Outrun

"All aboard the Time War bus..."

Writer: Rob Williams 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 2nd June 2016

Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 07

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Alice, Squire, Abslom Daak, War Doctor

Synopsis 

Bounty hunters are tracking the TARDIS anywhere in time and space - which should be impossible. Alice is getting visions of the Time War - which should be impossible. The Squire's very existence - should be impossible. The Doctor does ten impossible things before breakfast - but other people doing the same? That's just cheating!

Verdict 

Outrun was an incredibly good little comic strip and continued the Eleventh Doctor segment of Tales from the TARDIS wonderfully well! I was delighted with what I read and I'm loving the story arc for this year being centred around the Time War. We keep getting cameos from the War Doctor which I think is fantastic and with these adding to the hugely successful (and very good) War Doctor audios from Big Finish, we're starting to learn a lot more about the lost incarnation of the Doctor. It's intriguing to have the Eleventh Doctor open up so much about this version of himself with the setting being prior to The Name of the Doctor in which he was first revealed. I still remember my reaction of shock and confusion upon that broadcast and it sure as hell brightened my day up after my local football team lost in the Playoff Final to a last minute goal. Despite the date, this blog entry was actually written a couple of days previous as on publication date I will be in France watching my nation at the Euros. That's partly why I chose to start this month's issue of the comic in the middle because I knew it was a one parter. I didn't fancy rereading the first three parts of the Twelfth Doctor story nor did I want to start the Tenth Doctor story with a lot going on over the next few days. So I did this for its quickness and I must say I flew through it, even if it only was one part. It was just magnificent from start to finish and I'm really intrigued by the identity of the Squire. Is she really a he? Or vice versa? And how did she escape the Time War? I think she's hiding something and knows more than being lets on but one person who doesn't hide his feelings is Abslom Daak. The Doctor made it clear that he holds him in just about the same regard as the Daleks so I'm interested as to why the Time Lord continues to travel with him. Daak putting forward the question of who has killed more Daleks, himself or the Doctor, was tremendous and I loved how the Doctor was being challenged over what occurred in the Time War. The Veestrax setting was good and I was surprised by the brief cameo of the Cyberman. I do hope there's more to its presence. The continuation from where Pull to Open finished was excellent and I liked how we saw a form of retro regeneration once again. The metallic spiders provided a good threat and I really liked how Abslom soon put a stop to them. Alice experiencing a form of time distortion reverting her back to the days of the Time War really fascinated me and that fascination was increased by the young Squire recognising Alice. It was quite reminiscent of recent events in Game of Thrones but with the Time War being time locked, I'm very intrigued to see how that fits. The demonstration of the time lock on the Time War was superb and it was excellent to see it presented physically for the first time. I thought the characterisation of the Eleventh Doctor was decent with Matt Smith's likeness being captured a lot better than some previous stories, particularly during the first year of adventures. The highlight of the story for me though was the indication of the return of the Master! He didn't actually appear but his TARDIS did, and in the form that would suggest the Anthony Ainley incarnation which gets me very excited. The one thing about the Matt Smith era that disappointed me was that the Eleventh Doctor never met the Master but I finally got what I wanted in The Choice which was a sublime comic strip adventure. It now seems that another meeting between the pair will occur which is something I really can't wait for. It looks like it was the Master who has framed the Doctor for the events we saw in The Then and the Now and I just can't wait for him to appear now! Adding the Master to the mix of a Time War heavy story arc really can only mean greatness, and I'm incredibly excited for the next issue. Overall, a simply superb comic strip!

Rating: 10/10