Doctor Who: Free Comic Book Day 2022 - Titan Comics

DOCTOR WHO: FREE COMIC BOOK DAY 2022, May 2022

Promising “an epic adventure with the travelling Time Lord” which will then serve “as a lead-in to the explosive new story arc that reveals the very early years of the Doctor”, Jody Houser’s script for this Free Comic Book Day 2022 publication probably underwhelmed many followers of the British science-fiction television programme with its rather simplistic and unoriginal narrative. Indeed, the notion of a malevolent race of super-cute, furry extra-terrestrials fooling some school children into helping them do their evil bidding was first seen as far back as February 1980, when writer Pat Mills introduced Beep the Meep to the unsuspecting audience of “Doctor Who Weekly”.

Admittedly, this particular “exclusive lead-in to an epic new Doctor Who story arc” does do an excellent job of depicting the Fugitive incarnation of the Gallifreyan as portrayed by actress Jo Martin. But it’s still debatably hard to find much interest in a twelve-page plot when all the publication’s secondary cast do is argue about what their favourite colour is, and subsequently threaten an adult for daring to enter their private clubhouse after she’s revealed their cuddly teddy-bears are merciless, planet-destroying aliens; “We’re not just gonna let you kidnap our toys.”

To make matters worse though, the titular character doesn’t do anything in this tale, apart from identify the troll-like Monstario the Devourer to his “patsies” with some sort of space age gizmo. Instead, the blue-skinned gremlin seemingly sows the seeds of his own demise by informing everyone within earshot about his plan to catastrophically strip the planet of its aluminium resources and subsequently ensure its entire population burn to death in the resultant planetary explosion. Such hubris debatably would stretch even the most die-hard bibliophile’s willing suspension of disbelief, and unsurprisingly leads to the red-eyed furballs all being physically beaten-up by the kids with wooden sticks.

Fortunately however, what this comic’s penmanship lacks in pace or dynamism, it potentially provides with some of Roberta Ingranata’s excellent pencils. The Italian illustrator does a first-rate job in capturing both the onscreen look and mannerisms of Martin’s broadcast appearances, as well as those of the First Doctor and his granddaughter when the pair apparently arrive in Totter's Lane, Shoreditch, just before the exploits of “An Unearthly Child”. In addition, this periodical contains a fascinating insight into its art process by Ingranata and colorist Warnia K. Sahadewa, which alone makes the effort of ‘purchasing’ this comic worth it.

Writer: Jody Houser, Artist: Roberta Ingranata, and Colorist: Warnia K. Sahadewa