In these Torchwood-themed times, it is only fitting that the latest Doctor Who one-shot from IDW, The Time Machination, pits the 10th Doctor against the early, pre-Captain Jack, Victorian Torchwood.IDW's Doctor Who comics have come a long way since the juvenile output of Gary Russell (author of several official tie-in books and former head of Big Finish), thanks almost entirely to the scripting of Tony Lee who not only gets the character of The Doctor but also what sort of stories really work for him.
The Time Machination tackles the issue of time travel head-on with a deceptively simple, yet convoluted, story that brings the Doctor and his old friend HG Wells back together (after their jaunt, in his Sixth incarnation, to Karfel in Timelash), along with a veritable surfeit of continuity-heavy references (from The Talons Of Weng-Chiang and Ghost Light to Tooth And Claw and The Unquiet Dead).
This is certainly not a Doctor Who story for a newcomer, but after The Forgotten it's obvious that Lee is not just a fan but is determined to write for the fans as well, something comics (and audio) are more free to do than the television show itself these days.
A wonderful cameo by the Fouth Doctor and Leela at the end confirms Lee's love of Doctor Who minutiae and I, for one, am very excited about the prospect of him writting an on-going comicbook series for The Doctor - due to start this summer!
Paul Grist's art is also perfect for this story and fast-paced Doctor Who stories in general, being neither too simplistic so as to reduce the whole affair to a Saturday morning cartoon, but neither too detailed that the pace is slowed by admiring the wallpaper.
Posts
1 persons have something to say about this!:
I really enjoyed this issue as well. I *loved* the Doctor and Leela cameo at the end.
Post a Comment