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Doctor Who Magazine Comic Collections #4
Doctor Who: Endgame
Collected comic strips from the pages of Doctor Who Magazine! "Endgame" is the fourth volume of the Panini Publishing series of Doctor Who Magazine comic collections and it is the first to feature the Eighth Doctor. Includes a special 16-page behind-the-scenes feature! Discover unused story synopses, character designs by artists Martin Geraghty and Adrian Salmon, original pencil art and a detailed authors' commentary by Alan Barnes and Scott Gray for every story! 212 pages.
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First published November 1, 2005
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About the author
Alan Barnes
99 books15 followersAlan Barnes is a British writer and editor, particularly noted for work in the field of cult film and television. Barnes served as the editor of Judge Dredd Megazine from 2001 until December 2005, during which time the title saw a considerable increase in the number of new strip pages. Among other strips, Barnes originally commissioned The Simping Detective. He also wrote a handful of Judge Dredd stories involving alternate universes or featuring a young Dredd.
He worked for five years at Doctor Who Magazine and progressed from writing strips to becoming joint editor in 1998 and sole editor from 2000 until 2002. He subsequently contributed the ongoing Fact of Fiction series of articles to the magazine. Barnes has also written or co-written a number of Doctor Who audio plays for Big Finish Productions.
He has written a number of books on cult films (including James Bond, Quentin Tarantino and Sherlock Holmes) and his book The Hammer Story, co-written with Marcus Hearn, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction in 1997.
He worked for five years at Doctor Who Magazine and progressed from writing strips to becoming joint editor in 1998 and sole editor from 2000 until 2002. He subsequently contributed the ongoing Fact of Fiction series of articles to the magazine. Barnes has also written or co-written a number of Doctor Who audio plays for Big Finish Productions.
He has written a number of books on cult films (including James Bond, Quentin Tarantino and Sherlock Holmes) and his book The Hammer Story, co-written with Marcus Hearn, was nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for Best Non-Fiction in 1997.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 27, 2015
The first Eighth Doctor comic strips came out in advance of the first Eighth Doctor books, so they went their own path with their own companion and their own adventures.
End Game (244-247). A very nice return to Stockbridge and a very nice return of the Celestial Toymaker. The Eighth Doctor is clearly energetic and larger-than-life, but we get very little feel for him other than that ... and new companion Izzy comes across much the same. (And she's adopted, eh? There's no chance that'll come up some time in the future ...) [7/10].
The Keep (248-249). A nice little bit of SF, though it's more SF than Doctor Who. Good to see a far-future 51st century Earth, which is reminiscent of all the work Virgin did, pushing Earth's timeline forward. [6+/10]
Fire and Brimstone (251-255). "The Keep" becomes a lot better when it's revealed as a prequel for this new story, setting up a two-hundred year chronology between them. And overall, this is a magnificent story, with Daleks and Time Lords alike. Oh, and the return of the Threshold, stars of the story that must not be spoken of ("Ground Zero", the story where DWM purposefully broke chronology with the Virgin New Adventures by "killing" Ace). I suppose they're a nice-enough antagonist if you ignore their horrible intro at the end of Seven's run.
Overall, I love the plots and machinations of this adventure, but I also love what it reveals about the DWM comic at the time: that it was flying by the seat of its past, interweaving storylines without knowing where it was going. It's like the DWM of old ... and a contrast to the more soulless storylines of the modern-day, where links are carefully made at the end of each arc. Finally, I found Izzy increasingly likable in this story, as her irreverent pop-culture nature comes through more. All around, a great storyline [8/10].
Tooth and Claw (257-260). A nice story that features the mystery and horror genres. It gets a little over-the-top at the end, and the characters are a little hard to keep track of, but this is still a well-told and original story [7/10].
