By Rob McCow

The Life Bringer!

The Life Bringer! ran from issue 49-50 of Doctor Who Monthly. US Marvel Comic reprinted the strip in its run of reprints in issue 9 and Dave Gibbons gave it a lovely new cover. The Life Bringer! is currently available in the Doctor Who: Dragon’s Claw graphic novel, which was published in 2004 by Panini Books.

Writer – Steve Moore

Artist – Dave Gibbons

Editor – Alan McKenzie

Having waved goodbye to Sharon, the Doctor is left alone with K-9 in this story. K-9 is still the ultimate companion, serving the twin roles of blasting things and giving the Doctor something to talk at when he’s on his own. K-9 fires a photon-beam blaster that the gods of Olympus can hardly feel; in fact they find it quaint. It is K-9’s blaster that releases Prometheus from his chains at the start of the story.

Prometheus is the son of the Titan, Iapetus and the Oceanid, Clymene. In this story he comes across as a conceited but passionate young man. Able to control the TARDIS with a point of his finger and to fly through space equipped with only a skirt and sandals, Prometheus is an extremely Classical Greek god. He comes in perfect physical condition and is probably about 10 feet tall, judging by his height in relation to the Doctor. His body is a piece of physical perfection, despite having been chained to a rock for millions of years. All you people who spend time down the gym, consider that!

The TARDIS travels through a vortex in the void and lands on the barren beach of an unmapped shore. There, the Doctor and K-9 find Prometheus chained to a rock. Prometheus was the god that first stole the spark of life from heaven, populating the world with living creatures to beautify the universe. He was punished by Zeus by being chained to a mountain, which the sea has worn down to a large rock. Deciding that Prometheus has suffered enough, the Doctor uses K-9’s laser to complete the erosion and set him free.

Prometheus takes the Doctor’s TARDIS to Olympus. They meet Aphrodite, who is not pleased to see Prometheus back and takes them to see Zeus. The ordinary looking Olympian Temple that the Doctor glanced from a distance turns out to be an enormous city.

Prometheus argues with Zeus. Zeus states that the lesser races that the Olympians have created have turned out evil and imperfect, but Prometheus points out their great achievements. Zeus’ guards take Prometheus away and Zeus hands the Doctor and K-9 over to Asclepius, who threatens to open the Doctor up to see how he works. K-9 distracts Asclepius and the Doctor is able to escape; he hides and rescues K-9 while the Olympians look for him.

The Doctor finds his way back to the throne room, where Zeus is talking with Selene and Helius. They have been clearing planets, stars and black holes to open space to navigation, but bemoan the lack of lesser races to help them. Zeus mentions where Prometheus is locked up and the Doctor heads off to rescue him. Before they leave the temple, Prometheus takes the life-spores from Asclepius’ laboratory. They make their escape on Helius’s flying chariot, but Zeus finds out about their escape and is enraged. His face appears in the sky and he blasts the TARDIS with lightning just as it takes off.

The TARDIS materialises in space above a planet, but the Doctor’s instruments are scrambled. As Prometheus leaves the TARDIS and flies off to spread life throughout space, the Doctor ponders whether it was Earth that he found him on, or if he is now heading towards Earth.

This story was probably the most far-removed from the TV show of any that the comic strip had attempted up to that time. Just putting a 10-foot tall Olympian God on screen would have been impossible to maintain. In fact, it would have been difficult to find an English actor as good-looking or as physically fit as Prometheus.

However, it is in keeping with the ethos of the show that the gods are shown to derive their mystic powers from technology. Aphrodite’s flying shell has technological controls and Helius’ chariot is pulled by robot horses. The Olympians aren’t just focussed on the affairs of the Greeks either; they take a far wider view covering navigation throughout the whole galaxy.

Dave Gibbons is on top form here. The classical styling is something he excels at and he creates some great characters. The gods are appropriately giant and god-like, towering over the Doctor but never making him seem ill-proportioned or too small. Best of all is his large-bellied Zeus, who looks utterly dramatic and superior even when he’s just having a sit down. It’s an astounding moment when his giant form fills the sky and he rains lightning down on the TARDIS!

That’s not the only superb bit of art in this strip. All the classical images are augmented with technology. Aphrodite’s shell-craft has screens and electronic controls, as does Asclepius’ laboratory. The Olympian temple is a giant metal city and robot horses pull Helius’s flying chariot.

Tom Baker is spot on as ever. Just as the TV title sequence photo was changed to reflect an older Tom, so his appearance in the comic strip has subtly altered. His face is craggier and the skin around his neck slightly looser. It makes him look older than he did in the earlier strips and well represents the Doctor as he was on TV at the time.

This is another atmospheric tale from Steve Moore. It’s as off the wall as The Iron Legion, but in a very different way that won’t appeal to everyone. For the first time in the comic strip, the Doctor seems to be sidelined and the main focus of the plot is on the characters he meets, in this case Prometheus and his quest to bring life to the Universe.

One of the most interesting aspects of The Life Bringer! is the debate between Zeus and Prometheus about the worth of humanity. Zeus claims that the men that occupy the Universe are a scourge and that it would be better populated by lesser beings only once they are perfected. Prometheus argues instead that men as they are make the Universe beautiful, by bringing love and compassion into being despite their imperfect nature. Zeus, however, points out that men are capable of great evil too. Zeus wants to create a perfectly balanced Universe, but Prometheus wants to populate it with men as they are. What would you do?

The Olympians are an enemy that the Doctor really can’t fight. Zeus’ power renders him invincible and all the Olympians are immortal in any case. It’s impossible even to reason with them as they are all set on their ideas and are utterly blind to alternative arguments. It’s as much of a triumph as any that the Doctor is able to escape intact and rescue Prometheus.

This is the first appearance of the Doctor in full Season 18 gear. So that makes placing this story even easier. It’s somewhere between Shada and The Leisure Hive, because he still mentions the randomiser, which is ditched in The Leisure Hive.

Dave Gibbons’ recollects using a ‘swipe’ for this story, stealing an image from another artist for Helius’ Chariot. The swipe was from Ron Embleton, a top British comics artist of the 50’s and 60’s.

Olympians featured in this story, in order of appearance:

The Star Trek episode ‘Who Mourns for Adonais?’ features a forgotten Greek god with similar powers to Prometheus in this story.