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Reviews
Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time, Volume 1 by Scott Tipton, Lee Sullivan, Simon Fraser, David Tipton
noveladdiction's review
4.0
Got this from Netgalley, yay! I cannot wait for the rest of them. More of a review to come!
alyssaarch's review
3.0
Is everyone ready for the 50th anniversary? I am! And I love all the cool stuff coming out to celebrate Doctor Who's birthday. This collection of comics is one such thing, and while I love anything Doctor Who related, I wish this could have been better.
Prisoners of Time, Vol. 1 is a collection of 5 comic book stories featuring the first five incarnations of the Doctor getting into a scrap, getting out of it, and then having his companions disappear. Because I received this as an ARC, I've only read the first 3 Doctors' stories, so keep that in mind. In any case, it's an amazing premise, and I'm getting antsy waiting to read how it all ties together. However, in terms of story, I just wish there could have been more. The stories just didn't fit the page constraint, which made the resolutions feel rushed.
Also, when it comes to comics, I expect some sort of important visual element that enhances the story -- something that makes it so that if it were told in another format, something would be lost. That didn't happen. The art isn't anything spectacular -- I think this story would have been just as good in a novel format (maybe better, given how rushed it all was as it is).
Despite those things, I enjoyed the stories and I really enjoyed getting to spend more time with the first incarnations of the Doctor. Having watched some Classic Who, I thought that the writers did an excellent job in capturing their personalities and that of their companions. Some old monsters were also brought back, which is always a plus for us Classic Who fans. I'm interested to see how the story continues and how it wraps up. While I thought the first three stories fell a bit flat, the overall idea promises a spectacular resolution.
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
Prisoners of Time, Vol. 1 is a collection of 5 comic book stories featuring the first five incarnations of the Doctor getting into a scrap, getting out of it, and then having his companions disappear. Because I received this as an ARC, I've only read the first 3 Doctors' stories, so keep that in mind. In any case, it's an amazing premise, and I'm getting antsy waiting to read how it all ties together. However, in terms of story, I just wish there could have been more. The stories just didn't fit the page constraint, which made the resolutions feel rushed.
Also, when it comes to comics, I expect some sort of important visual element that enhances the story -- something that makes it so that if it were told in another format, something would be lost. That didn't happen. The art isn't anything spectacular -- I think this story would have been just as good in a novel format (maybe better, given how rushed it all was as it is).
Despite those things, I enjoyed the stories and I really enjoyed getting to spend more time with the first incarnations of the Doctor. Having watched some Classic Who, I thought that the writers did an excellent job in capturing their personalities and that of their companions. Some old monsters were also brought back, which is always a plus for us Classic Who fans. I'm interested to see how the story continues and how it wraps up. While I thought the first three stories fell a bit flat, the overall idea promises a spectacular resolution.
*I received a free copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
pnknrrd85's review
4.0
Super quick read. The art was good and (to my knowledge) the character adaptations of the various Doctors was done fairly well. Looking forward to finishing the series.
booknooknoggin's review
3.0
This was kinda muddled for my first reading of this series. Multiple stories with different versions of the Doctor. Hope it all adds up in further volumes...
emilyhays's review
4.0
I found this a little hard to rate; overall, I enjoyed it, but since it's the first volume of one-shot comics, there's no answers. And I did find each one-shot a tad anticlimactic.
But I really enjoyed it! It reminds me a bit of the classic story The Five Doctors, and I'm not extremely familiar with classic doctors so I liked reading this and seeing their different personalities.
in the end, this gets a solid 4 stars.
But I really enjoyed it! It reminds me a bit of the classic story The Five Doctors, and I'm not extremely familiar with classic doctors so I liked reading this and seeing their different personalities.
in the end, this gets a solid 4 stars.
mariakazantzi's review
3.0
Every series must begin in such way that the reader is hooked by the story and thus willing to read the next book. The first volume of the series "Doctor Who- Prisoners of Time" is therefore a good beginning, for the unexplainable disappereances of Doctor's companions catch the reader's attention and make him wonder how this mystery will be solved.
But even though the main mystery is really intriquing, the adventures in which we witness The Doctor and his companions get inolved are a bit dissapointing-it seems to me that the writers should spend more time developing these stories or simply choose more interesting characters and situations.
