Doctor Who: The Fifth Doctor Handbook
Story: Using both new and archival interview material and their own analysis, author David J. Howe and Stephen James Walker analyze the three-year reign of Peter Davison as TV’s fifth Doctor Who, a time of upheaval for the show’s schedule, its traditions, and its behind-the-scenes crew.
Review: This volume of the Handbook was one of the last to be released in that series, and maybe it’s easy to see why. The books on the first, second and sixth Doctors dished some interesting dirt about the show’s production team and offstage drama, but by comparison, Peter Davison’s time on the show – as popular as it was – was nearly uneventful by comparison. Some would say the same of Davison’s portrayal, but interestingly enough, the man himself addresses that in interviews here, pointing out that everyone involved with the series was so nervous about how to follow up on Tom Baker’s reign, the decision was taken from the top down to write and portray the Doctor in an almost non-committal, non-character-specific way. That decision alone, and certainly not any lack of acting muscle on Davison’s part (who had already won over the public during his stint on All Creatures Great And Small by this time), is to blame for this era of the show, and its leading man, being labeled by many in hindsight as “bland.”
Star Wars: A Long Time Ago Vol. 2 – Dark Encounters
Story: As Luke struggles to recover from his momentary encounter with the mind of Darth Vader, Leia, Han, Chewie and the droids try to fight and maneuver their way off the Wheel. Their escape from the gambling station is not the end of their troubles – Han still has matters to settle with Jabba, Leia tries to expand the Rebellion to other worlds, and the cyborg bounty hunter Valance is still on Luke’s trail. Throughout the adventures, the Rebel heroes often run up against the agenda of the Tagge family, led by a ruthless baron whose desire for the Emperor’s favor, and for vengeance against Vader, drive him to enact more and more elaborate schemes to crush the Rebellion once and for all. But the Dark Lord is no stranger to scheming, and he has plans for both the Tagge family and young Skywalker.
Review: Dave: Unlike the first volume, I do have some first hand memories of the stories in this collection – at one point in my youth, I had two or three of the issues that dealt with Tagge’s storm corridor through the Yavin gas giant. I remember liking them quite a bit as a kid, and they still hold up pretty well. Now that I read them as part of the bigger tapestry of the ongoing Tagge feud, I’m even more impressed.
One thing I do wish is that that unfolding saga could have led into the events of The Empire Strikes Back a little better. Now, I don’t really know how much lead time Goodwin had to work with, or how much he knew about the overall storyline of the film when he was writing these issues. So I’m not assigning blame here – it’s just something I find a little disappointing. The characters and settings all seem frozen about five minutes after the end of the first movie – Luke’s still wearing his farm boy outfit, the Rebels are still on Yavin, and so on. Outside of a tacked on epilogue that undoes Goodwin’s earlier resolution of the Jabba bounty issue, there’s not much here bringing us to the next stage of the story. And having Luke and Vader face off face to face right before the movie adaptation is supposed to start just strikes me as a bad idea all around.
Star Wars: A Long Time Ago Vol. 1 – Doomworld
Story: The first 20 issues of Marvel’s Star Wars series are reprinted in this full color collection. From the adaptation of the film itself, which saw print before the movie’s release, to Luke’s terrifying brush against the mind of Darth Vader, the original Expanded Universe begins here. Luke, Han, Leia, Chewie and the droids encounter space pirates, frontier outlaws, floating cities of saboteurs, and a droid-hating cyborg bounty hunter named Valance while trying to help the Rebels find a new base and stay one step ahead of a Sith Lord searching for the identity of the pilot who blew up the Death Star.
Review: Dave: With the exception of the movie adaptation, I had never read any of the issues in this volume – the handful of Marvel Star Wars comics I was able to get my hands on were all from later in the run. Reading it now, there’s certainly a degree of 70s cheese, especially in the early issues written by Roy Thomas. But what a collection of talent worked on this series! Thomas, who pushed for Marvel to take up the license, is a former editor-in-chief at Marvel well known for his encyclopedic knowledge of comics’ Golden Age. When he got past the adaptation, he didn’t quite feel comfortable with the universe, and it kind of shows – his next story was more of a Magnificent Seven-esque western than a big space opera. So Archie Goodwin, then editor-in-chief and a legend in his own right, took the reins, and things started to take off. Goodwin created new villains, set subplots in motion, and brought a sense of scale and danger to the stories. And when Goodwin needed an assist, there was Chris Claremont, longtime X-Men writer.
