The Road to the Thirteenth Doctor - The Eleventh Doctor (Titan Comics)

"The Steampunk Conundrum"
Writer: James Peaty
Artist: Pasquale Qualano
Colorist: Dijjo Lima

"The Road To..."
Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Rachel Stott
Colorist: Enrica Angiolini

Published by Titan Comics in August 2018

The Titan build up to the launch of the new Thirteenth Doctor continues with this one-off adventure of the Eleventh Doctor, the second in a so-called mini-series prelude to the Thirteenth Doctor.  Much like the first entry starring the Tenth Doctor, the bulk of the issue has nothing to do with the Thirteenth Doctor and seemingly will have little story impact on her storyline in the comics.  It's a standard robot invasion story, and then after that story is told, we get another brief short story told over a few pages, which actually feels like the hint of things to come in the Thirteenth Doctor story.  

As a robot invasion story, fairly middling.  It really feels like a shame for Titan to do this big promotional thing for the upcoming Doctor.  A mini-series that leads to the new Doctor, and then they spend the bulk of the issue on a story that could easily fit into any standard issue of the respective Doctor's ongoing adventures.  

The actual "Road To..." segment takes place in the middle of a previous adventure. Much like the Tenth Doctor's segment took place in the midst of the episode The Girl in the Fireplace, the Eleventh Doctor's segment is in the middle of the episode The Power of Three.  Once again a hand reaches towards the Doctor from some glowing anomaly, only this time the Eleventh Doctor is so busy complaining about being bored while waiting on Earth, that he actually misses the whole thing.  That's at least creative.  

Mostly, this feels like another wasted opportunity from Titan.  They could have had an actual build up to a storyline. Lay some seeds in each story that would pay off in a bigger way for the Thirteenth Doctor.  Instead, the seed is just a glowing light and someone reach for the Doctor. The same seed in each volume, with much of the magazine telling a story that just feels like a random adventure. It makes the whole Road to... branding seem terribly misleading.