Shankie's House of Guns & Spandex

Just before the new Doctor Who TV series started, the 8th Doctor was still appearing in Doctor Who Magazine comics; but was not going to be in the show. Just before this arc, a sometimes-villain body snatcher Destrii became the Doctor's companion. Because she doesn't appear in her actual form with where I'm going with this, here she is.



In The Flood here, published in DWM #346 - #353, she's wearing an appearance-altering bit of tech obtained in the last adventure. The Doctor takes her to Earth, where she fits in rather poorly, regardless. This story was going to be the place where 8 regenerated into 9 at the end, but it didn't happen; it was decided that Rose Tyler, not Destrii, would be the 9th's companion first. I suppose it works; still, there's a reference to 9. Foreshadowing, really.

I love the 8th Doctor for a lot of reasons that can basically be summed up like this; he's the Scott Free of the Doctors, and that's awesome. This story is excellent, in colour, and shows that off pretty well. And shows how a Time Lord can have godlike power without it entirely going to their head. At least for a little while.

On my tiny monitor, some of the text is hard to make out. If that's an issue for you, too, well... sorry about that.

( Okay, I'll bite. What's money? )

An appearance of cows that actually had me liking them, hehe. I don't usually like cows at all, but, that was kinda cute. If they knew what Destrii was saying, a mention of leather might set them off, yeah.

Presumably, some time closely following this, the Time War happens. I always assume it was 8 who was involved and it resulted in the regeneration to 9 shortly before the TV series started up again. He does seem a little surprised by his ears and all.

Originally published in Doctor Who Magazine, this gem was published by Marvel. A review of the book, and DWM comics in general reflects a lot of my feelings, too. There's so much awesome in there. Voyager, by Steve Parkhouse and John Ridgway, is crazy, funny, and occasionally takes the form of more abstract sci-fi; it's what Doctor Who is at its best, which is epic.

This post is not about that. It's about the 6th Doctor and his shape-shifter companion Frobisher (who is a penguin most of the time, personal preference) tripping absurdly through adventures.



There's even a Ring Wraith and Six in a bathtub, ooh la la. Not to mention the robot that attacks with a mop or the trick gun gag.

( I've been threatened by experts. . . BBC producers. )

Frobisher is now one of my favourite characters; I applaud his refusal to explain being a penguin. Penguins are cool.

Did you know there are gay penguins?

(That was a wicked old in-joke that I never even really made from like, when I was in college. Cuz I'm a dork.)