Doctor Who - The Age of Chaos

Doctor Who Magazine Comic Collections #31

by Colin Baker, Paul Cornell, Gareth Roberts

THE AGE OF CHAOS

Collected multi-Doctor comic strips - volume 4

The classic sixth Doctor adventure is here st last, written by the Doctor himself, Colin Baker!

The Doctor and his penguin pal Frobisher take a perilous journey across the war-torn planet Kontrep, battling wizards, warlords and witchcraft! Don't miss the biggest-ever comic strip saga from the publishers of Doctor Who Magazine!

Also: adventures with the third, fourth and seventh Doctors!

THE AGE OF CHAOS
THE LAST WORD
METAMORPHOSIS
UNDER PRESSURE

The Doctor, Ace and Bernice Summerfield take a convoluted trek through human history as they tackle the deadly Timewyrm!

Deep space becomes the setting for a lethal reunion between Doctor and Ace and their greatest enemies: THE DALEKS!

A nuclear submarine encounters the Sea Devils! Can the third and fourth Doctors work together without destroying their own timelines?!

ALSO! An 11-page commentary section where the comics creators reveal the secrets behind the stories! Featuring character sketches, photos and previously unseen artwork!

Genres: Doctor Who, Comics, Science Fiction, Graphic Novels, Media Tie In, Adventure, Fiction

143 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2021

About the author

Colin Baker (born 8 June 1943, London) is a British actor who is known for playing Paul Merroney in The Brothers from 1974 to 1976 and as the sixth incarnation of the Doctor in the long-running science fiction television series Doctor Who, from 1984 to 1986.

Colin Baker was born in London, but moved north to Rochdale with his family early in his life. He was educated at St Bede's College, Manchester and originally studied to become a solicitor. At the age of 23, Baker changed professions and enrolled at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Art (LAMDA), where he studied alongside David Suchet.

Reviews

[Ian Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first full-length Doctor Who story written by one of the Doctors! In fact Colin Baker was, I believe, the only actor to play the part to pen a story featuring the character (until Tom Baker’s Scratchman was published recently). And it’s great fun. Of course, having the tale feature Frobisher (All hail the big talking bird) doesn’t hurt, either. The story features the Sixth Doctor returning to see Peri on what (it transpires) is a regular visit to keep up with her family. Unfortunately he arrives in the middle of a war zone caused by the interference of an alien race in a spat between members of the ruling family. It meanders a little but it is a hoot for fans of this era and team. The other stories in this are also fun but are strictly minor work exploring some nostalgic turns the Doctor’s life has taken.

[Jefferson · Rating 3 out of 5]

The main story in this collection, written by Colin Baker, is a fairy tale romp that will no doubt delight some Doctor Who fans and annoy others. The remaining grab bag of tales seem too steeped in the continuity of the '90s New Adventures to be of interest to any but a narrow strip of die-hard fans, and additionally suffer from artwork of inconsistent quality.

[Danny Welch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Doctor Who comics are usually very fun to read, sure the format isn't a particular favorite of mine but I appreciate it all the same. The Age of Chaos is a story I've wanted to read for a long time, not only because it features Frobisher, but because it's written by Colin Baker, the Sixth Doctor himself!

The Age of Chaos:
Wishing to visit Peri's grandchildren again, The Doctor finds the planet Krontep has been plunged in an age of chaos. Yrcanos has died and his great grandsons have disappeared after lunging at each other's throats. The Doctor reunited with Princess Actis and his old friend Frobisher must descend on a quest that will expose the sinister truth that has thrown Krontep into chaos.

Colin Baker has written a very fun story that not only feels epic in scale, but it's also really fun and occasionally dark. You can tell Colin had a lot of fun writing this; not only does he get the chance to depict his vision for the 6th Doctor but he also gets to explore the aftermath to Mindwarp. I did like the artwork in this story, but there were definitely times where I felt the artist didn't capture the 6th Doctor's likeness well. 8/10

The Last Word:
The Doctor has concocted another of his schemes and he needs Bernice Summerfield and Ace to help disrupt time for him. The Timewyrm is back and unfortunately, despite his planning, The Doctor might not be prepared for what's to happen.

G*reth R*berts has written a comic set during the VNA era, years after the range concluded. It's a very fun love letter to the range with plenty of references, high stakes, a returning villain and a satisfying conclusion. As a VNA fan, I really appreciated this. 8/10

Metamorphosis:
Humanity has struggled with continuing its species after The Draconian Wars, so ships filled with child embryos are being escorted to Earth to help humanity prosper. But somebody else has a disturbing interest in the embryos and it's up to The Doctor and Ace to stop them.

