Forever Dreaming

"You were right, Doctor-man. She's stronger than any of us, just what we need..."

Writer: Jonathan Morris

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 4th May 2011

Printed in: DWM 433-434

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Amy

Synopsis 

The Doctor and Amy arrive at a 1960s seaside resort where everything is just a little too stereotypical. As things entail, the Doctor vanishes into thin air and Amy is left all alone, in a dream that lasts forever, hunted by the Dark.

Verdict 

Forever Dreaming was a bit of a let down I must sadly admit. Comic strip stories that go more than one part are usually very good and tell an entertaining and interesting story but for the most part this adventure was bland and extremely average. After reading many Scott Gray comic strips to kick off my delving into this format, I'm yet to be overly impressed by Jonathan Morris. He's just not doing things greatly for the Eleventh Doctor in his first graphic novel. The story arc has just been all over the place really with the mysterious Chiyoko appearing prominently in The Golden Ones but only making a cameo in The Screams of Death since. If you're going with a story arc, at least have something leading upto the climatic conclusion story as seen with the brilliant Hunters of the Burning Stone and The Blood of Azrael. I didn't like the plot of this adventure much at all with the silly Beatles theme and dreary and dreamy atmosphere. It was needless and just far too cliched. I liked the idea of Amy having been to this particular seaside town before with her aunt but the confusing jumps between her being an adult and a child weren't great. I mean, she was wearing the same clothes in both ages of herself, there was a severe lack of explanation. The artwork was pretty awful for this story sadly, it seemed way too rushed and not detailed enough at all. I don't whether the artist was trying to make it suit the dream theme and tone or not, but whatever he'd thought of I didn't like it and to me it just didn't work. The saving grace of the comic strip was the Dark. They looked very Doctor Who and the way they spoke was impressive. The cliffhanger was not great and I did think that Amy conjuring up an ice cream to save the day, making her happy, was extremely silly. The lack of the Doctor is something that hurt the story I think. Now don't get me wrong, I absolutely love Amy when she travels solely with the Doctor and I know she'd be more than capable of holding her own in a spinoff, but here she wasn't allowed the expression and freedom that she should have. Thanks to the dreams she was restricted and the distraction of the ridiculous John Lennon entity or whatever it was didn't help matters. Thank goodness the Dark looked very good and acted like great villains. The rhyming riddles they spoke in were fantastic and the way they were turned against the "physic squid" was actually good. You know a story isn't going well when you're enemy is called a physic squid event though that's not its real name. It was severely lacking in aggression or looking fearful instead it just seemed like a giant squishy toy. The idea of it wanting to get out of psychspace was at least a saving grace. The Doctor's disappearance was a shock but to find him just sitting around with others, still trapped, was poor. I thought it was too away and again not clarified as to how the squid couldn't tap into Amy's mind. The climax with Amy conjuring up the TARDIS to escape was somewhat rushed. I've got nothing else to say really, very average but the excellence of the Dark saved things from disaster and gains what's probably a generous rating. 

Rating: 6/10