On the artistic side, Howard Chaykin was the first penciller, and while he was still a bit rough around the edges, but you can already get a sense of the dynamism that would serve him well later in his career. (Although he was certainly greatly assisted by his inkers in those days – more on that later.) And when Chaykin left, his replacement, Carmine Infantino, was no slouch. Infantino, a former art director and publisher at DC, was well known for his Silver Age work on Batman, Flash, and a host of other heroes. While his facial renderings are sometimes a bit crude, he could definitely pack a lot of energy into his panels, and he and his inkers did fine work on all the technology of the galaxy far, far away. There’s a lot of fun stuff packed into these comics. I can only imagine what it was like to pick up each new installment in ’77 and ’78.
The Making of Star Wars
Story: Using archived interviews, documents, and photographs, J. W. Rinzler recounts the development and production of Star Wars in the mid-1970s.
Review: It takes a certain amount of skill and a certain amount of luck to retell a story that’s been told many times before and make it compelling. J. W. Rinzler has both working for him in The Making of Star Wars. Charles Lippincott, a Lucasfilm marketing executive, started conducting interviews in 1975 for a possible book on the making of the movie, but he never finished and those interviews wound up buried in Lucasfilm’s archives. Through those interviews, Lucas’s original film drafts, contract letters, and other photographs and documents, Rinzler was able rebuild the narrative of the film’s development and recapture the perspective of many of the principal cast and crew during the time period where very few people really understood what George Lucas wanted to achieve with Star Wars and no one had the faintest clue of how the movie would be received.
The Art of Star Wars: Episode III
Story: The work of the various art teams is showcased along with brief descriptions of how the designs fit into the evolution of Revenge of the Sith.
Review: J.W. Rinzler explains that this book should be considered as a companion to The Making of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith; like that book, it is organized chronologically. This sets it apart from the other five Art of Star Wars books, which were organized either topically or around the framework of the screenplay. I appreciated the change; there is less text taking away space from the art, and what text is there helps place the images into the context of the making-of-the-movie story.
The Making of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith
Story: This chronological recounting of the filmmaking process begins with pre-production art and design work in April 2002 and runs through October 2004, as editing and effects work continues leading up to writer-director George Lucas and composer John Williams meeting to spot the film.
Review: The Making of Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith is a great book with one gaping flaw: it’s incomplete. In order to be available as part of the early-April marketing/product blitz for Sith, the book had to be wrapped up long before the movie was. So the book doesn’t end so much as it runs out, leaving the reader to wonder how the movie was actually finished. There is a free electronic book/PDF file that adds a final chapter, mostly focused on the score, the last pick-up shots, and dialogue looping. While it does provide some additional closure as veterans of the saga like Anthony Daniels do their last bits of work, even that ends with a few hundred shots of the movie left to complete. And even if the e-book did finish the job, I can’t help but think that there’s very little good reason to publish a book about the making of a movie before the movie is done being made.
Planetary Book 2: The Fourth Man
Story: Ever since he joined the Planetary organization, Elijah Snow has helped uncover the secret history of the world – but there a few private mysteries he’d like to solve. What is Planetary’s real mission? Why do others seem to know more about his life than he does? And who is the Fourth Man that bankrolls and orchestrates the team’s adventures? Elijah finally tracks down the truth – and when he does, the rules of the game change completely.
Review: Remember how cool I said “Planetary: All Over The World” is? There’s lots more fun to be had in “The Fourth Man,” as pieces fall into place and the book’s central conflict comes into view. Ellis does his usual fine job with characterization and dialogue this time out, using flashbacks to explore the history of the Planetary field team (including Elijah’s predecessor, Ambrose Chase) and their relationships with each other. There are the bitter, sarcastic one-liners (no one does cantankerous like Warren Ellis) but also a lot of warmth. There’s one shot of Ambrose holding up his daughter in which he says, “World, this is my daughter. I want you two to be good to each other. Because it’s a strange world out there, and you both need all the help you can get.” It’s a great line, one that sums up the wonder and optimism that are a part of this world, regardless of the craziness of its more twisted corners.
Planetary Book 1: All Over the World and Other Stories
Story: Elijah Snow is almost a hundred years old, a witness to many of the strange and awesome events that make up the secret history of the twentieth century. Now he spends his time hiding out in the middle of nowhere, until a woman named Jakita Wagner offers him a million dollars a year to join Planetary, a group of ‘mystery archaeologists’ in need of Elijah’s experience. As part of the Planetary field team, Elijah investigates gateways to alternate Earths, mutant Japanese monsters, the vengeful spirit of a Hong Kong cop, and more before turning his attention to Planetary’s opposite number, the Four, who have been manipulating the world for their own ends for decades…and who seem to know more about Elijah than Elijah himself.
