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Doctor Who Magazine Comic Collections #1
Doctor Who: The Iron Legion
From the pages of Doctor Who Magazine!
Enter a dimension where the robot centurions of the mighty Roman Empire travel from planet to planet, crushing all in their path...
Explore a world where feelings are a crime, where love is punishable by death, and where the nervous, the brave and the half daft must unite in a desperate fight for freedom...
Visit an ordinary street in an ordinary town, but one where aliens lurk in the coal shed and the cabbage patch, where good and evil travel in disguise...
Travel to a future where the colonists of New Earth are under attack by the vicious Werelocks - but the ferocity of these beasts is as nothing besides their masters...
Discover a realm where a crazed criminal can reshape creation to her will, where the laws of time and space mean nothing...
Enter a dimension where the robot centurions of the mighty Roman Empire travel from planet to planet, crushing all in their path...
Explore a world where feelings are a crime, where love is punishable by death, and where the nervous, the brave and the half daft must unite in a desperate fight for freedom...
Visit an ordinary street in an ordinary town, but one where aliens lurk in the coal shed and the cabbage patch, where good and evil travel in disguise...
Travel to a future where the colonists of New Earth are under attack by the vicious Werelocks - but the ferocity of these beasts is as nothing besides their masters...
Discover a realm where a crazed criminal can reshape creation to her will, where the laws of time and space mean nothing...
164 pages, Paperback
First published April 6, 2004
8 people are currently reading
158 people want to read
About the author
Pat Mills
848 books229 followersPat Mills, born in 1949 and nicknamed 'the godfather of British comics', is a comics writer and editor who, along with John Wagner, revitalised British boys comics in the 1970s, and has remained a leading light in British comics ever since.
His comics are notable for their violence and anti-authoritarianism. He is best known for creating 2000 AD and playing a major part in the development of Judge Dredd.
His comics are notable for their violence and anti-authoritarianism. He is best known for creating 2000 AD and playing a major part in the development of Judge Dredd.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
November 15, 2018
4 stars. A very fun collection of some Fourth Doctor’s stories collected together as a graphic novel. City of the Damned was my favourite out of the five!
June 7, 2016
To be honest when I first encountered Doctor Who I was a wee lad and that big curly fellow who appeared to be totaly mad an a telephone box as a mode of transport was mindblowing and the showed scared the living daylights out of me. So I kept watching it until it was taken off the air due to parents complaining about this kiddie show. Welcome to the Netherlands in the seventies. It was not until some years later that I saw the show again and blimey there was another bloke playing the doctor. It was not until my year of studying in the UK that I met some Who fans and I did some serious binge watching by borrowing from the videostore that was manned by some serious Who fans and who showed met the way of the Timelord.
To this day even with the rejuvenation of the Show my favorite remains Tom "bloody awesome" Baker, he still is the most alien of them in my personal perception.
Anyhow I stumbled across three Doctor Who comics and bought them without a second thought, even if my missus gave met that look that says "really when are you going to start growing up". But before I got to read my ilk had laid claim to them. They have also been subjected to some classic Who and find Baker indeed the strongest of the bunch. Even if the prefer David Tennant.
The collection starts with the story that has given the name of this collection.
The Iron Legion
An alternative timeline in which the Roman Empire became the greatest civilisation in the galaxy and the arrival of the Doctor is bound to throw a monkey wrench into the workings of this Galactic Empire especially when the Doctor finds out that the power behind this Warrior empire has an evil intention.
The city of the damned
The Doctor is aiming for a vacation on Benidorm and ends up on a planet where feelings and emotions are a criminal offence. The Doctor being a serious emotional person is immediately taken into custody only to be rescued by rebels that fight for the right to have emotions and live with
them. Only some of them have a rather nasty solution and their solution is a bug. This bug will kill everybody unless the Doctor will find a solution.
the Star beast
In which some kids find a sweet little alien and he is being hunted by some scary aliens. The doctor has to step in to keep earth, kids and sweet alien safe. But is all as it seems?
The dogs of Doom
There a werewolves galore and they seem to be hell bent on capturing and destroying a galactic empire that buckles under the onslaught. The Doctor has to step in to stop the wee beasties and their handlers.
the Time witch
The Tardis gets halfway stuck in another dimension and the major inhabitant does not fancy any company and does everything to get out and kill anybody in the way.
