Attack of the Space Leeches! (comic story)

Attack of the Space Leeches! (comic story)

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Attack of the Space Leeches!
Doctor:	[[doctor::Eleventh Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Amy Pond
Main enemy:	Space Leech
Main setting:	London, April, 2010
Key crew
Publisher:	[[publisher::BBC Magazines]]
Editor:	Moray Laing
Writer:	Oli Smith
Artist:	John Ross
Colourist:	Alan Craddock
Release details
Format:	Comic - 2 parts (4 pages each)

Summary

Part One

A young boy named Stephen is wandering the streets of London in April 2010 (with a cold) when he sees an alien spaceship fall out of the sky. As people look inside the wrecked craft giant Space Leeches fly out and attach themselves to peoples heads. The leeches swarm, hundreds of them and remarkably Stephen manages to escape as everyone around him is taken over. He runs to the top of Primrose Hill and decides he needs help. Then the TARDIS materialises around him…

Part Two

Inside the TARDIS the Doctor and Amy are due to arrive at Primrose Hill for a view of London on a clear day when the TARDIS materialises around Stephen. As Stephen tells them of the space leeches getting everyone in London, the Doctor realises that there must be some terrible reason for Stephen to have arrived inside the ship. Leaving the TARDIS to check out Stephens story and realises that there is something about him that makes him different. It is Amy that points out is that Stephen has a cold (and a runny nose). Remarkably the Doctor uses “the sonic to tweak the virus and make it super infections!” Stephen’s touch then becomes super infectious and everyone soon finds that Stephens virus is enough to weaken the leeches that detach themselves from people. But the space leeches are drawn to the Doctor, “one person whose biology is strong enough to withstand any cold”. Assuring Stephen he would take them somewhere safe, the Doctor (along with Amy) lead the space leeches into the TARDIS, and away.

Characters

• The Doctor
• Amy Pond
• Stephen

References

to be added

Notes

• The DWAM comic strip adventures were very much aimed at a younger audience and the artwork and colours were bold and bright, reflecting the tone of the magazine.
• Part One of this story was on sale only days before the arrival of the Eleventh Doctor and Amy on UK TV and notably only referenced the show with the arrival of the TARDIS in the final frame. By the time of Part Two, readers were likely to have seen the new Doctor and Amy on TV. The Eleventh Doctor and Amy's appearance in Part 2 marked their first comic strip appearance anywhere, predating Doctor Who Magazine's debut by several weeks.
• The Doctor’s sonic screwdriver (loosely referred to as his “sonic”) has the unlikely ability to tweak a virus and make it super infectious. The sonic depicted is of that used by the Tenth Doctor with the blue end.
• This story is similar to Robert Heinlein's The Puppet Masters, in which parasitic, mind-controlling slugs are defeated with the use of a modified virus.

Original print details

Publication with page count and closing captions

1. DWA 160 (4 pages) NEXT WEEK – Find out what happens when Stephen meets the Doctor and Amy!
2. DWA 161 (4 pages) NEXT WEEK – Madness on the motorway

Continuity

• The idea of the Doctor concocting a highly infectious virus to cure lots of people quickly was similar to that in DW: New Earth.
• Besides Stephen, other people to suddenly arrive inside the TARDIS also include the White Guardian, Donna Noble and the Graske.

Timeline

• This story occurs after: NSA: Night of the Humans
• This story occurs before: DWAN: Madness on the M1!

External links

• The official BBC Magazine site with cover gallery and news of the latest available issue.