Doctor Who and the Iron Legion [COMIC/1979.10.11 ~ 11.29]

 

★★★★★

  Comic strips have a unique strength, especially those of the Doctor Who mythos: to realize the most outlandish, gloriously crazy and detailed visual splendors without executive hampering due to budgetary troubles. A wonderful story, an imaginative and engaging artstyle and a firm grasp on who Doctor Who is, and you've got yourself a hugely enjoyable sdventure, if not an outright classic. How lucky are we, then, that there exists a comic strip adventure that fulfills all these criteria?

  We are blessed with the artwork of Dave Gibbons (along with Alan Moore, who would've expected such comic bigwigs to have contributed to Doctor Who at one point?), who infuses his signature style and blends it seamlessly with Pat Mills and John Wagner's insane story. A tinpot historian and a cyborg-gladiator-turned-slave acts as foils for the boisterous Fourth Doctor, and for one-off companions they bounce off one another so nicely. There are so many tiny details — the sheer absurdity of a TV news reporter commentating a gladiator battle amongst creatures, the Caesar being a spoilt little boy, even some of the authentically wacky Fourth Doctor lines — that bring the madness to life. There are so many exciting sequences, so many moments you wouldn't find in any other science fiction franchise. The Doctor uses an abandoned news camera to defeat a bloodthisty shapeshifting alien, saving the people of an alternate-history Rome which has endured the test of time and has become a global superpower in the modern world! How insane is that? How wonderful is it that practically everything clicks together to create such a storm of brilliance?

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  Doctor Who and the Iron Legion is filled to the brim with imagination, glorious Dave Gibbons illustrations, thrills and pure fun. My only fear is that my review, my writings won't properly reveal to you just how elated, excited and happy about having read this comic. This is a story with a hefty reputation, and let me tell you — it more than lives up to it. Sublime!