Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious #2 - Titan Comics

DOCTOR WHO: TIME LORD VICTORIOUS No. 2, November 2020

Despite pitching the Tenth Doctor and the Daleks together against a common foe, Jody Houser’s narrative for Issue Two of “Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious” probably contained far less action than its 6,000 readers anticipated. Indeed, apart from an all-too brief confrontation between the oddly rusty Prime Strategist and a lone Hond scout, not a single gunstick is fired in anger until this forty-four page periodical’s end, when unsurprisingly the extra-terrestrial pepper-pots turn upon their former ally in order to eliminate him; “The Doctooor is no longer of use to the Daleks. Exterminate!”

Up until this point, the bloated book’s plot predominantly focuses upon the fast-talking time traveller and his dilapidated guide to the Vault of Obscenities simply discussing how to access the derelict building’s “power not seen by any Dalek in living memory” and its weaponry’s subsequent use to defeat "the primordial ooze given sentience as an embodiment of the concept of pain.” Such a lengthy conversation might somehow manage to work on the small screen given actor David Tennant’s remarkable energy and a dynamic music score with which to underpin any tension the long-winded, word-heavy sequence was trying to convey. But in the medium of a comic it debatably just plays out as a seemingly endless carousel of well-pencilled panels portraying the brown-suited Gallifreyan pontificating about all life in the galaxy being of prime importance.

In addition, the presence of a lone Hond advanced guard on Skaro makes little sense when the publication’s entire purpose is to supposedly tell the story of how the titular character stopped the Dark Times terrors from ever reaching the Dalek’s home world; especially when it is intimated that if they did so then the universe would come to an end. To make matters worse though, it is never explained how the ‘immortal slime’ is in a position to tear its way up from the bowels of the planet straight into the most heavily-guarded fortification that Davros’ creations have ever built. The unkillable creature just suddenly appears in the Vault’s epicentre and starts up a conversation with its two enemies.

Perhaps this comic’s biggest disappointment however comes with its inclusion of the Thirteenth Doctor to supposedly save both her former incarnation’s bacon and ultimately, the day. Nonchalantly stood waiting for her predecessor to run by whilst being chased by a posse of angry Daleks, the apparently omnipotent blonde-haired “live wire” doesn’t actually do anything but run down a few corridors alongside herself. Yet the adventurer’s condescending arrogance and dislikeable demure strongly suggests that if she hadn’t shown up at the last minute, the Tenth Doctor would somehow have failed to escape from his gun-toting mechanical pursuers…

The regular cover art of "DOCTOR WHO: TIME LORD VICTORIOUS" #1 by Andie Tong

Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious #1 - Titan Comics

DOCTOR WHO: TIME LORD VICTORIOUS No. 1, October 2020

Considering that the Time Lord Victorious saga was “told across audio, novels, comics, vinyl, digital, immersive theatre, escape rooms and games”, this forty-four page periodical’s 6,600 strong audience probably struggled to see what all the fuss was about in September 2020. For whilst Jody Houser’s script certainly heralds the return of the Doctor’s “deadliest enemies”, her pedestrian-paced plot of the Gallifreyan’s Tenth incarnation simply conversing with a variety of Daleks on Skaro is hardly the “thrilling new adventure” promised by “Titan Comics” in its pre-publication fluff.

Instead, all Issue One of “Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious” arguably offers its readers is an exercise in how to draw out an actionless, dialogue-driven narrative across an entire double-sized comic book using such techniques as sedentary soliloquies, a coma-inducing chase sequence through the known universe, and yet another confrontation with the Emperor Dalek in which the so-called supreme ruler of the Dalek Empire once again begs the Doctor for help because the race of inhuman killers are "scared" of being defeated by another alien race; “The Hond are alive. And they are coming for us. The Dalek armies have held them back. But now they are coming to Skaro to invade. To exterminate… The Doctooor will save Skaro and the Daleks.”

Of course, that isn’t to say that Houser’s narrative, based upon a story by James Goss, doesn’t contain some noteworthy features, as the appearance of the dilapidated Prime Strategist and his ‘tour’ of the Vault of Obscenities attests. But this rusty, bent-out-of-shape Dalek sadly only makes an appearance towards the very end of the badly bloated magazine, and then is debatably just used by the Eisner-nominated author to demonstrate just how physically immobile the original design of the Kaled Mark Three Travel Machines were before ‘its people made flying cases’ so as to overcome large holes in the ground.

Fortunately however, those bibliophiles brave enough to endure this book’s lethargy do at least get to enjoy plenty of Roberta Ingranata’s excellent pencilling, with the Italian illustrator providing an astounding good likeness of thespian David Tennant and his easily recognisable mannerisms throughout. Indeed, the artwork makes it very easy to imagine the actor actually saying the lines, as well as helping the Prime Strategist navigate the ruins of the mysterious vault with all the tangible energy the Tenth Doctor was famous for when seen on the small screen.

Writer: Jody Houser, Artist: Roberta Ingranata, and Colorist: Enrica Eren Angiolini