Space Oddity

"I thought you said they were just shadows."

Writer: Joshua Hale Fialkov
Format: Comic Strip
Released: March-April 2013
Series: DW12 #7-8

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor

Synopsis

When a Russian cosmonaut attempts the first space walk in 1965, the rest of his crew watches in horror as he is swelled whole by a shadow. Only the Doctor can save the spacecraft and the historically important mission from falling victim to the Vashta Nerada.

Verdict

Space Oddity was a very good conclusion to the second volume of IDW's Eleventh Doctor Archives! I really enjoyed this story that saw a great outing for the Eleventh Doctor agains the Vashta Nerada. I'm a big fan of different enemies meeting several incarnations of the Doctor and this saw my fourth different version taking them on, after the Fourth, Eighth and Tenth incarnations respectively. This was quite different to any of their previous appearances as they were in space and attacking a secret Russian spacecraft that contained the first man to walk in space! The historical significance there was fantastic and I really did enjoy Alexey's relationship with the Doctor. He was quite stunned and desperate when his co-crew member became nothing more than bones in a spacesuit but luckily the Doctor was on hand to lend some help. The continuation from The Eye of Ashaya with no Amy and Rory was good and I thought the Russian cosmonaut filled the role admirably. The TARDIS shutting the Doctor out because of the Vashta Nerada was very good and I loved the problems that caused. Stuck in space with a spacecraft that had its life support knackered and the lights were going out. That was a pretty perfect scenario for the Vashta Nerada. I was impressed with how scary and daunting Space was made out to be and it definitely had a feeling quite similar to Oxygen which I liked a lot. The characterisation of the Eleventh Doctor was decent with Matt Smith's likeness well captured in the comic strip. The artwork was tremendous and whilst I thought the cliffhanger could have been a little stronger, I thought the overall pace of the story was fantastic. There was the right amount of suspense and action and it just made for good reading. It was quite simple really which actually made it very effective. The Vashta Nerada didn't actually do much other than swallow up the other cosmonaut before the Doctor arrived as it was their presence that provided the fear factor. Of course, our knowledge of them from Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead made that possible and I liked how it was utilised. Alexey actually coming up with the way to get the craft over to the TARDIS in the vacuum of Space was brilliant and I loved how impressed the Doctor's reaction was. He was a big fan of Alexey and everything he would become in the future. I was a little surprised with how easily the Doctor parted with information about his achievements to come though! The Doctor turning off the atmosphere in the TARDIS once they reached there to suck in all of the Vashta Nerada and take them somewhere they couldn't cause harm was good and I really liked the effect it had on Alexey. His explanation to Russian courts was a humorous way to finish the comic strip and it was great how he wanted to ensure that all future spacesuits had lights. Overall, a lovely little story with a fantastic return of a past enemy! A fitting conclusion to what has been a good collection of comic strip adventures.

Rating: 8/10