Doctor Who: Branches by Alex Paknadel, Rob Williams, I. N. J. Culbard, Ivan Rodriguez, JB Bastos, and Luiz Campello

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor: The Sapling, Vol 3: Branches

 

Collection published: 2018
Contents originally published: 2017-18
Read: September 2021

Writers: Alex Paknadel & Rob Williams
Artists: I. N. J. Culbard, Ivan Rodriguez, JB Bastos & Luiz Campello
Colorists: Triona Farrell, Thiago Ribiero & Stefani Renne

Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

The ninth and final volume of The Eleventh Doctor contains two linked stories. The first, by Alex Paknadel and I. N. J. Culbard, brings the Doctor, Alice, and the Sapling to a primitive planet where the Doctor was friends with its ruler—only the planet is highly industrialized and the Doctor doesn't remember the ruler. Paknadel's story is enjoyable, packed with great ideas, and Culbard's art is, as always, the best.

The second, by Paknadel, Rob Williams, and a host of artists, wraps up the ongoing Sapling storyline with the return of the forgotten silence. It has some great moments and good callbacks—I got chills at the return of an element from Alice's very first story way back in vol 1, and the way they defeat the villain was clever—but this title has set a very high bar for itself, and "Year Three" was not as strong as the first two years, and neither was its finale. The story didn't feel as personal to our protagonists, and the Sapling never really emerged as a character. Good stuff, and still the best of the Titan ongoings, but it seems best that it ended here.

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 Lost Dimension

Review: Doctor Who: Growth by Rob Williams, Alex Paknadel, I. N. J. Culbard, Simon Fraser, Leandro Casco, and Wellington Diaz

Collection published: 2017
Contents originally published: 2017
Read: July 2021

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor: The Sapling, Vol 1: Growth

Writers: Rob Williams & Alex Paknadel
Artists: I. N. J. Culbard, Simon Fraser, Leandro Casco, Wellington Diaz
Colorists: Triona Farrell, Gary Caldwell 

Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

This volume opens "Year Three" of Titan's Eleventh Doctor ongoing, and as always, I find it excellent stuff. The opening two-parter, "Remembrance"/"The Scream" by returning writer Rob Williams with artists I. N. J. Culbard, Leandro Casco, and Wellington Diaz, takes the Doctor and Alice first to the funeral of their old friend John Jones, and then to a trap laid for them by a Silence who's so good at being forgotten that not even his own people remember who he is. As always, it's full of bonkers, delightful, dark stuff that is both very Doctor Who and nothing like the tv show. (Well, actually, it reminds me a lot of the first half of series 6's opening two-parter; "The Impossible Astronaut" is a delightfully disconcerting opening that I felt "Day of the Moon" didn't really capitalize on, and this pushes out even further in that direction.) My only complaint here is that what actually happened to the memories of the Doctor and Alice is a bit nebulous; their quest to regain them seem to be the Year Three arc, but it also seems that they remember most things!

As always, Rob Williams trades off his stories with another writer; in this case, newcomer Alex Paknadel writes "The Tragical History Tour" with returning artist Simon Fraser. Again, this is a story with an off-the-wall concept: time on Earth becomes spatialized, so you can get from one year to the next just by walking. The late 1960s start invading future years to take their stuff; the Doctor, Alice, and the Sapling bump into Alice's neighbor Kushak, all whose past selves are taking refuge in his 2015 apartment. So the Doctor, Alice, the Sapling, and all the Kushaks pile into a bus and drive back to 1968 to figure out what's going on! I enjoyed it a lot, though I did wish it was a three-parter as I felt the character(s) of Kushak kind of got lost in the midst of everything else. But this is a series that never does three-parters really, and is probably better for it; The Eleventh Doctor rockets through concepts that other Titan ongoings would probably drag out to tedium, always chasing the novelty that makes it always the best of the ongoings.

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 Tenth Doctor: Facing Fate: Breakfast at Tyranny's

Review: Doctor Who: The Malignant Truth by Si Spurrier, Rob Williams, I. N. J. Culbard, and Simon Fraser

Collection published: 2017
Contents originally published: 2016
Acquired: March 2020
Read: May 2021

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Vol 6: The Malignant Truth

Writers: Si Spurrier & Rob Williams
Artists: I. N. J. Culbard & Simon Fraser
Colorists: Marcio Menys & Gary Caldwell 

Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

"Year Two" of The Eleventh Doctor comes to an end. I will admit that I did not entirely understand how this all fit together; maybe if I had read this story arc all at once instead of spread out across six months. (But then, it originally appeared across an entire year!) But, to be honest, I didn't really care. This is great stuff: great character moments for the eleventh Doctor, for Alice, for the Master, for the War Doctor, for the Squire, even for Abslom Daak! And great, weird concepts. I think more than any other Doctor Who tie-in creators, the writers and artists of this series have captured the weirdness and the horror of the Time War. Some genuine creepy bits-- counterbalanced by some genuine punch-the-air moments. I look foward to seeing where this comic goes in "Year Three"; indeed, it may be the only Titan ongoing I actually do follow into Year Three.

