| Title | : | Doctor Who: Collected ComicsThe Cruel Sea (Doctor Who: Collected Comics, #1) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Hardcover |
| Number of Pages | : | 125 |
| Publication | : | First published April 1, 2006 |
Get ready for the trip of a lifetime as the TARDIS travels to London in the Swinging Sixties, to a trans-dimensional gallery in the 37th Century, to the oceans of Mars in the distant future, and backwards in time to Shakespeare's England.
Doctor Who: Collected ComicsThe Cruel Sea (Doctor Who: Collected Comics, #1) Reviews
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This was a bit of a disappointment. While the stories are all pretty good, there was a lot of things (plot elements, characters, settings, locations) that were later reused in episodes of the series. This was particularly true with the prose story by Steven Moffat that was included. This story was later mined by Moffat for the episode Blink and illustrates the severely limited amount of new material he seemed willing to bring to his stories. He would repeatedly go back to his previous material and shift through for nuggets that he could tweak and reuse over and over again. Yes, this is pretty good stuff, unfortunately it would have been much better had I read it when it was originally coming out. Of course, then I'd have realized all along how much Moffat trolls his own material for story ideas. So, yes, good stuff, but still a bit disappointing.
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A good collection of comics. I always end up skipping the comics in DWM, because I always manage to miss an issue in the middle of a story; so it was nice to be able to sit and read all of them at once.
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The first comics of the New Doctor Who era from Doctor Who Magazine start off with what it might be like if Eckleston's Doctor had acted more like the old Doctor Who instead of being more James Bond-like in his portrayal. It's a lot of fun, actually. These stories share a lot in common with 2000AD in terms of plot and pacing, most running just a bit longer than an issue of a traditional American comic book. They are far more British than the TV show, which was fascinating to me.
The plots are definitely in keeping with Who. An alien tries to prevent war by going back in time to make humanity happy, but at the cost of their free will, so the Doctor intervenes. In another, rich jerks are trying to take over Mars, and Mars doesn't take too kindly to that. That kind of stuff. The art, mostly by Mike Collins, is quite strong, with likenesses that are close, but not perfectly on model, meaning they live and breathe, rather than be stiff photo-reference.
oh and Rose is the companion, if that matters to you.
It was fun to read, a good fit for Dr. Who fans, if you can find it. -
Another indication of why the comeback TARDIS crew was never going to last: the actors had likeness approval. So the main artist on these strips, thinking to flatter them, kept getting his Eccleston rejected until he realised that Eccleston wanted a comics avatar who looked like him, with all the strangeness and character his face holds. Billie, on the other hand, approved the Hollywood-esque first version, which bears no resemblance to her whatsoever (and you'd have thought she had an easy face to draw, with all those planes and angles).
The stories...well, the comics were never my favourite Who, and here they're making an extra lunge for the newly available mainstream. 'The Cruel Sea' is probably the highlight, having a few genuinely arresting images, but even that too often feels like Waters of Mars filtered through one of those 'schoolchildren write a Who story' exercises. -
I really miss Nine.
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Now I miss 9 and Rose.
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I seem to have read some of these before, but I'm not sure where. Anyway, a collection of Ninth Doctor stories from Doctor Who Magazine. Still fun to read again. There was a Sally Sparrow text story that was okay, though it's too similar to the Blink episode to be overly exciting. Well written, for sure. (After a bit of research, it's a Stephen Moffat story, written well before Blink. This was the basis for Blink, so, all is forgiven. How magnanimous of me.)
I didn't read the last story. I started it, but two panels in, I couldn't suffer though it any more. And it was the word balloons that did it. When you use reverse text (white text on black background, the text needs to be thicker or bigger. and if you're making it all swirly and stuff, well, it was more than I wanted to attempt further.
The other stories, though, were pretty good. -
Captures the feel of the Ninth Doctor era with the help of writers like Gareth Roberts and Rob Shearman.My favorite strip was the Love Invasion, where the Doctor and Rose visit the 1960's . The climax of the story features the Post Office Tower and the Doctor makes a sly reference to the events of the War Machines.