The Final Chapter (262-265). Nice to return to Gallifrey and encounter not only Rassilhon but his DWM agent, Shayde, as well. Part of why these 8th Doctor comics were good was the constant references to the DWM continuity. The actual plot with self-made clones feels a little too close to Lungbarrow to be comfortable — in part because it continues to be so insistent about ignoring Virgin continuity. Nonetheless, this is a fun story, with its touchbacks to the origins of Gallifreyan society. It was surprising to have Fey continue over as a second companion, a bit more competent than Izzy. And the 8th Doctor's regeneration at the end is of course shocking [6+/10].
Wormwood (266-271). A nice conclusion to various arcs running back to the last Seventh Doctor story (which we do not speak of). It's really helped by the fact that it feels like such an organic combination of continuing elements, something that is confirmed in the author's notes at the back. The regeneration was of course a fake-out, a trick that DWM only gets to play once. As a result, we don't get a lot of the Doctor in this arc (and I actually feel like I have a better idea of who the Fake Nine was than Eight). Anywho, we get a delightful origin for the Threshold, delightful relations to Gallifrey history (with the whole ancient-weapon gone wrong being a recurring trope in the New Adventures), and great use of Shayde connecting to all of that. Seeing Izzy with Ace's bat suggested she still needs to grow some as a character, while it was sad to see Fey leave so quickly (but the new combined Fey/Shade seems even more interesting). Overall, a delightful piece that really feels like the slightly warped, slightly over-the-top world of the comic strip. [7/10].
The volume ends with the out-of-order inclusion of a couple of one-offs:
A Matter of Life & Death (250). An excuse to bring in lots of old characters (sort of) for the mag's 250th anniversary. Cute, but nothing there [5+/10].
By Hook or By Crook (256). A fun little story that gives Izzy (and time travel) the ability to shine. [6/10].
Overall, the first Eighth Doctor comic volume is very nice, with an evolving storyline that also pays a lot of homage to the previous years of the strip. I look forward to more!
End Game (244-247). A very nice return to Stockbridge and a very nice return of the Celestial Toymaker. The Eighth Doctor is clearly energetic and larger-than-life, but we get very little feel for him other than that ... and new companion Izzy comes across much the same. (And she's adopted, eh? There's no chance that'll come up some time in the future ...) [7/10].
The Keep (248-249). A nice little bit of SF, though it's more SF than Doctor Who. Good to see a far-future 51st century Earth, which is reminiscent of all the work Virgin did, pushing Earth's timeline forward. [6+/10]
Fire and Brimstone (251-255). "The Keep" becomes a lot better when it's revealed as a prequel for this new story, setting up a two-hundred year chronology between them. And overall, this is a magnificent story, with Daleks and Time Lords alike. Oh, and the return of the Threshold, stars of the story that must not be spoken of ("Ground Zero", the story where DWM purposefully broke chronology with the Virgin New Adventures by "killing" Ace). I suppose they're a nice-enough antagonist if you ignore their horrible intro at the end of Seven's run.
Overall, I love the plots and machinations of this adventure, but I also love what it reveals about the DWM comic at the time: that it was flying by the seat of its past, interweaving storylines without knowing where it was going. It's like the DWM of old ... and a contrast to the more soulless storylines of the modern-day, where links are carefully made at the end of each arc. Finally, I found Izzy increasingly likable in this story, as her irreverent pop-culture nature comes through more. All around, a great storyline [8/10].
Tooth and Claw (257-260). A nice story that features the mystery and horror genres. It gets a little over-the-top at the end, and the characters are a little hard to keep track of, but this is still a well-told and original story [7/10].
The Final Chapter (262-265). Nice to return to Gallifrey and encounter not only Rassilhon but his DWM agent, Shayde, as well. Part of why these 8th Doctor comics were good was the constant references to the DWM continuity. The actual plot with self-made clones feels a little too close to Lungbarrow to be comfortable — in part because it continues to be so insistent about ignoring Virgin continuity. Nonetheless, this is a fun story, with its touchbacks to the origins of Gallifreyan society. It was surprising to have Fey continue over as a second companion, a bit more competent than Izzy. And the 8th Doctor's regeneration at the end is of course shocking [6+/10].
