Junk-Yard Demon

2 parts (Doctor Who Monthly 58 & 59) November & December 1981
Writer: Steve Parkhouse, Artist: Mike McMahon & Adolfo Buylla, Editor: Alan McKenzie

"On the furthermost edge of the spiral arm of the milky way galaxy - far from the action - around the backwater planets and suburban suns chugged the salvage-ship Drifter..." 

Scrap merchants Flotsam and Jetsom, with their "living sculpture" (robot to you and me!) Dutch scoop up the TARDIS, interrupting the 4th Doctor's meditations as they try to drill their way aboard. 

Whilst he's none too happy about his peace being disturbed... 

...he's even more disconcerted to find the scrap merchants have a dormant Cyberman aboard! 

Flotsam and Jetsom have been raking it in by reactivating dead Cybermen and reprogramming them as butlers! The Doctor throws a spanner in the works - or at the Cyberman, anyway - and accidentally reactivates it. 

It's soon on the rampage and stealing the TARDIS - with Jetsam still aboard! 

The Doctor, Flotsam and Dutch give chase in the Drifter... 

...as the Cyberman takes the TARDIS to planet A54, where a wrecked Cybership contains the deactivated remains of Cyber-leader Zogron. 

The Cyberman orders Jetsam to revive Zogron, which he does... 

...as one of his butler robots! 

As the seemingly angered Cyberman pursues Jetsam... 

...The Drifter arrives and Dutch overcomes him by spraying him with a quick-setting polymer paint.

 
Flotsam and Jetsam think they've hit the jackpot with the wrecked Cyberships of A54... 

...but the Doctor doesn't hang around to see the results of their next endeavour, scarpering for in the TARDIS, and hoping that they never find any Daleks! 

A story whose knockabout fun disguises quite a slight plot, it's something of an oddity this one. 

Its strength is in its' vivid larger than life characters, not least the 4th Doctor but especially the loveable rogues of the Drifter, it's brought to life by some unique artwork from 2000AD artist Mike McMahon,who brings a pleasingly anarchic style that hits the spot. 

Steve Parkhouse has some real fun with the Cybermen under the excuse that they're wrecked, malfunctioning, rejects so in truth they don't much act like Cybermen, but nevertheless they're given a juggernaut-like presence by both writer and artists alike. 

It's pleasing to see some love for the 60s designs too, with a nifty blending of the 10th Planet and Moonbase designs, but crikey doesn't Dutch pre-empt the design of Short Circuit's Johnny Five! 

Some great design work on the Drifter and a novel (for the Cybermen) setting on the jungle planet A54 help elevate this... 

...but although it's far from being scrap, there's a nagging feeling of the disposable, in truth. 

7/10

(N.B. This strip was originally published in black and white, but the snapshots presented here are from the sympathetically coloured reprints by IDW)

Junk-Yard Demon II

1 part (DWYB 1996) September 1995
Writer: Alan Barnes, Artist: Adrian Salmon, Editor: Scott Gray

In this tale of "what happened next...", no sooner have Flotsam and Jetsam begun to exploit the spoils of the crashed Cyber-fleet when unscrupulous gunrunner Joylove McShane arrives to claim the planet on behalf of Eric Klieg's Brotherhood of Logicians. 

The 4th Doctor stumbles into the fray - literally, as he trips over the head of poor old Dutch, who's fallen foul of McShane's hulking manservant Stinker. 

The Doctor confronts McShane...

...and beats the awakening Cybermen... 

...by wiring Dutch into their system and delivering a shock to their mainframe. 

McShane flees, but soon falls prey to an escaped Cyberman that's stowed away aboard his ship. 

The Doctor thinks he's finally put an end to the Cyber-threat by blowing up the ship but Jetsam's unearthed a pod of Cybermats, and is planning to repurpose them as boot polishers. The Doctor doesn't wait to see the results! 

A real pleasure this; frothier than the original it lovingly recalls, but probably the better for it, and certainly tighter as a result of its shorter length. 

Superlative artwork and colouring from the master Adrian Salmon both tops the original and builds on his unparalleled work on the rightly acclaimed "The Cybermen" (also penned by Alan Barnes). 

His season 18 Tom Baker's a great presence and the script is part homage, part tongue-in-cheek spoof, with its' Lovejoy-ripping villain and callbacks to The Tomb of the Cybermen bolstering a confident romp. Some lovely touches too, as Dutch ends up with a spiffy new Cyber-body and the story opens with the original story's protagonist still dead in his tracks.

It feels odd to rate this above the original, which is seminal, original and distinctive, but this superior sequel is the real gem of the junk-yard! 

7.5/10

TTFN! K.
Coming Soon... Voyager