In three weeks time, on the 23rd of November a certain TimeLord reaches his fiftieth year as a television sensation. There will be many special events to celebrate that milestone. I remember the tenth, twentieth and twenty-fifth specials as they were celebrated on TV, there has always been some form of merchandise that came with it, so too this year.
Back in 1983 the Doctor had ran up a brilliant twenty year of action and adventure. So MarvelUK wasn't going to miss a great opportunity to mark the event. In June, five months before the anniversary, a Summer Special went on sale with a wonderful cover artwork by Steve O'Leary, showing the Doctor rushing out of the TARDIS to face Abslom Daak slicing the dome off a Dalek.
Alan McKenzie, the editor of MarvelUK's monthly lineup at that time, which included Doctor Who Monthly, produced the most perfect piece of summer, sea-side entertainment you could buy for 60 pence. Forget your bucket and spades, this brightened up the wettest of weekends in your summer holidays, feeding the excitement of the on coming anniversary. Born in Glasgow, McKenzie came to MarvelUK with Dez Skinn, helping him though the Marvel Revolution. His strength was always the monthly range, so when Skinn left the young Scott was tailor made for the job. He was also a great writer, who would sometimes write under the pseudonym Maxwell Stockbridge, a name also used by Paul Neary and Alan Moore, which lead to the town of Stockbridge and the character Maxwell Edison as readers of the Doctors Strip may possibly know. In this summer special McKenzie used his real name in the credits of the opening story,"Catalogue of Events". The Doctor finds himself in side a futuristic library where cosmic events are catalogued by a mysterious gentlemen known as "The Librarian". This text story would link the two strip tales also included in this special. Steve Dillon and Steve O'Leary drew artwork to enhance to story, showing the Doctor in his fifth generation.
The first full strip tale, neatly placed into the text story, was "Junk-Yard Demon". Written by Steve Parkhouse and drawn by Mike McMahon with inks by Adolfob Buylla, this Fourth Doctor adventure was originally seen in Doctor Who Monthly #58-59, about half way though McKenzies run as editor of that magazine. Two space junk collectors stumble across the TARDIS and claim it as junk. These cosmic rag and bone men have also found a damaged Cyber-man. McMahon's makes beautiful work of this strip, with his version of a "Tenth plant" Cyber-man and a wide eyed Tom Baker, drawn with love and knowledge of this material.
The text story then leads off again into the second strip, "Abslom Daak...Dalek-killer", for some reason introduced by the fourth Doctor, but neither fourth nor fifth Doctor appears with in this adventure taken from Doctor Who Weekly #17-20, a tale of mass murder Abslom Daak who's sentenced to death by Daa-Kay! Exile to a plant within the Dalek Empire, with the only hope you have is to kill as many Daleks as you can before they kill you. Steve Moore crafts a gripping story that allows Steve Dillon to draw some of this best artwork, especially when you think that Dillon had only been drawing professionally for about one year, when this strip was first published. His first strip
was a Hulk story for Hulk comic at the age of 16. It's really beautiful work and worth buying this special for in itself.
SPOILERS!!!
McKenzie wraps up the text bookend tale after the Doctor leaves the Event Library with a guest appearance from Rassilon himself. Giving the impression that the Council of Gallifrey have been manipulating events in time and space for sometime.
The special also contains mini posters of past female companions, Lalla Ward and Mary Tamm as Romana on the inside front and rear covers sadly in black and white, while Janet Fielding as Tegan and Sarah Sutton as Nyssa have pride of place on the gloss coloured centrefold.
Finally one other strip can be found within this special, stuck in the middle of the text tale, on page 5, "Dr Who, The next 20 years". A humours preview of what lies ahead for the Doctor running up to his fortieth anniversary, by Tim Quinn and Dicky Howett. Future events include the first female Doctor in 1988, the Doctor looking like a clown in 1990, (could this be the idea for the sixth Doctor costume?) a third Dr. Who movie in 1998 (3 years after Paul McGann took on the roll) and the strength of merchandise in 2000 and 2003. It's a brilliant special when read though a thirteen year old's eyes or today with thirty years of hindsight. Looking back the fiftieth must have seemed an impossibly distant anniversary dream, that may never have been celebrated. So glad we can.
Three weeks to go!
"Doctor? Doctor who?"
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