This review contains spoilers!
A deeply atmospheric and slightly disturbing comic. Harrowing illustrations that throw a blanket of foreboding over the entire story. The casual toxic-ness of the tv-program in which Dr. Who participates makes for an already uneasy feeling setting, even before we start to fall deeper into the unescapable trap. The fact that the time lords get the Doctor by using his biggest strength; his curiosity, his wonder of the universe, against him, invoking the idea that the soul of the entire series and this character is what ultimately results in his death, is thematically incredibly successful. It’s a dark ending that goes against everything this franchise usually stands for.
Images like the scarecrows being loaded up with energy, and the panel where they kill the Doctor are incredibly striking, and somehow still manage to be standout panels in this comic full of already stellar ones. From the mysterious caution while spying and waiting for the scarecrows, to the haunting terror when the farmer sees this man he just got to know being taken by powers beyond his understanding; Cook and Canning’s ability’s to set exactly the right tone and make every panel impactful despite the page count is a really commendable show of their skill in the craft.
I think the only thing I don’t like about this is the dialoguing, which is sometimes stilted and unnecessarily descriptive. At times it feels almost out of rhythm with the rest of the comic. On one hand you could also say this helps with the uneasy vibes of the story, making everything feel even more ‘not right’, like a Twilight-zone-esque thing. With the overt descriptiveness almost feeling like it desperately wants to tell the reader something. It makes it feel more participatory. You become less an observer outside of the confines of the story, and more become an observer next to the farmer, witnessing the unexplainable horror that the Doctor undergoes. On the other hand, the dialoguing really just kinda sucks, so I’m still not giving the full 5 stars.
Regardless, it’s still a comic of a very high quality, and certainly worthy of being the second Doctor’s ‘official second regeneration story’. Generally also just a very interesting tidbit of the expanded Doctor Who universe. Really neat and cool and fun and stuff.
Owen
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