A nice collection of short comics that are bloody well drawn by Dave Gibbons and they are great fun for a Who fan. But all the stories are somewhat similar in set up and solution, you are never really surprised. But still a nice collection of Tom Baker stories. And he is well drawn so as a fan I can hear his voice and mannerisms which is kind of cool.
To this day even with the rejuvenation of the Show my favorite remains Tom "bloody awesome" Baker, he still is the most alien of them in my personal perception.
Anyhow I stumbled across three Doctor Who comics and bought them without a second thought, even if my missus gave met that look that says "really when are you going to start growing up". But before I got to read my ilk had laid claim to them. They have also been subjected to some classic Who and find Baker indeed the strongest of the bunch. Even if the prefer David Tennant.
The collection starts with the story that has given the name of this collection.
The Iron Legion
An alternative timeline in which the Roman Empire became the greatest civilisation in the galaxy and the arrival of the Doctor is bound to throw a monkey wrench into the workings of this Galactic Empire especially when the Doctor finds out that the power behind this Warrior empire has an evil intention.
The city of the damned
The Doctor is aiming for a vacation on Benidorm and ends up on a planet where feelings and emotions are a criminal offence. The Doctor being a serious emotional person is immediately taken into custody only to be rescued by rebels that fight for the right to have emotions and live with
them. Only some of them have a rather nasty solution and their solution is a bug. This bug will kill everybody unless the Doctor will find a solution.
the Star beast
In which some kids find a sweet little alien and he is being hunted by some scary aliens. The doctor has to step in to keep earth, kids and sweet alien safe. But is all as it seems?
The dogs of Doom
There a werewolves galore and they seem to be hell bent on capturing and destroying a galactic empire that buckles under the onslaught. The Doctor has to step in to stop the wee beasties and their handlers.
the Time witch
The Tardis gets halfway stuck in another dimension and the major inhabitant does not fancy any company and does everything to get out and kill anybody in the way.
A nice collection of short comics that are bloody well drawn by Dave Gibbons and they are great fun for a Who fan. But all the stories are somewhat similar in set up and solution, you are never really surprised. But still a nice collection of Tom Baker stories. And he is well drawn so as a fan I can hear his voice and mannerisms which is kind of cool.
Read
October 21, 2007http://nhw.livejournal.com/900488.html[return][return]This is a collection of the Doctor Who comic strips from 1979-80 featuring Tom Baker as the Fourth Doctor, originally published in the first 38 issues of Doctor Who Monthly; all inked and drawn by Dave Gibbons, but five different stories, of which the first and third are presented as by "Pat Mills and John Wagner", the second and fourth as by "John Wagner and Pat Mills", and the fifth is by Steve Moore. The presentation of the material is OK, but I would have liked a bit more information about the first (and subsequent) dates of publication.[return][return]The first and third stories, "The Iron Legion" and "The Star Beast", stand out as the best - I remember them vividly from first reading more than a quarter-century ago - and from what is said in the introduction I guess Pat Mills, who was also the first editor of 2000 AD, deserves the credit for that. They are pretty good examples of the comics medium, and while the Doctor of the drawn page isn't always exactly like Tom Baker's portrayal in appearance and manner, I think that the two "Mills and Wagner" stories stand on their own merits.
July 10, 2013
I can't recommend this collection highly enough. The stories are master classes in economic, fast-paced, witty writing. Dave Gibbons' artwork is fantastic, perfectly capturing Tom Baker's wackier Doctor.
No idea when these stories take place continuity-wise, or if that's even important. K9 is the only TV companion present and a brief mention is made of Leela.
I especially love Time Witch where The Doctor takes on an ancient criminal in a funny psychic battle. This was a story I had in its original form in Doctor Who Weekly. Pure nostalgia.
No idea when these stories take place continuity-wise, or if that's even important. K9 is the only TV companion present and a brief mention is made of Leela.
I especially love Time Witch where The Doctor takes on an ancient criminal in a funny psychic battle. This was a story I had in its original form in Doctor Who Weekly. Pure nostalgia.