Review: Planetary is one of the most addicting stories I’ve ever read, and one of the few serialized comics I make a point of buying on an issue-by-issue basis anymore. The series is not just a great adventure story with terrific characters, outstanding dialogue and stunning artwork. It’s also a commentary and exploration of the twentieth century’s adventure fiction, including comics, monster movies, pulp novels and more.
Invisibles Book 3: Entropy in the UK
Story: Sir Miles’ forces have captured King Mob and Lord Fanny, and Dane MacGowan is hitchhiking his way to Liverpool. Ragged Robin and Boy enlist the aid of Jack Crow and the Invisible agent known as Mister Six in an effort to find and rescue all three. Separate story threads gradually converge for one climactic fight to save the universe.
Review: The book’s opening arc, also entitled Entropy in the UK, is probably my favorite. King Mob is dying from a gunshot wound, and Sir Miles intends to take advantage of the opportunity. Miles doesn’t want to torture information out of King Mob – he wants to break Mob’s will, get him to “voluntarily” give up information about the Invisibles. In a war of ideology, that’s really the only victory worth winning. The battle of wills showcases comics’ unique potential as a medium; Phil Jimenez’s beautiful pencils display the dazzling, chaotic landscape of King Mob’s mind and thoughts, while the narration and script lay out the dizzying ideas and mantras of the two combatants. Text and pictures convey the information better than either could alone. We jump from the interrogation room, to flashbacks of King Mob’s training, to passages from novels that Mob uses as psychic defenses, to Miles’ exploration of Mob’s thought structures. It’s gorgeous, gorgeous stuff, full of adrenaline and enthusiasm.
Invisibles Book 2: Apocalipstick
Story: King Mob’s Invisibles cell makes its way back to the 20th Century after its retrieval of the Marquis de Sade. Their opponents have moved in for the kill, and a maimed Jack Frost decides to make a run for it on his own. The conspiracy is on the move elsewhere, as a British aristocrat uses the downtrodden as hunting quarry and Chicago corporate leaders get their kicks from killing and re-animating inner-city crack users. Lord Fanny and King Mob’s search for Jack leads them to trouble, and gives Fanny reason to recall her journey from Central America.
Review: In many ways, the three chapters between Jack’s departure and his companions’ search for him are the emotional and thematic core of “Apocalipstick,” even if the “main” characters never appear. It’s very easy to get caught up in all the magic and madness of the Invisibles’ fight against the conspiracy and forget the purpose of that fight, the effort to free the human spirit. The interlude chapters explore the chains that bind that spirit – exploitation of minorities and the poor by the corporate elite, the corrosive effects of fear and hate and ignorance, the struggles of everyday people to achieve their dreams, and the crushing weight of their failure to do so. The best story of the three may be the one with no supernatural elements at all, in which we see a man’s life flash before his eyes through a series of disjointed flashbacks. The layout of this story is very effective, as scenes and fragments blend together before the story reaches its climax and they come full circle. It’s the story of a man who wanted more from life than what he got, and probably deserved more… the injustice resonates, and as a bonus, it reinforces why we want the Invisibles to win. A world this unjust is a world that needs to be remade.
Invisibles Book 1: Say You Want a Revolution
Story: The Invisibles are a secret society that has fought for centuries to free humankind from the mental shackles imposed on it by forces of authority and control. The enemy is fond of torture and lobotomies to keep us in line; where that doesn’t work, magic and microwave transmissions will have to do. The turn of the millennium draws closer, and as King Mob, the leader of one Invisibles cell, says, “We’re in the final furlong of a race between a never-ending global party and a world that looks like Auschwitz.” To help turn the tide of that battle, King Mob’s cell recruits a juvenile delinquent as its newest member; after he spends some time being trained (without realizing he’s being trained), the group uses magic to project their psyches back in time to revolution-era France and ask the Marquis de Sade if he wouldn’t mind popping back with them to the twentieth century.
Review: “Say You Want a Revolution,” the first Invisibles collection, is one of the most truly creative pieces of writing I’ve ever seen. Grant Morrison packs so many ideas in here that there’s almost a palpable sense of your brain going places it’s never gone before – it’s easy to get swept up in the exhilarating rush from one idea to the next and then back again, and the sense of never quite being sure when the rug’s going to get pulled out from under you.
