Evening's Empire (comic story): Difference between revisions
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[[Thursday]]. [[48 (number)|Forty-eight]] hours earlier, in the [[Burroughs Charted Surveyor]] in [[Middlesbrough]], [[clerk]] [[Alex Evening]] is broken from his daydreaming of another world by [[Ace]], requesting access to the local records about any crashes in the area from [[World War 2]]. Meanwhile, the [[Seventh Doctor]] remarks "A man. A [[plan]]. A [[canal]]. [[Panama]].", to which Muriel Frost rebutts, whilst preparing to dive into the river alongside two other UNIT personnel. They are trying to recover a crashed [[Nazi]] plane, and after they dive to the bottom of the river, the crashed plane is found, and Frost gets the marked feeling that it was waiting for her. Back in the Burroughs Charted Surveyor, Alex retrieves a selection of records on local [[Bombing raid|bombings]], simultaneously serving Ace a [[cup]] of strong coffee and complimenting her looks. Unbeknownst to Ace, the coffee is spiked with [[chlormezanone]], which sends her crashing to the floor, unconscious. | [[Thursday]]. [[48 (number)|Forty-eight]] hours earlier, in the [[Burroughs Charted Surveyor]] in [[Middlesbrough]], [[clerk]] [[Alex Evening]] is broken from his daydreaming of another world by [[Ace]], requesting access to the local records about any crashes in the area from [[World War 2]]. Meanwhile, the [[Seventh Doctor]] remarks "A man. A [[plan]]. A [[canal]]. [[Panama]].", to which Muriel Frost rebutts, whilst preparing to dive into the river alongside two other UNIT personnel. They are trying to recover a crashed [[Nazi]] plane, and after they dive to the bottom of the river, the crashed plane is found, and Frost gets the marked feeling that it was waiting for her. Back in the Burroughs Charted Surveyor, Alex retrieves a selection of records on local [[Bombing raid|bombings]], simultaneously serving Ace a [[cup]] of strong coffee and complimenting her looks. Unbeknownst to Ace, the coffee is spiked with [[chlormezanone]], which sends her crashing to the floor, unconscious. | ||
That [[evening]], more UNIT personnel arrived, extricating the plane from the murky depths. Drying herself with a towel, Frost discusses the pilot, who was little more than a child, with the Doctor. That night, Alex lets himself into [[Janice Evening|his mother]]'s [[shed]], and she scolds him for interrupting the [[hymn]]s. Ace awakes, in a place she is entirely unfamiliar with, a type of experience she ''is'' familiar with, though this time is different. Finding herself, alone, in a cell, she shouts for the Doctor, despite knowing he isn't there. | |||
[[Friday]]. | |||
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* [[Ace]] | * [[Ace]] | ||
* [[Seventh Doctor]] | * [[Seventh Doctor]] | ||
* [[Pilot (Evening's Empire)|Pilot]] | |||
* [[Janice Evening]] | * [[Janice Evening]] | ||
Revision as of 17:48, 1 May 2022
Evening's Empire was a Seventh Doctor comic story by Andrew Cartmel and featured art by Richard Piers Rayner. It featured Ace and Muriel Frost, the latter of which was included to introduce a supporting cast for the series.
The story went through delays after the first part was published in DWM 180, with John Freeman referring to it as "the Doctor Who Magazine equivlent of Shada", and it was decided that publications of the latter parts would be delayed until all creative parties had caught up with one another. The story was also an attempt to introduce darker and more complex themes, a natural evolution from the final stories featuring Sylvester McCoy, such as the themes of abuse and bullying explored within this story. Howver, due to its delays, the threads introduced in the story were never able to be further explored.
Summary
Arriving in Middlesbrough, the Doctor, Ace aid Colonel Muriel Frost in an investigation into a plane crash during WWII.
Meanwhile, women are being kidnapped, and UNIT is trapped on a strange world of contemporary Earth building, primitive humans bows and arrows and with two suns in the sky.
How are these events connected? The Doctor is about to find out.
Plot
Saturday. In a world with twin suns, in a majestic city unmistakably built by humans, a group of UNIT personnel are fighting a battle against the primative locals. Corporal Ives and Colonel Muriel Frost have located Ace, and they go to rescue her, with Hammond covering them. Despite the primatives being armed with merely bows and arrows, one arrow breaks through Hammond's body armour, severly wounding him. The primatives begin to retreat, and the UNIT personnel mistakenly think that they're winning the fight; they're sorely mistaken, as the primatives' secret weapon starts decamating the soldiers.
Thursday. Forty-eight hours earlier, in the Burroughs Charted Surveyor in Middlesbrough, clerk Alex Evening is broken from his daydreaming of another world by Ace, requesting access to the local records about any crashes in the area from World War 2. Meanwhile, the Seventh Doctor remarks "A man. A plan. A canal. Panama.", to which Muriel Frost rebutts, whilst preparing to dive into the river alongside two other UNIT personnel. They are trying to recover a crashed Nazi plane, and after they dive to the bottom of the river, the crashed plane is found, and Frost gets the marked feeling that it was waiting for her. Back in the Burroughs Charted Surveyor, Alex retrieves a selection of records on local bombings, simultaneously serving Ace a cup of strong coffee and complimenting her looks. Unbeknownst to Ace, the coffee is spiked with chlormezanone, which sends her crashing to the floor, unconscious.
That evening, more UNIT personnel arrived, extricating the plane from the murky depths. Drying herself with a towel, Frost discusses the pilot, who was little more than a child, with the Doctor. That night, Alex lets himself into his mother's shed, and she scolds him for interrupting the hymns. Ace awakes, in a place she is entirely unfamiliar with, a type of experience she is familiar with, though this time is different. Finding herself, alone, in a cell, she shouts for the Doctor, despite knowing he isn't there.
Characters
(In order of appearance)
- Corporal Ives
- Colonel Muriel Frost
- Hammond
- Slayton
- Alex Evening
- Ace
- Seventh Doctor
- Pilot
- Janice Evening
References
- Hammond compares the world created by Alex to the Wild West.
Notes
- An exact year is never specified in this story. The Doctor references being 50 years after World War II, setting this story around the 1990s. The Doctor previously met Captain Frost (before her promotion) near the end of this decade in the comic story The Mark of Mandragora.
- Originally intended as a multiple-chapter story for Doctor Who Magazine, only the first chapter was ever published in DWM, in November 1991. The remainder was abandoned due to production issues. In September 1993, the complete strip, colourised and altered, was published as the DWCC Autumn Holiday Special. Although published in magazine format, some sources such as the reference work Howe's Transcendental Toybox treat it as a graphic novel.
- The original black-and-white version of Part One is reprinted in DWCC Autumn Holiday Special.
- Part One as published in DWM was remade into pages 7-13 of the full story. Speech bubbles are redrawn and re-lettered with revisions to the text:
- The title of the story is removed and the opening narration is changed.
- "World War Two" is changed to "World War 2."
- The Doctor's quoting of "A man, a plan, a canal, Panama" is altered. In response, Colonel Frost lists three points instead of two. (Part of an original speech bubble can be seen on the Doctor's hat.)
- Narration is added to Colonel Frost's dive.
- The conversation between Ace and Alex is largely rewritten.
- Dialogue between the Doctor and Colonel Frost is added. Frost estimates the dead pilot's age as 19 instead of 23.
- Dialogue from Alex as he locks up the shed is added.
- Additional narration is added as Ace wake up in the dream world. "Next: Down in the dark" is removed.
- The twins suns orbiting the world Alex created are likely inspired by A New Hope, the first Star Wars film.
Continuity
- Muriel Frost previously appeared in COMIC: The Mark of Mandragora.
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