From Doctor Who Magazine #131
A Review by Finn Clark 15/12/04
This story isn't as bad as it looks. However it looks bloody awful.
Back in 1998, we were all in shock. From John Ridgway to this? Kev Hopgood and Tim Perkins serve up ugly artwork that does the script no favours whatsoever, with a hit-and-miss rendition of Sylvester McCoy and not nearly enough black in the inking. It's one of my maxims that the better the artwork, the less it needs colouring. Well, this story is crying out to be lovingly reinvented with full colour painting.
That said, there's potential in the script. It goes almost entirely unrealised, but I applaud the ambition. Simon Furman is trying to do interesting things with our assumptions about companions and bad guys, which could have made for a terrific story if only he'd done it with depth or subtlety. Unfortunately the characters are all dull caricatures who talk like refugees from Flash Gordon and tell the Doctor everything whenever the plot requires it.
Had this story starred the 6th Doctor and been drawn by John Ridgway, we'd still be praising it now. This wouldn't be the first comic strip to have a wooden script and it won't be the last. What's more, a good artist can create mood, realism and characterisation over and above the writer's contributions. In a way, I still have a soft spot for Redemption!. At least it tries. I like what it's aiming for. Just as the Colin Baker comic strips overcame a few weak scripts through stellar artwork, the early McCoy strips have one or two hidden gems if you can see past the visuals. Time and Tide (DWM 145-146) is the best example of this.
Since we're still in the post-Peladon era of A Cold Day in Hell (DWM 130-133), there's some continuity. The Vachysians are Federation enforcers and their gunships can immobilise and break into a TARDIS. They look human, but their technology must be streets ahead of anything else we've seen in this era (if you don't count the Daleks in The Daleks' Master Plan).
This isn't a good comic strip, or even a moderate one, but in its favour you can see how close it came to greatness. It may fall flat, but at least it's reaching for something. If only it had had less talk, more character drama and another episode or two, Redemption! could have been awesome. [Mind you, that title is idiotic. Olla doesn't achieve redemption or anything like it. Quite the opposite, in fact...]