Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Rachel Stott
Colourist: Enrica Eren Angiolini

28 Pages

Published by Titan Comic 6 February 2019

The first storyline in the Titan Thirteenth Doctor comic line comes to a conclusion, bringing some closure to the story that began as far back as the "Road to the Thirteenth Doctor" mini-series.  As conclusions go, it is fairly straightforward and simple. I don't want to ruin it for anyone who may have yet to read it, so I will just say that it is a decent, if somewhat anti-climactic end, but should satisfy any fans who have been following the story thus far.  Spoilers from here on out!

Picking up where we left off, the Doctor and the gang fall down the tube and land in some kind of sewer or something, and find Perkins' time travel cohort. She explains that she trapped Perkins in the time vortex hoping to spare him the pain of their predicament.  They then release the prisoners of the hoarder, and the Doctor calls in some Time Agents and they go after the hoarder. He isn't down to give up so easily and attempts to escape using Perkins' Vortex Manipulator...and just as he did end up trapped in the vortex.  

As endings go, it is okay, but it felt like this story finally began to get somewhere interesting with the previous issue, and that is immediately solved here.  I can now evaluate the story on the whole, and I feel like it may have taken a tad too long to finally find an interesting path, and once it did, it closed up shop before really exploring that path.  

Still, it is a decent Doctor Who adventure and maybe reading it one go would be more entertaining than in briefer monthly instalments.  Overall I would say it seems the Titan Thirteenth line is in good hands. 

Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Rachel Stott
Colourist: Enrica Eren Angiolini

33 Pages

Published by Titan Comics 19 December 2018

****These reviews may contain MINOR SPOILERS, Reader Beware****

The third installment of the Thirteenth Doctor ongoing comic from Titan Publishing fills in a bit more background for our guest character Perkins.  We begin with Perkins holding the gang hostage in the TARDIS, but he is easily thwarted by the state of grace nullifying his weapon.  He then fills them in on what he and Schultz had been up to, collecting all sorts of items for the alien being they called the Hoarder. It turns out part of what he wanted them to steal was alien children, to be held as hostages, and he at least claims to hold their own descendants hostage in order to keep them stealing for him.  

So the Doctor decides they have a new enemy to face off with, one that is not only stealing artifacts from all of history but has cages full of children as well.  They head out to try and find Dr. Schwartz and take on the hoarder, but are almost immediately caught in a trap with walls closing in on them.  Their only option of escape is to jump down a hole not knowing how far it actually goes down.  And that's our latest cliffhanger. 

I think despite a lack of action until the final pages (and even then the action was walls closing in on them), this was a solid installment.  I think the reason being that it helped develop the actual stakes our heroes are facing off with.  Bad guy has cages full of kids. Got it.  Before hand, it was vague energy beams and a shady guy who we didn't know much about making threats for reasons we didn't really know.  They weren't bad reads, but before now I can't say I was really invested in where the story was going.  Now I am.  That is probably the best praise I can give a single issue of a comic.  

Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Rachel Stott
Colorist: Enrica Eren Angiolini

38 Pages

Published by Titan Comics 21 November 2018

Titan Comic's second issue of the Thirteenth Doctor picks up where the first had ended, and sees the Doctor trying to stabilize the time trapped man, while a group of alien soldiers are closing in on them for arrest.  The Doctor quickly stabilizes the time trapped man while Yaz and Ryan distract the soldiers, but they are all soon arrested.  

****READER BEWARE - THERE MAY BE SPOILERS AHEAD****

Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Rachel Stott
Colorist: Enrica Eren Angiolini

38 Pages

Published by Titan Comics 7th November 2018

 

 

 

After Titan's long build up, their new Thirteenth Doctor ongoing comic book series has finally, officially, begun.  They of course teased the series with the rather lame "Road to the Thirteenth Doctor" 3-issue mini-series, which each had a random adventure of the Tenth, Eleventh, and Twelfth Doctors (respectively), and then had a short comic printed in the back of each that actually fulfilled the "Road to..." premise in the least interesting way possible. This tease basically amounted to each of these Doctors seeing a crazy swirling beam of light and a hand reaching out (though I guess technically the Eleventh Doctor missed it entirely).  This mini-series was then followed up by this issue's immediate predecessor, "The Many Lives of Doctor Who," or Issue 0 of this series. That book at least felt like a real build up to this new Doctor.  All her previous lives and adventures have lead her to this moment, and she will now become this new Doctor, the first female incarnation.  

***While there isn't a ton of plot and is really just the start to a story, this Review DOES contain SPOILERS of the First Issue, Reader Beware....***

This first issue picks up on the Hand coming out of a beam of light thread, and does so surprisingly early.  I figured that wouldn't really come into play for this new comic book line until an issue or two in...but they get cracking right away on that.  It involves a couple of thieves who are traveling through time, stealing art and artifacts, and then giving this stuff to some devious alien being in exchange for some kind of medication for the girl.  

The Doctor and her crew are exploring the wonders and beauty of the universe when they see the beam of light and the Hand coming through.  While the Doctor remembers seeing this before, she finally has a moment to deal with it, so they travel through time and space following the signal of this strange thing's origin, and she is able to stabilize the temporal anomaly just long enough for her friends to pull the hand through. They get the male thief coming out the other end...but before they can ask him too many questions about what exactly is going on...they are quickly surrounded by armed guards! Classic Doctor Who cliffhanger.