The are some great visuals in Art Attack and the Cruel Sea. Cruel Sea was hard to follow at times, but the surreal elements of the story are worth the effort it takes to get through this story. -
Review here:
https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.com... -
I love the Doctor Who graphic novels! I always wanted more Rose and the ninth Doctor. Wish granted. đ„°
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Just the story titled 'The Cruel Sea', not the full collection.
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Meh.
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Good stories - some a little dark but not a bad thing!
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Coinciding with ninth Doctor's one season reign on television was an equally brief period as the Doctor in Doctor Who Magazine comics. This book collects those stories from Doctor Who Magazine #355-#364 and the 2006 Doctor Who Annual.
With the exception of the Annual, all the art is by Mike Collins who does a crackerjack job on the art. Whether drawing 1960s London or a truly menacing Martian landscape, Collins does a superb job. His backgrounds are rich and fully textured and Doctor and Rose are both beautifully drawn. As the Doctor would say, the art is "Fantastic."
Now, onto the stories:
1) The Love Invasion (Doctor Who Magazine #355-#357): The Doctor and Rose arrive in 1960s London to find an alien force at work. It's building something where Rose's neighborhood should be built and is using then "lend a hand" girls, a group of do-gooding young women as part of its plan. The plan is pretty unique for alien invasion plans and unfolds nicely. Writer Gareth Roberts captures the cadence of the 9th Doctor's voice perfectly while also taking a nice peak at the 1960s. My least favorite part is a very forced "Batman and Robin sleeping together" joke. But otherwise this is sold. Grade: B+
2) Art Attack (DWM #358): The Doctor takes Rose to see the Mona Lisa, but why go to the Louvre (which Rose could do on her own) when he could take her to a museum where the painting is exhibited in the future. Collins writes as well as doing the art and this story is probably more okay than brilliant. The alien is probably Collins' weakest creation as an artist in this book. Grade: B-
3) The Cruel Seas (DWM #359-362): Rob Shearman, writer of the Season 1 Episode Dalek as well as the audio drama it was based on as well as many author Doctor Who books and radio drama turns in his only comic book story here as the Doctor and Rose land on a cruise ship on an artificial sea on Mars which houses a rich man and his never ending supply of Wives and Ex-Wives. The story is probably the best in the book and lives up to being that type of story which Doctor Who could tell on television if it only had the budget for it. The story is a great mix of sci fi and horror with elements of dream, nightmare, and surrealism. Art and story blend for a fantastic mix. Grade: A-
4) Mr. Nobody (Doctor Who Annual 2006): An alien cult that's fanatical about its belief in reincarnation determines that a 26 year old is the reincarnation of someone they believe should have been executed, so they set out to do so. This story features the return of Scott Gray who wrote for the eighth Doctor Comic series. My overall reaction to the story was kind of blah particularly at the average guy's reaction. Grade: C+
5) A Groatsworth of Wit (Doctor Who Magazine #363, 364): In the last 9th Doctor comic by Gareth Roberts, Aliens offer Robert Greene, a playwright and contemporary critic of Shakespeare a chance to come to the 21st Century to find out how he's remembered. To his dismay he finds himself all but forgotten but the upstart Shakespeare is remembered which leads Greene to go on a reign of terror in the 21st Century before heading back to his own time to do away with the Bard. This is the most inconsistent story in the book. On one hand, the Doctor poo poos relativism and opines on the existence of absolute evil using the aliens as exhibit A. The story itself is a nice case study in the destructiveness of envy. On the other hand, you have Shakespeare hitting on Rose which is a bit uncomfortable although it produces a few hilarious lines such as when Rose responds to a Shakespearean pick up, "If you want, but it's not going to get you anywhere." On balance, I wish Roberts had left it out. Still, a nice concluding line from Rose to the 9th Doctor brings the Doctor's career in comics to a close.
