Writer: Steve Parkhouse Art: Dave Gibbons Editor: Alan MacKenzie
In Earth's far future, warlord Catavolcus leads the Neutron Knights as they lay siege to the fortress of their King...
In a last desperate attempt to pluck victory from the jaws of defeat, a mysterious wizardly figure uses his mental powers to summon the Doctor's TARDIS...
He shows the Doctor the threat they face...
...and then reveals what it is the Neutron Knights are after - a giant nuclear reactor in the heart of the fortress, that they call "the Dragon"!
When the Neutron Knights break into the inner sanctum, the wizard sets the Dragon to overload, hoping to obliterate the Knights while the King and his men escape in the Doctor's TARDIS. It's only now that the Doctor begins to learn who it is he's encountered - as the King calls out to the Wizard: Merlin!
The King is Arthur, and he heroically stays behind to buy the others time by taking on Catavolcus.
Although kills Arthur, the King's sacrifice is not in vain, and the TARDIS dematerialises in the nick of time, with Catavolcus annihilated by the Dragon.
The Doctor wakes outside the TARDIS in a wood, and isn't too sure whether what just happened was even real...
...but back inside the TARDIS, a vision of Merlin appears, and tells him that they will meet again soon!
We say goodbye to the Fourth Doctor with this quick, but richly detailed, prequel to The Tides of Time. It easily stands up in its own right, though, thanks to the strength and quality of Steve Parkhouse's imaginative concepts and the unbeatable detail and style of Dave Gibbons' artwork. Gibbons' 4th Doctor is self-confessedly more cartoony than his 5th, but here Tom Baker is perfectly recognisable in all but the very last panel and adequately in character. Atmospheric and strident, it's a multi-facedted gem that enriches the epic that follows it.
We say goodbye to the Fourth Doctor with this quick, but richly detailed, prequel to The Tides of Time. It easily stands up in its own right, though, thanks to the strength and quality of Steve Parkhouse's imaginative concepts and the unbeatable detail and style of Dave Gibbons' artwork. Gibbons' 4th Doctor is self-confessedly more cartoony than his 5th, but here Tom Baker is perfectly recognisable in all but the very last panel and adequately in character. Atmospheric and strident, it's a multi-facedted gem that enriches the epic that follows it.
8/10
(N.B. This strip was originally published in black and white, but the snapshots presented here are from the sympathetically coloured reprints by IDW)
TTFN! K.
Coming Soon... The Androids of Tara
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