Abandon Strip! Part Four

Doctor Who and Terminator? Awesome. Yet more comic book reviews from Gallows sticksman Lee Barratt is contained within, so get involved.

Posted Wednesday, 8 September 2010 by Lee Barratt in

Blog

Hello again, and welcome back to Abandon Strip. I'm writing this fuelled by about 3 hours sleep after a long weekend in Norway with Gallows so any bad punctuation or spelling can be blamed on that!

While I was in Oslo I managed to have a read through the first issue of the comic based on the Doctor Who spin-off Torchwood (Titan). I've never managed to catch an episode of the BBC series, but was pleasantly surprised to see that the first story was penned by John Barrowman, who plays the main character in the show, Jack Harkness. It's an interesting read based around the mythological creature of the Selkie, a being which can shed its skin to become human in order to serve a purpose before returning to its original seal form. After some baffling and grisly deaths on Seal Island in Scotland, Harkness is called to the scene to investigate why the local fishermen are being picked off one by one. Is it the work of the Selkie or is that just an old Scottish myth? It's an enjoyable albeit short story by Barrowman with some gorgeous artwork by Tommy Lee Edwards who has also recently been working with Jonathan Ross on his comic adventure Turf (my review of that is coming soon).

The second half of the Torchwood comic is an ongoing story written by Gary Russell titled Broken. It appears Russell has decided to set an episode of The Twilight Zone in a Cardiff hotel while a bunch of the Torchwood team disappear in to various black holes that were previously hotel rooms. Definitely a strange concept and one that I could possibly persevere with for part 2 but not as enjoyable as Barrowman's shorter story. On another note, if Torchwood was made into an animated series, I can imagine the characters looking exactly how artist Adrian Salmon has drawn them. The art in Broken is by no means terrible but unfortunately lacks the very lush, realistic feel that Tommy Lee Edwards has drawn for The Selkie.

Torchwood issue 1 is definitely worth checking out, especially if you're a fan of the show AND if you head to Forbidden Planet now you can pick up two exclusive covers from San Diego Comic Con 2010!

Fans of James Cameron's first two Terminator films should pay attention right now as The Terminator 2029 (Dark Horse) looks like it might pull the ailing killer cyborg franchise out of murky waters. I didn't find anything hugely wrong with Terminator: Salvation, but this three issue limited series definitely feels more in tune with those first two Cameron-directed movies and could be argued is more of an extension to the gritty foundations that were laid out by the original T-800s, Sarah Connor, John Connor and Kyle Reese from back in the day.

Despite being set in 2029, the title is a little misleading as all these events take place before 1984. So we get to see Skynet's experiments with the T800s and the survivors' total surprise as they encounter their first robots which look entirely human. The thing I like best about Terminator 2029 is that writer Zack Whedon has realised the importance of making sure the reader feels a connection with the human characters and their struggles as they fight to stay alive. The introduction of two new characters - resistance soldiers Ben Oliver & Paige - become pivotal to not only this story but will also play a vital role in the upcoming follow up series Terminator 1984. If you're expecting to see John & Sarah Connor and lots of machines blowing shit up then you may be disappointed but the ongoing struggles of Kyle Reese & co prove that you don't need a story based around huge explosions and Arnold Schwarzenegger for it to be a success. The stresses and strain of relationships and survival is what made the original Terminator stand out and is why this series is far more interesting then a lot of other stuff I have read recently. I'm very excited to get my hands on issue 1 of Terminator: 1984 which hits stores in October but for now, make sure you check this series out.

There's lots of stuff to come next week including the first ever comic based on the legendary New York music venue CBGBs!!

Thanks to Forbidden Planet, the best place to buy comics online.

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