Bus Stop!

"This is a bus - all you have to do is sit down and do nothing."

Writer: Rob Davis
Format: Comic Strip
Released: July 2007
Printed in: DWM 385

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Martha

Synopsis

Martha Jones is stuck on Mars in the 27th century whilst the Doctor catches a bus in 20th century London, much to the annoyance of an ordinary passenger. All he wants is to borrow a phone, but will the time assassins take the Mayor's life before all is lost?

Verdict

Bus Stop! was a great little comic strip story to begin my reading of The Widow's Curse graphic novel. Now, I know the collection begins with The Woman Who Sold the World but I managed to read that story three years ago in the DWM Special Edition that contained comic strips from the run of the Tenth Doctor. That isn't the only story printed in this collection that I have read so this will be a little bit of a jumble as I aim to get up to date with everything that's gone on in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine. This story was rather humorous and I wasn't expecting it to have such comic value. I thought the title was a bit iffy beforehand so I was sceptical but it actually turned out really good. The Doctor was on a bus looking like his wacky self and all he wanted was to borrow a phone. The thoughts of the passenger were terrific and I can't say that it's something I haven't experienced in the past with my numerous train journeys. I've only been to London once and thankfully managed to avoid buses but from what I saw, it didn't seem like the greatest way to travel. I quite liked how the reader came to what the Doctor and Martha had been up to during its concluding events and I liked even more than it was pointed out. The characterisation of the Tenth Doctor was fantastic with David Tennant's likeness well-captured on the page. The relationship with Martha was very good too and I loved how she was just left on Mars some six centuries in the future. That was a rather long distance! There was a lot of action which was good and whilst a little background knowledge would definitely have been preferable, there wasn't a lot of confusion which was a big positive. There were time assassins that wanted to kill the Mayor of London and eradicate his descendants from their history but the Doctor was on the case for a decoy. The Mayor soup was a little weird but the continuous thoughts of the passenger were what made the story for me. He was very funny and didn't seem to care at all what was going on. The assassins working out the concept of a bus was also terrific but the Doctor managed to be reverse-engineered back to Mars and the assassins were eradicated. Overall, a humorous and very good little story!

Rating: 8/10