Along Came a Doctor
By: Andrew Hines
As many of you may already know I'm a Whovian (Doctor Who fan). That being said, my solitary heart skipped a beat when I saw this comic on the shelves of my local comic shop this week. It's got history, the Doctor, Amy and Rory, and alternate dimensions. No Daleks as of yet, but give it a few issues, they'll show up. AnyWho (see what I did there?), it's set in London in the 1850s and in the middle of a bit of mild oddness. A perfect setting for an entrance by the Doctor and the Ponds.
Andy Diggle scripts the first bit of a two-part story arc that is actually very in the feel of the current Who-niverse. There's the classic shtick of the Doctor, where he just pops in unannounced and begins to take things over without much of a fuss. This is Doctor Who at its best in the comic book realm. The writing is good, pacing is adequate and the dialogue feels as if Steven Moffat himself were writing it for Matt Smith. Amy and Rory are exactly as they are in the show, so there's very little missing if anything at all.
Mark Buckingham's art isn't the best I've ever seen, but fits the story beautifully and for that I love it. If it had been in the future, his style would not have worked as well. Given, however that it was London shortly before their industrial revolution, it's spectacular. It works even better when paired with Charlie Kirchoff's colors. It really does feel like the 1850s as you read it. It's a wonderful feeling once you see the machine as a whole. I honestly don't think anyone else' art or colds would have worked for this story.
I give this one an "A", simply because the writing and the art work splendidly with each other. If you're a fan of Doctor Who and a Matt Smith fan to boot, I highly recommend this one.
You’ve heard of grammar Nazis?
http://i1018.photobucket.com/albums/af309/skybandit/DrWhom.png
Doctor Who comic? Where? Lead me to it! 😮
I love you so much right now, Skybandit.
Also, I can’t say that I’ve ever actually watched any Dr. Who. I’d love to, because from everything I’ve heard and the tiny bits I’ve seen, it looks amazing, but the OCD part of my brain won’t let me pick up in the middle. I’ve got to go all the way back to the beginning if I’m gonna watch something new, and Netflix doesn’t go all the way back to the 60’s series.
Well, if you want to start all the way from 1963, you’ve got a LOT of Doctor Who to go through- and a lot of the serials from the 60s are missing (due to having the tapes wiped- BBC policy at the time).
If you want to know what options you have when starting out with Doctor Who, I would direct you SFDebris’ ‘Doctor Who 101’ (his suggestions for where you can start watching from are somewhere in that video): http://blip.tv/sf-debris-opinionated-reviews/doctor-who-101-5123833
I would say that it’s easier to start at a random story from the classic series than it is a new story, as it was only really with the 2005-and-onwards series/seasons that the show started having story arcs connecting the episodes, though. Still, I hope you enjoy the show!
The best way to start Doctor Who these days is just going from 2005 episode “Rose”. It started the new series and was meant to be an introduction to the show.
I’m kinda perplexed no artist seems to ever properly draw Rory. None of the drawn Rories I’ve seen looks similar enough to him. One would think with a face as average as his it would be easier to do, eh?
I’ll have to look it up. I’ve seen some of the specials from the Tom Baker years, but I still prefer the Tennant years.
The only thing really wrong here is his nose in the side profile. Everything else seems about right.
I miss Romana……..
Dunno, the eyes strike me as not his on that cover.
I was actually referring to the interior art, which, now that I think about it, you probably haven’t seen yet.
I’m TOTALLY hijacking here, but I’ll be gone soon. But speaking of people who take over and series from the BBC and Netflix, I was delighted to learn that the second season of “Sherlock” is out now on Netflix. It’s a present-day Sherlock Holmes. Still engaging if you’re not a rabid Holmesian (but chock-full of inside stuff for devotees), with a brilliant script and featuring Benedict Cumberbatch (I know, right?) as Holmes and Martin “King of Non-Plussed Reaction” Freeman–formerly of the British “The Office” and soon to be Bilbo Baggins–as Watson. The second season starts more or less precisely where the first season left off, btw. Amazing stuff.
Not to take anything away from the good Doctor, of course. I’ll just go now…
Not a problem as I DO need to start watching that, given everything I’ve heard about it. I’m just afraid it’ll become like Firefly (RIP), NCIS and Doctor Who. I’ll get so obsessed with it that nothing else will get done.
The Science Fiction Book Club is currently selling a Dr. Who/Star Trek: Next Generation crossover hardcover graphic novel. It’s about the newest Doctor & Capt. Picard finding out that the Cybermen & the Borg have formed an alliance.
The ST:TNG part of the story seems to take place during the TV series. Also, a previous Doctor shows up to help out.
Will they be able to stop the Cybermen/Borg alliance?