Countdown to New Who: Advent 2016: Day 9

    We're at Day 9 in my Advent and today, the BBC released a new trailer for the Doctor Who Christmas Special : The Return of Doctor Mysterio. Now remember, this is a trailer for England's BBC One premiere, so don't think I've been all excited for something that won't be seen in the States. It will be on BBC America on Christmas. So just sit back and relax and then enjoy a cute little cartoon with the 11th Doctor, Rory, and Amy (see below...)

    Enjoy...

Doctor Who #15 (2011-2012)

  The penultimate issue of this series of Doctor Who. It's not without thrills, chills, laughs, and a shocking twist or two. Unfortunately, the twists were telegraphed a mile away...
   But hey- Nazis and Silurians!!! 
   Worth Consuming!

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who #14 (2011-2012)

Variant Cover C, an example of the artist's
abstract style. Here, the Doctor looks like
Ebeneezer Scrooge instead of Matt Smith. 

    Nazis... Poisonous fog... assassination plots...Silurians... Fezzes! It's an adventure that could only star the Eleventh Doctor and his companions Amy and Rory.
    The second chapter of 'As Time Goes By' was as good if not better than chapter 1, but that artwork is lousy. It looks hardly anything like Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, or Arthur Darvill. The Silurians however, actually look pretty sweet in the Picasso abstract fashion. But that's the only plus to it. Weird how the artwork of Matthew 'Dow' Smith can have both pluses and minuses in the same frame...

  Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who #13 (2011-2012)

  In the last storyline of this series, the Doctor and the Ponds arrive in Casablanca to go Fez shopping. But instead of the present day, the TARDIS materializes in the middle of World War II and that means running afoul of Nazis! Almost immediately Rory is falsely arrested in order to be framed for murdering a jailed dissident. As the Doctor and Amy race to save her husband a deadly mist envelopes the city, leading the Timelord to uncover a plot involving one of his oldest and most lethal foes.

  A great opening chapter. The writing is quite good but the art is awfully abstract. Why IDW wouldn't use an artist capable of doing more photo-realistic renderings is both a mystery and probably why they lost the rights to Doctor Who to Titan. I know reusing the same stock photos over and over for the incentive covers didn't help one bit!

  Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who #11 (2011-2012)

 Trapped in an alien asylum, the Doctor and the Ponds find themselves in quite the predicament. The inmates, who have had their minds transplanted into a race of sentient vegetables are revolting. The station is set to self destruct. Oh, and the Doctor and Amy find themselves in a Freaky Friday situation with Amy declaring a fondness for a good Fez and the Doctor living his ultimate wish - he's finally ginger!

   I liked the transferred minds of Amy and the Doctor aspect of this story. It was the best part. Very funny… too bad that this was never done live action.

  I was not a fan of the zombie apocalypse vein. I didn't quite feel sympathy for them. Yeah, unwarranted mind control is wrong but these guys went about it all wrong. You want people to be sympathetic to your cause, mass murder that also results in your suicide isn't the way to do it.

  A story that should've been fun and instead morphs into a morality play that ironically neuters the Doctor…

Rating:  6 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who #10 (2011-2012)

   The Doctor receives a distress call from an old friend. Upon materializing inside the TARDIS, the Doctor, along with Amy and Rory, finds himself in an alien insane asylum where many of the Doctor's oldest enemies have had their brains placed into a race of sentient vegetable people. Of course, this is all a trap for a mad scientist to kidnap the last Timelord and put his brain into a body that can regenerate! But when the dormant personalities of the inmates come back to life, the Doctor and the Ponds find themselves in a scenario straight out of 28 Days Later!
    An interesting story that seems to have copied elements from 12th Doctor Neil Gaiman tale The Doctor's Wife, a Fourth Doctor yarn called Meglos, and that two-
parter about the Flesh. Oddly, I think this book was written before the Gaiman penned episode or the Flesh stories of season 6. So, I guess that's forgivable. But the switching brains/ bodies with the Doctor storyline has been done to death and is not excusable.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who #9 (2011-2012)

 

The Doctor takes the Ponds to a space station known for their exotic fruit smoothies. While there, they encounter a group of religious fanatics who believe that a gigantic space squid will emerge and signal the end of the universe.  Naturally, the Doctor tries to dissuade the crowd of their fears. And of course Amy and Rory are in trouble,  suspected of being terrorists by being in the wrong place at the wrong time.

  But what do you make of the gigantic space squid that just appeared outside the space station? He looks pretty angry and very well could spell the end of all existence…

   A fun story that was classic Doctor Who. The art was pretty good in this issue. Some images of Matt Smith, Karen Gillan, and Arthur Darvill actually look like themselves!

   An all-around perfect Doctor Who comic!

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who #8 (2011-2012)

When the Sontaran battle cruiser exploded over the temporal rift that the Doctor, Amy, and Rory were vacationing near, it split the multiple realities apart. As there were 12 time zones created, there are now 12 versions of the Sontarans, 12 sets of Ponds and 12 Doctors (too bad River Song couldn’t make this trip…)

  Funny, but a bit confusing. That’s time travel for you.

   Oh, and this issue introduces the most unusual Doctor Who companion this side of Frobisher, the talking Penguin…

 

   Good stuff that borders on the absurd and very complex.

  Worth Consuming

  Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who (2011-2012) #7

     After a Sontaran battleship crashes into a space station sitting atop a temporal rift, the crew of the TARDIS find themselves trapped in time. The Doctor is being hounded by rogue robot dinosaurs. Rory, mistaken to be Billy the Kid, is about to by hanged by an old west mob, and Amy is on the run from the Nazis. In all of these realities, the Sontarans have been fused into the timeline as enemies. It looks like all hope for these travelers is lost until they each are rescued by a mysterious woman named Lisa.
    Why are there Sontarans everywhere? What is Lisa's role in this time-warped caper? And is that the TARDIS on the horizon?
    Another fun chapter in IDW's 2011-2012 run of 11th Doctor adventures. With the crazy cliffhanger, I can't wait for the next chapter to see what hi-jinks will occur next! It's a timey-wimey wibbly-wobbly brain teaser that can only be attributed to one man- show-runner, Stephen Moffat!

    Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
    

Doctor Who (2011-2012) #6

 The Doctor, Amy, and Rory are looking for a chance to unwind. They set the TARDIS to a pleasure station that sits atop a temporal rift in the farthest reaches of space. Here, multiple timelines throughout history can play out within a matter of feet from each other. The Doctor has been here many times before and has had nothing but great memories of the place.

   But that’s all about to change when a badly damaged Sontaran ship approaches the space station in need of repairs. Leaking a special type of plasma fuel, The Doctor fears that if the Sontaran craft touches the temporal rift all of existence could be wiped out for light years around in a massive explosion.

   Well, the Doctor was right about the explosion. But instead of becoming one with the universe, the Timelord and his companions find themselves separated throughout the many time zones of the space station, each facing menacing problems of their own; such as rampaging dinosaur robots, an old west lynch mob, or Nazi Sontarins?!

   This opening chapter looks to be a fun Doctor Who adventure. The writing by 2000 A.D.’s Tony Lee captures the Doctor, Amy, and Rory very well. The Sontarans too! But the art is really strange.

   Artist Matthew Dow Smith, who does a fantastic job on many Mike Mignola titles such as BPRD, just isn’t a Doctor Who artist. On the Mignola titles, Smith’s job is to replicate the artwork of Mignola from the Hellboy books from which BPRD have spun-off. But Doctor Who is an entirely different animal and shouldn’t be drawn like Hellboy unless the two franchises were going to meet. (Oh wow! A Hellboy/ Doctor Who crossover! Put me down for a full series run of that please!)

    Great premise. Excellent writing. Art not meant for a Timelord… But still, when you boil it all down it’s worthy of some fish fingers and custard.

   Worth Consuming

  Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who: Hunters of the Burning Stone (Doctor Who Graphic Novels Volume 17)

  Hunters of the Burning Stone collects a trio of comics from Doctor Who Magazine starring the Eleventh Doctor. 

   The first story has the Doctor, Amy, and Rory on a tour of the Doctor's 1,000 Favorite Places To Visit. He means to take the Ponds to modern day Prague but winds up behind the Iron Curtain prior to the fall of the Iron Curtain. Things couldn't a more dangerous turn as Rory ends up kidnapped by Soviet agents and Doctor reveals that history could be altered as the fall of the Berlin Wall isn't a fixed point in time.

   Then take a look at a holiday adventure from Amy and Rory's childhood. It's a fun adventure filled with the dastardly Krampus, some evil elves, and a mysterious schoolgirl named Mels! Don't skip the last page of this story it is is such a beautiful goodbye to the Ponds after the events of 'The Angels Take Manhattan.'

   Lastly, the Doctor is reunited with his very first companions, schoolteachers Ian and Barbara. It's DWM's take on the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who and it was a surprise filled journey full of Easter Eggs, cameos, and much more. 

   These are the rarest of the Doctor Who comics to find. Published from the British publisher Panini Press, unless you find a comic book store willing to carry these imports, you have to either go on Amazon and hope the price is right or you get lucky like I did and find it at a used book store for a decent price. 

   Though all three of these stories are stand alone reads, they all continue a storyline that starts in the companion piece The Chains of Olympus. I do feel like maybe I should have waited until I found that book and read that one first- but it's British Who comics and like a kid at Christmas, I couldn't wait to tear into this this. I was a bit lost at times but this was worth it!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who #5 (2011-2012)

 The Doctor, Amy, and Rory hope to make it to 1966 Wembley in order to catch England winning the World Cup. Well, they make it to Wembley but just not at the right time thanks to the trusty machinations of the TARDIS. The trio arrives in Wemble's Woods during medieval times only to find a tribe of Vikings poised to overtake the area and later conquer London and all of England. Oh, and the Viking's are going to take Amy and Lord Wemble's wife as brides.
 
   In true fashion of the Doctor, it's up to him to save the day. Only he's not going to do with with swords or shields or even his sonic screwdriver. Instead, he's going to challenge the Vikings to a little game of football with Rory as goalie. Just don't tell the opposing team that Rory sucks as goalkeeper.

   Another great Doctor Who offering by IDW Publishing. The art is amazing and the plotting is fantastic. I've now read through 2 single-issue tales and a multi-issue affair and I must say I like them all equally. I hope IDW continued to mix it up like this as the format works very well.

    I really love the football variant cover B, too!

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who #4 (2011-2012)

Original Cover to Issue #4.

  Thanks to Amy's meddling, the timeline has been changed. Now, Jack the Ripper's reign of terror is no longer limited to 5 women. That means that no woman in Whitechapel is safe- including Mrs. Pond! Now the Doctor and Rory race against time and space to prevent the feisty Scottish redhead from becoming victim #6.

   A fast-paced conclusion to the "Rippers Curse" that I found lacking slightly in the art department.  There are at least 2 characters that I kept getting confused because they look so similar. I had to go back several times just to keep these two straight.

   Now for the plus side- the writing finished strong. With lots of great twists and turns, I was on the edge of my seat. Well, I would have been had I not been lying in bed when I read this. But you get my point.

    One interesting turn in this story was how much of a bad a$$ Rory was. My wife hates him. She thinks he ruined Doctor Who by marrying Amy. I think he added a quirky dynamic to the show. Either way you look at the character, Rory often is more of a buffoon than an action hero. While he's still socially awkward in ways, he shows real leadership when his beloved Amy is in mortal peril.

    Bravo!

  This series just keeps getting better and better in terms of plotting and the script. Hopefully, the art will rebound in the new storyline next issue.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who #3 (2011-2012)

Original Cover to issue #3.

   

   Chapter two of 'The Rippers Curse' sees the Doctor in handcuffs after he is mistaken for being Saucy Jack. Alarmed by another murder, Amy Pond decides to warn the final victim of her impending doom and winds up changing history. Now the future is no longer set in stone and the real killer's crime spree now might not stop at just 5.

   Another great issue by IDW. The art is very good, but the real reason for reading this book is the excellent storytelling. One of the things that make the new Doctor Who TV series so good are the time travel episodes, particularly when the Doctor is bound by the laws of physics to not change the timeline. Somehow, he finds a way to tweak it just a little bit. But this time around, he's affected by the meddling of one of his companions. I love the twist in this story!

   A great read that is very much Worth Consuming.

   Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who #2 (2011-2012)

Photo Cover to Issue #2

  

I hoard Doctor Who stuff, but it's not what you think. I grew up watching classic Doctor Who on PBS as a kid and was heartbroken when it went away. Then in 1996, I was elated to the thought of Fox bringing the show back with the Doctor Who movie. But that went nowhere. Then in 2005, my years of waiting were over as a new series was finally realized and has been going strong ever since.

   So for me, Doctor Who anything is a rare commodity. I now collect the books, comics, and DVDs. (Shirts too but I wear them all the time!) When I buy new Who, I hold on to it until I need another Timelord fix. Like an addict without their drug of choice, I like Jones for some Doctor Who often. When the show is on during it's new run on BBC America, I don't use any of my Doctor Who materials I amass, except for the shirts (I wear the heck out of those!) That way when it's in between seasons I have something new to look forward to.
   
Well, it's been about 3 weeks since the 2014 Christmas Special and I need my Doctor quick. The prescription this time around is some unread issues of IDW Publishing's first series to star the Eleventh Doctor played by Matt Smith.

    This 2011 issue has the Doctor, Rory, and Amy tackling a topic I am surprised has never been addressed in the 51-plus year history of Doctor Who: Jack The Ripper. When the trio stumbles upon the bodies of one of The Ripper's victims, the Doctor notices an unusual amount of radiation at the crime scene. Thus Britains most notorious murderer was, in fact, an alien from the future!

    Naturally, Amy wants to save the rest of the victims before it's too late. However, this is a fixed point in time and the Doctor must prevent Amy from changing history least she accidently cause the next Hitler to be born or worse- the universe could cease to exist!

  This opening chapter was very well written. The staff at IDW captured the colloquialisms of the characters quite well. It was funny and exciting. The painted art by Horacio Domingues was very good. But I really liked the art in the first issue of this series. There's nothing wrong with the art in this book. The renditions are done quite well. I just prefer the previous story's artwork a little more than this one.
A great issue to read snuggled up on a cold night wearing striped pajamas and a Doctor Who t-shirt (Did I mention I like to wear those a lot?)
 
   Worth Consuming

    Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who Special 2012 Comic Book Annual

The second annual based on the Matt Smith Doctor is packed with fun for all sorts of Whovians. First, it’s Fez-mania as the Doctor, Amy, and Rory arrive in Fez, Morocco. There, they come across an old foe- the Slitheen. Later, the Doctor, acting solo, lands in rural England where he discovers an alien hiding behind a chameleon circuit. In another solo tale, the Doctor gets himself thrown into Alcatraz in order to free an old friend from The Rock. Rounding out the tales is a story about a Time Lord, who seems to have survived the great time war. That tale starts off really good, but it has an ambiguous ending that I just don’t understand. I’ve yet to read IDW’s 11th Doctor books, so I might have missed something.

Also, the annual ends with a cliffhanger that you’ve got to read another book in order to get the conclusion. I hate that. But, the annual itself was really good and I enjoyed it tremendously. Also, this annual continues the tradition of basing their covers on famous works of art. This cover is an homage to Warhol’s soup cans! Awesome!

Worth Consuming

Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who Annual #1 (2011)

This annual contains 4 stories featuring the 11th doctor and his companions Amy and Rory Pond. I love the Escher-type cover. It fits the story of the doctor landing on a planet that’s so topsy-turvy that up is not only down but left, right, and sideways. Then Rory becomes the King of England while Amy leads an alien revolt and the Doctor is imprisoned by a Napoleon wannabe. Lastly, the Doctor takes on a 4th companion, a robot T-Rex named Kevin. The interactions of Kevin with the gang over the course of a week is hilarious and it leads to the final tale in which a space station is having some trouble with immigration. However, to read the story's conclusion, you have to read it in an issue of Doctor Who’s monthly IDW publication.

Normally, that ticks me off, but thankfully, I have this issue already and so I’ll follow up soon. Hopefully.

Worth Consuming.

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars.