Titan Comics 2014
Written by Robbie Morrison
Illustrated by Brian Williamson
Coloured by Hi-Fi
In our world, UNIT scientist Paul Foster was killed in a car crash – in which his wife and daughters perished, and only he survived. Using a Voidsuit and transport tech of his own creation, this alternate Paul Foster has crossed through the Void to reunite with his family in our reality. But he doesn’t belong here, and a menacing group of body-hopping interdimensional entities known as The Fractures are hunting Foster to stop reality from rupturing!
Now the Fractures have infiltrated UNIT headquarters, and Chief Scientific Officer Kate Lethbridge-Stewart knows there’s only one person who can help them – the Doctor. But he and Clara have problems of their own!
I have to give full credit here to Brian because the interior artwork is incredibly well detailed and wonderful to see. Brian’s a real talent here and what we see in the character’s likeness to their television counterparts is fantastic, the attention to detail we see on the page is amazing and the emotion we see off this particular Doctor through his facial expressions and eyes really is something to behold.
To date this has been one of my least favorite Doctor’s but in here in this series and medium, perhaps due to Robbie’s writing, i’m enjoying his adventures. Perhaps it is because you can see more things happen like on page eight and this medium allows for larger scale things to happen. Actually as I read this I found myself liking it more and more and the twelfth Doctor has suddenly found a place in my pantheon of Whovian enjoyment. Smart, sassy and completely in character the dialogue and dilemma faced here and his interaction with Clara all combine to make this one heck of a great read.
I’m not exactly sure how but with this story being so fantastical with the Fractures running around needing to be stopped and the fate of Paul Foster and his family hanging in the balance and London seemingly used to these incursions from the Doctor’s adventures, see Kate and her UNIT for example the story itself just plays out like this could be/should be an everyday occurance of no real consequence. Kate and I saw a Rubik’s cube though it’s really a Rassilon Cube which is used to draw in and contain the Fractures was one of those save moments you think oh c’mon too easy but fun nonetheless.
Oh how I do enjoy the conversation that Clara and the Doctor have with these beings it’s so spot on Doctor Who yet it still retains this fresh, fun and original element to it that makes you smile. Then to see him working alongside Paul was delightful and his use of the people around him instead of that I can do it all attitude makes him the most refreshing version of the Doctor. Also his irreverence to joking when Kate asks where he got that sonic gun yeah it’s moments like this that you can’t help but know that this is greatness and you’re going to stick with this series for the long haul.
I’m always amazed at how things end with the Doctor. There’s a sophistication to them and a simplicity that contradict each other yet work perfectly together. It’s always fun to see how the solution plays out and knowing you’d never really be able to guess how it’ll go yourself.
Titan has taken over the Doctor Who franchise and made it even better than I thought it could possibly be.