On “The Life Bringer”

I was flipping through the new Previews — that being the catalog of upcoming comics — and I saw that IDW Publishing is continuing with their Doctor Who Classics series.

According to the solicit for Doctor Who Classics Volume 2, number 1, the classic fourth Doctor story being reprinted is “The Life Bringer.”

In “The Life Bringer,” the Doctor and K-9 discover a man chained to a pebble. The Doctor frees him — only to discover that the man is, in fact, the Greek god Prometheus. And by freeing Prometheus from the rock, the Doctor has come into conflict with the Greek gods.

And, when the sixth Doctor says in “The Spindle of Necessity,” the Doctor Who story I wrote for Short Trips: The Quality of Leadership, “I’ve met your gods, Plato,” he’s referring back to this story.

Someone asked, by e-mail, if that line was referring back to “The Myth Makers,” where the Greeks mistake the first Doctor for Zeus. No, I had a literal meeting with the Greek pantheon in mind. 😉

If you’re curious, check out Doctor Who Classics in December. At the very least, you’ll get some awesome Dave Gibbons artwork. For readers who only know Gibbons for Watchmen, just wait until you see his truly awesome fourth Doctor.

Published by Allyn

A writer, editor, journalist, sometimes coder, occasional historian, and all-around scholar, Allyn Gibson is the writer for Diamond Comic Distributors' monthly PREVIEWS catalog, used by comic book shops and throughout the comics industry, and the editor for its monthly order forms. In his over ten years in the industry, Allyn has interviewed comics creators and pop culture celebrities, covered conventions, analyzed industry revenue trends, and written copy for comics, toys, and other pop culture merchandise. Allyn is also known for his short fiction (including the Star Trek story "Make-Believe,"the Doctor Who short story "The Spindle of Necessity," and the ReDeus story "The Ginger Kid"). Allyn has been blogging regularly with WordPress since 2004.

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