Doctor Who #9-10 – Single Issues
IDW Publishing
Writer: Andy Diggle & Eddie Robson
Penciler: Andy Kuhn
Reviewer: Derrick T. Crow
Summary: Aboard the TARDIS, Clara finds herself lost within the corridors of the infinitely large machine. After a bit of misguidance, she stumbles into an empty world filled with creatures of all walks of life. It’s here that she meets the Sky Jacks, a group of American Army Pilots who were out to bomb Kyoto, Japan during WWII when their plane suddenly landed in this mysterious realm. Now with their help she must find a way to escape this world and find her way back to the TARDIS. Oh, and the Doctor is here too, and he arrived 3 years before Clara did.
Review: This is an interesting 4 part story arc thus far, with mysteries being raised constantly just like in the show. The TARDIS has gone wibbly, the lands below the sky are gone, everything seems to have originated from a white hole (opposite of a black hole) and from the perspective of the Doctor it has been 3 years since he last saw Clara as they traverse this impossible new world looking for a way to get everyone out.
It seems white holes are popping up all across time and space, dropping beings from different planets and times into the same infinite space, where there is breathable air but there is no land below. The Doctor has been in this space for 3 years from his perspective helping everyone stay alive by fixing their machines. He has helped the Sky Jacks quite a bit which has helped them form an alliance with them.
The Sky Jacks themselves also have a mystery aboard their ship, a third atomic bomb known as Big Momma that was supposed to detonate over Kyoto, Japan along with Fat Man and Little Boy, both of which took out Nagasaki and Hiroshima respectively. The Doctor is none too happy when he discovers this but must infer the help of the Sky Jacks regardless when he discovers a possible way to help everyone escape.
IDW Publishing
Writer: Andy Diggle & Eddie Robson
Penciler: Andy Kuhn
Reviewer: Derrick T. Crow
Summary: Aboard the TARDIS, Clara finds herself lost within the corridors of the infinitely large machine. After a bit of misguidance, she stumbles into an empty world filled with creatures of all walks of life. It’s here that she meets the Sky Jacks, a group of American Army Pilots who were out to bomb Kyoto, Japan during WWII when their plane suddenly landed in this mysterious realm. Now with their help she must find a way to escape this world and find her way back to the TARDIS. Oh, and the Doctor is here too, and he arrived 3 years before Clara did.
Review: This is an interesting 4 part story arc thus far, with mysteries being raised constantly just like in the show. The TARDIS has gone wibbly, the lands below the sky are gone, everything seems to have originated from a white hole (opposite of a black hole) and from the perspective of the Doctor it has been 3 years since he last saw Clara as they traverse this impossible new world looking for a way to get everyone out.
It seems white holes are popping up all across time and space, dropping beings from different planets and times into the same infinite space, where there is breathable air but there is no land below. The Doctor has been in this space for 3 years from his perspective helping everyone stay alive by fixing their machines. He has helped the Sky Jacks quite a bit which has helped them form an alliance with them.
The Sky Jacks themselves also have a mystery aboard their ship, a third atomic bomb known as Big Momma that was supposed to detonate over Kyoto, Japan along with Fat Man and Little Boy, both of which took out Nagasaki and Hiroshima respectively. The Doctor is none too happy when he discovers this but must infer the help of the Sky Jacks regardless when he discovers a possible way to help everyone escape.
Clara doesn’t do much in the first two parts other than give the reader a bird’s eye view of what is going on, she is our gateway into the mysteries surrounding this event and we see everything from her perspective; which is how the companion should function so that we can get to understand the weird world the Doctor comes across in his travels.
I do feel these parts could have been trimmed down a bit, but in a world filled with decompressed storytelling it becomes about standard how these issues are written. Down to the splash page final panel that reveals one element we already saw coming.
The story is intriguing though; Diggle and Robson have built themselves a nice foundation and keep building upon it with interesting new developments. I am not too fond of the art style though, personally. Everything is a little too blocky and scratchy for my taste. But the panels flow smoothly towards one another which makes the fluidity of the story go by nicely.
Final Score: 3 White Holes out of 5
I do feel these parts could have been trimmed down a bit, but in a world filled with decompressed storytelling it becomes about standard how these issues are written. Down to the splash page final panel that reveals one element we already saw coming.
The story is intriguing though; Diggle and Robson have built themselves a nice foundation and keep building upon it with interesting new developments. I am not too fond of the art style though, personally. Everything is a little too blocky and scratchy for my taste. But the panels flow smoothly towards one another which makes the fluidity of the story go by nicely.
Final Score: 3 White Holes out of 5
ADVENTURE TIME 2013 ANNUAL – Single Issue
Kaboom! Comics
Created by: Pendleton Ward
Writer: Roger Langridge, Alex Cox, Bryce Carlson, Josh Williamson, Derek Fridolfs, Kory Bing and Sf’e Monster
Pencilers: Roger Langridge, Alex Cox, Dustin Nguyen, Jason Ho, Derek Fridolfs, Kory Bing and Sf’e Monster
Reviewer: Derrick T. Crow
Summary: This is the mountain issue of Adventure Time, the annual book of fun that lets other creators cut loose and tell fun tales of adventure (and time… I’m sorry) with little in mind for continuity so that the characters can be free to view previously unseen views and venture on previously unventured ventures. And like many annuals before them, this doesn’t skimp on the number of short stories held within.
