A Review by Finn Clark 27/6/04
I didn't bother reading this for months. The pages I glimpsed looked like the usual nonsense... the Wild West, soldiers, Native American spirit magic, dumb werewolf monsters, etc. I love Westerns, but I'm not so wild about New Age Westerns and Bad Blood stank of those.
However once all five episodes had been published, I sat down and made myself plough through. Predictably my prejudices got proved wrong. That shopping list of uninspiring story ingredients is correct as far as it goes, but there's another key factor to spice things up. Okay, technically it's two factors: Count Jodafra & Destriianatos. Both important players in the two-year Izzy-is-a-fish story arc (DWM 300-328), these two rogues never struck me as desperately needing a return visit but at least they have enough spark and personality to be interesting. Destrii remainds the sexiest fish in comics, while Jodafra is still charming but a bastard. They have an agenda. We want to know about it. That's enough to drive a story.
It's set in Dakota in 1875 and stars Sitting Bull and General Custer, but this will probably have more weight for Americans. Okay, I'm not historically illiterate and at least I knew their names, but I had to think not to confuse Custer's battle at Little Bighorn with that other famous white man massacre at the Alamo. (If you're wondering, that was forty years earlier and down in Texas as part of the struggle for independence from Mexico.) Sitting Bull is actually the more important historical figure, since as head of the Sioux nation he inspired the last major Native American resistance in the US.
Okay, you didn't need to know all that. However it might add depth to this story if you know that less than a year later, Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse will lead the Sioux and Cheyenne to kill Custer and annihilate his troops in battle.
The Windigo (hmmm, not Wendigo?) is boring, but he's not the real villain. He's just a MacGuffin that could just as easily have been alien technology or the Lost Archive of the Wibbly-Wobblies. His list of weaknesses and dependencies is bizarre, though. Fire, bright light, alcohol... the only one that's missing is loud noise.
I liked the 8th Doctor, who wears another hat! 'Twas a top hat for Spring-Heeled Jack and now he's dressed up for the Wild West. Well, d'oh.
This story has plenty going on, but its real driving force is its two familiar faces. Unfortunately they're so central to the plot that they slightly de-emphasise the Doctor, who doesn't even get to save the day. He's stuck on the sidelines as the real action takes place between Destrii and Jodafra. There's a sort of cliffhanger ending, depending on whether or not you care about the characters, but I'm certainly planning to read next month's episode.
In its favour, at least this story has enough story elements for five episodes. I wasn't hugely impressed by overlong strips like The Road to Hell (DWM 278-282) or Children of the Revolution (DWM 312-317), but this feels less padded. Oh, and while I'm talking about The Road to Hell, that story has one trivial point of similarity with Bad Blood. They're both exactly 36 pages long. In fact this story's last part is only the second eight-page episode since the strip went into colour at the start of 2001 (the other being Uroboros part four in DWM 322). Colour's expensive, you see.
I quite liked this story. It didn't blow me away, but Count Jodafra and Destrii are surprisingly interesting and the historical significance of Custer and Sitting Bull helped me to stomach yet another politically correct tale of Native Americans and their spirit magic. (Have I mentioned how much I despise Disney's Pocahontas?) Izzy may no longer be a fish, but the story arc begun three years ago in DWM 300 is still showing legs. For my money, the planning and structure of DWM's 8th Doctor story arcs has far outclassed those of the books, giving shape and scale to what might otherwise have been eight years of random nonsense. Bad Blood is no classic, but it's a decent effort that gives the ongoing story another twist.
A Review by Richard Radcliffe 25/6/05
Fresh on the heels of the Telos novella, Blood and Hope, comes another American history setting. This one is ten years later than the Civil War though - 1875 to be precise. The setting is Dakota, and it's a stirring tale featuring Indians, miners, cavalry (with guest appearance by General Custer) and werewolves.
Scott Gray continues to amaze with his storytelling skills. He's not adverse to using elements he created admittedly, but from story to story there is a wealth of originality and imagination. The impressive artwork of Martin Geraghty (with help from David Roach and Adrian Salmon) complete the glorious technicolour of these monthly seven pages of continuing 8th Doctor adventures.
The 8th Doctor shows no sign of getting a companion yet, and I suspect whatever plans DWM had has been wonderfully scuppered by the new TV series anyway. This Doctor will finish his comic strip run (the longest of any Doctor incidentally) in the same way the 4th Doctor did - companionless.
It's nice to see no easing off the acceleration pedal too - at five parts this is crammed full of excellent ideas and superb visuals. American history has always been a favourite of mine, despite my English heritage. With this and Blood and Hope this gap in historical Doctor Who is finally being filled.
We might have thought that the Ophidius - Oblivion arc was done and dusted, but miraculously Destrii rides again - she's now a Time Traveller with her Uncle Jodafra. Their ship is wonderful - with the Wild, Wild West film with Will Smith as its undoubted inspiration. Both Destrii and Jodafra are good enough characters for a return to be welcome.
The Doctor's dealings with the Indians are nicely understated. It's rather an Indian cliche to always hark on about spirit dreams and being at one with nature - but these things are vital to the American Indian. The Doctor becomes a Dances With Wolves figure, at one with these people - yet desperately trying to avoid bloodshed between the factions.
The monsters - the Windigoes - are essentially Werewolves. Slavering, angry creations, they form a massive contrast to the peaceful way of the Dakota Indians. The Cavalry are included, as usual for these stories, but they fade from the foreground pretty quickly as Destrii and Jodafra take over.
You're never quite sure where you are with any of these different groups - and they all have their purpose in being part of the narrative. It's an excellent story all round, I feel, with the extra length justified by the depth of storyline and characters within. I would venture that this is the best comic strip since the brilliant Ophidius arc. 9/10