8th Doctor DWM #1.1 - “Endgame” by Alan Barnes

The Doctor arrives in the idyllic town of Stockbridge, and finds old and new friends menaced by a familiar enemy who has taken over the village.

(CONTAINS SPOILERS)

So, first 8th Doctor comic and my initial impressions are… flimsy. I’m a little worried that the actual format might not gel with me because this whole thing just felt rushed. Barnes has a whole episode in mind here and tries to press it down into a thirty page comic, but not very well, leading to a lot of convenient moments. Like, Max got kidnapped? We don’t have time for interesting conflict, Izzy can be over it in a panel! I’m hoping this is a product of the story and not the whole run but I’m not sure.

Our characters are for the most part alright, this isn’t Max’s first appearance apparently but he seems like a fun pseudo-companion. I always love when the Doctor sets up little roots here and there, places where he knows the people and he can go to escape from his adventures for a moment. As for Izzy, she’s pretty likable straight away but feels a little stock, she seems a little copy and pasted for my liking.

The actual story is some fun comic book shenanigans. Even if it is rushed, we still have a half decent sequel to The Celestial Toymaker on our hands with some great moments of the Doctor falling through different games, from snakes and ladders to mouse trap. The art really helps out here; the penciling by Martin Geraghty is pretty imaginative and interesting, even if he doesn’t get McGann quite right half the time.

Overall, this was inoffensive but not particularly great. It lacked a lot of depth and bit off more than it could chew, leading to a somewhat shallow narrative.

5/10

Pros:

+ Fun and lively

+ Some nice art with some great visuals

+ The setting of Stockbridge is an interesting locale

Cons:

- Too much happens for the story to have much depth

- The characters feel shallow