December 16, 2022
A set of 5 enjoyable stories! It does have a few weak moments: The Dogs of Doom as a whole is a bit on the weaker side and definitely misunderstands the Daleks(though the reveal is very cool). Their quest to breed a new hybrid Dalek is, frankly, antithetical to their fascist allegory and intense desire for purity. There are other moments where this is subverted in the franchises' history, but the lack of reason given in the story makes it a headscratcher. As does the decision to make Sharon a full time companion: she's admittedly just a bit of a nothing character. No real character traits, just goes along for the ride, never really does anything of her own, often shoved into positions where the story can ignore her. I Just don't understand the thought process for why she needed to be included at all? Honestly though, the rest of the collection doesn't suffer much as a result of these: One mediocre story and a nothing companion that's easily ignored are made up for by fantastic visuals of robotic Roman empires, strange alien creatures, and fuzzy little Intergalactic warlords. The first three stories are very enjoyable, take an interesting stance on 4(though he does do a bit too much unquestioned killing for a Doctor in my opinion. It's left right and center in these comics.), and are generally good fun. Worth a read if you're a diehard fan, maybe watch the show instead if you're not.
August 25, 2012
I enjoyed the hell out of this. It restored my faith in the pure fun of comics. Great bed time reading, it invovles the Doctor trying to go on holiday to Benidorm but ending up in various strange places on the way and getting involved in all sorts of crazy sci-fi adventures. It's based on the Tom Baker Doctor, which is cool because he's my favourite. He's an eccentrically British hero, with a a taste for tea and jelly babies and his chilled out sense of humour coupled with his clear heroism makes him just the sort of hero we need and a nice change from all those muscle-bound american heroes.
I was never really a fan of the TV series, but if they're anything like this I'm tempted to give them another go.
I was never really a fan of the TV series, but if they're anything like this I'm tempted to give them another go.
May 11, 2018
OK, I'm not the ten year old who read these comics when they first appeared in 1979, but this collection is still just as ace - perhaps the closest I'll get to time travel. Dave Gibbons' terrific artwork is a perfect fit for the fourth Doctor's madcap adventures. These tales fizz with fun, ideas and wit; robot legionaries fighting for a galactic Roman Empire, the deceptively cute alien 'Meep'...great stuff.
Read
March 29, 2024How you feel about this collection may well depend on your relationship with comic strips and/or graphic novels; the first set of comics from the pages of Doctor Who Weekly explode onto the page in a riot of detail and imagination and there’s no denying the talent on display here. That first frame of The Iron Legion is a statement of intent, both in Mills and Wagner’s surreal, violent melodrama and in Dave Gibbons’ striking artwork, and every one of the subsequent stories delivers in spades.
However, not an awful lot of it feels like Doctor Who. Plot and visuals all seem to be lifted from 2000 AD, whether it’s the futuristic Roman Empire and a litany of robotic or semi-robotic characters, the zombie world of the eponymous City of the Damned, the Dalek army of Werelox or the very Marvel fantasy-inspired Time Witch. There’s fighting and gore aplenty, and although I imagine kids in the late 70s lapped up the heightened macho worlds here, it couldn’t be further from the Doctor Who they were getting on television at the time which, thanks in part to a Whitehouse-inspired moral panic had had its violence watered down and replaced by whimsy and suggestion (they would have to wait until the mid-80s for this level of sadism to reach the series itself).
Similarly, whilst there are characters who feel entirely at home in this world (grizzled, wise-cracking Joe Bean, scantily-clad shape-changing Magog, and all of the misfits who make up the Zom Emotional People’s Organisation), there are times when it doesn’t seem as though they quite know what to do with the good Doctor himself. What we get here is closer (in conception, if not in appearance) to what was on TV, an agent of chaos leaping through scenes making puns and deflating pomposity, though without the darker unpredictability that was central to Tom Baker’s characterisation. Although there is something interesting about the frisson of seeing the Doctor in these very un-Doctorish situations, there’s something about the barbarity inherent to the style (and, often, the solutions to problems) that feels a bit off, summed up by the relegation of K9 to the role of weapon-on-wheels.