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: Supremacy of the Cybermen

Review: Doctor Who: The One by Si Spurrier, Rob Williams, Simon Fraser, Warren Pleece, Leandro Casco, Leonardo Romero, et al.

Collection published: 2016
Contents originally published: 2016
Acquired: March 2020
Read: March 2021

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Vol 5: The One

Writers: Si Spurrier & Rob Williams
Artists: Simon Fraser, Warren Pleece, Leandro Casco, Leonardo Romero

Ink Assists: Adriano Vicente, Wellington Dias & Raphael Lobosco
Colorists: Gary Caldwell, Rod Fernandes, Ariana Florean, Nicola Righi, with Azzurra Florean
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

The out-thereness of Titan's Eleventh Doctor series continues: in this one they visit River Song and go to Shada, the prison planet of the Time Lords. We begin to learn more about the role of the Master in these events, and the Squire struggles to prove herself-- as does Alice. All this plus Abslom Daak is hilarious but also tragic. It's hard to judge any of this on its own terms, as each issue works on its own but also propels you into the next: what is going to be the pay-off to all of this in the final volume of The Eleventh Doctor: Year Two? But the ride is enjoyable, human, and creepy, and I continue to be all in on it. Still far and away the best of Titan's Doctor Who ongoings. My only complain is that Simon Fraser somehow manages to make River Song look ugly!

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 Fourth Doctor: Gaze of the Medusa

Review: Doctor Who: The Then and the Now by Si Spurrier & Rob Williams, Simon Fraser, and Warren Pleece

Collection published: 2016
Contents originally published: 2015-16
Acquired: September 2018
Read: December 2020

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Vol 4: The Then and the Now

Writers: Si Spurrier & Rob Williams
Artists: Simon Fraser, Warren Pleece
Colorist: Gary Caldwell
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

This volume solidified my belief that The Eleventh Doctor is far and above the best of Titan's three ongoing Doctor Who comics. Alice continues on as a companion from "Year One," but two more are added: the Squire and Abslom Daak of Doctor Who Magazine fame.

The invocation of Daak is more than a surface-level continuity thing; I actually think it reveals something important about the creative team's intentions. Coincidentally, I started reading through the Panini collections of the DWM comic strip around the same time I started this, and The Then and the Now reminds me of the classic fourth Doctor run by Pat Mills, John Wagner, and Dave Gibbons (I haven't actually gotten to Daak yet; his material is reprinted in one of the seventh Doctor volumes) in that it doesn't read like an attempt to imitate what the tv show does in comics form, but instead it takes what the tv show does and filters it through a comics prism. Si Spurrier and Rob Williams and their artistic collaborators are doing their own thing that draws on stuff the tv show did... but is really nothing like it in terms of tone and affect.

The story focuses on the eleventh Doctor's guilt over what he did as the "War Doctor" during the Time War; he's being hunted by a bounty hunter (the Then and the Now of the title) for a crime he doesn't remember committing... but is perfectly willing to believe he committed. He and Alice are joined by the Squire, a companion of the War Doctor he doesn't remember, and Abslom Daak, who finds himself at loose ends as a "Dalek killer" with no Daleks to kill. Each story here sees the Doctor retracing his steps through the Time War as Alice has strange visions ("EXTERMINHATE") and we get glimpses of the War Doctor and a mysterious child. There's lots of great stuff here, both horrifying and gentle, and never for a moment do you feel like you're watching the tv show. I like this portrayal of a guilt-wracked Doctor; I like the new weird TARDIS team he has inadvertently assembled; I like the guesses and glimpses we get of the Time War (once again demonstrating that Big Finish Time War is the least interesting Time War). My only complaint would be that Alice herself feels a bit lost in the epic Doctor angst of it all, compared to how much her character was foregrounded in "Year One" (her visions feels more like a plot device than a character point), but I am hopeful that future volumes in "Year Two" will remedy this.

