Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor #1 - Titan Comics

DOCTOR WHO: THE FIFTEENTH DOCTOR No.1, July 2024

Despite being a rather slow-paced affair, due to the Time Lord and his companion carefully reconnoitring the last shopping mall on the planet Earth, Dan Watters’ penmanship for this twenty-two page periodical definitely seems to capture all the nuances of the science-fiction programme’s broadcast adventures. Indeed, in many ways this comic feels as if it’s simply an enthralling adaption of a genuine “Doctor Who” script which sadly just never managed to make it to the small screen; “I’ve never been here before. Thought it might be a bit… creepy.”

Much of this atmosphere is undoubtedly due to the Doctor’s early tentative steps slowly quizzing some of the venue’s lifelong shoppers, and pondering upon just why some people would prefer to live out their existence in a “big machine catering to all human needs and wants” rather than seek out a new reality amongst the stars. These conversations are genuinely thought-provoking, and also enable the British author to imbue the Gallifreyan with all the energy and love of life which actor Ncuti Gatwa portrays on the show.

Likewise artist Kelsey Ramsay does a first-rate job of pencilling the ‘best friends’ during this yarn, with the Time Lord’s child-like joy at sliding down the side of an escalator at speed being one of several highly-memorable, visual moments. Alongside, colorist Valentina Bianconi, the London-born illustrator is also a dab hand at suddenly transforming the location from a brightly-lit, relatively safe-looking environment, into a decidedly dark and dangerous world, crammed full of truly sinister Cybermen and a swarm of spine-chilling, giant-sized insects.  

Perhaps therefore the storyline’s sole disappointment comes at its start, with the motive behind the time travellers’ visit to the Twenty-Ninth Century being confined to a couple of bland lines on the “Previously…” page, as opposed to being covered within the actual comic itself. Admittedly, the reason for the Doctor’s journey is rather well explained in the title’s Free Comic Book Day edition published a month or two earlier. But for those bibliophiles unable to physically acquire a copy, or unwilling to download a digital version simply to better understand this book, it would surely have been worth side-lining a few panels showing Ruby Sunday wearing various futuristic costumes for a well-crafted flashback sequence instead..?

The regular cover art of "DOCTOR WHO: THE FIFTEENTH DOCTOR" #1 by Artgerm