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Title: Doctor Who: The Whispering Gallery
Writer: Leah Moore and John Mark Reppion
Art: Ben Templesmith
Letter: Richard Starkings
Cover: Ben Templesmith
Issue: #1 (Cover A, Cover B, Cover RI)
Publisher: IDW Publishing
Pages: 32
Price: $3.99
Release Date: February 2009

Martha and the Doctor go to the store for more milk, but end up landing at the Whispering Gallery on the planet Grått.  The gallery has portraits that hold fragments of the conscious and last thoughts of deceased inhabitants on their home world.

The Doctor has visited the planet of Grått in the past, where he met a young female Grattite named Grayla who wanted to travel.  They briefly traveled with each other, but soon parted ways.

The Doctor is surprised to find Grayla’s picture featured on the gallery wall.  For safety reasons, Martha is instructed to stay in the gallery while the Doctor visits Grayla’s grave.  The Doctor soon learns the horrible secret of Grått, while Martha tries to appease the wishes of the deceased Grattites in the Whispering Gallery.

Side Notes: The one-shot of Doctor Who: The Whispering Gallery had three variant covers and was later compiled into Doctor Who: Through Time and Space trade paper back with other standalone issues from 2009.  The comic book takes place before the events of  the episode “Utopia,” and The Forgotten comic book by IDW Publishing.

Grayla traveled with the Doctor between the show episodes of “The Runaway Bride” and “Smith and Jones.”  References from Doctor Who were featured in the comic book, such as the Doctor’s multicolored umbrella that was similar to what the sixth Doctor used previously.

I liked how Doctor Who: The Whispering Gallery was written.  It felt like a somber and touching tale of a society hidden behind a secret for unknown reasons by the populace.  Also, the script was interesting and believable for a non-canon comic book.

I didn’t like most of the artwork, because it felt sloppy and awkward in many scenes.  I felt that pencil/ink sketches were more expressive and consistent before the color was added.  The colors felt drastically dark and lacking depth, but I liked the subtle contrast between the interior of the TARDIS and the outside world.

It seemed as if the Doctor and Martha were rotoscoped or the actual images were referenced then photoshopped and painted over for a coloring technique.  Some elements distracted me because they were vastly different from the rest of the image.

Doctor Who re-launched its British science fiction television series in 2006.  It was developed in 1963 for the BBC by Sydney Newman, Anthony Coburn, Verity Lambert, C.E. Webber, David Whitaker, and Donald Wilson.

Doctor Who focuses on a Time Lord from the planet of Gallifrey who explores time and space in his TARDIS (Time And Relative Dimension[s] in Space) that has the exterior shape of a British police box.  The Time Lord, named the Doctor, travels with his companions as they go on adventures facing foes and righting the wrongs of others.

There have been several actors playing the Doctor to entertain audiences for over 40 years.  The series became an iconic figure and won the Guinness World Records for being the longest-running science fiction television show in the world.  With the introduction of another Doctor, it’s exciting as to what new adventures await him.  Doctor Who (Series 5) is currently playing on BBC One and BBC America.

Princess Powerful
princesspowerful@comicattack.net