Natasha and I have been really enjoying these. Kevin is now my favorite character. I recommend the graphic novels and the only associated novel I've so far read, [b:Doctor Who: Plague of the Cybermen|17162391|Doctor Who Plague of the Cybermen|Justin Richards|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1360260760s/17162391.jpg|23587914], as well as the show itself and the vigorous fandom of Twitter as a good shared-family sort of interest. [Veronica loves the show, but prefers her reading more contemporary and realistic]. The graphic novels are providing a good way for me to keep in parallel with Natasha, even though I'm mostly not reading to her anymore.

Yes, I'm following in the footsteps of [a:Neil Gaiman|1221698|Neil Gaiman|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/authors/1234150163p2/1221698.jpg] and sharing our multi-generational fandom.

Library copy. ( )

Tony Lee managed to surprise me with the first few pages of this collection, with the prologue to "Space Squid," a cute little montage of adventures with the new TARDIS crew: the eleventh Doctor, Amy, Rory, and Kevin the Robotic Tyrannosaurus. But then it becomes a tedious space station runaround, made worse by Lee's decision to name all the station crew after cast members from Castle, guaranteeing you get knocked out of the story every 2-3 pages. I liked Josh Adams's artwork in the prologue, but in the story itself, it's stiff and overly posed, like he's traced too many reference photos that don't quite fit the circumstances of the story.

Next is "Body Snatched" with the ever-reliable Matthew Dow Smith on art. Seriously, this guy is good, and if any artist gets carried over to Titan's Doctor Who comics, it had better be him. The story itself should be fun-- the Doctor and Amy switch bodies-- but of course it's more a television premise, where you'd get to see Matt Smith play Amy and Karen Gillan play the Doctor, and so it feels squandered here, and the plot that surrounds this is unnecessarily convoluted.

The rest of the book is a set of shorts, which are on the whole entertaining. Lee and Paul Grist's "Silent Knight," a textless story where the Doctor teams up with Santa, is fun. Joshua Hale Fialkov and Blair Shedd's "Run, Doctor, Run," where the Doctor lands on an Escher-like world (though not Castrovalva-like) is gorgeous to look at and fun enough for its length. Matthew Dow Smith (on writing and not art) and Mitch Gerads provide "Down to Earth," a decent tale with gorgeous art of the Doctor and an alien hiding on Earth. Finally, Doctor Who Magazine stalwart Dan McDaid crosses the pond for "Tuesday," a zany alien invasion story framed by a letter from Amy to her mum. McDaid gets these characters, in both writing and art; I'd love to see a full Doctor Who comic series by him.

II volume 3