The Life Bringer!

"Once I thought my name would outlast even the mountains!"

Writer: Steve Moore 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: February-March 1981

Printed in: DWM 49-50

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, K9

Synopsis 

She's after being chained up by Zeus on punishment for scattering life throughout the galaxy, Prometheus has been freed and returned to the planet Olympus by the Doctor. Confusion erupts, but would the universe really be so bad if it was scattered with life?

Verdict 

The Life Bringer! was a terrific little story to continue my reading of the Dragon's Claw graphic novel that I'm currently reading. It's actually my cousin's copy so whilst I'm up here I'll be taking advantage of the resource! Now, I know I've skipped reading The Collector and Dreamers of Death but that's because if you span back to May 2014 of this blog, you will find my entries for them. If I had the time to reread them I probably would have but the only time I want to blog a comic strip story for the second time is when I finally do all of the comics in chronological order. I've done them all in a muddled up order and now I want to keep it that way until I have blogged each graphic novel. It's a good way to break things up but I will absolutely do them all in order in the future at some point. That is probably a good few years off yet so that's why I have skipped over Sharon's final two stories as companion. I was surprised to see her departure come this early into the graphic novel but the Doctor travelling alone with K9 isn't a bad substitute at all. I quite like the pairing in the comics because we didn't see it on television outside of a few scenes. The characterisation of the Fourth Doctor was once again excellent with Tom Baker's likeness being captured with ease. There just doesn't seem to have been a comic strip featuring him yet that doesn't nail his likeness. It's just fantastic in every story from Doctor Who Magazine so that really is fantastic. The setting of Olympus was really intriguing and although Greek mythology isn't something I know a great deal about, it has always intrigued me so the focus on it in this story was terrific. Prometheus being freed by the Doctor and K9 was good but I wasn't convinced by him being able to take the TARDIS wherever he pleased. Surely if he could do that he could have freed himself from the chains of the mountain? If K9 could use his stun feature to free Prometheus then surely he could have used some of his godly powers to free himself. I liked how the Olympians couldn't die and that provided an endless battle between Zeus and Prometheus. I liked that Hermes and Apollo appeared and the setting of Olympus as a whole was simply terrific. The Doctor and K9 going on the run and only having Prometheus as an ally was fantastic and I was surprised by Zeus's desire to have a pure universe. It seemed to mirror the thoughts of the Daleks and Davros in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End but the reasoning was wholely different. This comic strip really saw a change in the format of the stories from what we got in The Iron Legion and the first few parts of Dragon's Claw and that's only natural with the comic's extension following the magazine's move from weekly production to monthly. I like the extension and not having a cliffhanger every four pages definitely adds more detail to a story which is always a positive. The Doctor escaping with Zeus and then allowing him to leave and be amongst the stars was a good finish and I liked how the ending was ambiguous about where the Doctor and the story had gone to. It was a very good little story and whilst it had some minor issues, it was excellent. Overall, a very decent story!

Rating: 8/10