Doctor Who: Origins #4 - Titan Comics

DOCTOR WHO: ORIGINS #4, September 2022

It's difficult to imagine that many bibliophiles perusing Issue Four of “Doctor Who: Origins” would agree with the fan website “DC Comics News” that this book “is the perfect comic for all Doctor Who fans, old or new” considering that Jody Houser’s narrative for it is arguably a seriously sedentary affair. Sure, the publication’s plot does contain a moment of movement when the Gallifreyian gets all “timey wimey” and ferries her people’s numerous renegade colonists into the TARDIS in an act similar to the biblical tale of Noah’s Ark. But even this sequence hardly exudes much tension as each planet’s inhabitants calmly walk to safety inside the Police Box, courtesy of a textless, two-page long montage proficiently pencilled by Roberta Ingranata.

Similarly as unconvincing is the notion that each settlement’s supposed total destruction was allowed to happen by the titular character even though she knew she could stop her opponent at any moment with a second Division strike team. Such a callous disregard for life seems particularly perverse when the Doctor only calls in her heavily gunned ‘back up’ squad when it appears that the Time Lord’s opponent is finally about to kill her; “I hope you got what you needed, because I’m really not in the mood to regenerate today.” Up until this point, the American author would have her audience believe that the clandestine agency’s operative was covertly gathering testimony and evidence against her overly talkative foe, even though its debatably clear such a threshold was achieved just as soon as the fiend revealed he already had explosives planted upon all the civilisations he wanted to eradicate.

Perhaps this comic’s biggest disappointment though is just how wholly impotent the Fugitive Doctor appears to be throughout its conclusion. Having stood by and witnessed mass-murder on a multi-planetary scale simply so she can make a case against a rogue member of the council, it seems clear that the short-fused time traveller was simply going to then set-off on another mission until the highly disagreeable Taslo provides her with the spatial co-ordinates needed to go back and rescue each world’s inhabitants. Just why the Division’s top agent didn’t consider such a solution herself is baffling, as is Houser’s unpersuasive notion that even if she had done, she’d still need the mathematical skills of her treacherous one-time assistant to work out the calculations.

The regular cover art of "DOCTOR WHO: ORIGINS" #4 by Jess Taylor

Doctor Who: Origins #3 - Titan Comics

DOCTOR WHO: ORIGINS #3, September 2022

Despite propelling its audience to a significant number of populated planets, not least of which is the titular character’s home world of Gallifrey, there’s debatably not a lot of action going on within Jody Houser’s storyline for Issue Three of “Doctor Who: Origins”. Indeed, the “New York Times bestselling comics writer” doesn’t even pen one of this comic’s cast raising their voice in anger until its very end when the Fugitive Doctor boldly confronts “a member of the Gallifreyan Council and the one pulling the strings behind this so-called mission” in the Citadel.

Up until this point, the book’s plot disappointingly consists of little more than a series of conversational pieces in which the suspicious Division operative casually discusses the destruction of several colony planets with her immediate supervisor, the highly disagreeable Taslo, and representatives of the settlements she is supposed to be destroying with a temporal bombardment from orbit. However, even once the tension does heat up, there’s absolutely no sign of a dynamic diversion or moment of spontaneous drama. Instead, the Doctor simply stands by and impotently watches as the villain of the piece apparently outwits her by remotely blowing up all the so-called cultist strongholds himself.

Similarly bereft of any vitality is the increasingly bizarre relationship between the ‘short-fused’ Time Lord and her latest assistant. Having previously slaughtered a harmless immigrant in this mini-series’ preceding instalment with a cowardly dagger blow to the back without any warning, Houser would still have this book’s audience believe that the Doctor feels Taslo is “nice” and someone she can trust. True, there is the suggestion later within the tome that the Gallifreyan’s treatment of her obnoxious companion is simply a ruse, and that she instinctively knows her ‘friend’ is bound to betray her. But it’s still arguably hard to imagine any incarnation of the time traveller contentedly journeying alongside so stone-cold a killer without any recriminations being levelled at the young girl for her behaviour.

Disconcertingly, even Roberta Ingranata’s artwork appears to suffer from the listlessness of this publication’s script. Many of the Italian illustrator’s panels seemingly contain the bare minimum of background detail, including those scenes set inside the Citadel - which resemble the sparse interior of a traditional Japanese minka rather than some of the splendidly ornate offices first seen in the 1978 televised adventure “The Invasion Of Time”.

