Well it looks like Titan Comics’ Tenth Doctor and Eleventh Doctor are going to continue to fight for the number one spot in my heart. Seriously I can’t tell you just how impressed I am with both series. Last week there was a fantastic issue for the Eleventh Doctor and really it was so good that I wondered if this third issue of the Tenth Doctor would hold up… man does it ever. In fact I’m just going to go ahead and say that this is the best Doctor Who issue thus far. It’s just that damn good. The reason it’s that damn good, is that within this one issue Nick Abadzis manages to not only capture all of David Tennet’s mannerisms and quirks, but also the story nuances that his run was full of. Here’s why that’s important… because you can’t have one without the other. I mean you can, but then it’s not a complete package. It’s the same thing in the Eleventh Doctor as well, just with different execution.
For this issue I don’t really need to tell you that much about it. The Doctor and Gabby continue to fight the Cerebravores and we learn where they came from. We’re also introduced to a new alien race and the character design is very cool. The whole thing ends in spectacular Doctor Who fashion, but the needle is threaded for a bigger story.
Abadzis is fantastic on this issue. Much like in the show there’s a lot of dialogue, but it happens on the move. The Doctor never stops and as such Abadzis continues the story at a wonderful pace. What’s really impressive and I mean really impressive, is Gabby. Her character is wonderful and she definitely embodies everything that’s wonderful about the companion. If Abadzis keeps this up, Gabby might just become a lot of Whovian’s favorite companion.
It’s not that this story was particularly creepy, but it kind of was. I’m going to make one more TV show comparison so bear with me, but Elena Casagrande’s artwork captures the sometimes creepy feeling that the Tenth Doctor’s TV run had. I think there’s a lot to be said about the success of the creative team when you can deliver a story that honestly feels like the show it’s based on and a ton of that comes from Casagrande’s artwork. Something that I really enjoy about Casagrande’ style is the angles chosen. The close-ups are always interesting and presented differently from a mid-close up. It really adds a sense of cinematic presentation.
There’s no question that any fan of Doctor Who should be checking this story out, but if we remove that fact and just view it as a sci-fi story it actually stands on its own in that regard too. That’s why I’m scoring this issue and this series so high, it’s fantastic sci-fi, not just fantastic Doctor Who.
Score: 5/5
Writer: Nick Abadzis Artist: Elena Casagrande Publisher: Titan Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 10/8/14 Format: Ongoing; Print/Digital