Wormwood (266-271). A nice conclusion to various arcs running back to the last Seventh Doctor story (which we do not speak of). It's really helped by the fact that it feels like such an organic combination of continuing elements, something that is confirmed in the author's notes at the back. The regeneration was of course a fake-out, a trick that DWM only gets to play once. As a result, we don't get a lot of the Doctor in this arc (and I actually feel like I have a better idea of who the Fake Nine was than Eight). Anywho, we get a delightful origin for the Threshold, delightful relations to Gallifrey history (with the whole ancient-weapon gone wrong being a recurring trope in the New Adventures), and great use of Shayde connecting to all of that. Seeing Izzy with Ace's bat suggested she still needs to grow some as a character, while it was sad to see Fey leave so quickly (but the new combined Fey/Shade seems even more interesting). Overall, a delightful piece that really feels like the slightly warped, slightly over-the-top world of the comic strip. [7/10].
The volume ends with the out-of-order inclusion of a couple of one-offs:
A Matter of Life & Death (250). An excuse to bring in lots of old characters (sort of) for the mag's 250th anniversary. Cute, but nothing there [5+/10].
By Hook or By Crook (256). A fun little story that gives Izzy (and time travel) the ability to shine. [6/10].
Overall, the first Eighth Doctor comic volume is very nice, with an evolving storyline that also pays a lot of homage to the previous years of the strip. I look forward to more!
June 22, 2025
Plenty of fun twists and turns but fairly light on characterisation.
December 27, 2018
You can tell that people who made these comics had fun doing so and tried their best. There are some really interesting ideas in here and they are executed with a lot of ambition. But they are honestly executed very poorly, the writers bit off more than they could chew and stumbled along the way, usually a story starts of interesting, but then keeps piling up things that just make no sense either to progress the plot or as an attempt to be weird in an enjoyable way. I wasn't impressed with the art either. These are the major flaws and I don't think it would be fair to butcher the book further. All things considered, I appreciate the effort, I think I shouldn't be too hard on it since it is the first book in a series, it gets better as you go along, and it is at least fun and interesting, after I got used to the book, I was intrigued by the Italian feel that it has (if you enjoyed more lovecraftian elements, I recommend checking out Dylan Dog, another comic about a charming Brit going against the supernatural). The two short stories at the end are by far the best chapters of the book and they show that the writers can produce something good when they have a clear idea of what to do. All in all, this is a flawed, but fun book and I will be disappointed if there are no improvements in the next volumes.
February 17, 2018
I bought this from my friends vintage shop.
A collection of early 8th doctor adventures, some are quite good, exciting and thriving on the ability to not be tied down to a limited budget on terms of visual spectacle.
A collection of early 8th doctor adventures, some are quite good, exciting and thriving on the ability to not be tied down to a limited budget on terms of visual spectacle.
November 11, 2023
Just the story titled 'Endgame', not the full collection.
August 29, 2022
I bought this to follow up my read of the recently released (and rather disappointing) 'Ground Zero', mainly to check that my memory wasn't playing tricks and that the eighth Doctor comic strips which followed really are as brilliant as I recall.
I remembered correctly: this is leagues ahead of the seventh Doctor's final graphic outing. The eighth Doctor instantly and effortlessly steps into the format a fully formed, larger-than-life character, entirely suited to the wit and weirdness of the storytelling. The stories are beautifully conceived, wisely stepping up the fantasy (often taking things into surreal territory) to avoid the sci-fi straitjacket that made the previous strips feel so repetitive. And the jaw dropping instinct for twists and reveals keeps on delivering; 'Fire and Brimstone' in particular keeps on upping the ante with shameless tenacity.
None of which would work without Martin Geraghty's equally confident visuals, something carried over from the 'Ground Zero' strips but now given something really consistent to get its teeth into. The full page reveals that made the earlier strips memorable are now put to startling and shocking narrative use; the flights of fantasy and horror pastiches are realised with glorious abandon.
