Note: Some entries here are identical to previous individual reviews. At the request of the reviewer, the previous pages have been removed so that this forms the overall review of the stories. No reviews have been taken down, merely reshuffled.
A Review by Richard Radcliffe 15/4/03
The opening gambit of DWW saw a 4 page strip featuring the 4th Doctor. The Doctor travelled alone to begin with, was joined by K9 for one story, then Sharon. This opening was written by Mills and Wagner, with art from the extremely impressive pen of Dave Gibbons. With a 2-issue contribution from Paul Neary slapped in the middle, this stage will see us through just 6 months of magazines - 1979 to 1980. And so to the Mills, Wagner and Gibbons show.
The Iron Legion (1-8)
It's quite a novel experience picking up a comic strip that you haven't read since you were 11. This return to childhood is a common pursuit of DW fans, and why the hell not, I thought - I'm bound to enjoy it. And so it was, on a quiet September evening, that I went back to DWW Number 1 and began to read. I was one of those stupid individuals who, at the age of 15, thought it was a good idea to rip out the best articles, and cut up the pictures (to make a wondrous Poster which has long since bit the dust) of my early DWW and DWM magazines. Recently though, thanks to a good mate with more foresight, I have been enjoying all the strips - right from the beginning, so to speak.
The first is perceived in most comic fan circles (not many of those) as being something of a classic. The strip started magnificently, showing DWW was capable of telling better strips than ever before. That is the general opinion, and I was intrigued whether my memory cheated. I did recall it being excellent - but that could have very well been because it was the first. Iron Legion was also reprinted at every opportunity in Summer Specials, so I even remember reading it on a beach somewhere!
Thankfully coming back to it nearly a quarter of a century later was a good experience - and I can really say now it is one of the better strips. The story by Wagner and Mills is excellent, and the artwork (by Dave Gibbons) is superb.
What would happen if Rome never fell? This intriguing idea is the basis of Iron Legion. Mixed in is DW aliens, they are running the show - and a fairly horrific show it is too. What is striking about this strip is how grown up it actually is. Bearing in mind that DWW was directed firmly at children, it seems the magazine knew that older children would be out there too. The rest of the Weekly was very child-like in tone - except the main comic strip - and this strip would remain so for the most part. Don't be put off because DWW was a children's mag - the comic strip can be enjoyed by all.
Putting the Doctor on his own was a good idea. It allowed the strip to run indepently from its mother show. There's no Romana and no K9 (at least until Issue 17 that is). The 4th Doctor is depicted well. His love of life and offbeat humour is very evident - this is a Doctor that is ideally suited to the strip. Of course the 4th Doctor had established himself as the ultimate Time Lord by this time on TV - but it's refreshing to see things authentically recreated.
The rest of the characters fulfill the needs of the story. The slave Morris is the big standout, a gentle giant who, Frankenstein-like, has been patched up - he would have been a fine comic companion if only. Vesuvius is the story's only concession to the kids. A silly looking robot who eventually becomes Emperor - bit daft that - and not in keeping with the rest of the story. The monsters - the Malevilus - are excellent. They are really scary looking creatures with a incredibly sadistic way about them.
I do recall Matthew Jones in DWM, many years after this, recalling a certain image of this strip, in his Fluid Links section (it's actually on Page 2). The TARDIS lands outside a typical corner shop - the fantastic mixed brilliantly with the ordinary. The Doctor wants to stock up on jelly babies. Jones elaborated that this epitomized DW for him - and I can see totally where he is coming from.
I remember the strip being exciting when I was 11. The wonderful thing is when I'm 34 I can still enjoy such things - such is the marvelous appeal of DW. An excellent beginning. 9/10
City of the Damned (9-16)
After the excellent Iron Legion strip, set on earth, the TARDIS flies off to Zom - a futuristic city on planet far distant. It was good that the Strip recognized immediately the vast diversity that is DW - and alternated stories accordingly (the next major story would be set back on Earth). At 8 parts (around 35 pages) these early stories certainly were allowed to breathe, and this could very well be one of the main reasons they are so fondly remembered.
Whilst not being quite up to the standard to the previous Rome story, City of the Damned is mighty fine. It's expertly drawn again by Dave Gibbons, and Wagner and Mills show again what fine storytellers they are.
The giant city is brilliantly drawn. Recalling images of Metropolis, it is all straight lines - showing the practicalities and lack of emotion that lie within. The Moderator General rules the people by cutting out all emotions. They are biological robots for all intents and purposes, and the Brains' Trust oversee all.
The fascination is when the outsiders (there always is outsiders in these types of cold places eg Logan's Run) join the story. They glory in their return to emotional state. They have names like FAIRLY ANGRY, SILLY and HUMBLE, the contrast between them and the city dwellers is huge. The Doctor, typically, gets involved in both sets of people - but the emotions will always win over logic.
Again the strip presents violence as it is. The Bloodbugs are nasty little things. They eat up the populace in a matter of seconds, leaving only a skeleton left. This is shown time and time again, until a cure is found (by the Doctor of course) and all live happily ever after. The Bloodbug scenes are quite horrific for a children's comic!
