Throwback: The Soul of a Cyberman

"It has no feelings, no soul... I doubt you could say it was ever alive."

Writer: Steve Moore

Format: Comic Strip

Released: November 1979

Printed in: DWM 5-7

Featuring: Kroton

Synopsis

On the planet Mondaran, groaning under the metallic heel of the Cybermen, Junior Cyberleader Kroton works tirelessly to quell the resistance of the human inhabitants, led by Pendar. But as the freedom fighters are on the rise, Kroton experiences some inner conflict beyond a mere malfunction...

Verdict

Throwback: The Soul of a Cyberman was a great comic strip adventure! This actually kicked off my reading of The Glorious Dead graphic novel and even though this story was printed at the back of the collection, even following the commentary section, I felt like I had to start here as where possible I always prefer to read a series of stories in release order. Considering this adventure was released in the fifth, sixth and seventh issues of what was then Doctor Who Weekly, I didn't see any benefit in coming back to them after reading through a lengthy set of adventures for the Eighth Doctor and Izzy. I thought this was a really fun and intriguing tale and I like the use of the Fourth Doctor in the top corner at the start of each part to update readers on what came before, or in the case of part one to establish the setting and show that the events depicted in the adventure were part of a Time Lord library record. That was really fascinating and a good use of the Doctor without him actually featuring. It's a good use of the comic strip format as well to go beyond the Doctor and give us something new with the Cybermen. I imagine this was well received at the time as well considering it had been five years since Revenge of the Cybermen was broadcast! I thought the setting of Mandaran was very good and I liked the use of logic and failing to understand why humanity just didn't accept the Cybermen as the superior beings and ruling species. To the Cybermen, they were the only species capable of being in control which was terrific. I absolutely loved the comic strip design of the Cybermen in this story with it being somewhat close to that of The Invasion but it just looks a little slicker. It really is effective and I think the appearance is definitely a big benefit of the foes here. I thought Kroton was a fantastic character and whilst the name perhaps could have been different given the titular enemies in The Krotons, the fact we have a Cyberman with a name is unique in of itself. I was a fan of that happening for Kroton, but I had to laugh at the silliness of the Cybermen here questioning humanity over their individuality only for them all to have their own names! That's a bit of a continuity error and is a big proponent of why I couldn't give this story an even higher rating. Regardless, it still scores very well and was a really enjoyable read. Pendar was a very good character and I also liked Marilka's role in the uprising with her father. The Cybermen were dealing in logic and coupling that with Kroton's interest in emotions was fantastic. He was genuinely interested and almost wanted to be empathic to what it is to be human. Trying to deal with the inner conflict of saving the humans rather than killing them was a powerful image and it even went so far as to confusing the rebels. Could they be trusted? Having only thirty or so rebels who were willing to trust Kroton in helping them escape was very good and a believable number with the others having to just remain stuck battling the Cybermen. Kroton was able to fly them to safety and whilst they couldn't reach orbit and get off the planet, they could reach salvation on the daylight side. A fitting sacrifice from Kroton as he then propelled into space and would drift on, or so it appeared. Overall, a really great comic strip!

Rating: 8/10