Mindy Newell: Good Night, Raggedy Man

Mindy Newell

These days Mindy Newell knows that if she could do it all over again she’d have gone to college for screenwriting and film editing. Instead she became a nurse to please her parents and pleasing your parents was what it was all about for nice Jewish girls who graduated from high school in 1971. But the creative larva was in her soul, and when the cocoon broke and the butterfly emerged, it flew to DC’s New Talent Showcase program. Under the auspices of legendary editors Karen Berger, Len Wein, Julius Schwartz, Paul Levitz, and ComicMix’s own Robert Greenberger, Mindy learned the craft and art of writing comics, including Tales Of The Legion, V, Legionnaires 3, Amethyst, Lois Lane: When It Rains God Is Crying, and numerous other comics, including a Superman story based on a dream Mindy had as a child. She also worked on Howard Chaykin’s American Flagg! and other independent comics. All this time Mindy continued to work as a nurse while being a single mom to her daughter Alixandra, until the late and dear Mark Gruenwald hired her as an assistant editor at Marvel, while writing stories of the Black Widow and Daredevil. She edited NFL Pro Action, a licensed kid’s magazine about football with the NFL until Marvel imploded in 1996. Returning to full-time nursing, she she also co-wrote a story for 2000 A.D. with her then-husband, British artist John Higgins. A few years ago Mike Gold called and asked her to join the team of columnists here at ComicMix, where her topics freely range from comics to pop culture to politics; she even wrote a piece about the great American thoroughbred Secretariat, which caused editor Mike to tell her that she had won the prize for the most off-topic column ever written ComicMix.

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1 Response

  1. We did get a bit short shrift with Clara’s family, but perhaps part of that is this the second one we’ve met. She was first seen in the Maitlands’ home, helping out as their governess after the loss of their mother. We clearly flashed forward a bit in the anniversary episode – Clara is now a schoolteacher. Considering how much time they spent with the kids, I was expecting a bit more there.

    Her natural family has undergone a bit of moving on since the last we heard of them – her dad has clearly either remarried or simply found someone else, which would explain the tension between her and Clara.

    Not to repeat what I said on John’s article either, but while yes, getting the extra regen energy is almost by definition a deus ex machina, I dont see getting it from the Timelords as a cheat at all. Indeed, it furthers the plotline set up in the anniversary story, that of the eventual (or at least possible) return of Gallifrey. Since they attempted to destroy the Doctor in The End of Time, it’s clear the Timelords have had time to change, presumably for the better, based on their move here.

    I maintain that in between the events of End of Time, Day of the Doctor and this story, the high council were likely voted out, deposed or whatever process they use, and a new council put in place dedicated to rebuilding. The real question will be how long will have passed for them within that bubble of frozen time, and how much progress they’ve made.