Doctor Who in comics again!

DOCTOR WHO
Issue 1

Review by Michael Colbert


Written by Gary Russell
Art by Nick Roche
Colors by Charlie Kirchoff

IDW Publishing

The Doctor returns to the time of comics with a lot to like for the hardcore and casual fan.

A lot of people don’t “Get” Doctor Who, at least in this country. The TV show has been a kiddie program, history show, horror, Hard SF, a parody, a bad Fox network TV movie, and even Cyberpunk in its decade’s long run. So why don’t a lot of Americans “get it”? One reason is that The Doctor doesn’t conform to the typical space opera hero most people regencies (but most people think of Captain Kirk as a typical Sci Fi hero); he doesn’t use guns, only a sonic screwdriver and his wits. And he’s more inclined to disarm people with witticisms and fast talk than Kung foo. He’s more cerebral than muscle; it just doesn’t scan in the land of the cowboy and Bruce Willis. Another reason is because it’s so unapologetically, willfully… English… That means whimsy, dry humor and laughing at the void that constantly threatens to consume. It makes for an odd balance sometimes and if the story doesn’t deliver the goods it can all come off as just plain silly. One book written about the best of Science Fiction television said “Doctor Who can, at its worst, be stupid and distracting, at it’s best hypnotizing.” So how does the new comic featuring the 10th Doctor and his human companion Martha Jones fare against high expectations from the fans, an uphill climb in a US market that seems to have no interest in SF comics and is still so damn English?
Pretty well, thank you very much.
For those of you who don’t know, the Doctor is an alien. His race is called “Timelords” and he is the last one. He looks human and frequents Earth in his TARDIS a time and space ship that looks like a police call box (it’s an English thing). The brilliant aspect of Doctor Who is that he can go anywhere and anywhen so a story can go in any direction and be just about anything. That’s a lot of choices laid out and a lot of ways to get lost but more often than not Doctor Who stays coherent, colorful and fun, which is a pretty good way to describe the comic. Admittedly I’m a bit biased but at the same time my judgment is harsher because I’ve been such a long standing fan. The stand alone story already assumes you know something about the Doctor, a safe assumption if you’re buying the comic, but doesn’t require much effort on the reader’s part to catch up. The Doctor and Martha Jones are sampling the best chocolate milkshakes from across time and space (English whimsy) and stumble across an alien that captures rare or extinct species for hunting purposes (the void right there with a milkshake). The story keeps a light tone and moves along fast enough to keep you from noticing the silliness in the internal logic (A space diner that houses a slave trade, and alien badguy that says he rocks). It’s all good fun with a wink and humor. The space milk bar where the action takes place is called the “Korova v.3” and the splashpage has aliens ranging from beavers to bugs to cyborgs all enjoying the best milkshake in the universe (including one alien crying over his spilt drink). The plot is paper thin but it whizzes by so fast you’ll hardly notice. The conflict is resolved in a fashion completely loyal to the internal logic of Doctor Who with the bad guy dooming himself despite The Doctor offering a chance at redemption. Then it’s off to the next adventure.
If you are a fan of Doctor Who you’ll have plenty to enjoy, the comic has really captured the spirit of the rebooted TV show and hopefully with future issues can tackle the potential also. The villain is a callback to a TV episode (the first Christmas special) which links nicely if you’re a fan. If you’re not a fan, or have a passing interest, I’d still suggest you give it a try; the book can be so many things that odds are The Doctor will deliver eventually.