With everyone still buzzing from the 50th Anniversary and a while until the Christmas special, it’s a good thing we have Doctor Who #15 to help tide us over. Still, as we slide back into the plot about westerns, aliens and Oscar Wilde, how is it holding up?

The official description from IDW:

Deadman’s Hand, Part 3 of 4: The judgement is made, and Earth is doomed! Can the Doctor and Oscar Wilde convince an alien with a vendetta to change his mind? Meanwhile, Clara and Calamity Jane track down Wild Bill Hickok in an effort to unearth the truth behind the gunfighter’s return.

Overall, this is shaping up to be an entertaining story. This issue adds much more of the ‘alien’ into the wild west, but it also greatly builds on character, with both the Doctor and Clara getting some definition and crucial scenes. Doctor Who #15 also holds a little 50th celebration of its own (don’t worry, I’m not throwing a spoiler) that actively fits into the plot, as opposed to just shoving it in. All in all, its fairly well put together and provides an entertaining read – just as a Doctor Who title should.

Tony Lee shows off some good writing muscles in this issue. The plot isn’t perfect, but the concept is unique enough, with a meld of science fiction and western themes – the use of Oscar Wilde in this issue makes for a fairly decent surrogate, whereas Clara’s independence is highly useful here. Lee doesn’t write her as someone who questions the Doctor for simply exposition (we have Oscar Wilde for that), instead shes independent and determined, adding much more to the story as a result. My only complaint would be the sense of scale at work – the Doctor heads to the hills, then to town, then something happens in the valley – a small complaint, of course, but it can be dis-jarring for people who like to over-read into things.

Visually, of course, this issue also holds on in its own. Mike Collins does a decent job capturing the nature of a western setup and gives enough attention to key characters – no panel seems lost of confusing and the whole affair flows fairly smoothly. Charlie Kirchoff offers some nice colors, although I would appreciate some more diversity. Each panel and, to an extent, page seems to imply one color, typically a brown/orange or ready purple, but it does experiment more in the bigger panels, which show off more of this potential.

All in all, it’s not a bad entry. Of course, nothing is going to match the 50th Anniversary epic we saw on the TV, but this is an excellent way to pass the time.

3.5/5