It's a promising start to the series.  The writing is fun, they've captured this new TV team's voices pretty perfectly, which is impressive considering how little their still is to go on (even with some advanced knowledge and previews of the show, there is a maximum of 10 episodes that have been produced so far...and I highly doubt Titan was given full access to all 10. At any rate, like usual, Titan has managed to capture the spirit of whatever Doctor, Companions, and era that they attempt to adapt for the page. So far, there isn't a ton of story explored yet to delve into, but with some snappy dialogue and great art, I look forward to seeing how the team behind this series adds to the Thirteenth Doctor's story. 

Writer: Paul Cornell
Art: Chritopher Jones
Colourist: Hi-Fi
Letterer: Richard Starkings & Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Senior Designer: Andrew Leung
Senior Editor: Andrew James
Assistant Editors: Jessica Burton, Amoona Saohin, Lauren McPhee, & Lauren Bowes
Published: 16th June 2017

Titan Comic's Five Issue mini-series starring the Third Doctor is collected together as Heralds of Destruction.  Whereas Titan's limited run of the Eighth Doctor had a different setting and story in each issue (with a running storyline throughout), the Third Doctor's run is entirely one story told over five issues. In that sense, it feels very tight and cohesive, and manages to capture the mood of the Third Doctor's wholly unique era quite nicely.

The story takes place somewhere during the Tenth Season, taking place after the Third Doctor's exile was ended by the Time Lords, but before Jo left, Sarah Jane arrived, and Mike Yates had his fall from grace. All of these little details play a role in this story, which arguably gave more real motivations and developments to these beloved characters than the actual show truly did at the time.  Yet that is not to say that this story doesn't feel like it could easily fit into that era.  In fact, it perfectly captures the tone of the UNIT days of Doctor Who. The voices of the characters are perfectly captured, and the art is great. The character likenesses are mostly spot on, though I personally felt Jo didn't always look just right.  But it is always going to be easier to draw the distinctive look of Jon Pertwee over the young and pretty face of Katy Manning.

The plot itself is rather fannish, with lots deep cut references to characters from this era (and before), but the execution feels so right, so very much of this timeframe in the show's history, that it almost doesn't matter what the story is. You've got alien invasions, UNIT shooting at it, the Third Doctor pontificating, the Master in his glorious Roger Delgado form, and even a few surprises along the way. What's not to enjoy?

I loved how this story takes little character bits, like the sometimes hinted at but never fully realized relationship between Jo and Mike, and brings it to fruition. Unfortunately, the constant interuptions of their work with UNIT become the reason they never truly made it work...and this also begins planting the seed for Mike to make the choices he made in Invasion of the Dinosaurs. I also rather liked the simple but effective motivation for the Third Doctor still sticking around on Earth and with UNIT despite his despised Exile finally coming to an end. 

If you, like me, have a soft spot for the Third Doctor's era of Doctor Who, there is little doubt in my mind you will find enjoyment in this book.  It's a story that feels like it was plucked straight from that era, and gives the Doctor and his supporting cast some lovely character moments to shine. 

ISSUE 5

(On Sale: February 22nd 2017)
 

Writer: Paul Cornell

Art: Christopher Jones
Colorist: Hi-Fi

AVAILABLE
as either a digital download,
or from comic stores/ online shops

TITAN COMICS

The final stanza of this miniseries sees an (overly rare) foray into the past for the grey/silver-haired Doctor that helped UNIT overcome all manner of enemy from both home and far, far away.

I will openly state in this review that the main opposition comes in the form of the despicable would-be world dictator Ramon Salamander.

This evil 'double' of the charming Second Doctor had been masquerading as his lookalike, having established himself at a scientific research institute and begun work on exploring dimensions outside of the commonly recognised Height, Width and Depth. 

Now both Salamander and the combined group of principal UNIT members, the Doctor, Jo Grant, and the constantly-fickle Master have arrived in Parliament back at the tail-end of the 19th Century..

The Mexican despot is attempting to use his powers of persuasion, as have worked both in the future time of his origin, as well as the Mid-Twentieth Century. But stout-hearted men of Britain, who are pioneers in the sphere of democracy, are not the easiest to manipulate.

The Doctor makes his entrance in the Commons and is perhaps more effective. But ultimately, it will take something a little special from the shakily assembled alliance of Time Lords, and the more modern Earthlings, to see off the monster of Merida.

****

This miniseries has been a real treat, and this climax to the storyline does everything one could hope for. There is no dawdling, or self-indulgence in terms of pleasing ever-loyal fans with in-jokes. A focused and urgent pace is maintained throughout, and some pleasing moments of incident and drama - couple with some political satire - makes this a very effortless read.

The art continues to be a highlight, and shows how the team that helped Doctor Who become a colour Saturday night phenomenon would have coped with the challenge of showing the London of yester-century.

The whole mini-series really needs to be read issue by issue to work most effectively, which is a difference from perhaps some of the other ones Titan have presented to readers in the last couple of years. But the effort is more than rewarded, by an artistic team who clearly love both Doctor Who, and the wonderful personality that was the Third Doctor.

I know I am not alone in wishing that this is the start of a new era for a re-exploration of one of the more traditionally 'human' Doctors in the saga. Whilst the much-respected Paul Cornell has stated at the Gallifrey One convention that he will not return to Doctor Who (or any other licensed work), one can only hope this is not indefinite.

Regardless, the platform is now there for future adventures through Space and Time, that have something both nostalgic, but also something pertinent to the world we live in today.