Comics Bulletin logo
Search
  • Columns
    Random
    • All The Rage: The Last Column

      Steve Morris
      March 31, 2001
      All the Rage
    Recent
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 1

      Daniel Gehen
      October 30, 2020
    • Comictober 2020: DRACULA MOTHERF**KER

      Daniel Gehen
      October 27, 2020
    • What Looks Good
    • Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    • The Full Run
    • Leading Question
    • Top 10
    • The Long-Form
    • Jumping On
    • Comics in Color
    • Slouches Towards Comics
  • Big Two
    Random
    • #ArtCred: Artists Under Our Feet

      Steve Morris
      September 8, 2016
      Big Two, Columns, Comics Bulletin Soapbox
    Recent
    • 4.5

      DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      January 22, 2021
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • Stan Lee

      nguyen ly
      November 7, 2020
    • DC Comics
    • Big Two Reviews
    • Marvel Comics
  • Indie
    Random
    • "THE BEST OF WITZEND" is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Steve Morris
      September 15, 2018
      Books, Classic Comics, Fantagraphics, Reviews
    Recent
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • The Full Run: Usagi Yojimbo – The Wanderer’s Road Part 2

      Daniel Gehen
      December 4, 2020
    • 4.5

      TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      October 29, 2020
    • Reviews
    • Archie Comics
    • Boom! Studios
    • Dark Horse
    • IDW
    • Image
    • Oni Press
    • Valiant
  • Reviews
    Random
    • 4.0

      All Winners Squad: Band of Heroes #5

      Steve Morris
      October 20, 2011
      Reviews
    Recent
    • 4.5

      DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

      Daniel Gehen
      January 22, 2021
    • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

      Daniel Gehen
      December 14, 2020
    • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

      Daniel Gehen
      December 3, 2020
    • Singles Going Steady
    • Slugfest
    • Manga
      • Reviews
    • Small Press
      • Reviews
      • ICYMI
      • Tiny Pages Made of Ashes
  • Interviews
    Random
    • Video Interview: Paul Pope on Battling Boy and Much More, Part Four

      Steve Morris
      October 31, 2013
      Interviews, Video Interview
    Recent
    • Interview: Jon Davis-Hunt Talks SHADOWMAN

      Daniel Gehen
      June 8, 2020
    • Interview: Becky Cloonan talks DARK AGNES and Her Personal Influences

      Mike Nickells
      March 4, 2020
    • Simon Roy

      Interview: Simon Roy on His Inspirations and Collaborations on PROTECTOR

      Mike Nickells
      January 29, 2020
    • Audio Interview
    • Video Interview
  • Classic Comics
    Random
    • The Phantom by Don Newton: A Six-Pack of Greatness

      Steve Morris
      May 9, 2014
      Classic Comics Cavalcade, Columns
    Recent
    • Countdown to the King: Marvel’s Godzilla

      Daniel Gehen
      May 29, 2019
    • Honoring A Legend: Fantagraphics To Resurrect Tomi Ungerer Classics

      Daniel Gehen
      February 15, 2019
    • Reliving the Craziest Decade in Comics History: An interview with Jason Sacks

      Mark Stack
      January 2, 2019
    • Classic Comics Cavalcade
    • Classic Interviews
  • News
    Random
    • Comics Bulletin Exclusive Preview – Feathers #1 from Archaia/BOOM!

      Steve Morris
      January 2, 2015
      News, Previews
    Recent
    • 2020 Ringo Awards Winners Announced

      Daniel Gehen
      October 26, 2020
    • BAD IDEA Announces 2021 Publishing Slate

      Daniel Gehen
      September 29, 2020
    • A Full Replay of NCSFest 2020 is now Available

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2020
    • Press Release
    • Kickstarter Spotlight
  • Books
    Random
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      Steve Morris
      August 31, 2019
      Books, Collectibles, Collecting Profile, Columns, Marvel Comics
    Recent
    • Collecting Profile: Disney Frozen

      CB Staff
      November 22, 2019
    • Collecting Profile: NFL Superpro

      CB Staff
      August 31, 2019
    • “THE BEST OF WITZEND” is a Wonderful Celebration of Artistic Freedom

      Daniel Gehen
      September 15, 2018
    • Review: ‘Machete Squad’ is a Disappointing Afghan Memoir

      Jason Sacks
      July 31, 2018
    • Review: ‘Out of Nothing’ is the Antidote to Our Sick Times

      Jason Sacks
      July 23, 2018
    • Review: ‘Bizarre Romance’ Shows Rough Edges in the Early Days of a New Marriage

      Jason Sacks
      July 10, 2018
What's New
  • Collecting Profile: If I win Powerball, I will buy Amazing Fantasy 15
  • DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)
  • Collecting Profile: Batwoman
  • Collecting Profile: Daredevil
  • Collecting Profile: Floronic Man
  • Review of Cheetah in Wonder Woman 1984
  • RSS Feed
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Google+
  • Contact Us
  • Write for us!
  • Visit Video Game Break!
Home
Reviews

Review: Doctor Who Special 2012

Steve Morris
September 18, 2012
Reviews

Not that I want to come across as colonial and xenophobic and “Rule Britannia” tra-la-la, but something very noticeable happens as you read IDW's Doctor Who Special 2012, an anthology of four short stories. Wherein, three of the stories are written by Brits, and one of them by an American. And you know which of the four features the most massively out-of-character and uninteresting version of The Doctor? You're ahead of me, I can tell.

 

 

This isn't a particularly good anthology, all things considered. It's noticeably aimed at an older audience that the TV series, perhaps because in America the show is more feted as a "nerd show" than as a family entertainment. Tony Lee's excellent skill in characterization, for example, is used in a story where the Doctor goes on a prison break from a muted, two-tone cell. Meanwhile Richard Dinnick gives us a talkative story where the characters spend almost the entire time in exposition, forgetting that they should also be giving us a story with set-pieces and thrills.

 

 

Len Wein's story comes first, so let's get to that one. Leaping upon the joke from a few years back that Matt Smith's Doctor has an obsession with the fez hat, Wein also brings back universally despised villains the Slitheen for a poorly paced, badly scripted story which ends with the Doctor assisting in genocide. If you read my reviews of the TV show, you'll know that there's nothing I hate more than the Doctor with his finger on a trigger, and again that's exactly what I'm given here. The basic premise is that the Slitheen have set up mind-control fezzes, and their plot is to have every human on Earth sing at a frequency which will make them explode. Which is ridiculous in the extreme, but isn't played out as such. With a last-minute flick of the Sonic Screwdriver, the Doctor switches the frequency so it instead makes all the SLITHEEN blow up, and hey presto genocide.

 

 

If this was played as camp and fun, the story would fit more smoothly into the TV show. But this is played as straight drama, with the Doctor's usually semi-distracted, secretly focused, agenda-comedy self-narration replaced by generic, out of touch dialogue. He doesn't feel like the Doctor, while Amy and Rory have barely anything to butt in from the sidelines. As a lead story, it's terrible. The art, from Matthew Dow Smith, does exactly what you want from a Who story: something unique. Smith's tendency is to try and express a lot in a face without drawing much on it, if that makes sense, so each character feels half-sketched and half-cartoony. It's perhaps not as dynamic as you might like, but it tries something different and is an interesting piece of work.

 

 

Richard Dinnick's story is very hard to read, in fairness. It's incredibly wordy, with most of it being exposition and explanation, without much story fitting in around the edges. The main plot has something to do with people pretending to be Time Lords and some space chickens, but is utterly lifeless. It's very easy to glaze over while reading, and there's absolutely no way anyone under the age of 24 will be able to pay attention enough to read it to the end. It's a story aimed at sci-fi buffs, rather than people with an imagination. Yeah, sci-fi buffs! You just got called out! By a comic book reviewer!

 

 

The special improves with the return of Tony Lee to a character he knows well. I wasn't entirely taken with his prison break story, but he did take the effort to include characters and plot in his piece, which is appreciated. Rather than playing with every toy in the sandbox, Lee isolates the Doctor and throws him up against a new character, capturing the essence of the show within the first few panels. The jokes hit home, the characters are solid and enjoyable, and the whole thing wraps up nicely. The art, by Mitch Gerads, is perhaps a bit too gray and downbeat in tone, but fits the setting and gives us a different spin on the adventures of The Doctor. Again, I think this story would perhaps appeal more to grown-ups than kids, but it's not so isolating as the previous two.

 

 

The final story is by Andy Diggle and Mark Buckingham, and boy does Diggle's prior experience writing short stories pay off here. The 2000AD vet has the benefit of the strongest artist of the book, but his script fits more into every page than Wein fits into his far longer page count. In just six pages, he establishes that he knows the voice of The Doctor, Rory, and Amy, gives us a brief history lesson, throws in a comedically villainous Nazi, and gets some great jokes in. It's a great piece of writing, complemented by Buckingham's expressive artwork. Given that Diggle will be writing the ongoing series for IDW, it's a very promising sign. He writes for the family, which I keep railing on about, but is IMPORTANT. Doctor Who isn't a character for a small demographic. He's somebody who relates to everybody, and needs to be written as such.

If you buy the special, just be aware that Diggle's story is the only real standout. Lee's piece is also good, but the first two stories are rather poor, and don't feel like they have anything to mark them out as Doctor Who stories. They could be any generic sci-fi piece. Only Lee and Diggle seem to understand what makes the Doctor tick, and it's a shame they have to share space here with two dud stories.

 


 

Steve Morris is the head and indeed only writer for Comics Vanguard, the internet's 139th most-favorite comic-book website. You can find him on Twitter at @stevewmorris, which is mostly nonsensical gibberish you may enjoy or despise. His favorite Marvel character is Darkstar, while his favorite DC character is, also, Darkstar. He's on Team X-Men, you guys.

Doctor WhoIDWLen WeinSteve Morris

Share On:
Tweet
Gays, Geeks, and Going Your Own Way Part 2
Advance Review: Lobster Johnson: Caput Mortuum

About The Author

Steve Morris
Steve Morris

All-knowing bunny.

Related Posts

  • The Overstreet Comic Book Price Guide 2019-2020

    CB Staff
    August 17, 2019
  • 4.0

    Review: Go-Bots TPB is a Near Perfect Update To An Old Franchise

    Jason Jeffords Jr.
    August 1, 2019

Latest Reviews

  • 4.5

    DCeased: Dead Planet #7 Presents a Hopeful Future (Review)

    Daniel Gehen
    January 22, 2021
  • Review: The Loneliness of the Long-Distance Cartoonist

    Daniel Gehen
    December 14, 2020
  • Retro Review: Detective Comics #826 Remains a Holiday Classic

    Daniel Gehen
    December 3, 2020
  • 4.5

    TMNT: The Last Ronin #1 Lives Up to the Hype (Review)

    Daniel Gehen
    October 29, 2020
  • 4.5

    Micro Review: Commanders in Crisis #1

    Jason Jeffords Jr.
    October 12, 2020
  • 3.0

    Review: GHOST WRITER Fights the Spectre of Unevenness

    Daniel Gehen
    September 3, 2020
  • 3.5

    Review: Strange Skies Over East Berlin

    Yavi Mohan
    August 11, 2020
  • DRAWING BLOOD: A Hyper-Stylized, Fictional Autobiography

    Ben Bishop, Brittany Peer, David Avallone, Drawing Blood, Kevin Eastman, Tomi Varga
    August 9, 2020
  • 3.0

    Alien: The Original Script #1 – This One’s For The Fans

    Jason Jeffords Jr.
    August 7, 2020
  • Singles Going Steady: Why? Lettering!

    Daniel Gehen
    July 28, 2020
RSSTwitterFacebookgoogleplusinstagramtumblr

Comics Bulletin is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for website owners to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com, audible.com, and any other website that may be affiliated with Amazon Service LLC Associates Program. As an Amazon Associate, Comics Bulletin earns from qualifying purchases.

All content on this site (c) 2018 The Respective Copyright Holders