Forum:Validity: The Sleeze Brothers

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Original post

This should be a fairly simple one. The Sleeze Brothers was a comic series published by Marvel Comics, featuring the Sleeze Brothers, who first appeared in Follow That TARDIS!, as well as various other elements from that step.

It was originally invalidated for "making no attempt to be set in the DWU". Now, I'm not sure how well this argument holds up today, because it also makes no attempt to not be set in the DWU. Our general policy nowadays is that if there is no evidence that it isn't intended to be set in the DWU, it's valid, and I think there's no real reason for these to be invalid.

(I will note that there are some minor fourth wall breaks, but I don't think that these are at all indicative of negative authorial intent.)

What do people think? Aquanafrahudy 📢 15:23, 14 August 2023 (UTC)

Discussion

See Thread:210741 at User:SOTO/Forum Archive/Inclusion debates 1 and Thread:283828 at User:SOTO/Forum Archive/Inclusion debates 2.

I note that at the time Czech specifically affirms that the entirety of T:VS is being used to disqualify the work, rather than the text of the four rules. Since this is no longer the operating procedure of this wiki (/grumbles/), this itself might be sufficient. W/e. Just passing on the threads. Najawin ☎ 16:07, 14 August 2023 (UTC)

I think this whole thing is actually a case of "there's new evidence to be considered here that the old debate simply missed". A Sontaran appears at a party in the third story The Bugger, and a Dalek appears in a crowd of aliens in the sixth story, The Malteeze Egg!. (And Death's Head makes a cameo in Down in the Sewers, for what that's worth.) I'd say "repeatedly shows prominent DWU aliens in the background" is much stronger evidence of positive DWU intent than a negative "makes no attempt to not be set in the DWU". Scrooge MacDuck ⊕ 18:31, 14 August 2023 (UTC)

I think it should be valid, at least from what I've heard elsewhere. Cookieboy 2005 ☎ 11:14, 17 August 2023 (UTC)

Several superheroes, including the Sleeze Brothers, donate to Comic Relief. (COMIC: The Totally Stonking, Surprisingly Educational And Utterly Mindboggling Comic Relief Comic ^[+]Loading...["The Totally Stonking, Surprisingly Educational And Utterly Mindboggling Comic Relief Comic (comic story)"])

Oh, and I think it's worth noting that we now have another source featuring the Sleeze Brothers, since that means that the valid sources for the characters are their first appearance and a Comic Relief extravaganza (not that this really changes anything, just thought I'd mention it). Cookieboy 2005 ☎ 11:16, 25 August 2023 (UTC)

to me it feels like a classic Vienna (series)sittuation. With a standard a “universe of its own” being misinterpreted as an entirely different universe not a different story which is unlinked to Doctor who. It is one which despite being set in the same universe has nothing really to do with events beyond itself and the scope of its own narrative. Thus is believe in validity. Anastasia Cousins ☎ 20:48, 26 August 2023 (UTC)

As far as I can throw it, for years we've officially allowed coverage of these stories. So since that was always the biggest hangup, we should cover the series as valid - the shared universe at play is quite obvious, to the extent that Follow That TARDIS! is obviously set in the same universe as these stories. OS25🤙☎️ 05:08, 28 August 2023 (UTC)