Attack of the Rats (comic story)

Attack of the Rats
Doctor:	[[doctor::Tenth Doctor]]
Companion(s):	Donna Noble
Main enemy:	Zantraan
Main setting:	Paris, France, Earth
Key crew
Publisher:	[[publisher::GE Fabbri Ltd]]
Editor:	Claire Lister
Writer:	Jason Loborik
Artist:	Lee Sullivan
Colourist:	Alan Craddock
Release details
Format:	Comic - Part 3 of 3 (4 pages)

Opening narration box

The Doctor has tracked the latest alien pod to France ...

Summary

In Paris the area around a third crashed alien craft has been evacuated and placed under UNIT control. The Doctor's psychic paper gives them entrance as providers from Noble Catering. This was a bigger craft with more crew and more alien mutations, this time giant rats. Taking refuge in the alien craft the Doctor uses the communication system to contact the mothership. Onboard the mother ship the Queen of the Zantraan, is expecting her three scout ships to have found a safe landing ground for the royal ship. The Queen is not happy that her scouts have all died and uses a tractor beam to bring back the space craft along with the Doctor and Donna, who are encased in an isolation sphere to protect the Zantraans from germs. Following their exodus from a plague ridden homeworld the Zantraans are looking for a new world to colonize. Fortunately for them as their ship is dying they came across the Earth, the Pure Planet, a fresh clean world. The Doctor and Donna fail to convince the Zantraans that the Earth isn't suitable as its ridden with pollution, smells and disease. Instead The Zantraan Queen orders preparations to cleanse the planet through burning...
ArtistLee Sullivan

Characters

• Tenth Doctor
• Donna Noble
• Zantraan - Large, grey in colour, three-eyed, six tentacled limbed creatures, ruled over by a monarch Queen. The Zantraans were forced to leave their home planet when it was ravaged by a plague. The surviving population fled in a shape ship destined to find a new world.

Original print details

(Instalment, publication with page count and closing captions)

• 3/4 Doctor Who: Battles in Time Issue 47 (4 pages) TO BE CONTINUED…
• No reprints to date.

Notes

• Supporting the series of collectable Doctor Who trading cards, the magazine title, carried a regular 4 page comic strip series of the Tenth Doctor’s adventures.
• The limitation of only 4 pages meant that stories often lacked some depth in comparison to other regular comic strips running at the same time.
• Style wise, the artwork and colours were bold and bright reflecting the tone of the magazine and, as with Doctor Who Adventures, it reflected the appeal to younger readers than that catered for by Doctor Who Magazine.

References

• The Battles in Time comic strip often sought to reinforce the Doctor character with that as seen on screen by utilising various ‘props’ used in the TV series. Namely; blue/brown suit, sonic screwdriver, psychic paper and his intelligent glasses.

Continuity

to be added

External links

• The official magazine website with magazine and trading card details, including news of the latest available issue.