Doctor Conkerer!

"Brilliant game, conkers. Wonder who first came up with it!"

Writer: Ian Rimmer
Format: Comic Strip
Released: July 1990
Printed in: DWM 162

Featuring: Seventh Doctor

Synopsis

The Seventh Doctor suddenly fancies a game of conkers - his "opponent" being his umbrella, which is hung on the hatstand with a conker tied to its large red question mark-shaped handle. Having run out of conkers, the Doctor lands the TARDIS in 5th century Britain to collect some more and tries his luck with some unfriendly Vikings...

Verdict

Doctor Conkerer! was a great little comic strip to continue my reading of the Nemesis of the Daleks graphic novel! It was a very fun story and I was not overly surprised to find out that it was intended to be printed in The Incredible Hulk Presents. It certainly had a similar feel but I did like how it was edited to fit in with the picture of the current run that Doctor Who Magazine was undergoing. I love the idea of the Doctor finding his 500-Year Diary once again and that really is a terrific little nod to the past - something I think the comic strips in this collection that featured in the pages of DWM has done very well. The setting was excellent and I am a big fan of when a Doctor Who story takes us back to an era where nothing much of historical significance took place. I say significance in the appeal to a casual reader of history. I like the idea of mankind not being overly developed and whilst it was far from the human race that we saw in An Unearthly Child, they would not be as civilised as what we saw in The King's Demons for example. The Doctor talking of the past adventure in his rediscovered diary was great and I liked how he was questioning why Sarah Jane did not want to accompany him back in the TARDIS following the events of Train-Flight. It gave that story a little more closure which I was definitely a fan of happening. The characterisation of the Seventh Doctor was really good in this comic with the likeness of Sylvester McCoy being nicely captured. It really does make it all the more pleasant to read when the personality of the specific incarnation of the Doctor shines through on the page. The inclusions of Vikings in the story was good and I liked how the Doctor was not scared at all to toy with them. He knew he could easily outwit them and I thought that was really good. The young lad that the Doctor quickly acquainted himself with was a good character and I liked how he demonstrated how dangerous the Vikings could be with his fear evident. The Doctor though just wanted to find some conkers and enjoy a game and he saw fit to find an opponent. He initially seemed like he was just going to leave but realised that he could liberate a few people from evil and saw that he stayed. However, he seemed to be defeating them simply with a game of conkers. The Doctor was impressed with his little game and then he saw that the Vikings were going to play a game of their own. Who invented this game, I wonder? I loved the little comment at the end from the Doctor which really put a smile on my face. Overall, a great little comic strip story!

Rating: 8/10