stan Lee drew weird stuff or whatever such as giant monsters wearing speedos

Lesser meaning in the sense they were never in their own series and many of the other Defender's cast that came and went were "name recognition" characters with either their own comic (Luke Cage, Son of Satan) or came with their own following (Beast, Yellowjacket, Hawkeye, Iceman, Angel, Moondragon) from being around awhile. Poor Nighthawk: always cast as a guest star but never the Leading man.

Defenders #83



Creative Team: Bob Sharen does the colors, everyone else the same.

Synopsis: Doc and Namor clean up the bodies and Wing-Head tells everyone that they are free. uh-hunh; what about the unnameable One? Val and Patsy break up a bank robbery, while Kyle consults his attorney...



The Government makes a deal with Mutant Force and we go back to Tunnelworld. Hulk's globe is being dragged somewhere, Buzzard-Face causes problems and Doc goes inside Hulk's mind to free him. It ends up all psychedelic and Hulk wakes up. The End. The letters page has cat yronwode rip into Marvel for F-ing up Omega.

Thoughts: I gloss over a bit of Tunnelworld stuff; but, it is third-rate fantasy cliches and typical Doc save the day while the rest twiddle thumb (Namor does get to punch the Hulk a bit). Patsy finds out her agility is not related to the cat suit, like she thought, as she kicks ass in civies. The mutants get a government deal and liberal lip service to them being given a tough break because of their genetic history. Snowflakes! I don't remember these guys, at all; but, suspect they will go to work for the gov. This was done better, later, with the updated Brotherhood of Evil Mutants, though even that didn't make a ton of sense, given their rap sheet. John Ostrander did it better with Suicide Squad.

The whole Tunnelworld story was rather cliched and dull, apart from moments with the Hulk (Lord of the Rings could have used a Hulk). The Mandrill storyline was more interesting, though cut too short, while Tunnelworld dragged on about 2 issues too much). The female characters still tend to be more interesting than the males of the team (apart from Nighthawk); but, they still get rescued by the boys. Kyle's legal woes still don't hold up to scrutiny. That subplot is wearing out its welcome and needs to be resolved.