Christopher Jones continues to prove himself the consummate Doctor Who comic artist. His work on Titan Comics' Third Doctor mini-series was phenomenal and his work here is of equal quality. He perfectly captures the appearances of the actors from the classic television series and draws some fantastically imaginative visuals.
The story, I'm sad to say, will not be everyone's cup of tea. Unsurprisingly, Andrew Cartmel perfectly emulates the tone of a Seventh Doctor story. The problem is that what comes off well on film does not always work in a comic book.
While I personally love the sly Seventh Doctor and how he cunningly manipulated events while seemingly doing nothing at all, the pay-off in many Seventh Doctor stories usually came at the end when the conjurer's trick was revealed. I have no doubt we'll get a smashing reveal in the next issue but this issue comes off a little flat, with two page sequences of coded messages being silently translated and The Doctor not doing much beyond facilitating a high-speed escape.
Again, this is typical of the McCoy era, and fans of the Seventh Doctor will love it. Everyone else, sadly, will not see the point. In this, the comic perfectly captures the spirit of the era, though it does make it a bit inaccessible to new fans.
The Final Analysis: 8 out of 10. It's perfectly captures the feel of a Seventh Doctor television episode. For good and for ill.
