Titan Comics 2017
Written by John & Carole Barrowman
Illustrated by Neil Edwards
Coloured by Nicola Righi, Rod Fernandes & Dijjo Lima
Lettered by Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
After an alien attack on a fishing vessel in the Skagerrak Strait, Captain Jack and his Torchwood operatives aboard the alien tech-filled ship the Ice Maiden are investigating. The team have uncovered a plot by the alien Navigators to harvest the Earth for their own purposes. Captain John Hart and Lady Karina sought the astrolabe, so Karina could give it to the Navigators, but the pair were captured by Torchwood. However, the Navigators have begun their plan to ‘compost’ Earth, causing dormant volcanoes around the planet to erupt…
There are times I really don’t want to like something but John is so damn multi-talented and working with his sister on this has been extremely fun to see unfold. Okay yeah i’m a little jealous i’ll admit it but hey that’s okay I can admit that. In all honesty if we aren’t going to get stories about Torchwood from it’s creators then why not from Captain Jack himself after all he knows the characters and this world as well as anyone can and better than some who work in it do.
I love that this issue delves into something that fans have wanted to see since the get go and that’s his time as a Time Agent. The more things change the more they stay the same right and it’s refreshing to see the man he was before he was immortal and hooked up with the Doctor and Rose. That our sibling duo can tie that into the main story and make this come from a point in his past he shares with Captain John Hart who as fate would have it is currently on board locked up as well. Fun how different angles of a story can converge in ways the reader doesn’t expect but can thoroughly appreciate once it happens.
I’ve said it before and i’ll gladly say it again I am a fan of Neil’s talents as an artist and illustrator. His use of page layouts utilising angles, perspective and those backgrounds make for wonderful use of pacing and storytelling. The attention to detail is superbly rendered and faces are delightfully familiar and expressive. The little things like Scavengers in Space are greatly appreciated. The colouring here is fantastic too and the creatures whose visage showcase the creativity and imagination we look for is stunning.
The way they are exploring the world of Torchwood with this goes so far beyond what the show could have done. It’s great to see them stretch their wings and really get some of the stuff that helped shaped who they are and their current predicament. The past always comes back to haunt you right? Even when that past is so far into the future.
This is the natural progression to the series and if we never get another live action version this will do quite nicely.