Voyager by: Steve Parkhouse with art by: John Ridgway and letters by: Annie Halfacree

 

Voyager is written by Steve Parkhouse with art by John Ridgway and lettering by Annie Halfacree.  It was released in Doctor Who Magazine issues 90-94 (June-October 1984) and is reprinted in its original form in Doctor Who: Voyager by Panini Books.

 

Whenever Steve Parkhosue takes the Doctor Who comic strip to longer stories you kind of know there is going to be something to keep the plot going.  Voyager is perhaps his magnum opus.  Not the longest of his strips, that’s still the 7 part The Tides of Time, but it is the most interesting in its worldbuilding and storytelling, continuing what has been a long running thread since The Neutron Knights.  Parkhouse uses the strip to explore the Doctor’s place as a Time Lord and ancient Time Lord society in ways that the television show wouldn’t do until the modern series, long after this and several book ranges laying the groundwork for Ancient Gallifrey.  While the plot doesn’t directly relate back to past issues, this and the volume it is in can be read independently, thematically it is a continuation and exploration of the Doctor done through surreal landscapes set at a planet at the edge of the universe controlled by a mysterious figure.  The pacing of the story is brilliant, being contained to five parts published in five issues, all about ten pages which Parkhouse uses admirably.  John Ridgway’s art has this sketchbook quality that creates the surrealism that permeates this idea.  Much of the actual story is told through dialogue in the middle parts before the Doctor is trapped with Frobisher waiting in the TARDIS (where a character defining moment comes for the Whifferdill).  The dialogue is from Astrolabus, the villain of the piece to whom this story serves as an introduction, a Time Lord who influenced the development of Alexandria, its lighthouse being his TARDIS and the interior setting for much of the story.

 

The Voyager of the title is a ship which fell off the edge of the world, appearing in the dreams of the Doctor in the first issue where he is tied to the wheel a la Dracula, and again at the end where it is frozen solid in ice.  On the ship are star charts which Astrolabus demands, becoming the McGuffin for what will become Parkhouse’s final few comic stories.  Astrolabus as a character has this threatening presence and an implied omnipotence which really makes out the ancient Time Lord society to be more godlike a la The War Games.  This is a very nice return to form for the Time Lords as by this time on television they would have become the boring bureaucrats of the Tom Baker and Peter Davison era.  Astrolabus doesn’t actually do much in this story except the manipulate the environment so it must be praised on Parkhouse for making him such a memorable villain in the first of what will be three appearances.  Parkhouse also creates an interesting relationship between the Doctor and Frobisher.  While they have had a few travels together at this point, there is still this rockiness to the relationship.  They haven’t grown to be friends and there is the implication that the Doctor doesn’t really want to have Frobisher as a companion.  Or at least he doesn’t want to be upstaged by Frobisher, which is very easy for the penguin to do.  Despite not having much to do in this story, Frobisher is given so much character.  The infamous disguise moment in the TARDIS comes to mind, as well as his first actions being stealing the Doctor’s coat to put on a snowman while the Doctor is asleep.  There’s such an interesting dynamic here that clearly is growing towards a friendship that isn’t there yet.

 

Overall, Voyager surprised me with how much of a lasting impression it made on me, putting itself in the place of one of the all time best Doctor Who comics through its stellar use of characters, distinctive and surreal art, and focused plot that brings together what will become an iconic TARDIS team closer to something the fandom knows of today.  10/10.