There is one exception, and that is the magnificent The Star Beast, which out of nowhere effortlessly nails the atmosphere of Doctor Who. By landing the Marvel space ship on a very English town, teaming the Doctor up with a couple of school kids, and giving us a neat twist where a cuddly alien turns out to be a psychopath, they concoct a story which mingles spectacle with intimacy (Fudge’s Mum making tea for a room full of Wrarth Warriors is a classic visual), which has high stakes but a beautifully bonkers sensibility (the Doctor catching a bus to save the world). It’s the kind of story you get the impression the series would have been telling had they had the budget, and it’s no surprise at all that Russell T. Davies decided to do exactly that nearly 45 years later.
It’s a gorgeous, impressive collection, worth the cover price* for The Star Beast alone, and whatever you make of the rest of it there’s plenty to feast your eyes on. Not only should we count ourselves lucky that we ever had legends like Mills, Wagner and Gibbons working on Doctor Who in *any* format, we should remember that this set the tone for a run of comic strips which is still going to this day - and which has seen some incredible highs. While they would be more consistent in their exploitation of Doctor Who’s potential in years to come, this is where it begins.
*In fact, this edition is out of print, but you can get these comics in a collection that includes the other Fourth Doctor strips as well, previously collected in Dragon’s Claw. Bit annoying for those of us who only have the first volume, though.
However, not an awful lot of it feels like Doctor Who. Plot and visuals all seem to be lifted from 2000 AD, whether it’s the futuristic Roman Empire and a litany of robotic or semi-robotic characters, the zombie world of the eponymous City of the Damned, the Dalek army of Werelox or the very Marvel fantasy-inspired Time Witch. There’s fighting and gore aplenty, and although I imagine kids in the late 70s lapped up the heightened macho worlds here, it couldn’t be further from the Doctor Who they were getting on television at the time which, thanks in part to a Whitehouse-inspired moral panic had had its violence watered down and replaced by whimsy and suggestion (they would have to wait until the mid-80s for this level of sadism to reach the series itself).
Similarly, whilst there are characters who feel entirely at home in this world (grizzled, wise-cracking Joe Bean, scantily-clad shape-changing Magog, and all of the misfits who make up the Zom Emotional People’s Organisation), there are times when it doesn’t seem as though they quite know what to do with the good Doctor himself. What we get here is closer (in conception, if not in appearance) to what was on TV, an agent of chaos leaping through scenes making puns and deflating pomposity, though without the darker unpredictability that was central to Tom Baker’s characterisation. Although there is something interesting about the frisson of seeing the Doctor in these very un-Doctorish situations, there’s something about the barbarity inherent to the style (and, often, the solutions to problems) that feels a bit off, summed up by the relegation of K9 to the role of weapon-on-wheels.
There is one exception, and that is the magnificent The Star Beast, which out of nowhere effortlessly nails the atmosphere of Doctor Who. By landing the Marvel space ship on a very English town, teaming the Doctor up with a couple of school kids, and giving us a neat twist where a cuddly alien turns out to be a psychopath, they concoct a story which mingles spectacle with intimacy (Fudge’s Mum making tea for a room full of Wrarth Warriors is a classic visual), which has high stakes but a beautifully bonkers sensibility (the Doctor catching a bus to save the world). It’s the kind of story you get the impression the series would have been telling had they had the budget, and it’s no surprise at all that Russell T. Davies decided to do exactly that nearly 45 years later.
It’s a gorgeous, impressive collection, worth the cover price* for The Star Beast alone, and whatever you make of the rest of it there’s plenty to feast your eyes on. Not only should we count ourselves lucky that we ever had legends like Mills, Wagner and Gibbons working on Doctor Who in *any* format, we should remember that this set the tone for a run of comic strips which is still going to this day - and which has seen some incredible highs. While they would be more consistent in their exploitation of Doctor Who’s potential in years to come, this is where it begins.
*In fact, this edition is out of print, but you can get these comics in a collection that includes the other Fourth Doctor strips as well, previously collected in Dragon’s Claw. Bit annoying for those of us who only have the first volume, though.
June 18, 2020
This collection contains five comic strip stories featuring the Fourth Doctor, accompanied by K-9.
First is "Doctor Who and The Iron Legion," in which The Doctor arrives on an alternate Earth where the Roman Empire kept going, far into the future. It's interesting how in a show like Doctor Who we rarely get The Doctor traveling to another universe. But I really liked this idea, as well as the aliens that looked like statues. (In a way, tangentially making them precursors to the Weeping Angels?) The Doctor's humorous remarks are spot on. I can imagine Tom Baker talking like this.
