Sub Zero

"Suddenly, without warning, the 'dream' becomes a nightmare!"

Writer: Gerry Haylock
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 12th January 2017
Printed in: DWM 508

Featuring: Third Doctor

Synopsis 

As a guest of a US Polar weather station, the Doctor is involved in the mystery of a missing nuclear submarine. But while the Doctor and Lieutenant Davis are away on a reconnaissance fight, the station is attacked - by Daleks!

Verdict

Sub Zero was a terrific comic strip adventure and has served as quite the bonus feature in the 508th issue of Doctor Who Magazine! Now, I've almost finished reading the magazine itself and I have gone out and purchased the latest issue but as time and scheduling would have it, my assignments have started building up again now so I'm not sure when I'll be able to get back around to reading the magazines. Thankfully this morning though I was able to read this comic strip and I was absolutely delighted with it! I love how all out the team behind DWM went to dedicate an issue to the 1970s and I really do think they have done a stellar job. Even the comic strip of Doorway to Hell was linked in wonderfully and now we actually get given a revamped and updated version of this comic strip adventure that was released during the 1970s, long before the arrival of Doctor Who Magazine. I can certainly see why this story was popular as it was fantastic! We had a well paced and exciting build and of course the show's most famous enemy in the form of the Daleks. I really liked the setting of Antarctica and how that developed into Australia as the story went on was magnificent. The characterisation of the Third Doctor was very well done with Jon Pertwee's likeness captured very efficiently which I always think makes for a better adventure. I must admit, I was glad to be doing something from the Classic era of Doctor Who and if memory serves me correctly, this is the first time I have done something pre-2005 this year. Granted my blogging has been very limited this year but that is rather unusual for me. I'm also getting a little tired of the comic strip format so I'm hopeful that my next blog, which hopefully won't be too long away, will be some performed Doctor Who. However, I do have a whole issue of Doctor Who Comic to catch up on as well as another issue of DWM out next week. Anyway, the story itself was full of excitement and considering the story is now 45 years old, I was very impressed with the artwork. The designs of the Daleks themselves were brilliant and it was good to see the Third Doctor in action against his greatest foes in a story released before Day of the Daleks. I also enjoyed the subtle reference to The Evil of the Daleks and it was nice to see the Daleks on Earth once again. Their destruction of Sydney was superb and the Doctor being unable to prevent that aspect of their attack highlighted just how deadly the Daleks truly can be, as if we needed convincing at all. Lieutenant Davis served as a good companion for the story and I liked the teamwork that he and the Doctor shared in defeating the Daleks. The nature of the comic strip itself was strange with events going from left to right across two pages but I did like how each double page acted as a part and we had a mini cliffhanger quite often. Some of them were very good, especially the emergence of the Daleks. The Doctor getting involved in present day Australian politics was intriguing and the trust he managed to gain so quickly was typical of the Time Lord. I really liked that. The defeat of the Daleks came a little bit suddenly but it worked very well I must say. I found it quite humorous to see the Daleks helpless in the snow but the linkage of the ice doors to an ancient tale was excellent. Overall, a wonderful little comic strip and a great gift from DWM!

Rating: 9/10