Review by Win Wiacek
While Panini UK collaborated with Marvel they spent a lot of effort collecting every Doctor Who strip from the archives into a uniform series of oversized graphic albums, each concentrating on a particular incarnation of the deathless wanderer. This one gathers stories featuring the contemporary official off-screen escapades of the recently revived Time Lord as explosively played by Christopher Eccleston. Comparatively it’s rather short and the large section of bonus features will tell you why.
The comics start with TV scripters uniting with comics pros for serialised nostalgia in ‘The Love Invasion’ by Gareth Roberts and Clayton Hickman, limned by future TV show storyboard artist Mike Collins. The Doctor drops new companion Rose Tyler back in swinging 1966 London for a spot of shopping only to uncover alien time meddling by a Kustollian trying to forestall Earth’s future interstellar might. Its plan involves employing amped up dolly birds dubbed “Lend-a-Hand girls” to satisfy any desire mankind expresses with the intention of destroying the will to strive and overcome.
Collins writes and draws ‘Art Attack’, a riotous romp following Rose’s desire to see the Mona Lisa. Instead of the Paris Louvre now, the Doctor decides on the 37th century Oriel. Who wouldn’t prefer a trans-dimensional gallery containing every single art work to have survived World War V?
Screenwriter Robert Shearman joins Collins for eponymous epic ‘The Cruel Sea’, wherein a 22nd century ocean cruise on the sands of Mars turns very nasty, very quickly. Although it’s a wedding party pleasure voyage for the ultra-rich, the Doctor uncovers a monster. Sadly, this is a tale of bad stuff, greedy stuff, stupid stuff, but no good or redeeming stuff.
‘Mr. Nobody’ by Scott Gray and John Ross reveals what happens when the distant reincarnation of galactic terror Shogalath is renditioned and tried for his crimes against the Vandos Imperium. Thankfully, as a (self-appointed) “Legal Representative of the Hyper-Temporal Magistrate Authority” the Doctor is glad to butt in and defend janitor Phil Tyson, but amidst all the shooting that ensues it soon seems not everyone is telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but…
It’s not British time travel without a dash of Shakespeare, so closing comic conundrum ‘A Groatsworth of Wit’ by Roberts and Collins exposes infernal forces bolstering and supporting the Bard’s spite-riven rival Robert Greene. The subtle sponsorship of malign extra-dimensional “Shadeys” Bloodfinger and Woodscrape even affects London four centuries later.
Closing the entertainment portion of the tome is a winning illustrated prose yarn by future showrunner Steven Moffat, captivatingly augmented with pictures from Martin Geraghty. ‘What I Did on My Summer Holidays By Sally Sparrow’ describes how a vacationing schoolgirl diligently extracts the Time Lord from a most precarious trap, all thanks to a box of old photographs and rampant nostalgia.
This rocket-paced rollercoaster ride introduces and signs off the ninth Doctor in splendid style, if all you want is a darn good read. Every creator involved here managed the ultimate “Ask” of any strip creator: to deliver engaging, thrilling, fun yarns equally enjoyable for the merest beginner and most slavishly addicted fan. The Cruel Sea is fabulous for casual readers, a fine shelf addition for show devotees and a perfect opportunity to cross-promote our art-form to anyone minded to give comics another go.
