“You’d think they’d let me be in color in this modern comic, hmm?”
Doctor Who: The Forgotten #1
IDW Publishing (August, 2008; as posted to comiXology, no longer available)
“Amputation”
WRITER: Tony Lee
ARTIST: Pia Guerra
INK ASSISTS: Kent Archer & Shyanne Corbett
SELECTED COVER ART: Nick Roche (digital version also includes the variant photo cover)
COLORIST: Charlie Kirchoff
LETTERER: Neil Uyetake
EDITORS: Chris Ryall & Tom Waltz
The 10th Doctor and Martha Jones wake up in a strange museum with no access to the TARDIS or the Doctor’s Sonic Screwdriver. In the museum are exhibits of enemies the Doctor has fought and a special exhibition featuring the outfits of the previous incarnations…though now the Doctor can’t remember them thanks to someone messing with his timeline. With Martha’s encouragement the Doctor manages to remember an adventure from his first life. The 1st Doctor, Susan, Ian, and Barbara end up in ancient Egypt and the pharaoh’s rival tries to use their strange arrival to kill the pharaoh. The Doctor inadvertently saves his life and in the ensuing battle the quartet return to the TARDIS and escape. The Doctor’s memories seems restores but the man in control of the museum messes with his machine again. One of the Doctor’s hearts stops and he passes out, possibly dying because he realizes his foe wants him to regenerate and it probably isn’t a good idea.
What they got right: A miniseries tying the Doctor and his past selves was a good way for IDW to introduce readers to the full Doctor’s history while this was early in their comic run. Within legal restraints the various Doctors and Companions resemble their actors just enough that longtime fans know it’s them.
What they got wrong: I know in the early days the Doctor and the teachers didn’t always get along but it seems a bit forced here, as if that was all there was to their time together. In other words there’s too much focus on their combativeness, especially the Doctor and Ian, and not enough on their working together. In fact the story itself doesn’t have any of them doing much of anything. Even saving the pharaoh was an accident. Plus the story was in black and white, a nod to how the series started, but I would have rather seen it in color, which the onomatopoeia still is.
Other notes: I was in the middle of collecting this miniseries when BW Media Spotlight began. The first two issues never got reviewed at all and the others were reviewed without the usual comic review format I would develop later. So for the next few Saturdays I’ll going to go back into my collection and give this miniseries a proper review.
Recommendation: It’s a lukewarm start but I remember the series getting better and being worth checking out. It’s still important for the setup anyway.
BW Media Spotlight 