Skywatch-7

"My duty comes before your scientific curiosity."

Writer: Maxwell Stockbridge (Alan Mackenzie)

Format: Comic Strip

Released: November-December 1981

Printed in: DWM 58, DWM Winter Special 1981

Featuring: UNIT

Synopsis

There's trouble afoot on a UNIT base in the Arctic as a shapeshifting monster wreaks havoc.

Verdict

Skywatch-7 was a good little story to continue my reading through the Black Sun Rising graphic novel collection of backup comic strip tales from the pages of Doctor Who Magazine! This looks to be an interesting little story and not because of its content. I find it fascinating that a two-parter is printed across two different issues with one numbered and one special because that just wouldn't happen today. We're lucky to get any kind of fiction in the special editions of DWM these days and whilst prose stories are welcomed, they're nothing like this! I was also intrigued as to why this story was credited as being written by Maxwell Stockbridge. He's obviously a very famous character in the pages of the DWM comic strip so with that credit I was fully expecting the character to be the main protagonist of the story, but that was far from the case! This was a full blown UNIT story which is far from being a bad thing, but I just couldn't understand the need for the credit. It doesn't really add anything to the story because we know Maxwell Stockbridge is a fictional character and it also doesn't even mean much at all with him not being featured. Is this a fictional comic strip written in-universe by Maxwell? I think a little more clarity on that would have been welcomed but at the same time I'm not really sure how you can do that within the story. It's a bit of a difficult one to be honest as it just makes me a little confused which as a reader is not what you want. What you do want as a reader though is a really strong cliffhanger when it comes to multi-part comic strip adventures and that's exactly what we got here! The full page panel revealing the Zygon was a delightful treat and I had no idea they were coming. It makes sense for UNIT to do battle with them once again following on from Terror of the Zygons and I love the unique nature of an Arctic base. Might the 1985 setting and the Arctic suggest that the UNIT were investigating events that would later become The Tenth Planet? Is there anyway they would know what was to come in the next year? It's certainly a fun thought to ponder on. I thought the depiction of UNIT here was good and it definitely makes sense for them to become the main characters in this kind of backup story. We've had numerous monsters and villains take centre stage so why not the United Nations Intelligence Taskforce? They don't just exist when the Doctor is around as we know so a visual representation of one of their encounters is a tremendous idea. I think we should be getting more! It would have been good if we had a familiar character leading the pack in the form of the Brigadier or even Benton or Yates, but alas just having that UNIT name was still all good in my book. I thought the way the Zygon provided a threat mostly just by its mere presence was impressive and it was a powerful moment when the real Campbell was shot by mistake thinking it was the Zygon duplicate. That was enough to send some UNIT members literally over the edge when it came to destroying the Zygon and getting an actual asterisk to Doctor Who and the Loch Ness Monster referencing the Zygons being afraid of flame was incredible! I love a reference to a Target novelisation. The fate of the Zygon being sent into the ice from height was pretty emphatic and I thought the illustration of its arm returning to the natural Zygon form was good stuff. Overall, a strong little read to continue my way through the collection! 

Rating: 7/10