"City of the Damned" didn't capture my interest as much. It involves a city in which people are not allowed to feel emotion, which is an intriguing if previously explored idea (either from my point of view or from the point of view of when this came out).
"Doctor Who and the Star Beast" is an instant classic. I've listened to an excerpt of Big Finish's audio adaptation of this story, but it appears that they didn't get John Leeson to play K-9, who is somewhat active in this story. Beep the Meep does sound cute from what I heard, though. The cover art for Big Finish's audio version doesn't do him as much justice as the comic illustration. I really liked the buggy aliens, and I had mixed feelings about how things were not what they seemed with Beep the Meep. But this story does provide a new companion in the form of Sharon. I often appreciate when the comics and the audios introduce new companions who are blank slates, because the possibilities are endless.
I've experienced a couple werewolf stories recently in the Sixth Doctor's audios, and it was fun getting another one yet again in "Dogs of Doom." And The Doctor even gets turned into a werewolf for a bit! And once you hear a certain word, it's clear what other enemies are present. Not much of a surprise, but not bad.
"The Time Witch" is the shortest of these stories. It was released in four parts while the others were each released in eight parts, if I'm not mistaken. It has some neat ideas, and Sharon even goes through a chronocompensator in the TARDIS but ages four years. The Doctor has aged too, apparently, though it's not as obvious. And he can't seem to remember whether he's 730 or 743, which falls in line with the Fourth Doctor and later incarnations not knowing their exact age. And apparently he was a teenager for fifty years, a tidbit that I wonder whether or not fits into the lore as it's presented in the show thus far.
Overall, I enjoyed this collection more than I expected. It doesn't feel like a weird side-story, but rather one that fits neatly within the timeline of Doctor Who.
First is "Doctor Who and The Iron Legion," in which The Doctor arrives on an alternate Earth where the Roman Empire kept going, far into the future. It's interesting how in a show like Doctor Who we rarely get The Doctor traveling to another universe. But I really liked this idea, as well as the aliens that looked like statues. (In a way, tangentially making them precursors to the Weeping Angels?) The Doctor's humorous remarks are spot on. I can imagine Tom Baker talking like this.
"City of the Damned" didn't capture my interest as much. It involves a city in which people are not allowed to feel emotion, which is an intriguing if previously explored idea (either from my point of view or from the point of view of when this came out).
"Doctor Who and the Star Beast" is an instant classic. I've listened to an excerpt of Big Finish's audio adaptation of this story, but it appears that they didn't get John Leeson to play K-9, who is somewhat active in this story. Beep the Meep does sound cute from what I heard, though. The cover art for Big Finish's audio version doesn't do him as much justice as the comic illustration. I really liked the buggy aliens, and I had mixed feelings about how things were not what they seemed with Beep the Meep. But this story does provide a new companion in the form of Sharon. I often appreciate when the comics and the audios introduce new companions who are blank slates, because the possibilities are endless.
I've experienced a couple werewolf stories recently in the Sixth Doctor's audios, and it was fun getting another one yet again in "Dogs of Doom." And The Doctor even gets turned into a werewolf for a bit! And once you hear a certain word, it's clear what other enemies are present. Not much of a surprise, but not bad.
"The Time Witch" is the shortest of these stories. It was released in four parts while the others were each released in eight parts, if I'm not mistaken. It has some neat ideas, and Sharon even goes through a chronocompensator in the TARDIS but ages four years. The Doctor has aged too, apparently, though it's not as obvious. And he can't seem to remember whether he's 730 or 743, which falls in line with the Fourth Doctor and later incarnations not knowing their exact age. And apparently he was a teenager for fifty years, a tidbit that I wonder whether or not fits into the lore as it's presented in the show thus far.
Overall, I enjoyed this collection more than I expected. It doesn't feel like a weird side-story, but rather one that fits neatly within the timeline of Doctor Who.
