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Doctor Who Annuals #13
The Dr Who Annual 1979
Text Stories: Famine on Planet X, The Planet of Dust, Terror on Tantalogus, Flashback, The Crocodiles from the Mist
Comic Strips: The Power, Emsone's Castle
Notes: Paul Crompton was credited as the illustrator. The book saw a dramatic change in the style of Crompton's artwork for the better, which he jokingly puts down to being 'probably on the wagon at the time', after blaming his earlier illustrative excesses on the influence of alcohol. The Doctor's companion was Leela, but whilst the Doctor was well-drawn, Leela was unrecognisable. A number of images from other television shows and films cropped up in this annual; page 29 featured a character from Village of the Damned, the story Flashback had characters and sets from Space 1999, and the character Emsone in the story Emsone's Castle was dressed in a costume from the film Things to Come. Paul Crompton took over some of the writing on this annual. He penned both comic strip stories, and by doing so was able to create his images then write a story around them, the reverse of the normal process of comic strip creation. The games and features content were considerably lower this year, with only 11 pages occupied by this material.
Comic Strips: The Power, Emsone's Castle
Notes: Paul Crompton was credited as the illustrator. The book saw a dramatic change in the style of Crompton's artwork for the better, which he jokingly puts down to being 'probably on the wagon at the time', after blaming his earlier illustrative excesses on the influence of alcohol. The Doctor's companion was Leela, but whilst the Doctor was well-drawn, Leela was unrecognisable. A number of images from other television shows and films cropped up in this annual; page 29 featured a character from Village of the Damned, the story Flashback had characters and sets from Space 1999, and the character Emsone in the story Emsone's Castle was dressed in a costume from the film Things to Come. Paul Crompton took over some of the writing on this annual. He penned both comic strip stories, and by doing so was able to create his images then write a story around them, the reverse of the normal process of comic strip creation. The games and features content were considerably lower this year, with only 11 pages occupied by this material.
64 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1978
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 21, 2021
pretty good. i liked the last story with the alien creatures. it was a nice change of pace for a doctor who story. also- did the artist not know what leela looks like because it didn’t look like leela.
March 19, 2011
Yet again, a Doctor Who annual where the art is rather good for the Doctor but pretty awful for the companion. Since this came out in September 1978, and Leela had left the programme several months before, maybe the compilers of the Annual and the BBC were hoping we had forgotten what she looked like. The woman in the artwork looks if anything more like Mary Tamm's Romana wearing a wig and a bad bra.
But in general the 1979 annual seems to be continuing the track of improvement on previous years. The fiction again is well-written and actually fairly substantial, the prose stories taking up 35 pages out of 64 and the comic strips another 12; the comic strips seem to have absorbed the spirit of 2000 AD in both style and substance, very flashy and busy but actually telling a story at the same time; and apart from my whine about the artwork the characterisation of Leela and the Doctor is generally (though not consistently) accurate. I was intrigued by one of the prose filler pieces as well, about the 'Skyship', which I hadn't heard of but turns out to be the ancestor of the Skyship 600 airship which is in fact in commercial use today. (So, yes, I was actually educated by the educational bits.)
But in general the 1979 annual seems to be continuing the track of improvement on previous years. The fiction again is well-written and actually fairly substantial, the prose stories taking up 35 pages out of 64 and the comic strips another 12; the comic strips seem to have absorbed the spirit of 2000 AD in both style and substance, very flashy and busy but actually telling a story at the same time; and apart from my whine about the artwork the characterisation of Leela and the Doctor is generally (though not consistently) accurate. I was intrigued by one of the prose filler pieces as well, about the 'Skyship', which I hadn't heard of but turns out to be the ancestor of the Skyship 600 airship which is in fact in commercial use today. (So, yes, I was actually educated by the educational bits.)
February 15, 2009
For me, this book is Christmas; reading what I reckon must have been my first ever Doctor Who book on Christmas Day is one of the most powerful childhood memories I have. I was baffled by the art and puzzles but loved it nevertheless. Wow, I would have been five years old when I got this: no wonder it made a big impression upon me.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews