Titan Comics 2020
Story by James Goss
Written by Jody Houser
Illustrated by Roberta Ingranata
Coloured by Enrica Eren Angiolini
Flats by Shari Chankhamma
Lettered by Richard Starkings of Comicraft
A thrilling new adventure for the Tenth Doctor (as played by fan-favorite David Tennant) that sees the shocking return of his deadliest enemies: the Daleks! But things aren’t what they seem – time is all wrong, and something is coming that terrifies even the Daleks…
After the events that led to the 10th and 13th Doctor’s in the opening arc of her book and as that closed it leads us to this one, sans a companion it would appear. Honestly I am okay with that, for now. This is a gloriously oversized first issue and it just feels so heavy, thick and full of timey wimey goodness! I am not gonna lie, I haven’t watched much Doctor Who in years, part way through Matt Smith’s run so for this to feature the Doctor’s I love makes it all the more enjoyable for me personally. Granted this is an all-star cast of who’s who in the comics industry creator wise and even if it weren’t my main man there is no way that this is not going to thrill readers with every turn of the page.
I am loving the way that this is being told. The story & plot development we see with how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented beautifully. We are left in the dark pretty much throughout the entire issue and we know something big is going on and we hear the Doctor and his narration and voicing concern but it is almost maddening that we cannot and do not know as much as we’d like to. This of course is just one reason why we will be back. The character development is flawless. Even the normally antagonistic Dalek’s are presented in this way that generates excitement in a manner of which we’re not accustomed to. The pacing is spot on and fabulous as it takes us through the pages revealing the twists and turns along the way it’s easy to see how everything works together to create the story’s ebb & flow.
With how the story is structured and the fact that at this stage we don’t see any outward subplots happening means that the straightforward storytelling is just that much more impressive to me.
I love Roberta and the work she does. She has a keen eye and is able to bring the actor into the story as if he were one her creations which takes hella talent to do. The linework is fabulous and to see the varying weights and techniques being utilised throughout the book to showcase all the detail work is extraordinary to see. I am also a fan of the way that we see the backgrounds being incorporated into the book. They do wonders to enhance the moments, bring us depth perception, this sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the book. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a marvellously talented eye for storytelling. Oh my stars and garters the colour work is so divine. The way that we see the various hues and tones being utilised within all the colours to create the shading, highlights and shadow work is truly gorgeous. Again we see different techniques and these just amazing blends of colour that are breathtaking.
The Doctor Who franchise used to be akin to some kind of underground club of geeks and nerds. Nowadays it’s a universal beloved series and even if you aren’t what they refer to as a Whovian this is still some top notch quality storytelling. There is this intrigue factor that keeps piquing the curiosity levels as we move further into the book. Regardless of being either a die-hard fan or casual acquaintance of the franchise I urge everyone to pick this up and tell me what you think.