Doctor Who: The Forgotten #1 (IDW – Lee / Guerra)
Stranded in a strange Museum that’s dedicated to him—and with no TARDIS in sight, The Doctor and Martha must make sense of their surroundings, hindered by one small fact—The Doctor has lost his memories of every one of his previous incarnations! With items relevant to each Doctor in their possession, The Doctor must try to use them to regain his memories before it’s too late, starting with his earliest incarnation’s memories, involving Susan, Barbara and Ian. This all-new series written by Tony Lee (Starship Troopers) features artist Pia Guerra in her first monthly comic since Y The Last Man!
For this American fan of Galifrey, reading The Forgotten struck me very much like the first time I watched the episode “The Five Doctors”. Big Chills!
I started watching Tom Baker episodes more than twenty five years ago (wow… I just got old geek points) and immediately fell in love with the concept and character of the good Doctor. For decades I would have put the fourth Doctor right up there on the top of my list of fictional heroes, barely edging out Captain Kirk. Tom Baker was far and away the best and brightest Doctor this child of the eighties would ever know. He was infinitely more entertaining than Peter Davidson. He would forever be my favorite incarnation… until David Tennant.
In The Forgotten, we get a connection between Tennant, number ten, and the first Doctor William Hartnell. Hartnell’s Doctor was imperial, elite and borderline snobby… but then again he was Timelord among humans. Tony Lee does an excellent job of capturing the characters of Doctors number one and ten and not to mention Martha. The basis for this six-part limited series is that The Doctor and Martha go on a fact finding tour throughout the Doctor’s memories to see if they can escape from their mysterious nemesis and his power over his access to his former lives. Tony Lee does an excellent job of setting the scene in this first issue and Pia Guerra graces this book with her incredible art. Her ability to convey paranoia and stress in her pencils in uncanny and unmatched. She is perfect artist for this book.
The short of it is, I enjoyed the first issue and cannot wait for the rest to come.
Issue Grade: A
