Rock Quasar and the Mudslugs of Gurrn

A lot of DWA comic strips are short, sweet and pretty inconsequential. But I enjoy reading them because, every now and again, they visit somewhere a bit unusual.

Rock Quasar and the Mudslugs of Gurn is one such example. The 11th Doctor, Amy and Rory (who have possibly featured the most in my marathon up to now) arrive in Hollywood 1932. At first they don’t realise this, believing they are on an alien planet. But it’s a movie set and, in scenes reminiscent of The Feast of Steven, they find themselves being roared at by an irate director and glared at by the interrupted actors.

But, it turns out, they may have been closer to the truth to begin with. Amy discovers an alien slug costume is inhabited by….alien slugs! The three main actors are also aliens – who are apparently visiting Doctor Who on an exchange programme from Bucky O’Hare – and just want to be able to make their films, not being appreciated artistically on their own planet.

The Doctor begrudgingly agrees to let them finish the film as long as, on completion, they leave Earth.

At only four pages, there isn’t a lot to the strip, but a few fun elements are squeezed in. First of all is Rory’s fandom for the lead character, Rock Quasar. It’s Rory as a Doctor Who fan and its quite cute. His knowledge helps the Doctor decide to let them finish their last film and there’s a great frame where Rory is debating, mainly with himself, whether to go ask speak to the actors. Arthur Darvill’s characterisation of Rory shone through this story and it was easy to imagine him saying Rory’s lines. As a reward, Rory gets to be in this story and I would have loved seeing Arthur Darvill hamming it up in a Hollywood sci-fi serial.

Setting a story in the filming of a serial reminiscent of 1930s Hollywood’s output is very fitting for a Doctor Who story. The cliffhanger nature of Doctor Who stems partly from the Flash Gordon serials shown in cinemas in its early days; each week’s episode ending on a cliffhanger designed to tempt the audience back to the picture house the following week. The actor playing Rock Quasar is one Rick “Crusty” Cobbe – a name which instantly reminds us of Buster Crabbe, the actor who played Flash Gordon in those serials. He, in human guise, even looks a bit like him – all square-jawed and blond.

There’s also a part where Amy tries to defend herself with a film prop – a sink plunger-like affair which Rory identifies as a mind-probe from another film he has seen.

Weirdly, I found this brief sojourn in Hollywood more engaging than The Silent Scream and it’s a shame that we don’t have a better, longer story set in this era as I think it is an excellent setting which, up to now, has not really been utilised the best it could be.