The regular cover art of "DOCTOR WHO: ORIGINS" #3 by Priscilla Petraites

Doctor Who: Origins #2 - Titan Comics

DOCTOR WHO: ORIGINS #2, August 2022

Arguably consisting of little more than a slow-paced tour of the planet Kreb, this twenty-page periodical’s pedestrian plot probably won’t land particularly well with those Whovians who like their leading protagonist to be a little more action-orientated. In fact, it’s difficult to imagine a less dynamic incarnation of the Gallifreyan than the one Jody Houser pens nonchalantly wandering around this comic’s friendly, extra-terrestrial settlement supping wine and eating cooked meat; “This is beautiful work. Was this planet the first location for your colony?”

Of course, that isn’t to say that Issue Two of “Doctor Who: Origins” is entirely weighed down by a seemingly never-ending carousel of heavily populated text balloons and insights into an alien farming culture - courtesy of the Fugitive Doctor’s latest travelling companion, Taslo. The Division’s newest, super-eager recruit is a constant reminder as to how aggressive the mysterious “clandestine Time Lord agency” apparently is during this period of Rassilon's people, especially when she suddenly murders the unarmed Leader Noat with a cold-blooded knife blow from behind once the girl’s content no-one else can witness her lethal attack.

This horrible homicide comes completely out of the blue just when the reader probably thinks absolutely nothing of consequence is ever going to occur within this publication and establishes the already dislikeable youth as a truly callous killer, who will thoughtlessly obey her superiors’ orders without any compunction whatsoever. Indeed, arguably one of this book’s biggest hurdles for some bibliophiles may well be just how successful the Eisner Award-Nominee is in making the young woman so incredibly loathsome, as the self-centred, holier-than-thou adolescent is truly off-putting whenever artist Roberta Ingranata even so much as pencils Taslo in the background grumpily mooching about.

Similarly as disconcerting though, is the American author’s handling of the titular character, who seems perfectly happy to simply wander through the quite sizeable Kreb community without any plan whatsoever, despite the Division’s warning that this will be “a dangerous assignment”. Such surprising nonchalance even seems to disconcertingly extend to her companion’s shocking slaying of the weaponless Noat, after which the Doctor lamentably lies for Taslo by dishonestly claiming the hapless alien accidentally fell to her death off a cliff top.

The regular cover art of "DOCTOR WHO: ORIGINS" #2 by Abigail Harding

Doctor Who: Origins #1 - Titan Comics

DOCTOR WHO: ORIGINS #1, July 2022

Fans of the fugitive Doctor will doubtless rather enjoy the opening to this “Brand-new, never-before-seen adventure”, as the Time Lord’s flight through some heavily webbed space station corridors definitely provides this twenty-two-page publication with a dynamic, adrenalin-pumping action sequence. But whilst the short-tempered operative’s hasty dash away from a fast-approaching giant arachnid is entertaining enough, the rest of Jody Houser’s narrative concerning a mysterious, galaxy-wide threat by an unnamed cult, is arguably a little on the lack-lustre side.

Indeed, just as soon as a Weeping Angel surprisingly shows up to save the day, and subsequently establish herself as an unconvincing, temporary travelling companion of the Division's colourfully costumed “legend”, the American author’s script transforms into a rather disappointing dialogue-heavy conversational piece concerning a rather bland assistant of the High Council, and the even less likeable gun-toting rookie Taslo; “This seems like an awful lot of trouble for a meeting that could have been held on Gallifrey. So, what can’t be discussed there?”

Happily however, what Issue One of “Doctor Who: Origins” debatably lacks in sense-shattering shenanigans, the “debut” potentially makes up for with its ‘spot on’ portrayal of tour guide Ruth Clayton’s rather ruthless alter-ego. Quick-witted, bitingly sarcastic and ever keen to disregard her orders to ‘shoot on sight’ for a much more benevolent, communicative approach, Houser’s ability to imbue “the Fugitive” with all the fire of actress Jo Martin’s popular incarnation is a resounding success and makes it incredibly easy to hear the British thespian’s distinctive tone whenever the comic book character is talking, or even breathlessly running down a corridor.

Similarly as successful is Roberta Ingranata’s stunning visualisation of the Time Lord, which beautifully captures all the renegade time traveller’s televised mannerisms and movements. The Italian illustrator’s ability to transfer the sheer vitality of Martin’s captivating performance in “Fugitive of the Judoon" onto the printed page is remarkable to see, and continually captures the attention when perhaps the periodical’s actual plot does not. In fact, this title’s cover price is probably worth it just to see how extraordinarily well the creative team capture the essence of the semi-unwilling and always suspicious ‘enforcer of Gallifrey.’

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

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