Doctor Who Classics, Vol. 1

Doctor Who Classics #1

by Justin Eisinger (Editor), Chris Ryall (Editor), Dez Skinn (Editor)

IDW Publishing is proud to add to its Doctor Who line with this collection of classic Doctor Who comics, featuring some of the best talents in the business! Up first, adventures featuring the fourth doctor courtesy of Pat Mills, John Wagner, and Dave Gibbons. Originally published in back and white, each page features all-new, state-of-the-art coloring by color artist Charlie Kirchoff.


Description from back cover

Genres: Doctor Who, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction

112 pages, Paperback

First published July 29, 2008

Reviews

[Andrew Myers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely series of stories pulled from the 1970s Doctor Who weekly. These are fun, funny and whizz by. I think that might be part of its negatives though as there really isn't time to focus on characters or any real development. An example of this is when one of the younger characters in the final story, a character who is integral and actively pushes the plot along, a boy called Fudge, disappears without trace midway through the story and is never mentioned again. And although a classic, the first story, the Iron Legion, suffers from such speedy storytelling. The Doctor and his pseudo companions jump from here, there, everywhere and collected in a graphic novel like this is very jarring. Maybe in its intended weekly installments, this wouldn't be a problem.

That said, the four tales that are collected in this volume are fun and witty and pull you in. The new colourisation works really well too and is a pleasing addition. The pencils are brilliant here for the three stories although there is a real drop in quality in the third story where the regular penciller is replaced for two issues by a guest artist who relies far too heavily on copying publicity photo shots. This stops you focussing story and pulls you out as you notice these famous publicity shots.

A good sign of what would be coming in the not too distant future for the title, this is a strong collection and a must for fans of the Fourth Doctor and DWM comics in general.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Iron Legion: unbelievable plots, bad dialogue, and ridiculous characters. Worst, it sends the Doctor off to an alternate universe, generally unknown in the TV show. A sad start to the strip, only redeemed by some beautiful artwork by Dave Gibbons [2/10]. City of the Damned: A much better story, though it feels more like 2000AD than the Doctor Who shows of the 1970s [6/10]. Timeslip: Nice to see the older doctors in the comics, but not much story here [5/10]. The Star Beast: Some nice characters and some nice reversals of expectations [7/10]. Beautiful new coloring on these old stories. Overall, though these stories don't always fit well into the feel, style, or history of Doctor Who, there's still some fun material once the authors get their feet under them.

[Joel Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back in the 80s, when I was becoming more and more familiar with the Doctor Who, finding out there were other actors who have portrayed The Doctor outside Tom Baker via the book:




In that book, I noticed a few clips of comic art I came across in this collection of classics. These stories focus on The Fourth Doctor (my favorite incarnation). Although, in one of the stories, the First, Second, and Third Doctors appear.

I never felt The Fourth Doctor was written or depicted inaccurately. A few times, I chuckled as I 'heard' Tom Baker's voice reciting the lines with his usual wit and the panels showing reactions or actions The Fourth Doctor would do.

A few things keep me from giving this a four or five.

1. The art could be more relaxed.

2. The stories vary in solidity or are part of an anthology I don't see myself clamoring to revisit.

Here are summaries of the stories.

Doctor Who and the Iron Legion
The Doctor lands on Earth (England, presumably) to pick up supplies for his trip to Benidorm but finds out he is in the future when the Roman Empire continues—overseen by evil aliens.

City of the Damned
Still, trying to head to Benidorm, The Doctor lands on a planet Zombo ~ Get it? 'Zombo' is like 'zombies' ~ where emotion is outlawed. (Think another version of THX-1138). There is a rebel group fighting against this totalitarian government where each member holds a feeling (e.g., anger, nervousness). And they are planning to unleash a powerful attack with creatures called blood bugs, which may not help the problem.

Note: This is the one that went on a bit longer, probably because this is coming after the previous lengthy storyline.

Timeslip
The Doctor happens upon a creature that affects time, which makes him younger (i.e., he degenerates his Third, Second, and First selves. This degeneration also affects K-9, who is traveling with him.

Note:This one needed a more straightforward explanation of what the creature was.

Doctor Who and the Star Beast
This story introduces a creature, Meep, who crashlands on Earth, specifically in Blackcastle, England. It masquerades as a cute creature when found by two kids, Sharon and Fudge, when in reality, it wants to take over the world.

The Doctor, still trying to get to Benidorm, comes across another group of aliens tracking Meep. True to the Doctor Who playbook, these aliens think The Doctor is working for Meep, so they set a bomb in The Doctor and mess up K-9.

I first read about Meep in:

.

In the story The Star Beast II, the better story in a book that didn't have that great of stories. After reading this introduction story, the second part was okay.

*****

Would I reread this book? Possibly.

However, as mentioned above, I'm not clamoring to reread it.

[Lola Marguerita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Books like this make me miss Tom Baker's doctor. A good pace, beautifully illustrated and just enough Jelly Babies.

[Kathleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great fun! A recommended read for classic Dr. Who fans. In one story, the Doctor even de-ages through his previous iterations!

[C. John Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not too bad. This is a collection of material of material that first appeared in the Doctor Who comic from Marvel UK. As such it features the fourth Doctor, but with only K-9 for a companion. The stories are interesting but they have been reprinted before. I think this series should have started with the earliest UK stories and proceeded chronologically. Still this is a good collection of stories.

[Donavon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reprinting newly colored version of Comic strip stories from DWM:

* Doctor Who and the Iron Legion - too silly, was not a fan

* City of the Damned - interesting story about removing emotion from people

* Timeslip - short, but get to see Doctors 1-3 for a bit during degenerating

* Doctor Who and the Star Beast - really good, sets up new companion Sharon and villian Meep!

[Jenn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay, this was much better. I especially liked the one where the Tardis is going reverse through time. I always like stories inside the Tardis.

Maybe I just like the old Doctors in comic form? I certainly liked this better than the ones with Ten. Haven't tried the Eleven ones yet.

[Stevie Oberg · Rating 1 out of 5]

I never thought I'd hate anything Doctor Who as much as I do this comic, it is boring, dumb and doesn't have any of the charm that the TV show does. I think I'd rather just watch the show... and maybe I'll try the novels for the new series instead.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed the campy feeling of the classic Doctor Who stories this invoked but there really wasn't much plot to any of the stories. It was lacking the fourth Doctor's charm and wit. I did enjoy they stories with K-9 (I felt this is where some of the Doctor's charactoristic banter appeared).

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

Reprinted from the late 70's/early 80's. Color has been added. Quick, and fun. Doctor Who fans should enjoy it!

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book brings back a lot of memories. Especially, the reprints of the early DW classic strips with Tom Baker.

[Tara Schaafsma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun.

[Northlake Public Library District · Rating 3 out of 5]

The colorization is very well done, but the stories themselves are just so-so.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

The colorization is very well done, but the stories themselves are just so-so.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, it was alright. Definitely liked volumes 3 and 4 more than this one.