One of the more substantial stories from what I know of the 2011 run of IDW Doctor Who comics, As Time Goes By has some stuff working for it and other content more lacking.  I like Matthew Dow Smith's art off and on.  Sometimes it feels like a lot of the other art in this series is a bit rushed and low on detail.  Other panels really stand out and capture the vibes this comic is going for - which I guess is Casablanca but with Doctor Who and Silurians.

I'm not against the idea.  It's weird, but in a good way.  This story has a different writer than the other previous IDW 11th Doctor comics, but it didn't change much for me.  Once again they aren't quite able to capture that distinct voice of the Eleventh Doctor and instead he's kind of cringey, which I'm starting to appreciate is really easy to do with this particular Doctor without careful writing.  Weirdly the character IDW seems to have the best handle on is Rory, as there is a good sense of his comedy but it never goes so far where he is made into a joke for a character.  He is genuinely shaken by some events in the first half of this story and it's decently well done.

I guess the biggest struggle I have with As Time Goes By is intention.  The Silurians are led by a Captain who kidnaps Amy and wants to make her the Empress of the new Silurian Empire.  It's not exactly an endearing moment for Amy's character and also reflects something I noticed in IDW's books with her - I don't love the writing around her as it treats her as more of an attractive prop than a person.  Then the Captain reveals he is actually a decent being and doesn't want to enact this plan that would wipe out the human race.  It is all very Silurian and pretty well done, tying into the experience of Casablanca in 1941 to nicely drive home this point.  But then The Captain's underlings betray him and try to kill all the humans.  All this takes place over a single issue, and it's very messy - meandering, inconsistently interesting, and not very focused in its plot or ideas.  It all comes to head with an ending I honestly had to look up on the wiki to understand what they were trying to convey happened.  I can't abide or recommend something this confusing.

Also, in the last issue the Doctor literally uses Amy and Rory as bait and it's really out of character.  He really endangers both their lives here in a way that seems a lot more obvious and reckless compared to your average story.  Overall, As Time Goes By was not a great way to spend four issues on something.

Such a significant improvement on the TV Eleventh Doctor story The Hungry Earth/Cold Blood. It has such a brisk pace, and it's interesting seeing the Silurians in a past setting (Second World War Casablanca), as usually their stories are set in the current present time.

I love the ideas in this. Silurians disguising themselves as humans using perception filters, taking control of the local police force in order to claim their planet back from the 'apes', the whole thing about trying to make Amy their princess against her will to forcibly unite humans and Silurians...

One of my favourite IDW Eleventh Doctor comic strips out of the ones I have read so far.