The Doctor Who comic strip suddenly just WORKS, and the combination of strong visuals and storytelling mean that these pages are absolutely crammed with outstanding images. It hits the ground running and barely misses a beat - yes, 'The Final Chapter' feels weaker than the surrounding stories, for reasons clarified by Alan Barnes' notes. But it benefits from the momentum already built up and the ambitious sense of continuity, which ultimately allows it to become a cog in a more important machine.
In addition there are a couple of fine one parters, which set a valuable template for future one-offs insofar as they don't take themselves too seriously. Sean Longcroft's 'A Matter of Life and Death' is visually and narratively a substantial improvement on his previous contribution, while 'By Hook or By Crook' feels slightly less distinctive than his usual striking work (for all that it is still gorgeous to look at), which is explained in the notes as the result of a (stupid) decision to make him add crosshatching to make it look more realistic.
Overall, then, a fantastic collection which immediately and breathlessly sets out to give Doctor Who comics a new golden age and, I think there's sufficient hindsight to conclude, does exactly that.
I remembered correctly: this is leagues ahead of the seventh Doctor's final graphic outing. The eighth Doctor instantly and effortlessly steps into the format a fully formed, larger-than-life character, entirely suited to the wit and weirdness of the storytelling. The stories are beautifully conceived, wisely stepping up the fantasy (often taking things into surreal territory) to avoid the sci-fi straitjacket that made the previous strips feel so repetitive. And the jaw dropping instinct for twists and reveals keeps on delivering; 'Fire and Brimstone' in particular keeps on upping the ante with shameless tenacity.
None of which would work without Martin Geraghty's equally confident visuals, something carried over from the 'Ground Zero' strips but now given something really consistent to get its teeth into. The full page reveals that made the earlier strips memorable are now put to startling and shocking narrative use; the flights of fantasy and horror pastiches are realised with glorious abandon.
The Doctor Who comic strip suddenly just WORKS, and the combination of strong visuals and storytelling mean that these pages are absolutely crammed with outstanding images. It hits the ground running and barely misses a beat - yes, 'The Final Chapter' feels weaker than the surrounding stories, for reasons clarified by Alan Barnes' notes. But it benefits from the momentum already built up and the ambitious sense of continuity, which ultimately allows it to become a cog in a more important machine.
In addition there are a couple of fine one parters, which set a valuable template for future one-offs insofar as they don't take themselves too seriously. Sean Longcroft's 'A Matter of Life and Death' is visually and narratively a substantial improvement on his previous contribution, while 'By Hook or By Crook' feels slightly less distinctive than his usual striking work (for all that it is still gorgeous to look at), which is explained in the notes as the result of a (stupid) decision to make him add crosshatching to make it look more realistic.
Overall, then, a fantastic collection which immediately and breathlessly sets out to give Doctor Who comics a new golden age and, I think there's sufficient hindsight to conclude, does exactly that.
June 4, 2016
This book collects the first two years of Eighth Doctor Comic strips for Doctor Who Magazine and introduces Izzy Sinclair.
Overall, what does make the Strips work is that there is a lot of continuity, in fact much more than in the modern Doctor Who Magazine Comic strips I've read. At this point, in terms of creating the Doctor, the magazine had little direction other than the TV Movie as this portrayal came before even the novels.
The best stories in the book are, "Fire and Brimstone" featuring the Daleks, "The Final Chapter" featuring a mystery on Gallifrey and then "Wormwood" where the source comes together and it all involves an alien and a 19th Century Texas tycoon. On the other side of the ledger, the title story, "Endgame" was dull and "Tooth and Claw" (no resemblance to the 10th Doctor TV story of the same name) was cheesy and unfunny at the same time.
There were also two one off stories that were included at he end even though these unrelated stories fell in the midst of the the story arc. These are okay with a funny moment or two but not spectacular.
Overall, despite some hiccups, this is a fairly good, with the overall strength of the story arc making this worth reading despite some weaker individual entries.
Overall, what does make the Strips work is that there is a lot of continuity, in fact much more than in the modern Doctor Who Magazine Comic strips I've read. At this point, in terms of creating the Doctor, the magazine had little direction other than the TV Movie as this portrayal came before even the novels.
The best stories in the book are, "Fire and Brimstone" featuring the Daleks, "The Final Chapter" featuring a mystery on Gallifrey and then "Wormwood" where the source comes together and it all involves an alien and a 19th Century Texas tycoon. On the other side of the ledger, the title story, "Endgame" was dull and "Tooth and Claw" (no resemblance to the 10th Doctor TV story of the same name) was cheesy and unfunny at the same time.
There were also two one off stories that were included at he end even though these unrelated stories fell in the midst of the the story arc. These are okay with a funny moment or two but not spectacular.
Overall, despite some hiccups, this is a fairly good, with the overall strength of the story arc making this worth reading despite some weaker individual entries.
September 2, 2011
I'd heard that the eighth doctor comics had really cool companions so when I found this one cheap at Forbidden Planet I thought I'd give it a try. As a comic I'd have to say it was a bit disappointing. The art style, though black and white, was terribly bland and the same level as most superhero comics. The storylines for the most part were a little dull, the fact that they had to fit into a few pages of the magazine meant that they were very bitty and jumpy. I liked quite a few of the far future ones, as Doctor Who stories they were quite interesting. As far as the companions go I didn't much care for Izzy, a scifi geek that I'd not enjoy hanging out with. Though Ms Trucott-Sade was brilliant! Transgender 30s British spy who was all kinds of cool and fantastic (I was very bummed she didn't stay). But I think my biggest problem was with Eight himself. He just still reminded me of a lame Tom Baker with not enough of his own personality. So I was a bit disappointed and probably won't be buying volume 2 even though it does have a cyberman companion.
September 7, 2014
The first few stories in this collection were mediocre and the problems were too easily resolved. However, I did like how each story led into the next and referenced the events before it; it was like watching a well connected season of the TV show. I also loved the characters and companions that helped the doctor: the independent and clever Izzy, the brazen Fey, and Shayde who is an artificial being created as a servant for Rassilon.
The story Wormwood was incredible. Set on the planet of Gallifrey, the Doctor must work against the Elysians, a sect of Time Lords set on destroying Gallifreyan history. The story was fast paced with believable and shocking plot twists, and this was one of the only stories that felt like a New Who episode. I loved it and it alone made me want to continue reading the other issues.
The story Wormwood was incredible. Set on the planet of Gallifrey, the Doctor must work against the Elysians, a sect of Time Lords set on destroying Gallifreyan history. The story was fast paced with believable and shocking plot twists, and this was one of the only stories that felt like a New Who episode. I loved it and it alone made me want to continue reading the other issues.
January 28, 2015
Sublime. This first volume of DWM comic strips with the Eighth Doctor is fantastic, and features battles with the Celestial Toymaker and the Daleks, plus a return to Gallifrey. The underlying plot elements began in the first story really pay-off by the end of this collection, and leave you wanting more. And what can I say about the Doctor's new companion, Izzy? Well she is fantastic (as the 9th Doctor would say) and a worthy fellow traveller in time and space for the Doctor.
April 23, 2017
The first volume of the 8th Doctor comic strips from Dr Who magazine. It introduces the 8th Doctor and Izzy, in a series of interconnected storylines. The Doctor is still trying to find himself after the regeneration, and Ace's demise at the hands of the Threshold. Izzy is a geek, who jumps at the chance of time travel. These are all really good stories, all turn pagers. Reading this brought back a lot of memories of waiting an entire month for the resolution of a cliffhanger. It also has the other regeneration story where Nick Briggs is the Doctor. At the time, it was feasible that Dr Who magazine would regenerate the Doctor. A really, really good read.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews