Grant Morrison's Doctor Who #1(2023 Comic Book & Graphic Novel Reading Challenge)

Grant Morrison's tenure on Doctor Who Magazine was a brief one spread from 1986-88. Working for Marvel UK, Morrison wrote 3 stories. The two-part 'Changes' and 'The World Shapers', a three-parter illustrated by John Ridgway (2000 AD). These tales featured the much maligned Sixth Doctor portrayed by Colin Baker. Morrison's third and final story, 'Culture Shock', was a single-issue adventure starring the penultimate classic Doctor, Sylvester McCoy's Seventh. Transformers' Bryan Hitch was the artist of that work. 

In 2008, IDW Publishing obtained the rights to produce comic books based on the BBC flagship sci-fi franchise, Doctor Who. Immediately, IDW began releasing reprint series based on Marvel's Doctor Who stories beginning with tales starring the Fourth and Fifth Doctor. That series, titled Doctor Who Classics, introduced stories that hadn't seen print in the United States in almost a quarter of a decade. 

Fans were indeed rabid for these reprints. Soon somebody remembered that Grant Morrison had done a run of Doctor Who stories and the combined fan base of Whovians and Grant Morrison devotees clamored for their release. If IDW went in order of Doctors, it would probably be another couple of years before the tales of the Sixth and Seventh Doctor were reprinted. That just wouldn't do! So IDW Publishing rushed a two-issue miniseries to print to meet the vocal demand. 

'Changes' and 'Culture Shock' comprise the first issue. Issue #2 collects all 3 segments of 'The World Shaper.' 

In 'Changes', the TARDIS detects an intruder aboard. The Doctor isn't very worried as TARDIS security measures will prevent the use of lethal force aboard the vessel. That all changes when the stranger overloads the TARDIS circuitry disabling the safety features. Guest starring human companion Peri Brown and the shape-shifting Whifferdill companion Frobisher, who appears regularly as a penguin.

The Doctor goes solo in 'Culture Shock' when the Timelord intercepts a psychic plea from a primordial collective. One should note that the TARDIS is featured in this story and many Whovians consider the TARDIS to be a character until itself. If one considers such a tale to not be a Doctor Who solo adventure, my apologies.

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.

Completing this review completes Task #34 (Written by Grant Morrison, Alan Moore or Neil Gaiman) of the 2023 Comic Book and Graphic Novel Reading Challenge.

Countdown to New Who: Advent 2016: Day 16

  The Ugly Christmas Sweater- it's a fairly old Christmas tradition that has suddenly become trendy in the past few years. I love it. I'm not really a sweater person but I do love looking at the designs. Plus, for people like me that are more into cotton (as opposed to wool) there are now tee shirts with ugly designs.

The Seventh Doctor Sporting the original Ugly Doctor Who Themed sweater!

My Advent gift to you for today is a link to the 2016 Geek's Guide to Ugly Christmas Sweaters. It's a fun gallery to look at or maybe even shop by...

For more Ugly fun, click here...

Enjoy!

Doctor Who: Nemesis of the Daleks (Volume 15)

  

 Abslom Daak: the Dalek Killer. The only man in the known galaxy who chose the death penalty over saying 'Sorry.' He's also the only other person that brings fear into the hearts of the Dalek race other than the Doctor. 

 (Madman Fun-Fact: Until last season's episode 'Time Heist', Abslom Daak was just a character in the comic books. But when his face popped up on a screen of known criminals at large on a data screen- he joined Doctor Who Canon. Read the stories that inspired that little Easter Egg in this edition: Nemesis of the Daleks.) 

   In this collection, the Dalek Killer meets the Doctor for the first time in an adventure filled with carnage, excitement, and lots of tiny tanks yelling 'EXTERMINATE!' Accompanying this multi-part story is Daak's origin along with an epic adventure in which Daak rounds up his team of Dalek-killing mercenaries.

    Along with the Daak stories are about a dozen Seventh Doctor adventures which range from deadly serious to down right goofy. There was maybe only one or two stories that I didn't like but as a whole, there were tons of time-travelling/ mind-bending plot twists that Doctor Who is known for. 

   Another awesome addition to this anthology was a couple of backup features. One segment is arranged like they were data files printed from the TARDIS or UNIT. The second feature is a director's cut style commentary behind all of the stories in this volume. Both were very entertaining and informative about the creative process of British comics.

