Doorways 2

Hmmmm. OK, I like George R R Martin, he writes some interesting stuff and Fevre Dream (the book not the comic version) is one of my 200 all time favourite books. When I was a kid I lapped up Beauty and the Beast, and I loved the Wild Cards shared-universe books too. However, I must say that I’m a little disappointed with Doorways from IDW.

According to George in the first issue blurb, this was a TV series that got to the pilot stage but didn’t make the grade on the schedules. He says that this is a reworking of that premise; as it would have to be to fit the comics format, natch!

Sorry George, I love your stuff, but this just doesn’t cut it for me. There’s nothing intrinsically wrong with the writing, it’s well thought out and the dialogue is okay, but it doesn’t blow me away. The whole ‘other-dimensional shtick’ has been done a million times before and needs to be a hundred times better to grab my attention. Saying that – this is only issue 2 and maybe there are a few tricks up Mr. Martin’s sleeves.

The art by Stephano Martino similarly gets the job done but doesn’t blow me away and doesn’t convey what should be a sense of urgency seeing as this is a pursuit episode, the urgency is pretty much present in the dialogue, but the art doesn’t bring that out.

The story? Oh yeah, the story. Well There’s this pretty young slave girl/warrior who has absconded from her evil masters and jumped into our own dimension and into the arms of a handsome young doctor, he’s helping her to get to another doorway (see the doorways of the title, isn’t that clever?) that will take her to a magic never-never land away from her evilly devilish masters. The doorway is in a truck stop men’s room… cue jokes.

I’ll give this another couple of issues and if it doesn’t improve then it’s no longer on my list.