March 22, 2020
Doctor Who and The Iron Legion:
A very fun but incredibly inventive story on what if The Roman Empire didn't fall. There is lot of humour in this story with it's unique but crazy ideas and it does have plenty of scares too! 8.5/10
City of The Damned:
An fun story with some interesting ideas but isn't as exciting as The Iron Legion was, it certainly had some scary stuff and wit but the story wasn't as strong as The Iron Legion but certainly enjoyable. 7/10
Doctor Who and The Star Beast:
An incredibly fun story with a great villain with Beep The Meep who on the outside seems like a cute adorable creature from the stars but inside is truly a blood thirsty killer! A fast paced read with plenty of wit and intense moments, nice to see UNIT and I liked the new companion Sharon! 8.5/10
Doctor Who and The Dogs of Doom:
Another fun story with a returning enemy and people turning into werewolf like creatures. 8/10
Doctor Who and The Time Witch:
A fun creative little story with The Doctor and an ancient criminal fighting with their imaginations. 7/10
Overall: 39/50
A very fun but incredibly inventive story on what if The Roman Empire didn't fall. There is lot of humour in this story with it's unique but crazy ideas and it does have plenty of scares too! 8.5/10
City of The Damned:
An fun story with some interesting ideas but isn't as exciting as The Iron Legion was, it certainly had some scary stuff and wit but the story wasn't as strong as The Iron Legion but certainly enjoyable. 7/10
Doctor Who and The Star Beast:
An incredibly fun story with a great villain with Beep The Meep who on the outside seems like a cute adorable creature from the stars but inside is truly a blood thirsty killer! A fast paced read with plenty of wit and intense moments, nice to see UNIT and I liked the new companion Sharon! 8.5/10
Doctor Who and The Dogs of Doom:
Another fun story with a returning enemy and people turning into werewolf like creatures. 8/10
Doctor Who and The Time Witch:
A fun creative little story with The Doctor and an ancient criminal fighting with their imaginations. 7/10
Overall: 39/50
November 28, 2023
Covers the Tom Baker based Dr Who stories from Dr Who Weekly/ Monthly, The Iron Legion, City of the Damned, Time Slip, The Starbeast, Dogs of Doom and The Time Witch.
Go back to the early 1980s with these innocent yet fun and inventive stories. The Starbeast is the obvious standout as it's just been translated onto the television programme. But there are more gems. Time Slip is a curious story where the Doctor goes back through his experiences. The Iron Legion is an epic adventure. City of the Damned is a lesson on the importance of emotions. Dogs of Doom is a space opera with Werewolves and Daleks. Whilst The Time Witch is an amusing aside with a battle of mental wits between the Doctor and Brimo.
Thoroughly enjoyable comic book. And for its day, this range was groundbreaking and inventive. The Starbeast and Time Slip deserve a full 10/10. Overall this collection is 8/10.
Scoring: 0 bad; 1-3 poor; 4-6 average; 7-9 good; 10 excellent.
Go back to the early 1980s with these innocent yet fun and inventive stories. The Starbeast is the obvious standout as it's just been translated onto the television programme. But there are more gems. Time Slip is a curious story where the Doctor goes back through his experiences. The Iron Legion is an epic adventure. City of the Damned is a lesson on the importance of emotions. Dogs of Doom is a space opera with Werewolves and Daleks. Whilst The Time Witch is an amusing aside with a battle of mental wits between the Doctor and Brimo.
Thoroughly enjoyable comic book. And for its day, this range was groundbreaking and inventive. The Starbeast and Time Slip deserve a full 10/10. Overall this collection is 8/10.
Scoring: 0 bad; 1-3 poor; 4-6 average; 7-9 good; 10 excellent.
