Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Volume 3: Conversion by Al Ewing and Rob Williams et al
| Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Volume 3: Conversion by Al Ewing and Rob Williams et al | |
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| Category: Graphic Novels | |
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Reviewer: John Lloyd
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| Summary: Probably one of the poorest books ever to be presented under the Doctor Who umbrella, this comic shows the very way the character should NOT be approached. | |
| Buy? No | Borrow? Maybe |
| Pages: 128 | Date: December 2015 |
| Publisher: Titan | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781782763031 | |
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It is a truth universally acknowledged that if you want to judge the worth of a Star Trek TV series, you judge the theme tune. It's incontrovertible that they went downhill in unison, after all. It is also a truth universally acknowledged that the same applies to Doctor Who, for the opening credits have definitely had their ups and downs over recent years. But you can also define the entertainment value of a series through the companions. Or at least you can with the 11th Doctor comic versions, which decided to pick up a Token Smart, Ballsy, Ethnic one, a bizarre, mercurially disembodied robot-type-with-limited-vocab one, and, er, a cod David Bowie one who relives the entire Ziggy Stardust lyric sheet through his witterings. I know, right? No hope. But can you give up hope with the genius, energetic, effervescent and witty Doctor around?
I'm afraid so, yes. This book isn't just saddled with the most bizarre collection of companions since, well, that bird with the bombs – or perhaps that flight attendant with the annoying voice (I'll ignore the bloke in a kilt). It's not self-contained at all – you need to have started at the beginning of the cycle, where we first meet these oddball characters, and the SERVEYOUinc entity that is providing the big baddy; jumping on board here at the third book stage will help nobody.
You also have to get around the fact that the bizarre and distinctive face of Matt Smith's Doctor is not actually captured with any realism by the artists. But then that's only on a par with the authors, who seem to put the weirdest yucks into everyone's mouths. The snappy dialogue that against all the odds seems to make sense of the character and the scenario on TV just comes across as dross here. So even when something turns up that seems to be forcing Roman Centurions to encounter Cybermen, the end result is nowhere near what it should be.
To the book's defence, there is doubt that even if the TV series had Centurions vs Cybermen it wouldn't be that great any more, but this is a book and I can't let my opinions about the TV series colour anything. Twenty years ago the comics in the DWM weren't that great, but they were worth reading at least once. The colour on this book is garish, unappealing and minus any sort of clever nuance, and the same applies to practically everything else. It really should be back to the drawing board for all concerned.
I must still thank the publishers for my review copy.
This is even more of a pity when you consider the quality of the latest Who books – whether they be young people's guides, unusual short stories or big-name full length works.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Volume 3: Conversion by Al Ewing and Rob Williams et al at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Volume 3: Conversion by Al Ewing and Rob Williams et al at Amazon.com.
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