Once Upon a Time-Lord [COMIC/1985.2.7 ~ 3.7]

★★★★★

  I'll let you in on a little secret: I'm a sucker for adventures that break from their format to become something special. It seems Doctor Who does it better than most other franchises (either that, or I'm simply most accustomed to Who's typically imaginative ways of doing it), and I've experienced some marvelous examples — Legend of the Cybermen and Special Features come to mind — throughout the years. In the case of the comic genre, though, I don't think we'll get a comic that trumps what Once Upon a Time-Lord does best; this thing not so much breaks its own boundaries as smashes them with an aluminum bat and dances over their remains. 

  Quite fitting for a trilogy that began with the superb and evocative Voyager, Once Upon a Time-Lord is the definition of "...and then madness ensues"; the Doctor enters the Cabinet of Astrolabus, facing Nazguls and Little Red Riding Hoods from popular fiction and folklore. He and Frobisher encounter the format of Rupert Bear, imperialist fiction in the form of a Tarzan-like figure saving them from evil natives, and children sitting inside a theatre watching their escapades! I cannot begin to tell you how joyful it is to be able to see every moment of madness that befalls on the Doctor and Frobisher, drawn by the one and only John Ridgway. At this point, I don't even need to spell it out; madness is stacked upon each other until the balance is tipped and every wonderful, wacky moment spills out in one solemn and haunting final set piece. 

*:･ﾟ✧*:･ﾟ  

  With the Astrolabus/Voyager trilogy, there is no doubt in my mind now that Steve Parkhouse and John Ridgway are a formidable duo. They have created two Doctor Who adventures that fit snugly in the uppermost echelon of the collective mythos, two utterly brilliant stories that are wildly different and yet identically creative and joyful. Once Upon a Time-Lord holds up to its premise of taking the fight to an almost-omnipotent Time Lord madman's home front, and defies every expectation and notion about comicbooks imaginable. The Sixth Doctor has never been more delightfully endearing, and Frobisher continues to be the perfect companion for this comic range. I am madly in love.