   Featuring art and scripts by Richard Starkings (Elephantmen), John Tomlinson (John Constantine: Hellblazer) and others, Nemesis of the Daleks was an enjoyable read. It was also very British. To my knowledge, all of the stories in the collection have never seen print in the States before (except for a couple that appeared in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine.) Most appeared in a weekly Hulk comic or an anthology of Marvel licenses based on TV shows like GI Joe. 

   Published by Panini UK LTD, the same company that put out those collectible sticker albums when we were kids, volumes like this can be found in the US but they are hard to come by. I found mine copy at a used bookstore. It is only the second such volumes I've ever found in about 10 years of searching. But Amazon has just about the entire run of Doctor Who British reprints featuring your favorite incarnations of Timelord, available for about $15-$20 each.

   Worth Consuming

   Rating: 9 out of 10 stars.
  

Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time, Volume 3

Well it took upwards of a year, but I finally have completed the epic Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time 50^th Anniversary miniseries by IDW. It was so very much worth the wait. In this volume, the identity of who was kidnapping the Doctor’s companions from the time stream is finally revealed. I wouldn’t in a million years have guessed who it was. I won’t reveal who, but I’ll give you a hint: this modern era companion is one that Whovians often refused to talk about. (Need more clues, go to the Doctor Who Hub on Facebook and looks for the companion we “don’t talk about.”)

Anyway, the art was fantastic and I was glad to finally read issue 12 after getting some top secret hints from that issue’s artist, Kelly Yates. Plus, in that issue, all 11 Doctors converge with just about every companion imaginable to defeat this top secret villain and his even more super-secret partner. Sorry, John Hurt fans, there’s no War Doctor in this book!

This was a fantastic finish to a wonderful series that had a marvelous mystery to unravel. It’s truly a love letter to the world’s longest running science fiction television program and proof that IDW should be allowed to renew their licensing agreement with the BBC and continue producing more classic Who stories for generations to come!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 10 out of 10 stars!

 

Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time: Volume 2 (Doctor Who Month)

 

In this volume of IDW’s tribute to 50 years of Doctor Who, we focus on some of my all-time favorite Time Lords. It doesn’t hurt that these are the guys I grew up with. But I also love that my Doctor- the fifth played by Peter Davison is covered here.

Someone with connections to the Doctor in the future is still kidnapping his companions. But, unlike the last volume where he was caught off guard by this occurrence, the Doctor is starting to catch on.

I liked the IDW used the original artist for the Colin Baker era comics. It was also need to see a character used only in those comic adventures be used for that Doctor’s adventure. Very smart. I loved it.

What I was not a fan of was the art. Okay, let me back up. The art of the aliens, the TARDIS, and the supporting characters is very good. But, the fifth, seventh, and eighth Doctor and their companions are not photo-realistic looking. One might say, it’s a comic, it’s not supposed to look real. However, the sixth Doctor, Peri, and the Master look like the actors who played them. So, if that issue could capture the looks of Colin Baker, Nicola Bryant, and Anthony Ainley, why couldn’t the other artists have done as good as job on their mandated Doctors as well. (Plus at least 3 of the last 4 Doctors in volume 1 looked like the actors who portrayed them, so I have a very valid argument.)

Despite the art, the stories were all very good and the writing captured the style and mannerisms of all the characters. I desperately cannot wait for volume 3 and the answer to just who is behind these kidnappings.

Worth Consuming.

Rating 8 out of 10 stars

Wibbly Wobbly Timey Whimey rating: 10 out of 10 stars.

Doctor Who: Aliens and Enemies (Doctor Who Month)

From the Daleks and their first appearances in 1963 to the reinvention of the Cybermen during the David Tennant years, this guide by BBC Books is not quite a definitive guide to the aliens and baddies of the Doctor Who Universe. But it’s pretty darn close. Every Doctor is covered in this guide, except for the 8^th Doctor. Why they didn’t focus on the Master’s appearance in the Paul McGann TV movie is beyond me, but it wouldn’t made this book all so much more encompassing. There’s no Matt Smith stuff either, but this was published before he came on the scene.

Each entry includes a small plot synopsis of the episode(s) in which the creature appears, description of the being’s race and demeanor and even technical points on how the FX and makeup wizards of Doctor Who created the characters for the long running show.

There is a companion volume called Monster and Villains. I hope to one day get my hands on that one. Maybe I’ll get my wish and McGann’s Doctor will be covered in that guide.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Wibbly Wobbly Timey Whimey rating: 6 out of 10 stars.