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Doctor Who Magazine Comic Collections #25
Doctor Who: Doorway to Hell
The latest comic strips from the pages of the official Doctor Who Magazine, featuring the current Doctor as played by Peter Capaldi! Doorway to Hell collects together the latest stories featuring Peter Capaldi’s Doctor and a brand new companion, Jess, from the long-running comic strip in the official Doctor Who Magazine.
Featuring 5 Stories:
The Pestilent Heart
Moving In
Bloodsport
Be Forgot
Doorway to Hell
Featuring 5 Stories:
The Pestilent Heart
Moving In
Bloodsport
Be Forgot
Doorway to Hell
148 pages, Paperback
First published November 14, 2017
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
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April 6, 2018The cover rather gives away the finale to this ‘season’ of DWM comics, but you can’t altogether blame it, because isn’t Capaldi’s Doctor versus Delgado’s Master an idea to conjure with? The story itself…well, it’s OK, but there’s far too little of the two of them together, though I love the angle it takes once they do meet. The route there? Again, it has elements I love, without quite making me feel they’ve quite been done justice. We open in Brixton, 1972, where something untoward has been disturbed by the extension of the Victoria Line, and a fairly cheesy combination of nu-Who elements (metamorphic space plague, Power of Love) should put me off altogether. But I forgive it because these streets, this station are my standard Tube connection now, so as with that Strax and Jenny comic set in Crystal Palace, I can picture the Doctor walking my streets. I am, in some ways, very easily bought.
Plus, it’s nice to see Jess Collins from ‘The Highgate Horror’ again, and sure, having the Doctor move in with her family for a bit while the TARDIS sorts out the consequences of some plot may be pretty much a reprise of ‘The Lodger’ and ‘The Power of Three’, but I liked those stories (endings aside), so why not? Even better, there’s an issue establishing how he interacts with them all which bravely resists the slightest hint of (further) aliens, and has the sense to realise that the Doctor interacting with any era (here 1972) is story enough in itself. And, sensible man that he is, we get to see how little the Doctor thinks of Batman. Then too, John Ross and James Offredi's art here makes me think of Cliff Chiang, and that’s always a good thing. Even if, like most artists on most of the issues here, it does mean they’re prone to drawing Capaldi too smooth-faced, which does risk losing the point of him. That’s followed by a fairly Pat Mills two-parter about alien bloodsports enthusiasts (guess what, kids? Cruelty to animals is bad, mmmkay?) and a Christmas issue too sappy even to work for a fan of sappy Christmas issues like myself.
Also, you know that whole (blissful) period where the Doctor forgot that Clara had ever existed, and I wished I could do likewise? People who weren’t too busy thanking their lucky stars might have wondered how exactly that would work when he bumped into someone else who’d encountered them both and was not similarly blessed. Well, this collection explains the mechanics better than the show ever deigned to.
Plus, it’s nice to see Jess Collins from ‘The Highgate Horror’ again, and sure, having the Doctor move in with her family for a bit while the TARDIS sorts out the consequences of some plot may be pretty much a reprise of ‘The Lodger’ and ‘The Power of Three’, but I liked those stories (endings aside), so why not? Even better, there’s an issue establishing how he interacts with them all which bravely resists the slightest hint of (further) aliens, and has the sense to realise that the Doctor interacting with any era (here 1972) is story enough in itself. And, sensible man that he is, we get to see how little the Doctor thinks of Batman. Then too, John Ross and James Offredi's art here makes me think of Cliff Chiang, and that’s always a good thing. Even if, like most artists on most of the issues here, it does mean they’re prone to drawing Capaldi too smooth-faced, which does risk losing the point of him. That’s followed by a fairly Pat Mills two-parter about alien bloodsports enthusiasts (guess what, kids? Cruelty to animals is bad, mmmkay?) and a Christmas issue too sappy even to work for a fan of sappy Christmas issues like myself.
Also, you know that whole (blissful) period where the Doctor forgot that Clara had ever existed, and I wished I could do likewise? People who weren’t too busy thanking their lucky stars might have wondered how exactly that would work when he bumped into someone else who’d encountered them both and was not similarly blessed. Well, this collection explains the mechanics better than the show ever deigned to.
November 23, 2017
The Pestilent Heart gives us five Twelfth Doctor stories that help fill the gap between Clara's departure from the TARDIS and Bill's arrival.
First up is the Pestilent Heart in which the Doctor re-encounters Jess Collins (who he met in a previous story) in 1970s London. Evil is afoot in the London Underground and the Doctor has to sort it before Jess' dad is claimed as a permanent victim. Mixed feelings on this. Evil in the underground is an age old. So age old it was done in the penultimate 10th Doctor comic story and the monster isn't imaginative. The story is well-written and it does set up the rest of the book, so I'll give it a: Grade B
Moving In: After the events of the last story, the Doctor is stuck but Jess' family allows him to stay This story shows how he interacts with Jess, her father, her mother, and her brother. The vignettes are cute. This is probably one of my favorites in this long subgenre of Doctor Who domestic stories. It shows how the Doctor has settled a bit since Clara left and how he relates to everyone in the family. Grade: A-
Bloodsport: The Doctor decides to take Jess and her brother to the Museum only to find aliens in the midst of a hunt. This is another one of those stories that's been done before, but this one was particularly well done with some nice art and a couple variations on the theme. Grade: B+
Be Forgot: Mrs. Colins and the Doctor become concerned about a neighbor. Is a monster afoot? A very short but powerful holiday tale that packs a wallop. Nicely done. Grade: A-
Doorway to Hell: The Master, the Roger Delgado Master has an evil plan. The Collins' fall into his clutches and its up to the Doctor to save them. The rendering on Delgado's Master is a treat and the art and writing really capture the spirit of the character. The final battle between the Doctor and Master is unbelievably epic. Grade: A
Overall, this is one of the finest Doctor Who magazine collections I've ever read. I loved this idea of the Doctor being connected and grounded with an entire family and becoming part of their family and the community. It's a clever story that we'll be explored on television due to the demands of the genre, but here it's just a nice change of pace that highlights where the 12th Doctor could go. Overall, good characters, good plot, and just a really fun read for any Doctor Who fan.
First up is the Pestilent Heart in which the Doctor re-encounters Jess Collins (who he met in a previous story) in 1970s London. Evil is afoot in the London Underground and the Doctor has to sort it before Jess' dad is claimed as a permanent victim. Mixed feelings on this. Evil in the underground is an age old. So age old it was done in the penultimate 10th Doctor comic story and the monster isn't imaginative. The story is well-written and it does set up the rest of the book, so I'll give it a: Grade B
Moving In: After the events of the last story, the Doctor is stuck but Jess' family allows him to stay This story shows how he interacts with Jess, her father, her mother, and her brother. The vignettes are cute. This is probably one of my favorites in this long subgenre of Doctor Who domestic stories. It shows how the Doctor has settled a bit since Clara left and how he relates to everyone in the family. Grade: A-
Bloodsport: The Doctor decides to take Jess and her brother to the Museum only to find aliens in the midst of a hunt. This is another one of those stories that's been done before, but this one was particularly well done with some nice art and a couple variations on the theme. Grade: B+
Be Forgot: Mrs. Colins and the Doctor become concerned about a neighbor. Is a monster afoot? A very short but powerful holiday tale that packs a wallop. Nicely done. Grade: A-
Doorway to Hell: The Master, the Roger Delgado Master has an evil plan. The Collins' fall into his clutches and its up to the Doctor to save them. The rendering on Delgado's Master is a treat and the art and writing really capture the spirit of the character. The final battle between the Doctor and Master is unbelievably epic. Grade: A
Overall, this is one of the finest Doctor Who magazine collections I've ever read. I loved this idea of the Doctor being connected and grounded with an entire family and becoming part of their family and the community. It's a clever story that we'll be explored on television due to the demands of the genre, but here it's just a nice change of pace that highlights where the 12th Doctor could go. Overall, good characters, good plot, and just a really fun read for any Doctor Who fan.
June 2, 2020
A complete arc taking place between the Twelfth Doctor's second and third seasons, with the Doctor being stuck on Earth in the 1970s and taking refuge with humans, the Collins family. The Doctor and the family mesh together pretty well, particularly in the standalone story "Moving In", although some of it depends on a bit more silliness than we usually see with Twelve. (There's a particularly fun conversation between the Doctor and the younger son about superheroes.) We also get a rare example of the Doctor confronting a completely mundane threat. The final story, featuring the Twelfth Doctor confronting the UNIT-era Master (spoiled by the front cover), starts off pretty well and has an interesting setting, but also injects some not-well-foreshadowed tension between the Doctor and the family, and ends a bit too quickly to completely satisfy. Still, overall this is a good, solid set of Twelfth Doctor stories. (B+)
May 3, 2020
OK, but nothing more. The artwork is mostly good, apart from the occasional cartoony episode, but I think these collections are more for a younger readership (not mature sophisticatz like moi). At least the stories here form a whole - an arc where the twelfth Doctor is stranded in Brixton while the Tardis recuperates. His hosts, the Collins family, are likeable (moreso than recent TV companions) and a good foil to our irascible hero.
Nice to see the original Master return (as played by the late great Roger Delgado) but the eponymous tale in which he appears isn't that strong. The collection ends satisfactorily and there's the usual "Making Of"section: the writers and artists share a love of all things Who and seem a nice bunch. All in all, perfectly alright without being particularly memorable.
Nice to see the original Master return (as played by the late great Roger Delgado) but the eponymous tale in which he appears isn't that strong. The collection ends satisfactorily and there's the usual "Making Of"section: the writers and artists share a love of all things Who and seem a nice bunch. All in all, perfectly alright without being particularly memorable.
August 21, 2018
What a cracking run of stories, Genius idea - putting 12th Doc in 1972 for stretch and all leading to a great showdown with the Delgado Master.
Wright nails Capaldi's Doctor and brings Delgado's Master to silky, evil life.
The DWM comics are always better than the US ones, and this collection is absolute proof.
Wright nails Capaldi's Doctor and brings Delgado's Master to silky, evil life.
The DWM comics are always better than the US ones, and this collection is absolute proof.
April 13, 2020
A fantastic read! Once I started it, I couldn’t put it down! Highly recommend it as the writer got the voice of the familiar characters nailed down.
The art is amazing and makes one forget we are reading a comic strip!
The art is amazing and makes one forget we are reading a comic strip!
August 31, 2025
The Pestilent Heart - 5/5
Moving In - 4/5
Bloodsport - 4.5/5
Be Forgot - 4/5
Doorway to Hell - 5/5
Moving In - 4/5
Bloodsport - 4.5/5
Be Forgot - 4/5
Doorway to Hell - 5/5
July 16, 2022
This was a fun little read. I really liked to see the 12th Doctor meet Delgado's Master. Jess was a nice companion as well.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews