Sunday, December 6, 2020

Top Five IDW Comic Stories: The Eleventh Doctor (Doctor Who)

More new Who comics! Here are my favorite Eleventh Doctor stories published by IDW. I always appreciate Doctor Who comics for their ability to realize all kinds of visually-stunning plots that would be hard to accomplish on a TV budget, and IDW in particular also brings it hard with the continuity references – be still my geek heart!

 

“When Worlds Collide”

I have a fondness for stories that are set in other places and times than they appear to be – like in this case, where the Doctor, Amy, and Rory visit a Westworld-style vacation planet with different zones dedicated to the Wild West, the prehistoric era, WWII-era Paris, and more. But while the basic set-up is fun, things kick into high gear when an insighting incident jumbles up all the different zones in a wild time-space collision – that’s when it really gets exciting!

 

“As Time Goes By”

The Doctor, Amy, and Rory hit Morocco on the eve of WWII, so of course everybody has to get their Casablanca on. This historical features an intriguing alien plot involving fishy fog and disguised police, not to mention fab outfits. Even though Who does a lot of WWII stories, this one stands apart for having the slightly-earlier time frame and getting outside the usual western-Europe locale.

 

“Prisoners of Time”

As I demonstrated with Ten and “The Forgotten,” I’m a sucker for a multi-Doctor extravaganza – I’m only human! This one, about a mysterious figure jumping through time and space to abduct companions from every Doctor, is an excellent one (even if I think the portrayal of One is a little, well, one-note, and the story does Grace dirty.) The individual adventures each Doctor goes on are fun and full of Easter eggs, and things heat up as subsequent Doctors work to figure out the mystery. As it goes in all stories like this, the final issue pulls out all the stops.

 

“Skyjacks!”

Great, creative story. A WWII bomber carrying a deadly payload gets sucked through a wormhole into an apparent sky world, where every pilot is fighting a war of attrition against their own constantly-running engine to stay in the air. Featuring some good agency for the TARDIS, Clara getting on the bad side of a mechanical pterodactyl, and the Doctor as a hermit mechanic. Love it.

 

“Dead Man’s Hand”

Even though, on the show, I prefer the Amy-and-Rory era to the Clara era, stories with Clara are well-represented in this post. Each IDW Clara story is so creative and well-done, and this one hits all kinds of great notes. I mean, Calamity Jane? Possibly-undead Wild Bill Hickok? Continuity references? Oscar Wilde in Deadwood??? To quote another Eleven story set in the Wild West, “Has someone been peeking at my Christmas list?” Yes to all of this!

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