Titan Comics 2016
Written by Paul Cornell
Illustrated by Christopher Jones
Coloured by Hi-Fi
Lettered by Richard Starkings & Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
After enlisting the help of his former selves to defeat the insane Time Lord Omega, the Third Doctor was rewarded by the Time Lords for his victory with a new dematerialization circuit for the TARDIS, and by returning the knowledge of time and space travel to him. His Earth-bound exile was lifted, and his beloved TARDIS ready to set off on all manner of adventures! But can it be long before his adopted planet needs him again...?
If there’s one thing I can say is that the Doctor Who franchise has found the right home in Titan Comics. Growing up on Saturday Nights PBS used to air Doctor Who and that’s how I was introduced to the series only i’ve never seen the complete run. So I may have only seen a handful of episodes with this Doctor and that I get to experience this part of the Doctor’s history for the very first time is thrilling.
What I like about this is that you don’t have to know about this Doctor to dive right in and enjoy this first issue. Paul is a great writer and again here it’s a case of someone familiar with the franchise and the characters in question. He’s either been a longtime fan or watched a lot recently as research, either way i’m kind of jealous, because this really does have that whole air of a time when things were portrayed more innocently. By that I mean not as sophisticated and not to be rude but it was more kitsch than serious back then in my eyes and Paul’s able to blend that with a more serious approach to keep it feeling fun and fresh.
I love the interiors here! Absolutely stunning work by Christopher and the attention to detail in the characters themselves is amazing. I mean they look like the characters and still have that comic book/cartoon quality about so it feels like a high quality animated adventure, and this is how i’d love to spend my Saturday Morning. The flow is wonderful as the use of page layouts with angles and perspective showcase a great eye for storytelling. Plus Hi-Fi’s work on the colouring and highlighting that Maitre'D s vest or the brickwork yeah stunning. Oh and so much great use of backgrounds here to really set the stage, tone, feel and mood of the story and the world.
I love how this has that traditional Doctor Who storytelling going on by Paul. That gut feeling that there is more going on than meets the eye and takes Jo with him to figure out what’s going on. The Doctor/Companion relationship is so well done and with everything introduced this is what we’ve come to expect and love about the franchise. I am enjoying this Doctor’s idiosyncrasies that we already see that make him unique and stand out.
Should the series continue to be of this high quality it’s going to hard for it not to find it’s way to my favourite Doctor.