Junk-Yard Demon II

"How does it feel to be a Cyber Controller?"

Writer: Alan Barnes
Format: Comic Strip
Released: September 1995
Printed in: Doctor Who Yearbook 1996

Featuring: Fourth Doctor

Synopsis

Shortly after encountering a Cyberman in the form of a demon in a junk-yard, the Doctor arrives in exactly the same place but at a completely different time. Things have changed. The Cybermen are wanted and Lovejoy McShane will do anything to get them.

Verdict

Junk-Yard Demon II was sadly not the best of comic strip stories to conclude my reading of The Clockwise War graphic novel. It actually ranks as my least favourite story of the whole collection which is a real shame for a final adventure in what has been quite the collection! I thought the original comic strip of Junk-Yard Demon was good, but I probably would have picked a non-Fourth Doctor comic strip story for an immediate sequel after Star Beast II. Even though he's great, not everything needs to revolve around the Fourth Doctor! One story was definitely enough for me, but even so that didn't have any kind of effect on my reading of this comic strip and I just couldn't get on board. There was something that just didn't have the right feel and I think some of that might be down to the artwork. It was whacky and weird and slightly off front the usual style of the Doctor Who Magazine comic strips, and I applaud the attempt but it wasn't something I enjoyed. The follow on from the first adventure with the Cyberman was quite average and I think more could have been made of the fact that the Doctor had jus moved in time rather than space in circumstances extremely similar to The Ark. That fact played such a pivotal role in that serial and I really think more could have made of it here. This story itself though didn't have much going for it and considering the Cybermen appeared, they really didn't do much. Lovejoy McShane, someone who I hope is somehow related to Ace in a very roundabout way, was a decent character but I really didn't think Stinker was any good at all. I thought he was just pretty awful and not a good henchman at all. His appearance wasn't brilliant which was a shame and I felt, even in an eight page story, Lovejoy relied on him too often which took away from the potential great villainy of his character. The returns of Flotsam and Jetsam weren't bad and I liked how they became top thoughts in the mind of the Doctor when he realised he was in the same place. I thought the pace of this story was also a little off with the pace picking up considerably in some parts to then just slow right down. It was quite weird and I'd usually enjoy things from Alan Barnes a great deal more than I did this one. I'm somewhat struggling to find more to say about this comic strip because I just didn't like it. Sadly, it really was just bang average and didn't really do itself justice as a sequel. The appearance of the Cybermen were really weird and seemed to be a kind of blend between those seen in The Tenth Planet and The Invasion. I really don't think that continuity absence helped proceedings. Dutch being used to effectively become the Cyber Controller was a little humorous but the resolution seemed to come incredibly quick! For the Cybermen to defeated so easily and simply, when they're the epitome of logic, was not something I liked much. The characterisation of the Fourth Doctor was pretty average, and that word sadly describes the story as a whole.

Rating: 5/10