Timeslip

Timeslip - ★★★☆☆

Timeslip is a short story, not only because it has eight pages but also it's quite simple. The Doctor and K9, in the TARDIS, are taken by surprise by a creature travelling through the cosmos that sees the TARDIS and think - yummy!

I like Timeslip. Sure, it could have been even stronger if it actually had anything to say through the "deregeneration", but the art gorgeous and very evocative. I adore the design of the creature, the page that depicts the "deregeneration", and that page layout of the Doctor pulling the lever is beautiful. I can't say it hasn't high stakes, but the solution being pulling a lever is a bit anticlimatic. But oh well, it's not like you could've done much more within this premise in only eight pages.

A great early example of degeneration in Doctor Who. Whilst it's a little disappointing that we don't get to see much of the Second and Third Doctors during this plot, the first Doctor gets a lot of time to shine. It's also interesting that the TARDIS degenerates alongside the Doctor, as it is a concept that is rarely discussed when fans talk of degeneration.

In some ways, Timeslip feels more typical now than ever before. Although David Tennant's Doctor last year wasn't a degeneration per say, it's basically the same general idea of the Doctor returning to a past face, which has also been explored through the Curator's introduction in The Day Of The Doctor. Timeslip is a simple story, but in some ways it's also one that was ahead of its time.

Given its simplicity it would be easy to undersell how impactful this little two part comic is. We’ve seen this story in a few forms (plot: a monster consumes the Doctor, then realises they have bitten off more than they can chew.) but it’s done with such style and beautiful prose.

Kids in 1980 seeing the four Doctor’s regress into each on that iconic single page must have been wowed. They’ll definitely have felt they’d gotten their monies’ worth (especially consisting the 12 pence cover price for DWM at the time!)