The Cruel Sea [COMIC/2005.7.21 ~ 10.13]

★★★★☆

  Robert Shearman is a writer interested in masculinity. In particular, he's interested in how toxic, cruel masculinity affects others and how destructive it is not so much as a freak phenomenon but a deeply rooted, cyclical part of men in human societal structures. In The Holy Terror, a father haunted by his crime of killing his own son creates an eternal prison for himself to wallow in self-pity forever. In The Chimes of Midnight, it's the powers of misogyny towards a lowly servant girl (embodied by the villainous Edward Grove) that drive Edith Thompson to her everlasting suicide. The Cruel Sea is one of the more complex examples of Shearman's fascination with the subject; not only is the big bad of the adventure exemplary of this masculine oppression, but there's an underlying (and pretty clear) examination on the Doctor as a masculine force sweeping away young women from their lives. Rose's 'alternate timeline' scenario presented in this story shows an alternative perspective of the Doctor whisking new companions away for travel; he's in charge every step of the way, and she is ultimately a plaything of his -- more of a curio than an actual friend. It's not to say that the Doctor and Rose's dynamic is this exactly, of course not, but it has always been a worthy conversation to have in Dr. Who. I'm glad Shearman's the one who got to explore it, and it's also poignant to know that the original episode slated to be written in the slot of Boom Town was supposed to be about how the Doctor manipulated Rose to be his perfect companion.

  True to Shearman's sensibilities, The Cruel Sea is a twisted fairy tale set in a sci-fi setting. Multiple wives in trouble, a malformed husband in need of constant attention, a sea representing all the worst fears imaginable, comically elongated mouths and body parts strewn about on the page with the illustrators' sickly imagination... and some people still have the gall to say Dr. Who comics don't push the envelope. There's real emotion between these pages, and the Ninth Doctor is given some real meat to chew on. What's great is that the emotional undercurrent of this comic (i.e. Rose's stance on travelling with this alien and abandoning her "real" life) fits nicely with what the mainland TV show was doing at the time (with Series 1 being such a contained series full of expertly written characters and dynamics), and therefore there's less disconnect between TV and expanded universe material than one would normally expect. The Cruel Sea is a darn great comic and a brilliant Dr. Who adventure... just watch out if you're not one to stomach violent and disgusting images.