A Review by Richard Radcliffe 13/11/02
Alan Barnes showed his expertise at storytelling in the first 2 8th Doctor strips - Endgame and The Keep. Following on from those stories, with plot threads particularly from The Keep, he again bases a story around Crivellos Cauldron. This time a few old foes are involved too, and the Doctor has plenty of foes to contend with.
The 5 part length of the story allows Barnes to give us a bit of an epic storyline. As if Crivellos Cauldron, suns going Supernova and the like, isn't enough - he gives us gateways to alternate realities. It is these that the Daleks are particularly interested in. It's quite a bit of surprise to encounter the number one baddies at the end of Part One - it's a good job I don't flick through DWMs like many - but read them cover to cover.
The Daleks are only part of the picture though, as the Threshold makes a return appearance. The best Comic Strip Monster creation combined with the best TV Monster creation is egging the pudding a bit too much however. For the bulk of the last 2 parts the Daleks are sidelined as the Threshold agent is given all the best lines and putdowns. Top Villains and Monsters have combined before to great effect (Master and Autons), but they quite often don't work (Master and Rani). It's like there is only room enough for one major enemy in DW stories - at least that is what has happened here.
I suppose it was the disappointment of introducing the Daleks, and then doing not a great deal with them, that disappoints the most here. I admit that the Threshold are a great creation, and their link with the Time Lords a surprise. The great manipulators of the universe will always have a hand in chaos, so the Threshold do have a place anywhere. The Daleks and the Threshold aren't the only characters in this strip though. The marvelously named Ptolemy Muttonchops has a place, as does Sister Chastity, the Leaderene and the Robot Marquez. Each is a very different character - but there are just too many personalities and baddies for its own good.
The story is full of high concepts and scientific mumbo jumbo. The dreaded Nanites are introduced, it seems every alien race uses them now to infiltrate the enemy. Daleks have robotic-type-flys (Contagiums) to do their dirty work. Crivello's Sun suddenly isn't just the centre of the galaxy, but the gateway to alternate dimensions - there's just so much sci-fi gobbledygook in there I found it difficult to follow.
The representation of the Doctor is fine though. Martin Geraghty is getting better and better at the depiction, and Barnes has done wonders off a limited source (TV Film). Izzy continues to sprout Sci-Fi Film slogans like they are going out of fashion, but it is fun to identify each quote - and she does seem to be having a wonderful time!
All in all Fire and Brimstone tries to cram in much too many concepts and personalities. The story changes direction so many times it is difficult to keep up. It definitely shows how the strip can be as challenging as any book or TV story, but for me it was just too complicated. 6/10