I have yet to meet a person that didn’t like and or love David Tennant’s Doctor. The Tenth Doctor is definitely my personal favorite so venturing back into his timeline and spending time with the character is both welcomed and yet scary. The last thing you want is for the memory of the performance or character to be tainted and so my concern with both new Doctor Who titles was if I would be left disappointed. The approach to this story is different from The Eleventh Doctor’s comic. Here our Doctor is mostly absent from the issue as our companion’s story and world is being set up. One of the big differences is that the Doctor is getting an American companion, which I’m sure upsets some Whovians, but not me. It’s not like we can hear the accent.

We meet Gabriella as she’s working in her family’s Laundromat and complaining about her life to her friend Cindy. The gist of the conversation and Gabriella’s dilemma in life is that her father is trying to keep her from leaving the family. She works in both their restaurant and the Laundromat while taking night school for accounting… to help her father. It’s pretty clear that he doesn’t want his little girl to leave, but I’m sure there’s something else as well.

Well something strange happens as all of the washing machines turn on and spray water out all over. Gabriella catches a glimpse of something, but as she’s running to get a better looks she runs into her sister’s fiancé Hector. The next day we see Gabriella getting yelled at by her father in the restaurant and wouldn’t you know it… the Doctor is there, working the case.

Personally I think it was a smart move to not to rush the Doctor into the story. He’s there and has his own scenes, but writer Nick Abadzis has taken the approach of slowly introducing the Doctor which makes him more of a mystery; a mystery to the reader and to Gabriella when she finally meets him. In that regard it reminded me a lot of the Tenth Doctor’s episodes on the show because at times he would just be a mystery waiting to pop in and solve the problem and never really interact with the other characters. It also works because if Abadzis had given us his full-blown Tennant impersonation, it might have fallen flat.

The art is very good and a different style than what you’ll see if you read The Eleventh Doctor. Elena Casagrande’s style fits the story. Between her and colorist Arianna Florean, they capture the brightness of the Doctor’s world.

There are things I don’t know about this series though. How will Gabriella be as a companion? What will a full issue of the Doctor be like? Is the series going to take place mostly in the USA? I don’t have the answers yet so I guess I’ll have to continue reading.

I will quickly say that unlike with The Eleventh Doctor I do outright think that this series is perfect for non-Doctor Who fans as well as Doctor Who fans alike. It doesn’t rush into making the world feel exactly like the TV show and so if you are completely unaware of the TV show then you can actually start to get an idea with this issue. Two Doctor Who series and two worth buying.

Score: 4/5

Writer: Nick Abadzis Artist: Elena Casagrande Colorist: Arianna Florean Publisher: Titan Comics Price: $3.99 Release Date: 7/23/14 Format: Ongoing, Print/Digital