DC Comics provides another reason to be excited about the annual Free Comic Book Day coming up on May 4:

"Superman: Last Son Of Krypton" #1 will be made available by DC Comics in all local comic book shops across the nation while supplies last. "This book is a must-have for fans eagerly anticipating the June 14 launch of "Superman Unchained" — the blockbuster new monthly seriescreated by comic legends Scott Snyder and Jim Lee — as the special issue also includes an exclusive sneak peek of that forthcoming series, flying into stores the same week as the highly anticipated new film 'Man of Steel.' "

The press release continued: "In addition, this Free Comic Book Day exclusive includes the first chapter of the classic, best-selling graphic novel "Superman: Last Son Of Krypton," written by Geoff Johns and Richard Donner (director of "Superman: The Movie"), illustrated by Adam Kubert and featuring Superman’s epic battle with General Zod and the Phantom Zone villains."

For younger fans, DC’s giveaways include "DC Nation Super Sampler" #1 from the DC Kids line, "Beware The Batman" and "Teen Titans Go!" (includes two stories based on the animated series coming soon to Cartoon Network’s Saturday morning DC Nation programming block from Warner Bros. Animation).

Meanwhile, on the big screen ...

Henry Cavill as Superman is the coverboy of Entertainment Weekly's summer movie preview mag. EW.com reports that when "Man of Steel" hits theaters on June 14, it will lay the groundwork for the future slate of films based on DC Comics.

Jeff Robinov, president of Warner Bros. Pictures Group, while talking about the Zack Snyder-directed, Christopher Nolan-produced movie, said: "It’s setting the tone for what the movies are going to be like going forward. In that, it’s definitely a first step."

Thompson is author of "Doctor Who FAQ," an Applause Books reference that goes along the book self with the likes of similar references about James Bond and "Star Trek." Other Thompson books include "If You Like Led Zeppelin ..." and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Music on Film" and "Bad Reputation: The Unauthorized Biography of Joan Jett." For now, though, this Whovian was eager to get his answers to a couple of Doctor Who questions as the BBC America comes back to finish up the seventh season since it was revived in 2005. The episode "The Bells of Saint John" at 8 p.m. Saturday is the first of an eight-show arc that will solve the mystery of new companion Clara "Oswin" Oswald, the girl who died twice in previous introductions to the Doctor and his audience of Whovians.

Thompson was suffering from laryngitis this week, but he answered three questions via e-mail:

1. Question: What is the timeless nature of Doctor Who that has allowed to stretch across 50 years? 

Answer: Doctor Who is unique in that - aside from (usually) great storytelling and performing - it allows the viewers to make their own moral judgements, rather than battering them with a prepackaged response... the default setting for so many other shows.  Admittedly, this has been less of a feature in recent seasons, and the show's success is now built upon its own (equally unique) bombast and sense of self.  But long term, it appeals because it questions but does not answer.
 
2. Question: According to lore, the 13th doctor should be the last -- the 1976 episode "The Deadly Assassin" talked about a regeneration limit of 12 times, and Matt Smith is the 11th doctor. Do you know of a loophole or can you imagine one that would allow the Doctor to go on (I have a parallel universe theory, but that's too easy).

Answer: Good question!  I think the loophole they will probably use is, now that he is the "last" of the Time Lords, all laws of Time Lordy-ness can safely be suspended. Or at least forgotten. The 12 regeneration limit has, in any case, been broken by the Master without too many attempts to square it with canon, so it will probably not be an issue.  Unless, of course, the show is plummeting in the ratings and "The Final Doctor" becomes the hook to either win back viewers or end it altogether.

For the record: The Christmas episode last year nearly matched viewership for BBC America''s best-ever telecast (the premiere of its seventh season) in total viewers and was tops in its targeted adults 25-to-54 demo, according to The Hollywood Reporter. "Doctor Who: The Snowmen" averaged 1.43 million viewers, up 54 percent in total viewers and 60 percent in that age demo from the previous year.

Answer: The pat answer is, I started at the beginnin g... I've been watching the show since I was tiny, and collecting books, magazines, episodes etc., since my teens, so rather than needing to start researching, it was more a matter of just organizing everything I had in a way that made sense, then focusing on the aspects that have kept me interested for so long.  My aim was for the book to be both informative and opinionated -- not every story in the series history has been gripping, not every Doctor has been likable, not every alien has been believable, and whether somebody agrees with my likes or dislikes or not, I think the book does open the door for a lot of discussion and argument. Which, to return to my first answer, is one of the things that the show itself is so good at.

Read an interview with current "Doctor Who" lead writer and exec producer Steven Moffat in tomorrow's Post-Gazette.

