With the TARDIS awaiting repairs, the Doctor meets Kane, a man who tells him of the approaching menace that threatens much of the galaxy, including the Earth.
The Skeletoids are coming! As the galaxy prepares itself, Abel Gantz’s life is changed forever.
On Xaos, the oldest planet in Mutter’s Spiral, the Doctor gathers his allies to face the Skeletoid menace.
On the planet Vespin, the Doctor and his allies must put an end to the Skeletoid menace.
This was a fun sequence of (very short) reviews to revisit:
Although by the sound of it a that was more fun than actually reading the stories. I only very vaguely remember this one and I can see why. A lot of setup for a very short payoff
What I like about these stories is how they continue the epic nature of the DWM strips and introduce a bunch of interesting characters. What I don’t particularly like is the fact that the world-ending threat of the Skeletoids is just blown up.
It’s great to Peri back (even if she doesn’t really do much) and I do like Kane and Abel as characters. I’d also forgotten that we meet a younger Kaon the Draconian from War-Game which is a nice bit of continuity (even if there isn’t really a pay off to it).
I love how this pulls in references to the Daleks and Davros, the Cybermen and the never seen Cyber Emperor and epic locations and science fiction ideas. The Skeletoids prefigure the suits in Oxygen and, as is often the case with these stories, there are some fun gags too (the one with the folkloric names of the three wise men made me smile).
As a whole these are maybe less than the sum of their parts, but it’s a hugely enjoyable ride.
Verdict on Kane’s Story - The vibes are still there but objectively, this so far feels like a big step down from everything that’s come before in Sixe’s DWM era. A lot of exposition and very little else, hopefully leading to some proper pay-off in the other parts of this story. There’s always hope.
Verdict on Abel’s Story - Well, this is disappointing. Still very little going on. In a four-part story, I’m not sure you should still feel like things are being gradually set up and moved into place very slowly, by the end of the second issue.
Verdict on The Warrior’s Story - I am both bored and confused. There are some nice bits of art but beyond those, this is doing absolutely nothing for me. And why do they insist on Draconiansss sspeaking like thissss??
Verdict - Huh? I don’t get it. Maybe it’s because it’s late at night but I really felt like this whole thing went right over my head. Why the ‘story’ titles? Why Frobisher’s narration in the last segment other than to justify the former question. Why gather this random gang of companions? Specifically, why Peri? And why was she in the US and how did the Doctor know where she’d be? What was the point of the skeletoids? And the seeds sown about Davros, leading to nowhere? Maybe I need to return to this story at a later date because I don’t really have a clue what I just read or why it exists.
