Comic book review: Doctor Who #7 (IDW Publishing) By Ed Rondo.

Tessaract: Part 1 of 2

Doctor Who #7 revolves around yet another villain who is out to get the Doctor for past events. Thanks to the Doctors previous adventure involving the Shadow Proclamation, someone has managed to tamper with the one device which would allow them to gain possible access to the TARDIS undetected: The Doctors ever trusty Sonic Screwdriver. This act allows the main villain to merge their ship with the TARDIS within Fifth dimensional space, creating a situation where not only is the TARDIS breached and boarded by a hostile force, but it’s control room becomes even more “lost”, and turns both ships into ticking time bombs.



I liked how even amongst all the chaos, the Doctor manages to give one of the simplest explanations of how the TARDIS and its various rooms are interconnected, and how he is Psychically connected to the TARDIS, which is giving him a hard time keeping everything together. It’s explanations like this which make the series more accessible in my opinion, and bring it down to a level which anyone can enjoy.

Further along we learn the villain’s possible motives behind this attack, and it has to do with two of the doctors most notable companions: Adrid & Vislor Turlough. Both were companions to the Fifth Incarnation of the Doctor. Adrid was the one companion who seemed to die a “pointless death” in the eyes of many, while Turlough was the only companion who ever tried to murder the Doctor. I will not go into details here, but for those who wish to know more about these companions, I would suggest using your favorite online search resource to further investigate.

Overall, I found the first part of this story arc to be very informative, yet puzzling at the same time. But then again, what good Doctor Who story doesn’t start off like that? The opening scene will have fellow Whovian’s in stitches, and wishing they were in the Doctors current companions place. Access to certain Rooms within the TARDIS is usually off limits (and for good reason), so it’s nice to get a tour of its fabled interiors.

While the quality of the stories seems to be improving, I find the art continues in its minimalist vein. I understand that with a character like the Doctor, with the whole universe as your backdrop, less is more. But there does come a point where I feel more detail is needed in order to match the level of the story being told.

I would recommend this as a starting point for anyone who is interested in the continuing adventures of Tenth Doctor. But mostly I would also recommend this to any David Tennant fans out there that are looking for their Tenth Doctor Fix.

Writer: Tony Lee
Artist: Al Davison

Ed Rondo
Senior Critic