The Domino Effect

Some highlights of the latest EDA I’ve read (The Domino Effect).

I took these screens while reading, along with my reactions. As usual, this is full of spoilers.

 

Good news, everyone! This one isn't as bad as Infinity Race.

Unfortunately that's where the good news stop. And yeah, it's also pretty bad, but in a completely different way than the previous book - it's slightly better written, but it's gratuitously edgy, the regulars are either bland, way too aggressive or too busy being tortured to be in or out of character, the plot is very thin and makes very little sense, and it ends in the most boring, predictable way possible. And it also has the most artificial conflict between the main characters that I've ever seen in these books.

Some parts are so-bad-it's-good, and I kinda liked one specific plot thread, but that's about it. I sincerely hope this is just a fluke? 2,5/10

The Infinity Race

Some highlights of the latest EDA I’ve read (The Infinity Race).

I took these screens while reading, along with my reactions. As usual, this is full of spoilers.

 

Well, folks, this is it. It took us eight years, and it was quite a journey, but here we are. We've found it at last. It's finally there.

The worst book in this series.

I'm not saying this lightly either. I had to pull out my spreadsheet where I keep track of every rating I've ever given to a Doctor Who story (thank the autism, I guess) and I'm staring at this list right now, and there is nothing I could place lower than this one. I gave The Space Age a 1/10 for being boring as hell, and yet, it was better written than this one. It's clearly worse than War of the Daleks and its 1,5/10. God, The Slow Empire, with its out of character regulars and its plot based on a pun, looks like a masterpiece next to The Infinity Race. And I gave that one 2,5/10.

The prose is beyond awful, the regulars are either out of character or complete caricatures of themselves, the plot is boring and its rare decent ideas aren't fully exploited, there's "native" locals speaking in baby talk, there's a couple of weirdly sexist bits, and it's constantly breaking the fourth wall for no reason.

I've heard the next book is pretty bad too, but surely it can't be worse than this. Surely we've reached rock bottom. 1/10

The Book of the Still - Lebenswelt

 

Lebenswelt, the horribly gothic city from "The Book of the Still". Anji reaaaally doesn’t like that place. Fitz is a little more enthusiastic. (September 13th, 2019)

Vampire Science - Eight and kittens

 

(June 30th, 2019)

Gardening

 

Fitz adding a couple of new plants to the TARDIS’ garden. (June 30th, 2019)

The Scarlet Empress - Major Angela

 

Major Angela, bearded queen of the golden bears of Kestheven, who shave their own golden fur in her honor (from the EDA The Scarlet Empress). (June 22nd, 2018)

Henrietta Street - A senatorial arena

 

A comic page based on a scene near the end of The Adventuress of Henrietta Street. (July 18th, 2018)

The Taint - Begonia

 

How Fitz meets Eight (in the book "The Taint"). (July 31st, 2018)

Hope - It's a bit cold

 

Eight and Fitz sitting at the edge of the city of Hope at the end of the universe (and Fitz trying to pretend he can stand the cold just fine) (August 1st, 2018)

Grimm Reality - Doctor Know-All

 

In Grimm Reality, the TARDIS lands on a strange planet where magic exists, and Eight becomes “Doctor Know-All, adviser & helper & donor in extremis”.

(This drawing was mostly an excuse to draw a cute toad. And Wolfskin.) (August 3rd, 2018)

Space Police

 

Really dumb little comic about an Edguy song which could have been ghostwritten by Fitz in my humble opinion (here’s the actual, very ridiculous, and absolutely wonderful song if you’re curious). (October 7th, 2018)

Stellarium

 

A TARDIS room briefly mentioned in the EDAs (January 30, 2019)

City of the dead - Are you a murderer

 

‘But are you a murderer?’ Rust asked matter-of-factly. (…)

The Doctor regarded him frankly. 'I don’t know.’

'Don’t you?’

'I don’t expect you to believe me, but no, I don’t. (…) You can
always run my description through your computers.’

'I have.’

'Find anything?’

'No.’

'There you go.’

'All that means is that you were never caught.’

'I don’t believe,’ said the Doctor in a thin, strained voice, 'that there is
anyone left to catch me.’

("City of the Dead", Lloyd Rose)

The City of the Dead - Tarot cards

 

 

Based on this scene:

She started shuffling the cards. ‘It’s about the forces that brought you to your present position.’

‘Not the future?’

“The future,’ she said, ‘is very evasive.’

He smiled. She handed him the pack to cut, then laid out nine cards on the coverlet, face down. The backs were solid white with grey glyphs. 'OK,’ she said, 'this is where you began.’ She turned up the Hierophant. 'Does that mean anything to you?’

'No.’

'OK. This was where you went next.’ She flipped the second card. The Hermit. 'Any vibes?’

'I’m afraid not.’

The third card was the Emperor. This was followed by the Fool.

Then came the Star, the Moon and the Hanged Man. Then the Tower. Laura shot the Doctor a sharp glance, but his expression was no more than pleasantly interested.

The Adventuress of Henrietta Street - The gang, ready to face the Babewyns

 

The whole Henrietta Street gang, ready to face the Babewyns in the Kingdom of Beasts (The Adventuress of Henrietta Street).

