Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #2 - Titan Comics

DOCTOR WHO: THE THIRTEENTH DOCTOR No. 2, January 2019

Firmly focusing upon the creative team’s uncanny ability to mimic the mannerisms of television actress Jodie Whittaker, Issue Two of “Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor” probably proved a somewhat plodding experience for those readers expecting Jody Houser’s narrative to make any significant headway in its explanation as to just how Leon Perkins and “the foremost expert on temporal physics”, Irene Schulz, came to be ‘owned’ by a greedy, gold-grabbing extra-terrestrial demon. In fact, the publication somewhat begrudgingly only allocates a mere four pages to this particular (central) storyline, seemingly preferring to depict instead just how vehemently opposed to weapons the titular “charismatic and confident” character is, even when such an adversity to her companions arming themselves clearly puts the entire TARDIS crew in mortal danger; “No. No guns. Not while you’re with me.”

Admittedly, the Time Lord’s dislike of weapons is nothing new, as the Seventh Doctor’s continual criticism of Ace for repeatedly carrying Nitro-9 explosives around attests. But such disapproval arguably hasn’t ever before manifested itself so strongly that the rather aggressive Gallifreyan won’t even allow her much-needed allies to carry them. It's certainly hard to imagine just how this current incarnation of the “brave and selfless” explorer would have coped if they'd been paired up with the Sevateem tribe savage Leela and the primitive’s lethal collection of poisonous Janis thorns…

Possibly just as perturbing though is the time traveller’s sudden ability to conveniently bring the TARDIS to her exact location whenever she wishes courtesy of a signal from the sonic screwdriver. The multifunctional device’s overuse has been increasingly criticised ever since the BBC programme’s revival in 2005 and disconcertingly would now appear to be the only way for the Thirteenth Doctor to discover a “way out” when her headlong flight through “an alien war prison” suddenly runs out of corridors to escape down.

Fortunately however, what this twenty-two page periodical lacks in plot progression it more than makes up for courtesy of Rachael Stott’s excellent storyboarding. “The artist for several Titan Doctor Who comic stories” really seems to know precisely how to pencil the facial expressions of the Time Lord, Ryan Sinclair, Yasmin Khan and Graham O’Brien, to the extent where it’s dead easy to imagine the relevant actors actually performing each panel. Indeed, this book's interior artwork is so impressive that it's a shame the regular illustrator later had to rely upon the drawing skills of Giorgia Sposito and Valeria Favoccia in order for the comic’s final seven pages to be sketched…

Writer: Jody Houser, and Artists: Rachael Stott, Giorgia Sposito & Valeria Favoccia