Doctor Who: "In-Between Times"

Doctor Who: The First Doctor: In-Between Times

Published: 2018
Acquired: September 2018
Read: November 2021

Writer: Paul Cornell
Artist: John Stokes

This five-page comic was originally given away with Titan's 2018 Doctor Who comics Humble Bundle; at the time, it was billed as an exclusive, but the cover/first page (see right) was clearly composed for the The Seventh Doctor: Operation Volcano collection, which came out shortly thereafter, so that was a bit of a fib.

It's written by Paul Cornell, being one his four or five last-ever Doctor Who stories [note: link is to a members-only forum, though anyone can join it], and illustrated by John Stokes, who's one of those folks acclaimed as a classic British comics artist that I only know from their forays into American franchise work: The Transformers, L.E.G.I.O.N., The Sandman Presents, Starman, and so on. (He's worked on five things I've written up on this blog, but I haven't mentioned him in any of my write-ups, so I assume he must have been a minor contributor in each case.) 

Well, it's solid stuff; had this actually been Cornell's last Doctor Who work, it would have been a good one. It's set in the 1963-64 season, with Ian and Barbara wandering around the TARDIS at night, at first alone, and then with Susan and the Doctor. It's a charming glimpse into the characters of everyone involved; Cornell and Stokes both do a great job of capturing the voices, likenesses, and personalities of the original TARDIS team. Stokes's black-and-white work reminds me of the early DWM era, which is of course a good thing. Cornell does that thing he likes to do, where he establishes a later Doctor's catchphrase was originally said by an earlier Doctor in slightly different form; in this case he adds a "Billy fluff" to it! The Doctor claims, "Asleep?! Eh?! Sleep is for butterflies -- and, I mean to say, tortoises!" Bit of a groaner, but I dug it.

I read an issue of Titan's Doctor Who comic every day (except when I have hard-copy comics to read). Next up in sequence: The Seventh Doctor: Operation Volcano