Paul Cornell has written a fun Dalek story where The Daleks hope to use the Dalek factor to manipulate and re-engineer the embryos for their army. It's a fast-paced story that has The Doctor being infected with Dalek DNA. 8/10

Under Pressure:
It's not very often when The Doctor tells stories of his past, but when he does, it's a doozy. The Doctor tells Ace the time his 4th incarnation landed aboard a submarine about to be attacked by Sea Devils as the 3rd doctor on a nearby ship tries to help. Paradoxes are awfully complicated and terribly dangerous.

Dan Abnett has written a fun but odd little multi-Doctor story where they get to interact but not in person. There's not much to say about this story other than it's a lot of fun with plenty of tension and a rather cool ending. 8/10

Overall: 32/40

[Alex Sarll]

Colin Baker writes himself a story, though sadly neither writes the theme tune nor sings the theme tune (which said, his backmatter notes confirm that he does listen to his own Big Finish stories in the car, and I bet he sings along to it then). It opens with the Doctor going back to see how Peri's been getting along on Brian Blessed's home planet, and art from an earlier generation of British comics illustrators (John M Burns and Barrie Mitchell) combine with the slightly disjointed science-fantasy set-up, the monsters and mind-control, to give an overall effect of the Doctor blundering into the Trigan Empire.

The collection is filled out with a mostly fond anniversary spoof of the New Adventures; Paul Cornell and Lee Sullivan on a much more straightforward but beautifully done Seventh and Ace story which unexpectedly put me in mind or Granny Weatherwax; and a Third/Fourth Doctor crossover where Dan Abnett goes to great pains to have the later Doctor not let anything slip to the earlier, despite the illustrious history of multi-Doctor stories not giving a hoot about that. Still, it's entertaining enough, and it's staggering that the art nouveau-tinged look of the thing was Vincent Danks' first professional gig.

[DrAshleyWho · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I had a nickel for every time an actor who played the Doctor wrote a story that was off-the-wall insanity instead of being ultra-trad fare I’d have two nickels which isn’t much but it’s just as bonkers that it happened twice. Here Colin Baker riffs on Conan the Barbarian-style mystical-fantasy epic whilst trying to write a story rationalising Peri and Ycarnos’ last-minute romance and the end result surprisingly works. It’s also not out of step with the surreal bonanzas that came out during the Sixth Doctor’s period with Frobisher so there’s an added level of authentic, though how I wish John Ridgway had agreed to draw it; John M. Burns and Barrie Mitchell’s art isn’t terrible although their likeness of Sixie is lacking but to have the defining artist of that period herald Baker’s triumphant writing credit would not have been more fitting. Still a humongously entertaining thrill-ride.

As for the other three strips, The Last Word is a pleasing reminder that I have to get around to the Virgin New Adventures next year, and Metamorphosis/Under Pressure are fine enough fan-baits with the former being the stronger of the two even though the concept of the Daleks infiltrating human embryos never get fully explored due to the shorter length.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun collection of comics from the Doctor Who magazine.

The big one is the title story, written by the 6th Doctor himself, Colin Baker.
Colin is a decent writer and his story feels like a 6th Doctor episode.
Fun romp, as the Doctor and Forbisher go to check on a loose story thread of the TV show and get pulled into a war, a quest and a prophecy.

The rest is mostly the 7th Doctor: There's a decent one, set in the era post-TV show era, one more straightforward one with a nice reveal of the bad guy and one that starts with the 7th Doctor telling Ace a story that involves a couple past Doctors.

Nice collection and has me looking to track down more volumes from this line.

[Tom Campbell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This graphic novel collects several stories from Doctor Who Magazine, as well as a graphic novel written by Doctor Who actor Colin Baker.

There are four distinct stories in this volume, with the cover titled story being the one by Colin Baker, a sci-fi/fantasy adventure featuring his sixth Doctor. Two other stories star the seventh Doctor, with the final story being a flashback to the fourth Doctor.

There is really no connective tissue between these stories, just a somewhat random collection of previously uncollected tales. That and the generally unremarkable nature of these stories only rates this volume a 3 of 5 star ranking from me.

[Mark L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good fun, and the lead story is an 88 page epic written by the Sixth Doctor himself, so an interesting piece of Dr Who history.

Note that although it's billed as Collected Multi-Doctor Comic Strips Volume 4 only one of them has more than one version of the Doctor. That tale 'Under Pressure' is a nifty tale told by Seven, featuring Four and Three where Four has to help Three without him knowing.

Also two fun Seventh Doctor tales.

Overall a good collection, varied with good art.

[Johnny Andrews · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very fun tale for Doctor Who fans. Also added some bonus shorts that are equally good.