Astro City: Confession
Story: A young orphan named Brian Kinney takes a bus from the country to Astro City, determined to make a mark in the world and earn the respect of those around him – something he feels his father failed to do. He works at the periphery of the hero scene, working as a busboy at establishments that cater to the superpowered community. He catches the eye of the Confessor, a nighttime vigilante who agrees to train him, and Brian soon assumed the role of Altar Boy. It’s not the best of times to be a hero, however. A series of unsolved murders in the Shadow Hill section of town has the citizens on edge, and a number of heroes have had run-ins with the media. When the mayor demands that heroes register with the government, he fans the anti-hero sentiment and eventually declares all costumed activity illegal. Brian finds his attention divided between many mysteries, chief among them being: Is there a larger threat looming behind these events? Who is the Confessor, really? Can Brian trust him? And why is he trying so hard to be a hero in the first place?
Review: This six-chapter arc is probably Busiek’s crowning achievement to date on the Astro City series. The complex plot builds well, with several mysteries raised and solved along the way, and readers of the two previous volumes will note payoffs for what may have seemed throwaway events in those earlier short stories. As always, Busiek’s focus in this series is on character, and Brian Kinney/Altar Boy is a good one – a determined, talented and truly heroic young man who might be doing the right things for the wrong reasons. Brian’s dead father, a doctor who offered his services willingly without much thought of his own financial well-being, looms over the story; Brian feels his father let himself appear weak and be taken advantage of, and Brian is determined not to let the same thing happen to him. The son trying to avoid and overcome the mistakes of the father is certainly not a novel theme, but it’s so used so often because it works, and it works because it’s so often true. Certainly, I have no trouble relating to such stories when told by a writer as skilled as Busiek.
Astro City: Family Album
Story: Another set of short stories from Astro City, including two Eisner Award winners. In this volume: A single father brings his two daughters across the country to rebuild their lives in the City. A ten-year-old superheroine tries to escape to a normal life. A thief gets away with the perfect crime – perhaps too perfect. The arrival of would-be heroes from the future forces a present-day inventor and hero to reassess his career. Willed to life by an audience’s belief, a cartoon star finds fame and fortune all too fleeting.
Review: As the American comics industry shifts from a periodical market to a book market, some readers have decried a tendency to “write for the trade,” padding out stories to four, six, or more chapters in order to make a complete volume. This collection of Kurt Busiek’s Astro City proves that collections of shorter stories, connected only by theme or setting, can be more than worthwhile additions to the bookshelf.
Astro City: Life in the Big City
Story: This collection of standalone stories illuminates different corners of the fictional universe of Astro City. Among the stories: The city’s leading superhero tries to be everywhere at once, and berates himself for every wasted second as he longs for just a moment of his own. A small-time hood learns a hero’s secret identity, and tries to figure out how to profit from the knowledge. A beat reporter gets some advice from his editor on his first day on the job. A young woman tries to balance the demands of her family with her own hopes and desires.
Review: There are many smart people in comics who argue that the superhero genre is totally spent, stuck recycling old stories and old archetypes and doomed to tell superficial power fantasies, no matter how much the hot new creators of the moment try to dress them up.
Kurt Busiek’s Astro City proves these critics wrong. In Astro City, Busiek, Anderson and Ross have created a wonderfully rich setting, a city with a history and character of its own that feels as real and as diverse as any American city. The only difference is that Astro City is full of superpowered individuals, and has been for at least 75 years. Some of these characters are allegories for established heroes published by DC and Marvel – analogues for Superman, Wonder Woman and the Fantastic Four (among others) appear in this volume. Others are wholly original creations, allowing Busiek to take various archetypes in new directions.
100 Bullets: Hang Up on the Hang Low
Story: “Loop” Hughes is a young black man growing up in the inner neighborhoods of Philadelphia, living on the outskirts of gang life and trying not to get drawn in. Agent Graves shows up with his attache case of untraceable bullets, puts Loop on the trail of his father Curtis – a man Loop has never known – and gives him a choice: he can get revenge, or he can, at last, try to build a relationship with the man. Loop chooses the latter, which draws him further into the criminal world; Curtis Hughes is an enforcer for a local loan shark, and soon the son is following his father on his rounds, with results that are both better than Loop could have hoped for and straight from his worst fears.
Review: If you’re expecting the third 100 Bullets collection to shed more light on the Minutemen, the Trust, and the assorted conspiracies hinted at in “Split Second Chance,” you will be disappointed. “Hang Up On The Hang Low” collects a single story arc that initially seems disconnected from the overall plot of the series, and even when Azzarello shows that this is decidedly not the case, there are no answers to be found here – only more questions.
100 Bullets: Split Second Chance
Story: Agent Graves continues to offer victims of injustice an opportunity for retribution in the form of a gun and 100 untraceable bullets. He must also deal with the Trust, a group that has played a heavy and apparently corrupt role in American history and has already tried to kill Graves once. His recent actions have alerted the Trust to their failure, and they’re ready to resume the hunt. But Graves is not without allies of his own.
Review: This second collection of 100 Bullets is even stronger than the first. Azzarello could quite easily mine his premise for years, giving us disconnected short story arcs that explore different people’s response to Graves’ gift. But “Split Second Chance” makes clear that this is not merely an anthology title; the titular gift is only one element of an overarching plot that should draw in fans of conspiracy and espionage stories. Graves’ obsession with justice and retribution is a personal quest; his job appears to be as leader of a group of operatives known as the Minutemen. The Minutemen, in turn, are somehow connected to the Trust. Here Graves begins putting his own pieces into play – for exactly what purpose isn’t yet clear. And somewhere in all of this figures Mr. Shepherd, who may be working with or against Graves.
100 Bullets: First Shot, Last Call
Story: Three stories are connected by the presence of the mysterious Agent Graves. Graves approaches a person to whom some injustice has been committed and gives him or her a briefcase. The briefcase contains a photo of the person who committed the injustice, evidence against that person, information as to their whereabouts, a gun – and one hundred completely untraceable bullets. No law enforcement agency can touch the owner of that gun and those bullets – from that moment on, they are above the law, free to determine how they will use the power and information they have been given.
Review: The premise of this series is unbelievably cool, and Azzarello does not disappoint in exploring it. His plotting is very strong, with layers of intrigue, plotting and betrayal. You don’t find out a lot about Agent Graves, or the organization that he works for, in this book, but there are hints of at least subplots that will connect the tales of the different recipients of the gun.
Clone Wars Vol. 5: The Best Blades
Story: Obi-Wan and Alpha, captured by Asajj Ventress after the Battle of Jabiim, make their escape from Asajj’s homeworld of Rattatak. Anakin, temporarily assigned to Master Ki-Adi-Mundi, insists his master is still alive – and when he has the chance to prove he’s right, Ki-Adi-Mundi joins him in a rescue attempt. Across the galaxy, the Clone Wars persist in a stalemate, putting friendships and alliances to the test. The continued crisis motivates the Senate to place power in Palpatine’s hands, leading some Senators and Jedi to wonder how much the Chancellor can be trusted.
Review: This collection features a number of short stories rather than a single primary arc, and with a number of artists and two different writers, it’s very much an anthology – people looking for a more coherent collection might be disappointed. There are two primary tracks to the story. First comes Obi-Wan’s escape and rescue, which is a nicely written action piece. The relationship built up between Obi-Wan and the ARC Trooper called Alpha is put to good use here, and there are some nice background details on Asajj.
Clone Wars Vol. 4: Light and Dark
Story: When Jedi Master Quinlan Vos’s cover as an underworld operative is blown, he and Master Tholme decide on a dangerous plan: Quinlan will appear to betray the Rebellion and join Count Dooku while sending information back to the Republic. Even his former padawan, Aayla Secura, believes Quinlan has gone to the Dark Side, and her conflicted feelings may prove deadly when she must battle Aurra Sing to save the lives of Tholme and another Jedi. For Quinlan Vos, the challenge is even greater: he must walk far enough into darkness to convince Dooku of his sincerity without letting it consume him.
Review: The story of Quinlan Vos has been building since before the Clone Wars began; the tale of his memory loss and subsequent struggle to regain his identity was central to many post-Episode I Star Wars comics. The galactic war provides Ostrander with the perfect setting for Quinlan’s ultimate crisis of conscience. In the context of such a great evil, it’s easy to justify getting one’s hands a little dirty for the sake of the greater good; if Quinlan can save millions of lives and end a destructive war at the cost of some of his own purity, isn’t that a worthwhile price to pay? But exactly how much can he let his darker impulses reign before he can’t bring them under control again? Ostrander does a very good job of walking the knife edge here, making each of Quinlan’s actions on its own appear justifiable, but building up a larger context where it soon feels that he’s doomed. He’s equally good at portraying Dooku, gradually drawing Quinlan further down the dark path.
Clone Wars Vol. 3: Last Stand on Jabiim
Story: Dissatisfaction with the Republic leads Alto Stratus, a military commander on the planet Jabiim, to overthrow his world’s government. General Kenobi’s troops arrive to assist the small band of loyalist resisting Stratus’ coup. Minor skirmishes extend Kenobi’s forces, as massive rainstorms across the planet make it impossible for reinforcements to land. When Stratus’s soldiers attack the Republic’s main planetary base, Obi-Wan is presumed dead. Anakin and a group of masterless padawans try to hold off the advancing Separatist forces until the Republic can evacuate the loyalists. But then Supreme Chancellor Palpatine orders Anakin on a mission of his own, isolating the young Jedi even more.
Review: The Battle for Jabiim is an incredibly bleak story, one of those “War Is Hell” tales that seem designed mostly to highlight the apparent purposelessness of so many soldiers’ deaths. The reasons behind the civil war and Stratus’ coup are not made wholly clear, but Stratus’s rhetoric reinforces the notion of a Republic unresponsive to the needs of its member worlds. One would almost want the Republic to lose, except that we know that the Separatists aren’t any better – indeed, they’re two sides of the coin that eventually becomes the Empire. So given that we know this is all going to end badly, a bleak War Is Hell story is probably appropriate.
Clone Wars Vol. 2: Victories and Sacrifices
Story: Obi-Wan leads a mission to assist Ohma-D’un, a Gungan colony moon orbiting Naboo. Upon their arrival, they discover the entire Gungan population dead, poisoned by a new Confederacy weapon. When Asajj Ventress and Durge turn that weapon on the Jedi, Obi-Wan and his fellow Jedi must fight their own bodies as well as their opponents, to prevent a horrific attack against Naboo and find an antidote for the deadly gas. Meanwhile, poor intelligence leads the Republic forces into a trap attacking the world of Brentaal IV. Shaak Ti must lead a small band of escaped prisoners, including old enemies and old allies, in a last ditch effort to turn the tide.
Review: The individual pieces in this compilation continue the generally strong record of Dark Horse’s Clone Wars comics. With two writers, three pencillers and at least two unconnected storylines, I’m not sure that the whole is equal to its parts, but that’s a risk that collected volumes always run. Blackman’s story of the swamp gas plague on Ohma-D’un is a good one – using Naboo sets up some obvious psychological conflicts for Anakin, and the use of biological weapons is somehow a little more viscerally horrific than, say, blowing up planets from afar. And there’s even something for the slightly more sadistic fan, who are sure to enjoy a two-page spread filled with lots and lots of dead Gungans. The third chapter of the story is a bit of a jarring shift from the first two – there’s a different artist, a sudden jump forward in time, and an awkward use of flashback – but it’s still a solid story.
Clone Wars Vol. 1: The Defense of Kamino
Story: A Jedi spy in the Outer Rim learns that the Separatists are planning a major offensive against the clone facility on Kamino. General Kenobi leads the defense, as the Kaminoans add the elite ARC Troopers to the Republic’s forces. Meanwhile, Master Windu meets with a group of dissident Jedi in an effort to heal the growing schism in the Order, but Asajj Ventress hopes to turn the dissidents completely away from the Republic.
Review: Taken completely on its own merits, this collection of stories set shortly after the Battle of Geonosis is a worthwhile continuation of the Clone Wars. The writing combines solid action on multiple fronts with character moments that probably exceed anything in the prequels thus far. Jedi disagree over the wisdom of serving a Republic that everyone acknowledges is corrupt; Obi-Wan tries to figure out how to reach out to his troubled padawan. Scenes like this definitely fulfill the licensed material’s mandate to flesh out the stories we see on the screen. At the same time, the most interesting element of the prequels for me thus far has been the Sith’s skill at playing one force against another for the Sith’s ultimate benefit, and Ostrander and Allie continue that theme in their stories.
Doctor Who: Killing Ground
Story: This review was written after a long hiatus from Doctor Who books, and a journey through misery, so go easy on me.
The sixth Doctor decides to take his geeky teen companion, Grant Markham, on a tragical history tour of his past by bringinhg the child back to his homeworld of Agora. This was a mistake.
The book begins with the Doctor imprisoned, and after three weeks of torture, his morale is quite low. You see, Agora isn’t your normal Earth colony world. It is also a Cyber-breeding ground. The Cybermen have been coming to Agora every 3 years to pick up 500 new “recruits” who are then “converted” and added to the Cyber-army. So the “overseers” of this operation have been warned about the Doctor by the Cybermen, and given instructions to be implemented should the Time Lord show up. And show up he does. So now he’s in prison, awaiting the arrrival of this planet’s true masters, and they’ll take it from there.
Review: So here are my stock questions: will the Cybermen prevail? Will the Doctor prevail? Will Grant Markham be able to use Cyber-technology to clear up his acne? And lastly, but most importantly, did I like it? Yes. This was a good book. The sixth Doctor is in his prime. He is so sure of his beliefs and his actions, even though they risk alienating (is there anyone more alien than the Doctor?) himself from the Agorans, and Grant.
