Stars Fell on Stockbridge [COMIC/1982.8.12 ~ 9.?]

★★★☆☆

  Stars Fell on Stockbridge is a cute little story that doesn't overstay its welcome. Quite the contrary, I would have gladly lapped up at least two more parts of this cozy tale. It's always a welcome occurrence when an adventure introduces such a delightful and lovable character, and wide-eyed UFO enthusiast Maxwell Edison fits the bill perfectly. He's a loving homage to that one peculiar uncle figure you always had in your neighbourhood back when you were young, the man who would go about talking about conspiracy theories and alien abductions but would never cross the line to being creepy. In other words, despite being conceived as a pastiche, Edison ends up becoming one of Dr. Who's most immediately believable characters. For all his eccentric ways, he feels like a real person who happens to stumble into the insanity that is the Doctor's world, and you can feel his terror and joy at realising he was right all along, and that the mocking world surrounding him will never truly know the happiness he feels in this moment. This comic story is a prime example of how one does oneself such a disservice if they try to reduce an adventure down to only the "core elements (i.e. the story)" and judge the final product with only that in mind. What is merely an exploration around a derelict spaceship is brought up several notches by the cozy atmosphere of Stockbridge and the introduction of Maxwell Ediso.