Script: Jonathan Morris Art: Rob Davis, Geraint Ford
The incredible world of Narnia by Noe Geric 18/11/20
What if Doctor Who has been written in an earlier century? What if the TARDIS was a bookshop? What if every fairytale cliche came together at once? All these questions are answered in The Professor, the Queen and the Bookshop. Jonathan Morris tried something and managed to make it interesting enough. It isn't incredibly good but has a nice idea that works perfectly with the Eleventh Doctor.
Steven Moffat described Doctor Who as a sort of fairy tale. The whole Matt Smith era has that feel, and Jonathan Morris used this stuff to write a story where young Amelia and Rory enter a mysterious bookshop that is bigger on the inside than the outside. The place is the ship of a mysterious man called the Professor, and the bookshop can travel through the stories presented in every book existing.
For some obscure reason, Amelia picks a book called Shada (hmmmm...) and they arrive in a frozen kingdom where talking animals live. The cruel Queen wants to capture the Professor and his friends and then the plot hits pure Doctor Who cliche. The Professor dies, but, with the power of books, Amelia bring him back to life. That's all the story. The characterization isn't incredible but is good enough for Rory to be the most interesting character. The Professor is perhaps the most forgettable of them all; he's rather generic except for one scene or two, but he's not really interesting.
The adventure consists only of running through one place to another and that's all. Only the end reveals that all this was a story written by C.S Lewis, the author of the Narnia books. Only the concept is interesting enough to take you into the story. If it wasn't for the bookshop, there would be no point in that strip! And why does a book called Shada take the Professor to a world ruled by a Queen and inhabited by animals? Have I missed something? I know this is a Christmas story, but Shada has nothing to do with the world of Narnia.
The drawings really capture the feel of fairy tales, and the colours are in perfect harmony with the rest. Rob Davis' style is simple but beautiful. It worked very well here, but I don't think it would've worked if the story was an action-adventure. His style is slow, and action isn't what he does best. My only complaint is the scene where the Queen, trapped in the form of a statue, pursues the heroes. The scenes lack any tension, since nobody seems to be running. It's like if they were all on a nice walk across the land.
A Christmas story that tries something new is an excellent idea. It reminded me (not only because of the title) of The Doctor, The Widow and the Wardrobe, but better. The story is good, and a lot of things could've been done. It just tries to be an original idea with an unoriginal Doctor Who plot, a strange combination that works well enough to be distracting. An interesting tribute to C.S Lewis: 7/10