Doctor Who Club of Australia

[Sulp Niar]

I was expecting something factored to kids. While there was a sort of element of that, I was pleasantly surprised - this is the best collection of stories I've seen since the Endgame comic collection, easily beating Big Finish's Time Signature this year (though that was good too). The main reason for this is that every story in this collection is actually rather good.

The best stories were Untitled, by Rob Shearman (who else?), and is a fascinating look at the relative pointless of art these days - of course, postmodern art is supposedly all about "art can be anything", but under that argument so is this post and my nose, and art loses its purpose and, more importantly here, it's identity. This story was also accompanied by some fantastic artwork, some hilariously appropriations, and some with some great subtlety... I didn't notice just what was in the paint spewing from the Doctor's fingertips til I looked at it again! The other best story was Corner of the Eye by Steven Moffat. The style of Instant Messenger seems a bit too like normal chat to be believable, but other than that the story is rather brilliant.

Cuckoo's Spit by Gatiss was effectively written nostalgia, Gareth Roberts' story (forgotten the name, will edit later) was a bit odd with either the most brilliantly simple or most pointless ending ever (you choose), Once Upon a Time by Tom McRae was beautifully written and stylishly drawn, No One Died by Nick Briggs was a bit lacklustre but never truly boring, Justin Richards' story Gravestone House was surprisingly spooky and spookily illustrated... and Opera Doom was typical Jonathan Morris silliness and hilarity. I laughed out loud when the Doctor realised how Gabbo remained undetected.

Overall, fantastic.