Cuckoo

"The best way to teach is by example."

Writer: Dan Abnett
Format: Comic Strip
Released: December 1993-February 1994
Printed in: DWM 208-210

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace, Benny

Synopsis

Mary Anne Wesley is a palaeontologist who has defied the norms of Victorian society. She is about to present the most monumental discovery of this or any other era. But the Doctor means to stop her. Why would the Doctor prevent a triumph of feminism? And how could Wesley's discovery set human science back to the Dark Ages?

Verdict

Cuckoo was a pretty decent story to continue my reading of the Emperor of the Daleks graphic novel and whilst it did raise many intriguing questions, there definitely could have been some improvements. I thought the Victorian setting of 1855 in Lifton was very good and I loved the idea of a feminist triumph occurring in an era of male dominance. The gentlemen of this time would probably not be best pleased but the prospect of the Doctor being the one to prevent feminist success was superb. Ace was horrified by such an occurrence and stormed off and whilst she was also quite shocked, Benny was more willing to hear the Doctor out. I thought the challenges posed to the TARDIS trio and their relationships through the Doctor's plan were excellent but it was also great how they came together by the adventure's conclusion and ended on good terms. The prospect of sightings of the Devil in Victorian society is a very good idea but I didn't think the delivery was as spectacular as it perhaps should have been. The design of the Surcoth was actually pretty good but I really didn't understand why the text used for its speech was so awkward to read. It was jumbled and sometimes unclear which made for difficult reading which is just unnecessary. It sadly did have an effect on the story which was a shame but that's not to say it was a bad one by any stretch of the imagination. Ace finding the real body of Thomas Gideon was good and I liked how quickly this made her change from being angry at the Doctor to saving him by attacking the Surcoth with a fossilised alien bone. The Doctor was humorously grateful which was terrific. I actually thought the characterisation of the Seventh Doctor in this story was brilliant with the eeriness associated with Sylvester McCoy's incarnation very well captured on the page. The story was just a bit off in some aspects which was slightly annoying given the potential of the comic strip. I thought the cliffhangers were pretty good despite their similarity and they did add a little to the story which is always a benefit. The Surcoth fossil was interesting but I wasn't overly convinced by the Doctor's claim that its entering into the history of human science would set the mankind back into the Dark Ages. It just seemed a little far fetched. The conclusion was a bit mixed for me as the conversation between the Doctor and the Surcoth was very good with the emotion behind it but then the enemy just packed up and left with the fossil as it intended. The Doctor didn't seem to mind that he let a murderer walk free which didn't sit well with me. Overall though, it was still an enjoyable story!


Rating: 7/10