This comic leaves me with mixed feelings so I plan to read the next one hoping that the adventures are more fittinng for the Doctor.
But even though the main mystery is really intriquing, the adventures in which we witness The Doctor and his companions get inolved are a bit dissapointing-it seems to me that the writers should spend more time developing these stories or simply choose more interesting characters and situations.
This comic leaves me with mixed feelings so I plan to read the next one hoping that the adventures are more fittinng for the Doctor.
baticeer's review
3.0
This collection of IDW's 50th anniversary Doctor Who comic collects the stories featuring the first four Doctors. Not providing an overall rating because these four interconnected stories are very different and it is hard to decide on something between them. Each story, from one issue of the monthly comic, has a different artists, but the writing team is the same throughout.
Issue 1 of this is definitely the worst story in the volume. The art is occasionally charming but usually too stylized to the point where it's just grotesque, and the writing is just bad and unsuited to the era. Not recommended. Skip it.
Issue 2 is definitely the best of these four stories. The art is strong with alien environments and peoples depicted beautifully, and the characterization of the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe is perfect. The story is fairly simple but highly enjoyable. I loved it! Recommended reading for all Second Doctor fans.
Issue 3 was fine, I guess? The art and writing both were highly unmemorable but it wasn't bad. Recommended if you're reading the whole series through, but don't go out of your way to pick it up.
Issue 4 was quite good. The art was good and the story decent, but nothing special. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was more of a fan of the Fourth Doctor and Leela just as an era of the show.
If you'd asked me to guess I would have said that Scott & David Tipton sat down to write the first story with only a very dim knowledge of the First Doctor and just threw something onto the page. But then they went "Wait a second, maybe we should actually try for the next one." So they sat downed and watched significant parts of Season 6 together and really gave the Second Doctor story everything they had, but then they were like "Eh, that was exhausting." And just wrote some fairly generic stories for the Third and Fourth Doctors, but because they were more familiar with them than they were with Hartnell, the characterization wasn't abysmal. The shift in quality is actually quite strange.
Very little of the overarching plot develops in the first four stories. All we get is that someone mysterious is kidnapping the Doctor's companions from out of his timestream. I think the second volume adds more detail to the overall story arc, but these just feel like standalone stories so I haven't assessed that arc yet.
I have to say that I wish IDW had collected this in 2 volumes of 6 issues instead of 3 volumes of 2. They're pretty skinny graphic novels and it feels like they're really trying to suck as much money out of us as possible.
Issue 1 of this is definitely the worst story in the volume. The art is occasionally charming but usually too stylized to the point where it's just grotesque, and the writing is just bad and unsuited to the era. Not recommended. Skip it.
Issue 2 is definitely the best of these four stories. The art is strong with alien environments and peoples depicted beautifully, and the characterization of the Doctor, Jamie, and Zoe is perfect. The story is fairly simple but highly enjoyable. I loved it! Recommended reading for all Second Doctor fans.
Issue 3 was fine, I guess? The art and writing both were highly unmemorable but it wasn't bad. Recommended if you're reading the whole series through, but don't go out of your way to pick it up.
Issue 4 was quite good. The art was good and the story decent, but nothing special. I think I would have enjoyed it more if I was more of a fan of the Fourth Doctor and Leela just as an era of the show.
If you'd asked me to guess I would have said that Scott & David Tipton sat down to write the first story with only a very dim knowledge of the First Doctor and just threw something onto the page. But then they went "Wait a second, maybe we should actually try for the next one." So they sat downed and watched significant parts of Season 6 together and really gave the Second Doctor story everything they had, but then they were like "Eh, that was exhausting." And just wrote some fairly generic stories for the Third and Fourth Doctors, but because they were more familiar with them than they were with Hartnell, the characterization wasn't abysmal. The shift in quality is actually quite strange.
Very little of the overarching plot develops in the first four stories. All we get is that someone mysterious is kidnapping the Doctor's companions from out of his timestream. I think the second volume adds more detail to the overall story arc, but these just feel like standalone stories so I haven't assessed that arc yet.
I have to say that I wish IDW had collected this in 2 volumes of 6 issues instead of 3 volumes of 2. They're pretty skinny graphic novels and it feels like they're really trying to suck as much money out of us as possible.
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