Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #9 - Titan Comics

DOCTOR WHO: THE THIRTEENTH DOCTOR No. 9, July 2019

Considering writer Jody Houser’s pre-publication admission to the “Syfy Wire” website that "Whenever we have an idea for the next story arc, we write it up” and have to send it to the British Broadcasting Corporation “to make sure it isn’t interfering or isn’t too similar to the show or other media", many of this twenty-two page periodical’s most ardent fans were probably wondering just why the “bestselling” author’s narrative “Old Friends” wasn’t stopped by the public service broadcaster before it ever saw the light of day. For whilst the screenplay to Issue Nine of “Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor” includes a prison break on the planet Devivian, a subsequent short-lived speeder-bike chase which is rather reminiscent of that depicted within George Lucas’ 1983 "Star Wars" film “Return Of The Jedi”, and a tantalising implication that the female Time Lord is about to confront actress Michelle Gomez’s maniacal incarnation of the Master, these sequences are so sedentarily-scripted that arguably few of their 5,233 readers probably remembered them once they’d finished perusing the publication.

To begin with, there is absolutely no atmosphere of jeopardy surrounding the Doctor and her “fam”, despite the quartet being arrested and ‘interrogated’ for the theft of the Gem of Niag by the local tentacled-headed police authorities. Much of this ‘invulnerability’ stems from the portrayal of the fearlessly omnipotent Gallifreyan herself, who appears to be entirely in control of the situation despite being “locked in a cage”. Such repugnant smugness, arrogance and nauseating disdain for the aliens’ criminal investigation genuinely grates upon the nerves, and it comes as absolutely no surprise later on when the time traveller simply (once again) pulls out her sonic screwdriver to evade punishment; “This is going to be a bit messy.”

Similarly as straightforward is the Time Lord’s search for the real culprit behind the mineral crystal’s mysterious disappearance. Instead of scouring the scene of the crime, extracting any residual evidence, and concocting a hypothesis which takes the TARDIS crew ever further into deadly danger, Houser simply pens for the patronising protagonist to lamentably just flick a switch on her spacecraft and arrive at the robber’s location in another part of the universe.

Regrettably, Roberta Ingranata’s lay-outs don’t help add much dynamism to this adventure’s snooze-inducing storytelling either, despite the Italian illustrator’s prodigious pencilling proving to be perfectly agreeable to the audience’s eye. There’s no doubt that the “interior artist for European publishers” can certainly capture the likeness of Jodie Whittaker and her fellow thespians, but when all those well-detailed portraits then do is stand and grimace, panel after panel, even the most amenable of drawing styles can start to increasingly infuriate.

The regular cover art of "DOCTOR WHO: THE THIRTEENTH DOCTOR" No. 9 by Veronica Fish