Relative Dimensions

"He's the Toymaker. Spawned in the chaos before time... Get trapped in his domain and you're his plaything for all eternity."

Writers: George Mann & Cavan Scott

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 17th December 2015

Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 01

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis 

Christmas is always a special time of the year for the Doctor, but when he recorded an impossible Christmas card, delivered direct to the TARDIS, it's his cue for an extra-sized adventure of unbelievably festive proportions! 

Verdict 

Relative Dimensions was a phenomenal comic strip adventure and it was certainly right up there with the very best from Doctor Who Comic yet! However, this wasn't the normal DWC that I started collecting back in February. To my absolute delight, it appears as if there is now a sister title DWC labelled 'Tales from the TARDIS', a name which I think is really snazzy, and not only did it feature this incredible Twelfth Doctor story but it also houses the first two parts of the very first Titan Comics Ninth Doctor story! Yes, the Ninth Doctor stories are now in the UK and I couldn't be happier! This is a magnificent Christmas present and although I mentioned yesterday that I seem to be doing a considerable amount of comic strips, that trend looks set to continue with my DWC content now becoming a fortnightly thing! For me, it works well with university as the stories can be read quickly and as we saw with this story, there really are no boundaries! Never in my wildest dreams did I expect the Twelfth Doctor to do battle with the Celestial Toymaker! That was a pleasant shock and has to be the best surprise sprung from DWC yet! For me it tops the return of the Nimon in Space in Dimension Relative and Time because simply I enjoyed the villain a lot better. That respect is probably the same for their audio returns respectively in The Nightmare Fair and Seasons of Fear. However, the Nimon were a lot better on audio and in comic strip than they were on television in The Horns of Nimon but the Celestial Toymaker has remained consistently brilliant ever since his debut in The Celestial Toymaker, a story that was wonderfully referenced and flashbacked to. There's a reason Solitaire is my favourite Companion Chronicle audio and that's largely down to the Celestial Toymaker himself. I just love the idea of the villain! This story started off with something that would have been even more of a surprise if it actually stayed true as I thought for a moment that Susan was back reunited with her grandfather! That would have been quite something and may have topped Ian and Barbara's return in Hunters of the Burning Stone. However it wasn't to be and she turned out to be just another toy in the Celestial Toyroom. The manifestations we saw of the Brigadier, K9 and Donna were all excellent. It was also excellent to see toy glimpses of Amy, Rory, Ian and Barbara. I do love glances into the past I must say - and this was full of them! The deck of playing cards showing Jack and the Seventh, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors was just marvellous! A really great moment. I thought the comic strip format for a Celestial Toymaker story was beyond perfect and the scene where the Doctor and Clara were forced to play snakes and ladders was just stunning. That might be my favourite double page in comic strip history. I thought it was astoundingly good! And I would expect nothing else from the two esteemed writers who penned this awesome adventure. The Doctor still having his recorder was quite the shock I must say but it was a wonderful touch and throwback to the Second Doctor. I liked the Doctor mentioning how he recently has grown to dislike Christmas due to someone trying to kill him before Boxing Day! I thought that was quite humorous. The characterisation of Clara was again marvellous and DWC has excelled in capturing her likeness whereas DWM still has some way to go before receiving my highest praise. But in terms of comic strip content, DWC is blowing DWM out of the park currently. The game of charades to reveal the return of the Celestial Toymaker was excellent but I also loved the people the Doctor had on his team that evenly matched the Toymaker's accumulation of toys. The Doctor had the K1 Robot, Autons, a Peg Doll, a Voc robot and even Bessie! That wasn't a bad team at all to be fair. I thought the revelation that the Toymaker was scared of the universe outside of his Toyroom was outstanding and it actually made a lot of sense! He wouldn't be able to control or manipulate his surroundings so the Doctor tricked him into getting helped. Using the TARDIS zero room that we frequently saw in Castrovalva, the Doctor had made the Toymaker another Toyroom that he could maintain control over. Clara recognising the similarities was a nice way to end, but the image of the Toymaker playing with figures of himself and the First Doctor was just a beautiful way to finish a simply amazing comic strip adventure! For one part, it ranks up there with the very best. One of my all time favourite comic strips. I loved it. 

Rating: 10/10