A lot of The Birthday Massacre was listened to during the colouring process, especially One and Divide. As the book itself would say, “It’s all terribly gothic.” (February 1st, 2018)

City of the dead - Pockets

 

I translated some bits of a scene from The City of the Dead for the French Classic Who group on Facebook. (February 24th, 2018)

Endgame - Broken TARDIS

 

Eight, depressed and waiting for his TARDIS to grow back (in the middle of the Earth Arc, in Endgame). (March 23, 2018)

The Year of Intelligent Tigers - Play-fighting

 

(April 30th, 2018)

The City of the Dead - Teddy Acree has issues

 

A scene from The City of the Dead. The artist is called Teddy Acree, he makes macabre paintings full of demons and angels and dead people, and he has issues. Also, I forgot Eight was wearing a different coat in this story, oops! (July 16th, 2017)

The library

 

Eight, Fitz and Anji reading books together on piles of blankets in a badly curated part of the TARDIS’ library. (July 18th, 2017)

Ancestor Cell - Kristeva

 

Eight meeting Uncle Kristeva in The Ancestor Cell (despite how out of character the whole Faction was in that book, this dialogue was fun). (July 20th, 2017)

The Year of Intelligent Tigers - Roar

 

Eight living among the Tigers (in "The Year of Intelligent Tigers"). (July 22nd, 2017)

The Blue Angel - Books

 

(July 27th, 2017)

The Year of Intelligent Tigers - Sail on

 

According to The Year of Intelligent Tigers, Fitz wrote a song for the Doctor before the Earth Arc, but he could never finish it. (July 29th, 2017)

Faction Paradox

 

Much like the EDAs seem to show different interpretations of Faction Paradox from book to book, I tend to picture their aesthetic in a lot of different ways. So here’s a drawing with all of them. (February 23rd, 2017)

Tea in Socotra

 

Once every few months, the French Classic Who group makes some sort of big fan art collab, and the current theme is “the strangest places on Earth″, so here’s my contribution. This team, like most TARDIS teams, really needs a break. (March 5th, 2017)

Vanishing Point - Like a damsel in distress

If you thought I wouldn’t draw that scene from Vanishing Point, where Eight decides the best course of action to make a quick getaway despite Fitz’s shotgun wound to the leg is to carry him bridal style, clearly you don’t know me very well.

Vettul helped Fitz up, and now the Doctor swept him almost romantically into his arms and led the way through the smoky corridor. (…) ‘Keep your eyes open for Hox,’ the Doctor yelled, Fitz clutching on round his neck like a damsel in distress. (March 12th, 2017)

 

Interference - I.M. Foreman's show

 

“I.M. FOREMAN’S ONE-SPECIES NONGENETICALLY-ENGINEERED TRAVELLING SHOW! Every act a reflection, every performer a cautionary tale. (All comers welcome, no refunds given.) N.B.: The Management accepts no responsibility for anything at all.” (Interference Book One) (March 30th, 2017)

Seeing I - Eight's cell

 

Eight in his cell in Seeing I. (October 21st, 2015)

Beltempest - Sunrise came to the new world

 

Trying to illustrate one of my favorite scenes from the EDA Beltempest.

Sunrise came to the new world in a kaleidoscopic iteration of life.

Things that might have been birds or fish flapped or swam through the air. They made a sound that was indescribable. It might have been laughter or machine noise. No one could tell. More life crawled and flapped across the surface. Again, no one could tell if this life was vegetable or animal - motile seeds seeking fertile ground or animals seeking to evade a vegetable predator. The world was a circus mirror of a real world, one in which the reflecting surface was constantly evolving, unbending, flattening with time, before assuming some new, evolutionary kink.

The rain stopped, then started again. The clouds changed colour as volcanic gases emerged to mingle with the sunlight. Yellow blotches of sulphur appeared on the ground. Some of them had legs and fled from the approaching heavy tread of the medics’ starsuits. (January 2nd, 2016)

War of the Daleks - What do we do with it now

 

A scene from the ending of the EDA War of the Daleks (there was still one Dalek aboard the TARDIS, Eight and Sam managed to neutralise it, but they don’t really know what to do with it afterwards). (January 27th, 2016)

Seeing I - Sam, this is for you

 

A scene from Seeing I. Sam and her friends are trying to rescue the Doctor from a prison where he wasted three years of his life (he was monitored by a camera in his left eye), but one of his first priorities is to give Sam what’s left of the teddy bear he had bought for her before he was incarcerated. (February 5th, 2016)

The Scarlet Empress - Birds of Paradise

 

Trying to illustrate one of my favorite parts of The Scarlet Empress: the Eighth Doctor and Iris Wildthyme (third incarnation) are captured by giant birds of paradise, who want to keep them as storytellers. (May 30th, 2016)

The Scarlet Empress - Iris regenerates

The ending of The Scarlet Empress (where Iris Wildthyme regenerates into her fourth incarnation) in comic form. (June 13th, 2016)

Inktober 2019 - Space Travelers - 31/31