November 21, 2023
Stand out strips are "The Iron Legion" and "The Star Beast" by Pat Mills. They are a great 2000AD take on late seventies Doctor Who and much bigger in scope to what could have been achieved on TV at the time. There is also a lot of great humour that wonderfully offsets the darker moments. Matt Wagner's strips are entertaining but no where near as fun as Pat Mills. And Steve Moore first strip is somewhere in between. Special mention must be given though to Dave Gibbons' art work. He captures Tom Baker's Doctor perfectly and every scene is a joy to look at. There are such great details and character design. Lastly, there is a strange omission of a strip called "Tiemslip" by Dez Skinn and Paul Nearly that comes between "City of the Damned" and "The Star Beast" but apparently this has been published in the 5th Doctor collection "The Tides of Time"
July 16, 2016
This is an oversized volume that really shows off the glorious black and white art. I originally saw these in color in Marvel U.S. reprints so I didn't realize how good the art really was. As for the stories, they are a faster paced than the show, more action packed than the show, a little more sci-fi than the show, and the Doctor is just a bit wonkier than on the show but this is fun Doctor Who at its best. This is the first of two volumes that cover the Tom Baker era and volume two is just as good as the first. Classic baddies like the Daleks, Cybermen, and Sontarans make appearances, but the bulk of the stories deal with original threats. Both volumes are highly recommended and don't worry, it doesn't matter which you read first.
February 18, 2009
One of the best Doctor Who comic stories ever.
The 4th Doctor lands on an alternate Earth where Rome never fell and they are now are armed with all kinds of funky robots as they begin to work on conquering the universe.
Lots of great, funky robot designs, clever lines from the Doctor, evil monsters and a couple of great robotic sidekicks for the Doctor.
Great final scene between the Doctor and the main bad guy.
The 4th Doctor lands on an alternate Earth where Rome never fell and they are now are armed with all kinds of funky robots as they begin to work on conquering the universe.
Lots of great, funky robot designs, clever lines from the Doctor, evil monsters and a couple of great robotic sidekicks for the Doctor.
Great final scene between the Doctor and the main bad guy.
November 3, 2016
THE IRON LEGION – Pat Mills & John Wagner (writers)
A robot legionnaire attacks a small English town of the 1970s. Tracing them to their origin, the Doctor arrives on an alternate Earth in which the Roman Empire conquered the galaxy with their Iron Legion of robots commanded by General Ironicus, a servant of what he calls the gods.
Along with escapees Morris and Vesuvius the Doctor manages to avoid death at the hands of the shaper-changing Magog.
***
A robot legionnaire attacks a small English town of the 1970s. Tracing them to their origin, the Doctor arrives on an alternate Earth in which the Roman Empire conquered the galaxy with their Iron Legion of robots commanded by General Ironicus, a servant of what he calls the gods.
Along with escapees Morris and Vesuvius the Doctor manages to avoid death at the hands of the shaper-changing Magog.
***
December 13, 2013
Many of the stories in this book were reprinted in the late eighties in Marvel Comics' Marvel Premiere title, but they look a lot better in the original black-and-white. Dave Gibbons (of Watchmen fame), provides some excellent artwork. The stories all feature the Fourth Doctor and K-9, post-Leela, and are all combinations of what you'd see on the TV show and in 2000 AD. Great fun!
June 27, 2014
Instead of ending up in Benidorm on holiday as he wanted, 4th Doctor lands in parallel universe power hungry Rome, now equipped with robot technology, and is interrogated by General Ironicus about the mysteries of time travel. Love that it is in black and white and the familiar Doctor’s wittiness is there.
December 23, 2023
Collection of following Comic stories:
* Doctor Who and the Iron Legion - least favorite, too silly
* City of the Damned - ok story about excising emotions
* Doctor Who and the Star Beast - great, New Companion & basis for 14th Dr special!
* The Dogs of Doom - werewolves, Daleks, and space truckers... oh my
* The Time Witch - really good short story.
* Doctor Who and the Iron Legion - least favorite, too silly
* City of the Damned - ok story about excising emotions
* Doctor Who and the Star Beast - great, New Companion & basis for 14th Dr special!
* The Dogs of Doom - werewolves, Daleks, and space truckers... oh my
* The Time Witch - really good short story.
January 24, 2021
okay, my favourite was the star beast, I knew that fur ball was evil, it was quite comical when you could see its thoughts. the time witch was a good idea but what exactly was her crime in the first
place and did the doctor just leave her to spend an eternity in the eternity capsule?
place and did the doctor just leave her to spend an eternity in the eternity capsule?
December 23, 2021
A lot of fun. Short weekly strips similar to those of 2000 AD but adventures of the Doctor.
I mean if you like Doctor Who and comics you cannae go wrong.
Some stories stand out more-I especially like the one where they land in a city where emotion has been banned.
I mean if you like Doctor Who and comics you cannae go wrong.
