Five things for Friday #2: Tiny worlds, gigantic starships and clever spiders

Hello all!

How’s your week been? It's always a bit bewildering getting back to it after the festive break, but I've just about remembered how to do my job.

I think.

Most of that has been working on the first issue of something I'm calling Project: Power... but more on that another time.

I’ve also been enjoying the ‘words of the year’ people have shared following my piece on Tuesday. If you’ve also chosen a word, please do share it the post's comment section.  

As for now, here are the five things I enjoyed this week and thought you might too:

1. Cosy TV: Over Christmas, I found a new comfort watch on the Beeb – The Marvellous Miniature Workshop. A mega-talented craftsperson recreates, in miniature, a building that holds deep personal meaning for the person who walks through the workshop’s door, often a place that no longer exists.
   
   Along the way, the building’s history is gently uncovered, blending beautiful craftsmanship with social history and the occasional tug at the heartstrings.
   
   The opening episode focuses on libraries, adding an extra dose of bookish charm, while episode two made me surprisingly misty-eyed about 1980s comprehensive schools!
   
   
2. Great Scott, it’s the Robots in Disguise: Well, this was a lovely thing. CBR listed my Transformers / Back to the Future crossover as one of its 10 ‘most iconic movie universe comic crossovers every 80s fan should read’. I concur, 100%.
   
   You should check out the rest of the list and also my deep dive into how the comic mini-series came about (complete with awesome concept art by Juan Samu, who designed a number of new Back to the Future-inspired Transformers for the book!)
   
3. Spider-Sense: Like ‘em or loathe them, boy, are spiders clever! I absolutely loved this story of how this little fella weaves decoys of itself into its webs to either scare off predators or trick them into attacking the wrong arachnid.
   
   Spider-Man’s definitely done this in the comics, right? (If not, I should totally pitch it!)
   
4. “It’s not for me”: A quick blog by yours truly about how four little words could help us survive online bun-fights in 2026.
   
5. Explore the USS Enterprise: A couple of years ago at SDCC, my eldest watched me cooing over a huge model of the USS Enterprise and said: “This is your Hogwarts, isn’t it?” Oh, it absolutely was growing up. I longed so much to be on the Enterprise (and the good news is that I still can, unlike a certain Wizarding School!)
   
   I got that same thrill this week when I discovered this wonderful website via my friend Emma Newman. A virtual tour of the Enterprise D and various other starships? Beam. Me. Up.

Let me know if you check out any of the links — and feel free to share your recommendations in the comments below. You can also just reply to this email.

Oh, and before I go — congratulations to my buddy Paul Cornell, who has been nominated twice in the Broken Frontier Awards, one for Best Writer in Who Killed Nessie? and the other for Best Factual Book for The Mighty Avengers vs. The 70s. You can vote in the awards here!

I’ll see you on Tuesday with the totally unachievable book challenge I’ve set myself for 2026.

Until then, look after yourself and each other!