Doctor Who: The Sands of Time
Story: Sometimes even a Time Lord can get ahead of himself, and this adventure is a perfect case of that. The Doctor, along with Nyssa, and Tegan, arrive in 1920s London under the cover of darkness, right in the middle of the British Museum’s Egyptian exibit. It seems, though, that their arrival was expected, as Nyssa is immediately kidnapped and sent back in time to ancient Egypt, by powers not yet known.
So, as expected, The Doctor and Tegan head out to try and deduce what has happened. They leave the Museum and are immediately met by a man who appears to know them both qite well, and tells them that he has been instructed to take them to meet with a Lord Kennelworth. Apparently the Doctor and Tegan, some time in the past, had been with this Lord on an archeological dig in Egypt, where they had instructed him to bring back a specific sarcophagus containing a remarkable mummy. It seems that The Doctor and Tegan had arrived at the precise time for the “unwrapping of the mummy” party, and were shocked to see that the body wrapped with crumbling linens inside the ancient burial casket was not a dried-out corpse…but a seemingly comatose Nyssa!
Review: Oh what a fun book! Not only was it well written, but Nyssa was asleep for nine tenths of it, so we didn’t have to put up with her smarm for very long. I loved the way the Doctor would hear a snippet of what he’d done in the past, but it hadn’t yet actually happened to him. We get to see the events unfold, and the anecdotal refrences all come to pass. There is alot of TARDIS usage in this book, so it seems the Doctor has figured out how to get the “old girl” to work properly without any console banging.
Doctor Who: Eye of the Giant
Story: The lost island of Salatua. Cloaked in a veil of alien technology. The hiding place of an alien thief. A giant made of stone.
For 50 years he has remained hidden, but his self-induced exile ends in 1936, when an expedition to this mysterious place makes landfall. Most of the people on board believe that they are scouting for movie locations, yet others have ulterior motives. Greed. Retribution. And justice.
40 years later. A piece of strange ceramic is found in a shark’s stomach. It is brought to UNIT HQ and given to the eccentric Scientific Advisor to examine. Using bits of equipment from his TARDIS (like the dementedly huge Time Space Visualizer last seen in The Chase) he manages to rig up a sort of time bridge to the point of origin of this ceramic shard. Uncontrollable curiosity, and the need to make the book longer than 30 pages, sees the Doctor and Liz shaw step through the time portal, and onto the lost island of Salatua, 40 years in the past!
Review: The island itself holds many more secrets than just an alien thief. Giant crabs. Giant ants. Giant holes in the plot. And yet the “giant” in question is probably only 30 feet high…so, I guess he’s a dwarf giant? So, what exactly is this creature hiding? And why are certain people wanting to ressurect him by dumping him in lava?
Doctor Who: The English Way of Death
Story: The Doctor, Romana and K-9 arrive in 1920s London on a important mission: to return some overdue library books. This simple task, however, is to be inturrupted by yet another adventure. You see, there is an ancient time corridor running from the far future to this simpler age, and it is being used by a certain group of people who are using it as their means of retirement. They escape the hustle and bustle of the future, and take the trip (which is a one way trip, mind you) back to an era of piano sing-alongs, gramaphone records, and hours of fun staring at your stereoscope. But this time corridor has sucked something nasty into it. Something which has arrived in London and desires to totally destroy the Earth…The Will Of Zodaal!
Review: Something odd is happening. The Doctor Who books I’m reading of late have (almost) all been really good! Either my extremely critical ways are being softened with age, or the stories are actually getting better! This book is no exception.
Doctor Who: The Man in the Velvet Mask
Story: The Doctor’s body is getting old. He feels the change is near, to slough off his old, withered shape, only to be born anew. He lands, along with Dodo, in what appears to be Revolutionary France. But it is wrong… everything is wrong. Anachronistic technology is in use – Ray Guns, and strange masks of great power. This Paris is ruled by Citizen Marquis De Sade, and his son, Minski. Together they enjoy their power from inside the imposing edifice of the New Bastille. Prostitutes are regularly brought into the Bastille’s laborotories, and rarely, if ever, are they heard from again. Deep in the cells, a man, or what once was a man, sits alone, writing frantically scribbling on fragments of paper. He is Monsieur le 6 – Number 6 – Prisoner 6. He cannot remember who he was, or why he was imprisioned. He does know that the world is not as it should be…And that there are gaps in the air.
The Doctor, in his tired state, allows Dodo to wander off where she meets up with a troupe of wandering actors. One of the company, a girl named Sophie, has vanished, so Dodo reluctantly takes her place on the bill. These actors are preparing to put on a play at the New Bastille for De Sade and Son, but first, the play must be revised so as not to offend. This takes some time, but the troupe’s leader, Fantomas, does not seem bothered by the delay. He too is not as he seems. Is he old? Is he only acting old? Is he a she? Is she Human?