Some stories stand out more-I especially like the one where they land in a city where emotion has been banned.
May 20, 2023
Yes! YES!!!!!!!!
February 21, 2024
Very interesting look into the early extended media of Doctor Who.
June 15, 2025
Note; this is an altered revision of a review of these batch of strips posted at the end of my Letterboxd review of City of Death.
After going through the mostly-generic and stale stories the Fourth Doctor received in the TV Comic strip, it must've come off as a pleasing shock to the system for fans to enter outright masterpiece classic territory once late 1979 and Doctor Who getting its own publication came about. The first handful of Doctor Who Magazine (Weekly at first) strips are about as perfect as you could get and astronomically better than anything that came before it and still hold up like a dream forty-odd years after they first came out - wonderfully imaginative and exciting from the opening splash page to the last panel with blissfully vivid and memorable characters, confident storytelling which feel high-budget and striking imagery galore, Dave Gibbons cementing himself as one of the best Who artists, Sharon being an absolute blast of a companion…it’s just six stories of pure magic and you can even see the groundwork for what would become RTD’s 2005-2010 era (and you might recognise a story that inspired the first 60th anniversary special with David Tennant!). Get this as soon as possible or better yet, scour eBay for a copy of the IDW Classics collections with the breathtaking colourisation from Charlie Kirchoff (and send emails to Titan to republish it in some way and pick up where they left off in some reborn Classic Comics range, they've done so little with the show since 2020 barring the odd miniseries!)
Oh hey, after a week, I've finally posted a review (albeit a revised version of one I'd typed before) on Goodreads! These mostly won't be as detailed or as frequent as the ones I do over at Letterboxd but expect to see me pop up here time to time (and for my entire backlog of books to be filled, another on my to-do list...)
After going through the mostly-generic and stale stories the Fourth Doctor received in the TV Comic strip, it must've come off as a pleasing shock to the system for fans to enter outright masterpiece classic territory once late 1979 and Doctor Who getting its own publication came about. The first handful of Doctor Who Magazine (Weekly at first) strips are about as perfect as you could get and astronomically better than anything that came before it and still hold up like a dream forty-odd years after they first came out - wonderfully imaginative and exciting from the opening splash page to the last panel with blissfully vivid and memorable characters, confident storytelling which feel high-budget and striking imagery galore, Dave Gibbons cementing himself as one of the best Who artists, Sharon being an absolute blast of a companion…it’s just six stories of pure magic and you can even see the groundwork for what would become RTD’s 2005-2010 era (and you might recognise a story that inspired the first 60th anniversary special with David Tennant!). Get this as soon as possible or better yet, scour eBay for a copy of the IDW Classics collections with the breathtaking colourisation from Charlie Kirchoff (and send emails to Titan to republish it in some way and pick up where they left off in some reborn Classic Comics range, they've done so little with the show since 2020 barring the odd miniseries!)
Oh hey, after a week, I've finally posted a review (albeit a revised version of one I'd typed before) on Goodreads! These mostly won't be as detailed or as frequent as the ones I do over at Letterboxd but expect to see me pop up here time to time (and for my entire backlog of books to be filled, another on my to-do list...)
October 17, 2023
The first volume of collected comic strips from the early issues of Doctor Who magazine are a real treat, not least because of the detailed artwork from Dave Gibbons (2000AD, Watchman).
Out of these stories it's easily 'The Star Beast' with Beep the Meep that stands out.
Especially as it also introduces a black companion for The Doctor.
Out of these stories it's easily 'The Star Beast' with Beep the Meep that stands out.
Especially as it also introduces a black companion for The Doctor.
March 18, 2015
I remember wanting to read these way back in middle school, but couldn't afford them if I bought the Target novels. Glad I went with the novels. The art is great, but the stories could be a lot more interesting, even though they're collected from comic strips...
July 31, 2016
I'm not a doctor who fan but I could appreciate how much this feels like the universe. the artwork was intricate and really lovely in places. a series of short stories I didn't get anything innovative from it but I would imagine a fan would find this really satisfactory
September 23, 2009
Dave Gibbons' art is classic, but the stories are fanwankish less sophisticated than later, more mature Who comics. Some fun moments with the 4th Doctor, but the writing drags it down a bit.
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