‘Doctor Who: The 12th Doctor #8 – The Fractures Pt. 3’ Review
Written by Robbie Morrison | Art by Brian Williamson | Published by Titan Comics
Before getting into the actual review, can I say how refreshing it is that Titan Comics are making this series accessible, by having the first page devoted to a quick reminder of who the main players are, and a ‘Previously’ recap of previous issues to get any new readers up to speed. This being the third part of a 3-part story, this is a simple way to tell new readers you want to welcome, and keep, them, but not practiced by nearly enough publishers anymore. It also motivates those readers to seek out the previous parts of the story. But I digress…
As mentioned above, this is the final part of a 3 part story, The Fractures, that follows a scientist from an alternate reality who has jumped over to our reality where his family are still alive (his family are dead in his reality, he is dead in our reality); obviously his actions are causing reality to crack as he shouldn’t be here and The Fractures, creatures who can move across dimensions, are on his tail. Oh, and UNIT are also involved, as well as The (Peter Capaldi 12th) Doctor and Clara. So can the conclusion live up to the frenetic, fast paced and fun previous installments?
For me, yes. There was enough action, chases, pseudo science, Doctor grandstanding and Clara racing about to stand up with the best of the TV episodes. How could you not love the Tardis chasing a Double Decker bus across Tower Bridge, being driven by Clara no less, before crashing into the Thames. After much conflict we reach a resolution when The Doctor, helped by the alternate dimension scientist Paul Foster, manages to push the Fractures back where they came from. As one panel reminds us though, the Doctor has made a new, very powerful enemy and they will in time return.
All in all, a very strong issue. Robbie Morrison continues to capture the spirit of the TV episodes very well, mixing in fun plots with excellent characterisation of both The Doctor and Clara. I was slightly surprised that The 12th Doctor, a more spiky and harder version than his predecessors, allowed the scientist who had caused all this trouble in the first place to remain in this reality, seemingly swayed by Clara. He wavered, but relented. Once again, this shows us why The Doctor needs a human companion, to humanise him, as I am sure on his own he would have let the scientist be sucked back to his own reality.
The art by Brian Williamson was good throughout as well. Nice clean layouts and panel placement, the art suited the story well. I would imagine a decent amount of reference work as well went into the Tower Bridge scenes. He captured Peter Capaldi’s likeness very well, though I felt was a little more hit and miss with Jenna Coleman. Licensed comics are never the easiest for any artist though, so we’ll excuse that one tiny flaw.
Give this one (and preferably the previous 2 issues as well) a look, you won’t be disappointed.
Doctor Who: The 12th Doctor #8 – The Fractures Pt. 3 is out now from Titan Comics.
