Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #2

Freshly regenerated and with a new head full of unanswered questions, the Doctor whisks Clara Oswald away to a strange and distant world. New Face! New Doctor! New Beginning! Get in on the ground floor of this amazing ongoing series!

Writer:

Robbie Morrison

Artists:

Alice X Zhang

Dave Taylor

Colourist:

Hi-Fi Color Design

Letterer:

Comicraft

Publisher:

Titan Comics

Last issue started strong and with purpose- if the new TV series took a whole season to finally decide what it wanted the latest incarnation of the Doctor to be, it seems this comic knew from the start. Last issue saw The Doctor and Clara landing on a planet where terraforming has gone awry, with a mysterious being lurking at the heart of it all. This issue brings the reveal the villain of the piece is...

..a Hyperion! Never heard of them? Well neither have I, but it plays into the ambitions of the comic. A race of sentient suns that turned malevolent when their life cycles began to come to an end, they were defeated by an alliance of the most powerful races of the galaxy, headed by the full might of the Timelord's themselves. Only this time, there's only the Doctor to stop them.

What's great about this issue is how Robbie Morrison seems to be looking for something new with this comic. Of the three Doctor Who comics launched by Titan so far, we've had three different approaches. The Tenth Doctor comic focused on the micro, small scale stories that could have world shattering consequences, whilst the Eleventh Doctor comic has played it fast and loose, whilst always being centred around character development. The Twelfth Doctor comic plots a new path – Epic grandeur.

If the opening story is any indication, this series it probably the comic that best represents a good amalgamation of both the old style series and the new, more action packed one. Its a great combination, as in the space of one comic we see a wedding, a planet sized disaster, deductive work and even the destruction of galaxies. Yet none of it feels out of place- in part unified by the art of Dave Taylor - even if his interpretation of Clara does make it look like she's somehow inherited some Sontaran characteristics.

There are some problems with the issue, in that once the count down to the big action finale starts, most of the intelligence of the story gets thrown aside, but when #1 and #2 are read as the whole story it was intended to be, it mitigates that somewhat.

Count me impressed. If the series carries on like this, not only will it be threatening to knock my fav, the Eleventh Doctor series, off the top spot, but it will competing with the TV show itself. My feeling is that the comic may be the eventual winner.

Cover image courtesy of Titan Comics.

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #2 can be bought from Titan Comics online and in your local comic book store in the US only.

Geek-o-Rama received a copy of this comic for the purpose of this review. All thoughts, comments and opinions are those of the individual reviewer.