Author: Andrew Cartmel
Illustrators: Christopher Jones, Marco Lesko
Contributor: Ben Aaronovitch
Title: Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor
Publication Info: Titan (2018)
Summary/Review:
The three parts of this Titan comics miniseries include two different stories. “Operation Volcano” takes up most of the pages with “Hill of Beans” filling out each volume.
“Operation Volcano” is set in 1967 when a hydrogen bomb exposes an alien craft in the Australian desert. RAF Group Captain Gilmore – a character introduced in Aaronovitch’s Remembrance of the Daleks – calls in the Doctor and Ace to investigate. Subsequent issues reveal a horrifying snake-like species that can attach itself to humans and tap into their consciousness. But all is not what appears and the Doctor knows more about these aliens than he lets on. Can his plan prevent the destruction of Earth by nuclear weapons, and how does Gilmore end up in the future with a snake on his back? There’s a strong UNIT/spy thriller feel and the artistry captures the 60s style (write up to the illustrator lovingly detailing the women’s breasts and short-shorts in the classic style). This is faithful the Seventh Doctor stories as portrayed by Sylvester McCoy and the Virgin New Adventures and I could see it succeeding as a tv adaptation.
“Hill of Beans” catches up with Mags, the werewolf from The Greatest Show in the Galaxy, and the physic circus. She’s under threat as her planet Vulpana is under fascist rule and rounding up werewolves and other noncomformists. Eerily, the villain looks like Donald Trump and says “fire and fury.” The art style is softer and works to capture an 80s aesthetic. Being the shorter of the two stories, it is very bareboned, and everything gets resolved rather easily. Again, though, it could be fleshed out into a tv show or book.
Rating: ***1/2
Panorama of the Mountains 