Review: Let me say, what a book! Dan O’Mahoney has done it again! Painting a fantasical world for the Doctor and company to be in. Everyone here is so weird, yet also totally wonderful in their complexity. The scenario, at first, is kind of difficult to imagine the first Doctor in, but as time passes and pages turn, his voice can be heard uttering the words O’Mahoney has penned for him. To have him knowing that his regeneration is near, having him draw strength from the people around him, and his proximity to the TARDIS is dead clever.
Doctor Who: Downtime
Story: Twenty some odd years after Victoria leaves the TARDIS, she begins having dreams about Det-sen Monestary in Tibet. She is haunted by strange voices asking for her help. So, she goes to Tibet in search of this voice. There, a bizarre accidend lands her in trouble, releasing the Great Intelligence into the world again.
Victoria returns home and finds out, thanks to some crack legal team, that her father has left her a multi-million pound inheritance, which, at the instruction of this disembodied voice, she uses to set up a computer based University. It is here that the Intelligence is gaining power, waiting to take over the world by using…wait for it……the Internet! How many aliens have had the same idea in the last 40 books or so? Too bloody many!
So, the students at this Computer School are all under mind control, and the machine used to enslave these helpess students? A bloody Walkman. Great. These slaves, all under the control of the so called Intelligence, along with Victoria, are searching for the LOCUS. This is someone, or something that has trapped the Intelligence on Earth ever since the “London Event” (The Web Of Fear).
Enter the Brigadier. He is still teaching at Brendan School (Mawdryn Undead), but it is his last year before retirement. So, now he becomes the focus of the Intelligence’s attention. So, is the Brig the LOCUS? His estranged daughter has also caught the Intelligence’s eye. Perhaps she is this LOCUS?! So, not to make it any more contrived…enter Sarah Jane Smith.
Review: Sometimes a trilogy is necessary to get the point across. “Lord Of The Rings”, The “Tripods” Trilogy, and “Hitchikers’ Guide”, just to name a few. But sometimes, streching it out to three books almost soils the validity of the previous two. Case in point: “Downtime”.
Doctor Who: Lords of the Storm
Story: Rudra: A gas giant somewhat like Jupiter, around which orbits a multitude of planets. One of these worlds is called Rhagi, and is an idyllic garden spot populated by colonists from a far off Earth. Rhagi gets its energy from a power station which has been built on the neighboring moon of Agni. However, there is a snake which has infiltrated this Eden, hiding unseen just in the undergrowth. This ordinary system has attracted the attentions of two of the most extraordinary, and battle-savvy life forms in the Galaxy. What interest do the gelatinous Rutan and the stout Sontarans have in this quiet little world? What strategic value does this remote backwater hold? Well, it all comes down to three things: location, location, location.
The Doctor and Turlough have arrived on Rhagi after their bloody run-in with the Daleks, the intention being to make some much needed (and long overdue) repairs to the TARDIS. It doesn’t take long before they become embroiled in intrigue. Locals are coming down with what appers to be a bad cold, yet when they are taken to the hospital (in ambulances with blacked-out windows…) they are never heard from again. Of course, the Doctor can’t help but investigate this “disease,” and his inquisitiveness gets him into a whole heap of trouble.
Review: I loved this book. It read like a Target novelisation, and it fits into its era like a glove made of words. This is a Doctor/companion team that has been sadly ignored, and I can’t understand why. Turlough is such an independant character, and doesn’t get pidgeonholed into the same old “dumbfounded Earthling” category that most others do (Peri). His nonchalant attitude to advanced technology is a good example of this.
Doctor Who: The Empire of Glass
Story: This adventure takes place in 15th century Venice, where a group of seemingly unrelated (or so you would think) characters are brought together to make the events transpire as they do. Firstly the Doctor, along with Steven and Vicki, are invited to Venice by an unknown person or persons. Of course, along the way there are ample opportunities to engage in all the classic storytelling cliches. The Doctor is mistaken for a high ranking Cardinal, visiting Venice on important business from the Vatican. Galileo is preparing himself (mostly through excessive drinking) for an audience at the Doge, in order to show them his new invention. And who is the strange man who is expecting the Doctor, but upon seeing him in his first incarnation, does not recognise him? But then again, what is Shakespeare doing skulking in the shadows wearing a strange disguise? And all the while, in the skies above, large, beetle-like aliens fly over the city, spying on its inhabitants.
Review: What do all these things have in common? In reality: Nothing. But that’s just the point! It all gets woven together quite well. I was surprised it worked as good as it did, as I was told it was a bad book. All in all it adds up to a very playful read!