Doctor Who: The Good Companion by Nick Abadzis and Giorgia Sposito

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor: Facing Fate, Vol. 3: The Good Companion

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

Writer: Nick Abadzis
Artist: Giorgia Sposito
Colorists: Adele Matera & Arianna Florean
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

This was pretty good! I think when it works, it's when it focuses on the characters of the tenth Doctor, Cindy, and especially Gabby. Slightly too late, but I felt like I finally understood their dynamic here, and the story was all the better for it. I was prepared to declare this great, but in the last couple issues, the stakes got a bit too abstract, and once again, Abadzis anticipates the Chibnall approach by piling on the characters in any given scene, to its detriment. Do I care about this dude's wife who got replaced by a Time Sentinel? No not really. But the ultimate outcome of Gabby's story is pretty great, and you can see how this leaves the tenth Doctor in a good place for his last few screen adventures. Shame this series ended as it finally regained its footing, though I feel like it might have regained its footing because it was ending.

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 Twelfth Doctor: A Confusion of Angels

Doctor Who: Vortex Butterflies by Nick Abadzis, Giorgia Sposito, Iolanda Zanfardino, et al.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor: Facing Fate, Vol 2: Vortex Butterflies

 

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

Writer: Nick Abadzis
Artists: Giorgia Sposito with Arianna Florean & Iolanda Zanfardino
Colorists: Arianna Florean with Nicola Righi
Letterers: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

The uphill climb of The Tenth Doctor continues—so help me, I actually enjoyed this! Every time the action flashed to what "Noob" was doing, my interest plummeted, but aside from that, this was a solid tenth Doctor comic. Unlike previous stories in this series, it keeps the focus on the characters and their emotions, following up on the emotional fall-out from the pretty intense things that the tenth Doctor, Gabby, and Cindy have gone through; the appearance of Sarah Jane Smith could be gratuitous, but is a perfect grace note here, too. There's a strong sense of increasing desperation as events escalate (some Titan storylines are pretty badly paced but not this one), and the way the imagery of the Jon Pertwee title sequence is used is pretty damn clever. I am excited to see where this series wraps up in the next volume.

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 Twelfth Doctor: The Wolves of Winter

Review: Doctor Who: Breakfast at Tyranny's by Nick Abadzis, Giorgia Sposito, and Valeria Favoccia

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

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor: Facing Fate, Vol 1: Breakfast at Tyranny's

Writer: Nick Abadzis
Artists: Giorgia Sposito & Valeria Favoccia
Colorist: Arianna Florean
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

The opening story of The Tenth Doctor: Year Three is better than anything this series has served us in a while, but it still doesn't grab me. At first, aliens place the Doctor and his companions (who now include "Noob," actually the Phaester Osiran / Egyptian god Anubis) in a simulation of Gabby's life in New York City, and they have to break out of it. Pretty trope-y and kind of dull. The next story, where the Doctor and Gabby (and Noob, I guess) have to rescue Cindy from ancient China, where she's been cloned dozens of times, is more interesting, but occasionally had odd leaps that disrupted my experience. Abadzis experiments with storytelling techniques, which is fun, but these feel like sci-fi characters, not people.

But people told me Year Three was worth it even if I didn't like Year Two at all, and so I am trying to be open minded. We shall see how it goes!

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 Ninth Doctor: Sin Eaters