Titan Comics 2020
Written by Jody Houser
Illustrated by Roberta Ingranata
Coloured by Enrica Eren Angiolini
Flatted by Shar Chankhamma
Lettered by Richard Starkings & Comicraft’s Sarah Hedrick
Doctor Who returns with the comic debut of an iconic 70s TV villain! After narrowly escaping the Weeping Angels and the Autons in 1960s London, the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctor must team-up once again to save present-day Earth from being overrun by a race of aquatic villains. Who else can they turn to for help but Rose Tyler, leader of the human resistance!
What is it about these creators that make reading Doctor Who so daggon special? Well I mean aside from the fact that they are utterly brilliant at what they do and they’ve got this world down pat, all that is obvious. So what is that unquantifiable thing that just cannot be denied, who knows but it’s fantastic and I did meet Roberta at NYCC one year and she did a David Tennant for me on a blank cover so I do hold a special place for her. No this is amazing because it’s so incredibly well done and how tongside how the book is written and how the interiors work together so harmoniously is why this is so gosh darn good.
I am thoroughly enjoying the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information. Hot off the heels of their adventure with the Weeping Angels and Autons we go straight into this and I have to say this is the kind of storytelling I live for. The character development is sensational and while the characters have been established that doesn’t mean there isn’t room for for us to see them in new ways and in different lights. I am excited by this and what I am seeing because this newest Doctor is one I am not familiar with is great to see. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing all the twists and turns along the way it is easy to get swept up on a typical Doctor adventure.
I like how we see this being structured and how the layers within the story continue to thread their way into the thinking of the characters. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow is fabulous.
I really am a fan of the interiors here. I love seeing the linework and how the varying weights are being utilised to create the detail work that we see. There are so many places to look and the eye is led through the page with this odd and lovely grace. A big part of this is a direct result of the way we see backgrounds being utilised. The detail in those just make the scenes so much more and how they bring us depth perception, that sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book is amazing. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a remarkably talented eye for storytelling. I love the colour work we see as well. How the various hues and tones we see being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is beautifully rendered. Also I love the colour adjustment as well, inside the Tardis it’s bright and electronic lighting versus the apocalyptic style from outdoors, the contrast is exceptional to see as the mood, tone and feel changes throughout the pages.
While I may not watch much Doctor Who on television that I can still enjoy the classic adventures in this medium. Comics are so versatile and being able to adapt a series so beautifully onto paper so that one is nearly indistinguishable from the other that’s what these creators do better than pretty much anyone else.