Four Dimensions

"Do as you're told and I will give you everything you want. It's only forever. Not long at all."

Writer: Al Ewing

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 31st December 2015

Printed in: DWC 2.04

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Alice, Jones, ARC

Synopsis

Succumbing to the Talent Scout's lure, the Doctor became CEO of SERVEYOUinc. He outlawed creativity, feeding artistic thoughts to the Entity, caged in the heart of the TARDIS. Luckily, Jones, ARC and alive still believed the Doctor could be saved. But can the Doctor forgive himself?

Verdict 

Four Dimensions was another excellent comic strip adventure from Doctor Who Comic and it was certainly a great way to kick off the new year! It was perhaps a day or two later than I would have liked but a busy New Year's Day and a football away trip meant that I had to wait until I returned back to my university accommodation for the first blog entry of the year. And here's to many more! This could be a quiet month though as I have at least one assignment each week which is going to take up quite a lot of time, but I'm going to try my best to give myself a break and do some stories. We'll see how things go but for now the latest edition of DWC has started with a bang. Well, I say started but I just fancied doing the Eleventh Doctor story of the comic strip first this month. I have absolutely no problem with the Tenth Doctor segment of the comic being moved to the sister title Tales from the TARDIS alongside the Ninth Doctor, as long as the three parts/stories remain in each issue I have no problem with how many feature a Doctor. This should mean we will catch up with the USA in their releases which I think is the ultimate aim. I would love that to happen as I already see the graphic novels of the stories ahead in Waterstones and WH Smith but I have resisted the urge to glance upon what lies ahead for our Time Lord hero, in any of the incarnations. The idea of this story was very good and the name was certainly fitting! The comic strip mostly being split into four was a fantastic concept and I liked how with ARC being plugged into the TARDIS telepathic circuits, and the problem of the Talent Scout luring, caused the TARDIS to seemingly momentarily explode! It wasn't quite what we saw in The Mind Robber with the console literally thrown outside of the TARDIS, but even in comic strip form it looked particularly impressive. I really liked the artwork in this story and the colour scheme indicating which part of the TARDIS each member of this fascinating TARDIS foursome was housed. We had Alice still in the control room, ARC in the engine room, Jones in the swimming pool and the Doctor... well, thrown outside. This whole story arc with SERVEYOUinc is getting a bit timey-wimey now and I liked the helpful addition of the events surrounding the Talent Scout being shown to us on a chalkboard, one that would surely soon become familiar. We're still not entirely sure what the aim of SERVEYOUinc is but they're intent on doing damage to ARC and using the Entity for their own twisted gain. The Doctor won't be having it though and that means trouble. The Doctor being disappointed with his actions in The Rise and Fall/The Other Doctor was not a surprise and in circumstances where people get hurt he is always quick to blame himself. But he had his companions to save the day this time and he was thankful for them which was clear and nice to see. He did have some problems being thrown outside of the TARDIS and into space but it did provide some crucial information in building the story of the Talent Scout and SERVEYOUinc. The birth of the villain as we currently know him was interesting and we also saw how ARC came to be today. ARC still having great fear of the Talent Scout was fantastic and I thought this was the strange companion's best story yet. However, I think it was the complete opposite for Jones. He's just not very good in my opinion and other than a brief laugh at a lack of understanding modern technology, he doesn't offer anything. He's had about five different appearances and I really am just not a fan. I hope he leaves in the what is surely looming first year finale. I assume that part fifteen of each incarnation will be pretty big as that's where Titan Comics finished Series 1 if you like of the adventures. With build up from the very start, it's bound to be a good one from this segment of the magazine! We've already been told that the Tenth Doctor gets an epic five-part story to see him into the would be Series 2 of adventures. I just hope it's good. At the start of these comic strips, I was quite critical of Alice but ever since The Eternal Dogfight/The Infinite Astronaut where she stood up to the Talent Scout after he took the form of her deceased mother, the added aggression to her character has made her very likeable. If I'm honest, I still wouldn't mind her leaving and being replaced by a new companion, with the stories taking place between The Angels Take Manhattan and The Snowmen, but I certainly won't complain with the pairing I thought we were having for the long run at the start of these comic strips. The climax was very good with Jones stumbling his way back to Alice in the console room and ARC joining them shortly later. I loved how Alice plugged herself into the TARDIS telepathic circuits and the moment she opened the doors for the Doctor was wonderful. His reaction was magnificent and I loved how once ARC knew the Doctor was coming back, he grew the courage to launch the Talent Scout into oblivion! But as the chalkboard showed, and the last words of the story prophesied, the next meeting could well be the last. Overall, another excellent comic strip. 

Rating: 9/10