The text story, "What I Did On My Summer Holiday by Sally Sparrow" includes many key elements that writer Stephen Moffat would reuse for Blink but isn't quite the same story without the Weeping Angels. It includes many of the timey wimey elements and none of the horror which makes it fun reading.
The book also features 12 pages of commentary that's all pretty interesting stuff and gives good insight into how the comics were produced. Overall, this is a pretty interesting collection that allows fans of the 9th Doctor to enjoy five more adventures with him. -
The main problem with The Cruel Sea probably comes from a lack of time (who knew that was something the Doctor could suffer from). Eccleston was the Doctor for such a short period, meaning there was a small, limited run in the magazine. The Doctor and Rose in this instalment donât feel fully âthereâ, and it feels almost too obvious that the writers havenât really had a chance to get to know them as characters, working only with the small amount they did have.
There are other problems here. Largely, this really isnât worth picking up if youâve been watching Doctor Who since its return. A lot of the material here was reused in the show, and done probably better there, including the story at the end written by Steven Moffat, which he would use as a basis for âBlinkâ, but itâs missing the most crucial element of what makes that episode so bloody good.
As usual thereâs some stuff at the back from the editors and artists and writers, detailing the process or what they liked about the story or how they got involved. A few things really do stick out; itâs essentially a long list of male names, which goes some way to explaining why Rose is drawn so bland, except for big boobs and big hips. It just doesnât look like Billie Piper, and from the âbehind the scenesâ at the end, they were angling for âflatteringâ initially with the design for both her and the Doctor. Piper signed off on hers, which is good, but itâs a shame it resulted in a character in the comics unrecognisable for the most part as Rose. Ecclestonâs portrayal is much more like the actor himself. They did, again, go for flattering initially, but Eccleston himself pushed them towards a more accurate look, and the comics do capture the Ninth Doctor really well.
The collection starts with âThe Love Invasionâ, a fun trip back to the 60s, though it just felt like it used a lot of women in the roles without actually making them interesting characters. Despite the futuristic museum vibe, âArt Attackâ is very firmly rooted in the early 00âs. Story is okay but forgettable.
âThe Cruel Seaâ contains the main, longer story here â itâs not too bad, and it felt like a Gothic tale set on a ship on Mars, with an old man trying to preserve his life and his wives â ex and current â serving him. Unfortunately, for having quite a few women characters here, they all feel really flat, including Rose.
âMr. Nobodyâ felt like it had a lot of potential in the story, but overall landed more towards âmehâ, especially with a mopey, whiney male character who ended up getting so boring by a few panels in.
âA Groatâs Worth of Witâ was probably much more interesting when this was first released â now it feels like itâs largely overdone, not just because weâve seen it in Doctor Who, but weâve seen it there and in other places, done better than here. Robert Greene is taken to the 21st Century to see how he is remembered, only to find he has mostly been forgotten except in relation to Shakespeare. This one feels all over the place, and itâs hard to see Greene as the villain when we actually meet Shakespeare, who comes acrossâŠbadly. It feels meanspirited and petty, in a way that doesnât feel like Doctor Who.
When I started reading the collected comics, I felt excited to dive into them, and after the first couple, almost sad I only had so many to go through. Now, Iâm kind of glad they came to an end â this volume was almost frustrating to read, and doesnât feel like it does the Ninth Doctor or Rose much justice in the storylines. Iâd say, if youâre a Doctor Who fan who started with the revival, maybe give this one a miss and check out older volumes instead. -
It gets a lot of flack this book. Mainly from the makers themselves, but this is a joy to read. Itâs not high brow or trying to tie years of continuity up like the preceding novel, The Flood. Itâs just trying to be fun. And it does that. Itâs bright and colourful and zips along.
By far the best story is The Cruel Sea. The deep red colouring is beautiful and sets the scene incredibly well. The plot is imaginative and twists from what you are expecting.
As ever with these graphic novels, the commentaries at the back of fantastic and provide insight into the writing and illustrating process which bring extra satisfaction to the reader.