Post-Gazette senior theater critic Christopher Rawson and online features editor (and last-minute addition) Sharon Eberson are accompanying 34 intrepid theater-goers on a PG ShowPlane Critic's Choice tour of London. You check their posts from the theater scene at OnStage blog.  In between shows, Sharon took time out for this magical detour ...

LONDON, Day 5 -- Despite a drab, too-cold day for London in March, the journey to "The Making of Harry Potter" was pretty easy by Underground (to London Euson), Overground (to Watford Junction) and a double-decker shuttle to Leavesden, site of the Warner Bros. Studio Tour, or what used to be Stage J, where 007 was known to have filmed and with a lot that represents a third of the film studio space in England. My appointed time was 10:30 a.m., and after a very Disney like entry experience, we watched a short film narrated by the Big Three of the films and the screen lifted to reveal the door to the Great Hall. The doors are huge and light, so a young boy celebrating his birthday could open them to reveal the long room where Hogwarts students were sorted on their first day, where feasts appeared and disappeared and grand and dire announcements were made. All along the walls were mannequins in costumes from the films, with the dais including the Head Master's and the other teachers' garments as well. The only things missing for atmosphere were floating candles, a few ghosts and owls, and the stars overhead.

Hogwarts model from The Making of Harry Potter, Warner Bros. Studio Tour. Sharon Eberson/Post-GazetteFrom there, we moved into a giant space -- and exhibition hall, really -- where seemingly every prop and every room ever seen in the Harry Potter films were there for the picture-taking and posing. The most interactive aspect were wand-wielding lessons. I have to admit, I was hoping for more from the Mirror of Erised, but otherwise no disappointments. I gave up on my digital guide and was fine with the placards and video help along the way as I wound my way past artifacts such as the Triwizard Cup and venues such as Dumbledore's two-story offices, the boys' dorm, the Weasley home, Umbridge's office and Diagon Alley, before heading outside into a courtyard that revealed 4 Privet Drive, a few giant chess pieces and more, then inside again through the creature, planning, model and artists' renderings rooms and finally, to the big reveal at the end: the huge model that is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, which glowed from day into night. Interactive videos played a time-lapse film of the construction, which is a marvel.

So much more to say, but it's late, and there was no WiFi just before I left for "Matilda" -- a musical about another special child raised by awful people, and who grows to manifest magical powers. And she finds her way through schoolmates and a special teacher, too … hmmm. More similarities than I thought. It was loud, raucous and fun, and it will set me up to enter the dark side for the Scottish play tomorrow. Cheers.

(Top image: The Making of Harry Potter, Warner Bros. Studio Tour, Leavesden, England. Sharon Eberson/Post-Gazette)

From the moment Tuesday night when Elaine Paige glided into view at the Pittsburgh Cultural Trust Cabaret at Theater Square, the diminutive stage legend exuded an elegance through her demeanor, that lovely British accent, that...

"How yinz doing?" she said cheerfully after a bluesy redition of "All That Jazz."

She had us at "yinz."

Paige, who was accompanied by pianist/arranger Christopher Marlowe, made Pittsburgh the last stop on her maiden U.S. tour.

For 90 minutes, Paige -- who originated the West End roles of Eva Peron in "Evita" and Grizabella in "Cats" -- charmed the audience in an intimate setting. Alternating a set list of hits such as "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina," "As If We Never Said Good-bye" (her Broadway debut in "Sunset Boulevard"), "Milord," and "I Know Him So Well," she looked and sounded gorgeous.

The stories she had to tell were often funny, and a little bit wicked. Her West End debut, for example, was in "Hair." To stoke her courage for the big nude scene, she said, she imbibed in a bit of weed, which resulted in her exit from the show.

Yet she endured. Paige, dressed in a flowing scarlet gown, sang her audition song for "Evita,": the Beatles' "Yesterday," and appeared to have little trouble with the challenges of songs such as "I Get a Kick Out of You" and "Easy to Be Hard," and "Hello, Young Lovers."

Early in the program, she explained that, being petite, she felt she lost out on some great roles... until "Evita" came along. A sweet ditty called "Small Packages" was written for her, and it included lyrics such as "I ask each theater-goer... set your sights a little bit lower."

She ended the tune, of course, with "a small finish."

Paige has a lovely way of storytelling. She described meeting Elizabeth, the Queen Mother years ago after a performance of "Anything Goes." Just as she went into her appropriately deep curtsy, she cramped up.

Stuck and still clutching the former queen's hand, "We both knew it could go either way. With one superhuman burst of strength, she hoists me up...."

"I thought that only happened at my age, " the Queen Mum told her.

The most incredible story, Paige saved for last. Years ago, she was listening to her car radio late at night when she heard a new song by Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber. What followed involved a mangy stray cat at at her door when she arrived home, and a phone call from the composer the following day.

Yes, the offer was for "Cats," and she named her new pet "Grizabella."