Wagner, Mills and Gibbons again give us a vibrant, supremely likeable Doctor - and surround him with fantastic characters. The strip continues impressively. 8/10
Timeslip (17-18)
After the impressive 2 stories from Wagner, Mills and Gibbons in Doctor Who Weekly, this strip is a little out of place. Paul Neary provides both story and art - and at 2 parts (8 pages) it doesn't stay around too long.
What it is an excuse to show past Doctors - and that's it. The TARDIS gets caught in some time anomaly in space. The Doctor and K9 grow younger, and then get back to normal by the end. The artwork is pretty good. Neary uses fairly standard photographs, and the copying is good - but they're images we are used to. Saying that though they weren't as well known back in 1980!
The introduction of K9 into the comic strip was a good move for the kids, and the success of the magazine shows that it largely worked. It's good for TV Companions to appear every now and again in the strip - but I like the way goes its own path, to be honest.
There's not that much to say about this strip really, but I suspect at the time it was quite well received due to the past Doctor involvement. 5/10
The Star Beast (19-26)
After the lacklustre Timeslip Mills, Wagner and Gibbons get back into the swing of things with this tale of Alien Invaders in Blackcastle.
It's the standard 8 part length (35 pages) and again is very impressive on the Art front. But I couldn't help but be a bit disappointed overall - that might be after years of fans harping on about the vicious Beep the Meep. I remember being surprised, when I was 11, by Beep the Meep. This cuddly creature just wasn't what I wanted to see in the strip. I'd enjoyed the adventuring of Iron Legion and City of the Damned, and their great characters. But Beep the Meep - what crap!!!! The aliens who were after him - the Wrarth - were pretty good though, and there was a kid in it that was very like a load of kids I knew. I abided The Star Beast when I was younger.
Half a century later I still think Meep the Beep is a terrible character. I shook my head in despair as DWM announced a Big Finish Special in early 2002 featuring the violent fluffy ball - and I hated it, as I figured I would. But what of the original strip that I hated so much as a kid.
The story is actually okay. The twisting of roles with Meep and the Wrarth was novel, the presentation of back street suburbia pretty good. There's every effort made to bring things to reality to, with Angela Rippon reading the news. The new companion Sharon is nice and different. Her mate Fudge nicely excited about a spaceship landing near his house.
The best thing about The Star Beast though is Fudge's Mum. The way she dismisses these fantastic events that her son is describing is class. When the Wrarth sit round for a cup of tea, she doesn't bat an eyelid. Mrs Higgins is one of the great Comedy creation of all DW strip stories.
What lets the story down is Beep the Meep. I hate it! Wandering in the last few parts on his stilts - this is a naff villain - the worst ever. I'd also like to know what happened to Blackcastle as it was pulled into the Black Hole?
The Star Beast introduces new companion Sharon, and she should be pretty good. The Doctor is quite mad in it, there's a nice twist on conventional perceptions of whats good and bad. But Wagner, Mills and Gibbons can do better than this. 6/10
The Dogs of Doom (27-34)
It's a bit of a shame that the only time DWW or DWM paraded its comic strip on the front cover for any length of time, it happened to coincide with one of their worst strips. No less than 5 Weeklys out of the 8 relevant, had images on the front cover directly from The Dogs of Doom. Thus we see the 4th Doctor as a Werewolf, some Daleks, a Salivating Beast behind bars, some more Daleks and more Daleks. I expect the reason is pretty obvious why the strip was afforded such focus - the Daleks had arrived in it!
The 4th Doctor is now travelling with Sharon - a teenager from Blackcastle. She was okay in Star Beast, but is almost an afterthought in this. There's large stretches where she does nothing, and the story is lacking any impact from her at all. If a new companion is going to be introduced in the strip best give them something to do, or else why bother. K9 is here as well, but nothing more than a mobile gun.
The worst thing about this strip though is the CB Radio talk that dominates. 1 character especially is guilty - Joe Bean. And this character pops up time and time again during the course of the 8 issue run. You are willing him to be killed off, but there is no such justice - and he survives by some strange time anomaly. He is the captain of the Spacehog, and he is a total nuisance. His 2nd is almost as bad - Babe Roth. She has kids at home, and the TV link to them is supposed to provide some added insight into her character - but they are looked after by a Robot, painted by her little terror. These 2 are atrocious characters - and the strip is terrible as a result.
The dogs of doom of the title are werewolves. They infect others through scratching - even the Doctor is infected, and spends 3 months finding a cure for his ailment. This is stretching things so thin, for credibility, it's untrue. The animal surely would prevent such a cure being found. And then when the Doctor returns, one of the dogs (Brill) becomes the Doctor's trusted friend! What on earth is happening in this strip? All sense seems to have deserted Wagner and Mills - this in fact was their last contribution, and what a sad way for 2 great writers to bow out.
The Dalek involvement doesn't occur till right at the end of the 4th Part. Their involvement thereafter is pushed aside by the aforementioned characters, and a strange alien zoo the Daleks have in their hold. I can't even remember the purpose of that, but by then I had ceased to care.
Dave Gibbons strives to make sense of all this. His artwork is still superb, but when the story is at fault it just brings everything down with it. It was time for the first major change in the strip Contributors, thankfully Gibbons continued, but Wagner and Mills just went a story too far.
An incredible mess of terrible ideas featuring the worst character, and biggest mistake in all comic stripdom - step forward Joe Bean! 3/10