The Then and the Now (comic story)
The Then and the Now was the first story printed in the second year of Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor. A two-part story, it was the first in the series since What He Wants... to feature the Doctor and Alice without John Jones or ARC, and was the first comic printed after the conclusion of the Four Doctors crossover event. It also featured the surprise return of comics character Abslom Daak, who had originally been introduced during early issues of Doctor Who Magazine. This comic chooses to go back to basics with Daak – of carrying around Taiyin in order to find a way to revive her, in spite of the prior stories Nemesis of the Daleks and Emperor of the Daleks! showing Daak having left Taiyin behind.
The comic is also notable to non-Daak fans as being the first story since The Day of the Doctor to depict the Curator, and the only one to directly connect him to the Doctor. While the previous story had only hinted that he might be a future incarnation of the Time Lord, this comic decided to clearly show the figure as one of the Doctor's forms when time is distorted around him and Alice. He appears in front of the Eleventh Doctor, who is in front of the First Doctor, suggesting that his is indeed a future incarnation.
Technically speaking, the entirety of Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Year 2 could be viewed as one 14-part-story, with one plot-structure and hefty continuity between issues. Because of this, most of the ideas and characters introduced in The Then and the Now would have feature roles all the way through COMIC: Physician, Heal Thyself.
Summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
Accused of a genocidal crime he (probably) didn't (possibly) commit (oh hell, he totally did it), the Doctor and Alice – along with a unique! new! companion! – go on the run.
But extreme hyperviolence-for-hire is hot on their tail, tracking them wherever and whenever they go. With chainswords!
It's a race to clear our tricksy Time Lord's name and spare the lives of his friends, with the only answers burnt in the fiery footsteps of the incarnation he can never acknowledge: the WAR DOCTOR.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
Part one[[edit] | [edit source]]
The War Doctor and his companion bare witness to a war torn landscape. Meanwhile, the Eleventh Doctor and Alice Obiefune are held hostage in Temporal Agonizers aboard the Overcast. Yeronna reveals that the Doctor was tried in absentia 900 years earlier for the systematic annihilation of fifty generations of his people. Before Yeronna is able to sentence him, the Doctor uses his sonic screwdriver to disrupt the psychic moderators and escape with Alice down a corridor towards TARDIS. They are stopped by a Soldier who is ultimately completely destroyed by a writhing mass known as The Malignant. Yeronna appears to the Doctor and Alice on a screen and informs them that they know almost nothing of The Malignant, which feeds on moments of drama, except from the fact that the Doctor created it.
Yeronna further explains that his people were raised from savages by the Cyclors. However, after an intervention by the War Doctor the Cyclors abandoned them and in their place came The Malignant. The Malignant had fed off Yeronna's people for centuries and now they were in their last generation and occupied their thoughts with justice (or revenge) against the Doctor. As Yeronna recaptures the Doctor, he is defeated with a punch to the face from The Squire. The Squire indicates that she has had many adventures with the Doctor, but he informs Alice that he has no idea who she is.
Part two[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
- War Doctor
- War Doctor's companion
- Eleventh Doctor
- Alice Obiefune
- Yeronna
- Soldier
- The Squire
- Abslom Daak
- First Doctor
- The Curator
- Princess Taiyin
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The War Doctor introduced the Squire to the works of Marcel Proust.
- The Squire wears Quantum gauntlets.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The back of issue 1 included an advertisement for the graphic novel Nemesis of the Daleks, intended to enlighten readers on the character of Abslom Daak.
- The first half of this story was the first to confirm the Curator was a future incarnation of the Doctor.
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
External links[[edit] | [edit source]]
to be added
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