Whilst not being the strongest addition to this range, The Cruel Sea collection of Ninth Doctor comics is wonderful and a delight to read. -
I've been waiting for this for a long time; it almost makes it worth Panini going to their half-sized volumes.
The Love Invasion (355-357). A fun start to the new Doctor Who comic book era, primarily for the fun historical basis of this story. Roberts also does a great job of nailing the type of story that'd be told in the New Who. [7/10].
Art Attack (358). Though this story nicely subverts its own expectations, it's ultimately pretty shallow [5/10].
The Cruel Sea (359-362). A truly great strip. Unsurprisingly, TV scriptwriter Shearman gets the tenor and dialogue of the show just right. But the script has a lot more than that going for it. It's a great mystery with great horror. It also makes terrific use of the comic-book medium with alternate realities and weird fantasies all freely mixing with the modern-day story. It's like a rad Virgin novel that's translated to the comic medium! [8/10].
Mr. Nobody (Annual). Nice that they included this Annual story from Scott Gray. It's hard to have a lot of depth in a mere 8 pages, but this has a fun central character, a couple of nice twists, and a plot that feels like New Who [7+/10].
A Groatsworth of Wit (363-364). The use of Shakespeare and Greene is great, but the extended battle with the all-powerful villains get a bit old. An OK story that could have been great [6+/10].
Sally Sparrow (Annual). Absolutely terrific timey-wimey told in a terrific voice. It's clear why this was co-opted for Blink [10/10].
Overall, it's a shame that there's no continuity among these stories, but several of them are quite enjoyable -
This collects all five Ninth Doctor comic stories that originally appeared in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine (DWM) plus an illustrated short story. The standout is the dark, creepy and surreal titular story "The Cruel Sea" by Rob Shearman, however, they're all good with great art and highly enjoyable stories. Two serve as the basis for future TV Stories in the case of the story "A Groatsworth of Wit" being a loose basis for the Series 3 TV Episode "The Shakespeare Code" and illustrated story "What I Did on my Summer Holidays by Sally Sparrow" eventually becoming the highly rated Series 3 TV Episode "Blink". If you're a fan of the Ninth Doctor and Rose, then this is the comic collection for you.
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This book collects the entire Ninth Doctor run of comics from Doctor Who Magazine, with bonus Sally Sparrow and some behind the scenes from the writers and artists. The likenesses still aren't great, but the stories are a step up from the current run - at least that's my impression, though I'm finding that reading in 5-page increments really doesn't work for me. If the current run makes it to book form I may find I like it better.
Either way, this collection of Nine/Rose stories is a lot of fun and a good companion - and supplement - to this Doctor's sadly abbreviated series. -
Wonderful extra bit of 9 and Rose. The first comic's version of Rose looks like a very glamorized version of Billie Piper, but the "behind the scenes" commentaries offer great explanations of most contributors for each story. Plus the original Sally Sparrow story was a great bonus. Not normally a big fan of comic books, but this books' extras really peaked my interest in exploring more of this genre.
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I found this collection highly entertaining! The artwork was very good overall and I felt really captured the spirit of the Doctor and Rose. My favorite story was the cruel sea! It was very creepy and visually stunning! It is too bad there were not more comics for Nine and Rose, but I am glad to have these!
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I may be biased because I love anything with Nine & Rose in it, but I thought this comic collection was fantastic. The short story at the end was a fun addition, and I also liked the "making-of" interviews with the writers and illustrators.
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This collection got a little strange in some ways (even by "Doctor Who's" standard), but it still maintained the heart that makes the show work. Plus, new adventures with the sadly often overlooked Ninth Doctor! That alone is reason enough for any "Doctor Who" fan to pick up this collection.
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Eccleston-Piper= my least favorite Doctor and Companion. But I'm a huge Robert Shearman fan and I always love the comics from the magazine best of all the comics on offer so I'll give this collection a shot. I like these other authors also :-)