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 Eighth Doctor: A Matter of Life and Death

Review: Doctor Who: Conversion by Al Ewing, Rob Williams, Simon Fraser, Boo Cook, and Warren Pleece

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2015 (contents: 2015)
Acquired September 2018
Read June 2020

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Vol 3: Conversion

Writers: Al Ewing & Rob Williams

Artists: Simon Fraser, Boo Cook, Warren Pleece
Colorist: Gary Caldwell
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

This book wraps up the SERVEYOUinc storyline that's been running through these Eleventh Doctor comics, though first there's a cute story about an alien overlord who tries to take over the Earth by writing free comic books. The remainder of the book is pretty dramatic, grim stuff, though, with the Doctor working hard to make good for his guilt over what he did during volume two when he took over SERVEYOUinc. Stories include the TARDIS crew being split into three different dimensions, Cybermen intervening during a civil war in ancient Rome, and the Doctor facing down his mother. They're weird, off-kilter stories, and all the better for it. There's no point where this ever feels like it's trying to be the telly version! The Doctor's guilt is a strong thread here, and one I enjoyed: I don't think Matt Smith every played it quite this way in tv, but I think he could have, and quite well. This is a baggage-ridden Doctor, full of self-loathing, a characterization that occasionally lurked in the background; Ewing & Williams yank it into the foreground to good effect. Jones and ARC are written out in the this volume (I like how Jones went), and the ending promises that Alice will stick around for the next volume, which is good because I like her.

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 Tenth Doctor: The Fountains of Forever

Review: Doctor Who: Serve You by Al Ewing, Rob Williams, Simon Fraser, Boo Cook, and Warren Pleece

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2015 (contents: 2015)
Acquired September 2018
Read December 2019

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Vol 2: Serve You

Writers: Al Ewing & Rob Williams

Artists: Simon Fraser, Boo Cook, and Warren Pleece
Colorist: Gary Caldwell
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

This opens with a timey-wimey issue, which didn't entirely succeed for me in practice, but I liked the idea, because it played with time and the comics page in much the same way that Moffat played with time and television on screen. It captures the spirit of its era without feeling like it's trying to recreate it slavishly in another medium. The next two stories bring us back into the SERVEYOUinc story arc, as Alice deals with the apparent resurrection of her mother and the destructiveness of grief. It's good, character-based stuff, showing how much the character of Alice has come to life in half-a-dozen issues of this title. (I do wish ARC and Jones were taken more seriously, however.)

The last story here serves as a mini-climax to the SERVEYOUinc story arc (though I think there is more to come), with the Doctor momentarily taking over the company and being corrupted by power. I liked the idea, but didn't think the execution entirely rang true. Still, of the four Titan Doctor Who strands I've read so far (those featuring the ninth through twelfth Doctors), the eleventh Doctor one is clearly the most interesting and most successful. It's the only one I think is trying to do something other than ape its screen era.

Review: Doctor Who: After Life by Al Ewing, Rob Williams, Simon Fraser, and Boo Cook

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2015 (contents: 2014)
Acquired September 2018
Read November 2019

Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Vol 1: After Life

Writers: Al Ewing & Rob Williams

Artists: Simon Fraser and Boo Cook
Colorist: Gary Caldwell
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

As of this writing, I've dipped into Titan's offerings for the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth Doctors; The Eleventh Doctor series is my favorite of the three. In my review of the first Tenth Doctor volume, I said it did what a lot of good tie-in fiction does, and hit the nostalgia button. After Life goes one better, and does what the best tie-in fiction does, which is offer nostalgia and the new. The writing of Al Ewing and Rob Williams captures Matt Smith's voice, and the art of Simon Fraser and Rob Williams gets his crazy kineticism across on the comics page.

On the other hand, it's hard to imagine Steven Moffat pairing Matt Smith's Doctor with a grieving middle-aged librarian, much less adding two more companions who are a David Bowie riff and a shapeshifting service robot. But Alice is a great companion, and while Jones is often more of a joke than a character, he's a funny joke, so I'll allow it. (ARC doesn't make much of an impression in this volume, to be honest.) And while Revolutions of Terror was often (though admittedly not always) trying to be tv episodes on the comics page, the stories in After Life feel like they are told like comics. I especially appreciated their usual done-in-one nature; this volume collects five issues but four stories, whereas Revolutions of Terror did two stories in six issues.

The stories are vibrant and dynamic and out there, but also emotionally true. My favorites were the opener, "After Life," with its focus on depression, and good use of color, and the batshit insane "What He Wants..." (#3), where Alice and the Doctor accidentally pluck Alice's mother's favorite pop star out of time at the beginning of his career and transport him to 1931 Mississippi, leading to a series of escapades that results in Bessie (in the form of a monster truck!) careening through the delta while a blue musician blasts a crowd of zombies with his guitar. Oh my god, what? So good, and the kind of rapid-fire invention that one reads Doctor Who comics for. (I find it interesting how this comic is written. In this collection, Ewing & Williams co-write the first issue, but take turns on subsequent stories; Ewing goes on to write #2 and 4-5, while Williams pens #3. Maybe not coincidentally, I found the two solo-penned by Ewing more traditional, though still strong work.) And even though these are mostly done-in-ones, the writers are clearly working through a long-term plan, I look forward to seeing it unfold...