Here’s the story discussion thread for The Iron Legion graphic novel collection that collects the first Fourth Doctor comic stories from DWM. This collection contains the stories: Doctor Who and the Iron Legion [DWM 1-8], City of the Damned [DWM 9-16], Doctor Who and the Star Beast [DWM 19-26], The Dogs of Doom [DWM 27-34] and The Time Witch [DWM 35-38]. I won’t be creating separate threads for each story, so please specify which story you’re talking about in the posts below. Anyway, have fun.
Remember, the first 200 issues of DWM are available on Archive if you don’t have access to the Panini graphic novel: Doctor Who Magazine Archive : Doctor Who Magazine : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive
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I have read this before, but it’s been a while
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So I finally got around to starting this one and read the story Doctor Who and the Iron Legion (as found in DWM 1-8) last night. And it’s a lot of fun. I understand why this is one Big Finish chose to adapt in their short-lived comic adaptations. This isn’t really a story that could be shown on TV but it’s a great idea. The Malevilus are a excellently creepy villain and the way the Doctor defeats them is great. The scene where the Doctor just waltzes into the Imperial Box while Juno/Magog is ranting about the soldiers not being able to find him is great. The art, while not outstanding, is very good and works well for the story. A definite high point to start the magazine’s comic strip on. I rate it at 4/5 stars.
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Read the second story in the collection, City of the Damned (as found in DWM 9-16). I think I enjoyed The Iron Legion more, but this was still enjoyable. There are some interesting ideas in this one as the Doctor helps liberate a city where emotion has been eradicated/outlawed. There are some very good sci-fi concepts in this one. I rate it at 3.5/5 stars.
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So I read Doctor Who and the Star Beast (as found in DWM 19-26) tonight. It’s good. There are some differences between the comic and the 60th Anniversary Special, some of the details are different, but the basic plot is the same. I really don’t see the Wrarth Warriors sticking a bomb inside the Doctor towards the start working for TV. I get that Russell had to change various things, partly because he was adapting a comic story to TV, but also because he wasn’t making a story where the Doctor is the only known character. I don’t mind the new companion Sharon (who happens to be the first companion of color), but she hasn’t stood out to me either. I’d rate this at a 4/5 stars.
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Finished the next story, The Dogs of Doom (as found in DWM 27-34). Another fun story. I find it interesting that we get some space truckers named Joe Bean and Babe Roth. I don’t think you’d get a character today whose name is “Babe”. The art is really good too. I enjoyed the titular “Dogs of Doom”, the werewolf-like Werelox. The arrival of the Daleks halfway through worked well too. And their plot of purging the system and setting up breeding colony was interesting, even if the idea of using alien creatures to breed in better traits into the next batch of Dalek doesn’t seem all that Dalek-like to me. Another fun story from DWM. These are definitely much better than the light fluff of the main TV Comic stories. I’d rate it at 4/5 stars.
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There, I finally finished this collection. The last story is The Time Witch (as found in DWM 35-38). It’s an interesting little story that has a very Warrior’s Gate feel to it. I like the idea of the little pocket dimension leeching energy from the primary one and creating the environment with the power of thought. I thought the villain rather interesting and the way the Doctor defeated her was done well. The only downside I have with this story is the aging of the companion, Sharon. And that’s more on an art level than a story level. I thought she actually looked older in the previous stories than she does at the end of this one. Anyway, another solid story, 4/5 stars.
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So, having finally finished this collection, I find it to be strong set of stories. While none were truly outstanding or major favorites of mine, they still all nearly rated at 4/5 stars. They’re fun stories that feel like they’re for all ages. They don’t feel silly (or unlike Doctor Who) like the TV Comic strips sometimes do, but they also don’t feel so geared towards adults that you couldn’t hand them off to children who really enjoy Doctor Who. As much as I prefer my comics in color, the black-and-white art doesn’t detract from the stories or make them feel like they’re lacking something. In reading the early issues of DWM, the comics feel like the strongest part right out of the gate. An enjoyable collection and great read, and just some good Doctor Who. I can see why two of these were what Big Finish chose to adapt into audio and what RTD chose to adapt for his return to the show. Bring on the next one.
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A quick read
Nice adventure to just take in and enjoy the art from,
the doctor is very hasty in this comic. Also shows his humor which is just a blast.
Again, just loved the art. Besides this the story is just too simple,
and that little oil spewing robot thingy sucks balls,
should’ve been him instead of poor morris
#justiceformorris
R.I.P. Morris (he was a badass)
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British comic book royalty on this including Pat Mills who created a unique companion in Sharon Davies, a POC, & a more working class intelligent companion than was found in the TV show at the time. Predating Ace & of course Rose.
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Pat Mills is one of my favourite comic writers of all time. 2000AD was my youth.
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This is now on the site, along with loads of other classic comics
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City of the Damned as the lowest of the set??!?!
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It seems that way, but I don’t think it was by very much. I’m going off of memory now because this was 9 months ago. I remember enjoying it, but just a bit less than Iron Legion which had the perfect sense of epicness while still capturing the Fourth Doctor’s sense of humor that a new comic run needed. If we could rate things in quarters, it would probably a 3.75/5 instead of 3.5/5.
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Just re-read it and changed my rating to 4/5. It’s really quite good.
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Recently finished all the Stories in this Collection, here are some Thoughts:
Doctor Who and the Iron Legion: There is a lot to like about here, one thing is for sure, for being the Opening Comic Story for the newly DWM, it goes out there in its creativity, which I must admit took me by surprise. There is a lot going on and it’s ambitious for sure, I will say at times it might have been a bit lacking for me, you can tell it’s an early one, since they are still searching for their footing. That said, the Art is gorgeous, Gibbons delivers with it, and it’s really pleasant to look at it.
City of the Damned: Now this more like it, while the first Story of DWM was a good one to start it out with, I prefer this one a lot more. The Concepts are again a bit surprising, it really goes out there and delivers on a rather bleak tale. Its atmosphere is really superb and there are so many great Ideas to be found here. Granted I have some Issues with some minor Things, but this one is really excellent. Oh, and the Art? Excellent as ever.
Doctor Who and the Star Beast: It’s a very simple Story, probably the most typical Doctor Who Story of this entire Collection, if I am being honest, but it still quite an effective one. While, I wish certain Things were fleshed out a bit more, in particular in regard to the Meep, I do think what you have is a lot of fun. Sharon is solid, it’s probably her best Story of this entire Collection. As it is, it’s very fun, but gets hold back by certain weird decisions.
The Dogs of Doom: I must admit looking back, I like this one a lot less than I first thought. While the Dalek Reveal halfway through the Story is fun, there is much to chew on it here. There are few Things, I like, but I am mostly bothered by how it goes about a lot of Things, in particular of not really using Sharon. The first Dud of the Range, which is a shame, since before that, it was holding itself quite well.
The Time Witch: Thankfully this one is a lot more interesting to digest, there are few Decisions made here that puzzled me. While Sharon has a more fun presence to her in this one, she still doesn’t get much to do and there are some odd Choices made with her Character. I do quite like how again, this one is out-there in some of its Concept, something, which I really respect and still am delighted to be surprised by. There are some clever Choices made with the Art and the Art here is as good as ever, you can’t really go wrong with Dave Gibbons, can you?
A pretty good Collection, while I don’t think any of those Stories are firm favorites of the DWM Comics for me, I think most of them are pretty solid or a lot of fun with a few Choices, that I am a bit less fond of.
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