Review: I mildly enjoyed this issue, but where I truly adore the main series, this was only a flounder in a bigger sea of Adventure Time stories. This is sad, because annuals are supposed to be the big blockbuster movie compared to the arcs and sagas seen within the confines of the monthly series, at least that’s how I’ve always looked at it. It’s not the first annual to choose quantity over quality to celebrate a title that has been running for a whole year.
It’s simply that I would’ve preferred a larger, more overall singular story that told a thrilling, not confined to the narrative of the monthly series adventure. It’s what I expect of all annuals, because this is your big chance to do it. One season and a movie, and if you want to have little shorts before or after the movie, go for it. And it would’ve been even better had the stories been really worth the page space.
Majority of the stories really weren’t that interesting, one was of an alphabet game Finn and Jake were playing, another was a rather boringly executed peak into how the Ice King sees his own adventures opposite Jake and Finn, but the closest the book did come to that blockbuster sized story was stuck in the middle and featured Finn’s backpack coming to life and have a rather funny adventure with Jake as they climbed the tallest mountain in OOO. Although how Finn turned out by the end of that story, I do have a little less respect for the character, but what can you do?
The other story I remotely enjoyed was the rather odd Lemon Sea short featuring the odd side of OOO where the lemon beings live and I would like to see more of that world honestly. Just an entire series dedicated to the lemon beings of OOO. That’d be ooowesome (again, I’m so sorry).
The issue really wasn’t all bad though, it just didn’t enough quality for its page count. But what it did deliver was the art, all of which was amazingly crafted by all the talented artists named above. Every story was very vibrant and fun to look at, and again my favorite art style had to come from the Lemon Sea special, it looked very strange with lots of browns and yellows which I found rather fitting for the tale.
I really wish I could’ve enjoyed the annual more, but I think it would’ve prospered more from a giant, quality story than several little less quality standard tales. But alas, at least I have the main title I can return to. In which I am all ready and prepared. Mathematical!
Final Score: 2.5 Lemon Seals out of 5
Kaboom! Comics
Created by: Pendleton Ward
Writer: Roger Langridge, Alex Cox, Bryce Carlson, Josh Williamson, Derek Fridolfs, Kory Bing and Sf’e Monster
Pencilers: Roger Langridge, Alex Cox, Dustin Nguyen, Jason Ho, Derek Fridolfs, Kory Bing and Sf’e Monster
Reviewer: Derrick T. Crow
Summary: This is the mountain issue of Adventure Time, the annual book of fun that lets other creators cut loose and tell fun tales of adventure (and time… I’m sorry) with little in mind for continuity so that the characters can be free to view previously unseen views and venture on previously unventured ventures. And like many annuals before them, this doesn’t skimp on the number of short stories held within.
Review: I mildly enjoyed this issue, but where I truly adore the main series, this was only a flounder in a bigger sea of Adventure Time stories. This is sad, because annuals are supposed to be the big blockbuster movie compared to the arcs and sagas seen within the confines of the monthly series, at least that’s how I’ve always looked at it. It’s not the first annual to choose quantity over quality to celebrate a title that has been running for a whole year.
It’s simply that I would’ve preferred a larger, more overall singular story that told a thrilling, not confined to the narrative of the monthly series adventure. It’s what I expect of all annuals, because this is your big chance to do it. One season and a movie, and if you want to have little shorts before or after the movie, go for it. And it would’ve been even better had the stories been really worth the page space.
Majority of the stories really weren’t that interesting, one was of an alphabet game Finn and Jake were playing, another was a rather boringly executed peak into how the Ice King sees his own adventures opposite Jake and Finn, but the closest the book did come to that blockbuster sized story was stuck in the middle and featured Finn’s backpack coming to life and have a rather funny adventure with Jake as they climbed the tallest mountain in OOO. Although how Finn turned out by the end of that story, I do have a little less respect for the character, but what can you do?
The other story I remotely enjoyed was the rather odd Lemon Sea short featuring the odd side of OOO where the lemon beings live and I would like to see more of that world honestly. Just an entire series dedicated to the lemon beings of OOO. That’d be ooowesome (again, I’m so sorry).
The issue really wasn’t all bad though, it just didn’t enough quality for its page count. But what it did deliver was the art, all of which was amazingly crafted by all the talented artists named above. Every story was very vibrant and fun to look at, and again my favorite art style had to come from the Lemon Sea special, it looked very strange with lots of browns and yellows which I found rather fitting for the tale.
I really wish I could’ve enjoyed the annual more, but I think it would’ve prospered more from a giant, quality story than several little less quality standard tales. But alas, at least I have the main title I can return to. In which I am all ready and prepared. Mathematical!
Final Score: 2.5 Lemon Seals out of 5