“Time
and Tide” is written by: Richard Alan
(a pseudonym for Richard Starkings) and John Carnell with art by: Dougie
Braithwaite and Dave Elliott, and lettering by: Tom Orzechowski. It was released in Doctor Who Magazine issues
145-146 (January-February 1989) and is reprinted in its original form in
Doctor Who: A Cold Day in Hell! by
Panini Books.
Richard Starkings’ voice has
been the main constant on the Seventh Doctor Doctor Who Magazine comic
strip. He had been the primary editor on
the strip and is responsible for the rotating of writers which while successful
for the Sixth Doctor has been less so for the Seventh. “Time and Tide” is the first time Starkings tried
his hand at writing the strip for two issues under the pseudonym Richard Alan
with John Carnell. Carnell for his part
is not a writer of note. He gets a
co-writer credit for this story and writes the following story, the one issue “Follow
that TARDIS!” on his own. Outside of Doctor
Who Magazine Carnell seems to be a staff writer for Marvel UK during this
period, but biographical information is scarce.
He shares his name with a science fiction writer and editor who passed away
in 1972 and seems to be of less note, now working in his own independent sphere
overshadowed by the editor. In terms of
the art, “Time and Tide” is odd not for its artists, Dougie Braithwaite and Dave
Elliott are no slouches of course the former doing the art for Garth Ennis’s Punisher
MAX issues #13-18 and the latter having his own career with Marvel and DC,
but this story has a guest letterer. Tom
Orzechowski is a letterer about as notable for his lettering as Starkings was,
only taking these two issues because he was a fan of Doctor Who. The lettering in this story is different, it’s
clearly not the house style in terms of formatting and how Orzechowski portrays
dialogue coming from far away which is a very nice touch.
It's a shame then, that
despite the massive talent behind this story, “Time and Tide” does not really
work. The plot is the Doctor once again
stumbling into a situation which is essentially the standard for this period,
though this one has the nice little drama of being separated from the TARDIS as
it’s swept away in the tide. This is the
planet Tojana which is having all of its land swept away in the tide, the
natives don’t have a solution and are resigned to their fate. That is except one, the Worrier, who at least
is willing to entertain the Doctor’s idea to build a boat. Sadly, that’s where the story ends, with the Doctor
allowing this one last person hope on a raft in the ocean. It’s an ending that Starkings and Carnell want
the reader to believe is hopeful, but the art gives something different. The reader has seen an extinction event and the
Doctor just shrugs. Add that to the
natives being aliens while not visually but in terms of characterization are
indigenous savages: they want to eat the Doctor and don’t have any technology of
necessity while just not looking as the tide is encroaching. It’s the major event for much of the two
parts of the story, outside of some gorgeous art of space and that’s really a
problem here. This race of aliens is
very much rooted in colonialist stereotypes of savagery. It takes up so much of the story that the more
interesting idea of a society already past the point of collapse due to a
changing climate is just ignored.
Overall, at the very
least “Time and Tide” has some very pretty art and the talent behind it is
genuinely great. Richard Starkings and John
Carnell have at least an idea for a story here, even if what’s on the page
doesn’t really work. We’re leaving the
period where they did not have much for the Seventh Doctor and moments have
that peak through, though we’re still a few months away from where the Seventh Doctor’s
Season 25 characterization can really make it over into the strip. There’s a light at the end of the tunnel, but
we’re still in the darkness of a directionless strip. 4/10.
No comments:
Post a Comment