Maxwell Edison, a normal man from the village of Stockbridge finds himself entering the TARDIS and the Doctor’s adventures. There’s no time for questions when Maxwell suddenly finds himself on an alien spaceship and facing the battle of his life to save his village from destruction.
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I really like Maxwell Edison. That’s my main takeaway from the story – as well as the spaceship being really cool and unnerving and the ending quite lovely!
What a beautiful story.
Stars Fell on Stockbridge is remembered as the story that introduced Maxwell Edison into the Whoniverse. I remembered it as a story where not much happens but on this re-read I realised that, ultimately, that is the point. This is about Maxwell Edison. The spaceship that he and the Doctor investigate is incidental. This is a story which is about affirming Maxwell’s life and character.
Full review:
Also, I’ve always loved this artwork for the story from the Classic Comics reprint (which is what I read this time round).
This is such a charming story?! I expect part of the reason I enjoyed it so much is because the comics medium is still so fresh to me, it feels like a novelty and just getting used to the format is fun - because, let’s be honest, it’s a very simple and insubstantial story. But it feels like a sweet prologue to more that’s coming down the line. What, I have absolutely no idea, except that Stockbridge is a fairly important location in the DW comics lore. But it was wonderful to have a total change of pace and scale after the previous story, and it was no less engaging. Max is a really wonderful character and I’m excited to see where things go with him. To me, it felt like The Well and Wild Blue Yonder had a comics baby, and that’s no bad thing - particularly if answers show up later down the line. I’m really enjoying this journey far more than I expected to… as if I have time to get into another form of Doctor Who media…
Wow, what a charming little story. I wasn’t sure for the first two pages but this actually feels like the Doctor is showing somebody something amazing and it’s a really fun romp. Also I found myself really laughing at the Doctor slapping Max, not quite sure why perhaps it’s his deadpan expression as he does it but it really tickled me.
A very pleasant surprise seeing some more overt continuity between issues! I had the impression with the Fourth Doctor’s DWM stories that they were more anthological, with or without Sharon as a companion, and though there were still elements that carried over or call-backs here and there, this is a whole new level and one I’m welcoming with open arms!
A short but sweet story with some gorgeous illustrations to inject some novelty into a familiar formula. Maxwell Edison is a bit of a punching bag but easy to sympathise with; though the Doctor slapping some sense into him can be read as a bit excessive, I think it tracks with the Fifth Doctor’s character as an incarnation easily irritated (though still capable of caring) by humanity. This one doesn’t overstay its welcome, and while it may be argued that there isn’t much to it besides some ‘atmospheric’ elements, I think it works as a nice slice-of-life story to break up the tedium of high-stakes adventures DWM had been doing before.
An easy 9/10 for me!
I think that this was a nice change of pace. I like calmer comics that are focused on characters instead of action, and this was that. Excited to see where this is going.
Stars Fell on Stockbridge is a pleasant but slight adventure. Very little actually happens beyond introducing Maxwell and setting up larger ideas for the future. As a character piece, it succeeds thanks to Max’s likeable personality, but as a standalone story it feels more like the opening chapter of something bigger than a satisfying adventure in its own right.
6.0/10 = Enjoyable
It’s fine; I’m interested to see Maxwell Edison return. No strong feelings either way about the story as a whole.
