The Forgotten

"I've got my own exhibition?"

Writer: Tony Lee
Format: Comic Strip
Released: August 2008 - January 2009
Printed in: IDW: Doctor Who (2009) #1-6

Featuring: Tenth Doctor

Synopsis

The Tenth Doctor discovers a museum dedicated to all his lives and has to remember events from his previous incarnations in order to restore his fading memories. The TARDIS is missing from time and space and the only links to the Doctor's past are mysterious items connected with some familiar looking outfits...

Verdict

The Forgotten was a very good comic strip adventure and an improvement on Agent Provocateur from IDW! It was much different to their first stab at Doctor Who and it definitely didn't feel as alien and different, and that's not just because I read the previous release yesterday. The writing of the Tenth Doctor was much better but I still have to question some of the artwork. I thought the format was very similar in nature to The Eight Doctors but showing a mini unseen adventure with each Doctor didn't quite have the same effect as the Doctor visiting a previously seen story. It was still good to see the first ten Doctors in action and it was also nice to see some old companions too. The link between the objects associated with each Doctor and the adventure seen was decent but something that could have been a bit stronger. I do question the drawing of some of the key characters though, particularly the Second and Sixth Doctors and Jo. The latter was horrendously done and until she was referred to by name, I was convinced that she was Liz. Anyway, it wasn't overly important but it definitely should an could have been better. The Fifth Doctor battling the Judoon was great and I liked how fond the Tenth Doctor was of this predecessor following Time Crash. Martha featuring was good and I was surprised that she continued to be IDW's choice of companion even though she had departed the show over a year previous. However, it didn't turn out to be Martha at all and was actually the TARDIS as an interface! I liked that but I wasn't sure about the whole shuffle setting of companions. It was nice to get snippets of what adventures with the likes of the Tenth Doctor and Leela would be like. His regret towards the way he left Susan behind in The Dalek Invasion of Earth was quite emotional but I really liked his brilliance in deducing that Martha wasn't who she appeared to be. When a subtle reference to Turn Left was made, I was questioning the story placement but the Doctor also losing memories of his future was a great twist. Some of the imagery of past stories and enemies was fantastic and I loved seeing the likes of a Voord helmet and Cyber-head. The cliffhanger to part five was extraordinary and the prospect of the Meta-Crisis Doctor going rogue and somewhat Master-like was incredibly unexpected but he turned out to be a Tactire, a species that was part of the missing planet saga in The Stolen Earth/Journey's End that had its entire species wiped out by the Daleks and the Doctor's battle. I thought that truth of him being Es'Cartrss came a little soon but I loved how the Doctor just laughed off the suggestion that he was in fact the Valeyard. The image of the ten Doctors all in the Classic-era console room was wonderful and I enjoyed that the differing incarnations all got to have a little conversation. The Doctor restored his memory and was alone again with the TARDIS. Overall, a great comic strip!

Rating: 8/10