Eldrad Must Live!

"This could be the worst catastrophe in nuclear history!"

Writer: Bob Barker

Format: Comic Strip

Released: August 2021

Series: Cutaway Comics: Eldrad Must Live! #1

Featuring: Eldrad

Synopsis

Following a narrowly averted radioactive meltdown, a military cleanup operation is well underway at the Nunton Complex. With Eldrad and the mysterious strangers having vanished, the emergency seems to be over. But has Eldrad left a final deadly surprise behind for Nunton's director, Professor Watson, in the embers of the nuclear reactor?

Verdict

Eldrad Must Live! was a good little one-shot comic story from Cutaway Comics! This is my first foray into this company's range of comics from the worlds of Doctor Who and it was certainly a good place to start. Eldrad is an iconic villain from the Classic era and The Hand of Fear is fondly remembered as Sarah Jane Smith's farewell, but there would be no mention of her or the Doctor by name here which amused me greatly given all of the licensing issues and confirmation required. It was fun to have them referred to from Watson as the man with the three-metre long scarf and the woman dressed like Andy Pandy, and just having a little sequel to that famed Classic serial is a marvellous idea. I think it could have benefited from being more than one issue long, but it was still a lot of fun and full of pace and action. Professor Watson getting a return after his appearance in the aforementioned televised story was terrific and I like that we get more of him. The whole setting of the Nunton Complex was also presented really nicely and I have to say that I thought the illustrations for this were outstanding. I was really impressed with it being my first foray into the company's range! Fantastic stuff that felt really authentic which left a good impression for sure. Speaking of good impressions, I thought Fenton was an excellent character and actually the highlight of the comic for me. Although it was a little quick and sudden for her to reveal she was actually a government agency, the way she oozed control when asserting her authority was tremendous. Watson seemed like he didn't know what to do! Having a splinter of Eldrad that survived the events thought wrapped up by the Doctor and Sarah was fun and I liked that we got an explanation in the opening page, even if it probably needed to be slightly clearer just what was happening with the splintering. Having Eldrad first take the form of a spider was fun and felt very much of the era with the proximity of Planet of the Spiders and the appearance resembled the Eight Legs from that adventure which was good. The way things shifted from being quite calm to having a nuclear disaster on the cards was great and I liked that Watson wanted to use science rather than go Gung ho with weaponry. Eldrad taking on the form then of a giant monster was impressive and was a terrific use of the comic strip format. That infamous shade of blue was lovely to see and I thought it was presented really nicely. The ending with the cut on Fenton's face coming into play, as was obvious from the moment the wound was inflicted, was decent and I liked that Eldrad now took her over and had Fenton under control. The message that went back to her team to stand down and that the threat was under control was good and I liked how this leads into a future comic story, even though I'm not a fan of cliffhanger finishes when there is only one part to a story! Regardless, this was an entertaining little read and I look forward to more to come! 

Rating: 7/10