War-Game

"Uh-oh. Mister I-love-a-mystery is back in business."

Writer: Alan McKenzie

Format: Comic Strip

Released: May-June 1985

Printed in: DWM 100-101

Featuring: Sixth Doctor, Frobisher

Synopsis 

Setting down on a primitive planet for a short stay, the Doctor and Frobisher are taken prisoner and auctioned as slaves. They are bought by Achmar, servant of the Draconian Warlord, Kaon.

Verdict 

War-Game was another very good comic strip story to continue along the Voyager graphic novel. A graphic novel which has become quite the little gem! We've had a brand new shape shifting companion, an incredible Astrolabus trilogy and now we get the return of the Draconians! Or at least a father-daughter of the race. I may as well get straight into things and upon reading the cliffhanger to part one I can't describe how envious I am of those people back in the mid 1980s who purchased the landmark 100th edition of Doctor Who Magazine and got to experience the grand Draconian entrance cliffhanger as exactly that. For me however, although I didn't know which story within the graphic novel they would be appearing, I knew the Draconians were making a return as they feature on the graphic novel cover. Speaking of which, where the hell is Peri? Still she is absent! This means she's only going to be in a maximum of two comic strip stories which I think is a shame. There's absolutely no reason why Peri can't feature from the start! But it is what it is. I bet Jon Pertwee would love this comic strip as it sees his favourite foes return for, I believe, the first time in any format since their debut in Frontier in Space. I think the Draconians have an unfortunate positioning in that story as from the outside it's probably most memorable for, albeit for the briefest of moments, having an incredible alliance of the Daleks and the Master. The Draconians often get forgotten which is a shame because I think they were excellent. I was surprised that for a landmark return, just the main Draconian Kaon was focused on. The plot of saving his daughter was a pacy and action packed one in the second part, though I'm sure this could have done just as well at double the length. In saying that though I must commend this graphic novel thus far for getting the pace of the stories absolutely spot on. I think this is definitely an interesting take on the Draconians with a nice backdrop to Kaon placed in. Apparently they don't think much of their female offspring - why is beyond me - but here Kaon was, leading an army into battle to save his kidnapped daughter. There was definitely an element of the A Good Man Goes to War feel about things but only it wasn't the Doctor in command. He was working alongside the Draconian, which I imagine may not have best pleased Pertwee, though I didn't take too much to Frobisher's macho form in this episode. In saying that, I thought this was a very good showing for the Whifferdill companion. Before the Draconian's return was revealed, I liked the build up with it glaringly obvious that a past villain was returning. They had knowledge of the TARDIS which meant knowledge of the Doctor which almost certainly meant a past encounter which probably didn't end well which probably meant revenge was to be sought. To my surprise that wasn't the case and we had a simple rescue mission. The analogies throughout the story to the Doctor's improvised extra-dimensional chess game was probably the story's highlight. Despite the pacifist the Doctor was, he had clearly stated in the TARDIS that it doesn't matter how many men you lose as long as you win. A principle I'm sure he does not actually stand by in reality, which he was pretty keen to point out. I'm not overly struck on the name of the story to be honest as I wouldn't say there was a war-game in place really. It was just a large battle. The ending though was extremely emotional with Kaon, the Draconian finally reunited with his daughter Kara, killed right in front of her. After all the struggle to be reunited, they'd never speak again now. Kaon was dead but courageously with the threat eradicated, Kara proclaimed that she would take her father's place and lead his people. I thought that was very admirable I must admit. Overall, a brilliant story that I enjoyed, but I do hope the Draconians return in force and are a bit less like the Ice Warriors.

Rating: 8/10