‘Doctor Who: The 10th Doctor – Vol 2.’ Review
Written by Robbie Morrison | Art by Daniel Indro, Eleonora Carlini | Published by Titan Comics | Format: Hardback, 128pp
Every time I read a Dr. Who comic book it just reminds me what a perfect character he is for the comic book form. If anything, the unlimited budget and special effects of the comic book medium serves him and his stories better than television ever will. Throw in the fact every regeneration is actually a new character, you have endless possibilities with both story and character.
Since the Dr. Who TV show re-launch of 2005, the David Tennant 10th Doctor has remained my favourite (prior to that, my favourite will always be childhood hero Jon Pertwee) so I was interested to see if Robbie Morrison could capture Tennant’s often quirky behaviour with his doctor’s at times surprisingly dark actions. Morrison is a solid Dr. Who writer, so I had high hopes.
The 10th Doctor: Volume 2 covers five issues of the series, with the first 4 issues devoted to an arc with everybody’s favourite villains, the Weeping Angels, and the final issue a standalone issue. The Doctor’s companion through these issues is Gabby Gonzalez, who may be unfamiliar to people just picking up the book for the first time. A handy info page at the beginning gives us quick character bios and a ‘Previously..’ before we launch into the main story. Always welcome.
The Doctor and Gabby start this collection by arriving, mistakenly as per usual, smack dab in the middle of World War One, the Doctor injured almost immediately by exploding bombs. While recovering, The Doctor discovers his old enemies The Weeping Angels are taking advantage of the bloodshed all around by taking an increasing amount of the locals and soldiers who don’t yet know you must…not…blink. Add to the Doctor’s race against time to save everyone from the Angels the fact that the TARDIS is nowhere to be seen either, and things are not looking good.
Robbie Morrison, as always comes up trumps. His incarnation of the Weeping Angels is excellent, suitably creepy and given several scenes to convey that fear factor the ordinary people feel. Morrison writes an excellent 10th Doctor, plenty of snappy patter, witty asides, and fluctuating between carefree and jokey to serious and determined. The dialogue is excellent throughout. I especially liked the locale Morrison chose, the Somme during the First World War, giving us as the reader a look at two very differing types of horror.
The art for the main ‘Weeping Angels’ arc is by Daniel Indro and is excellent. His style is very well suited to both this script and to depicting the grimy, muddy, death-filled world of this time. His page layouts are often quite ‘busy’, with more panels than you normally see, but they never feel overdone and suit the pacing of Morrison’s script perfectly. His general figure work and faces are very good, and he captures the malevolence and scariness of the Angels extremely well. He captures the general look and feel of the 10th Doctor very well, if not always the facial likeness. He throws in some great imagery as well.
The main story then is very good, what of the stand alone story? I would say fair, nothing more. Although there is a plot concerning alien hunters coming to Earth, the main purpose of the story is to both break up larger story arcs, and give the reader a chance to bond a bit more with Gabby, as she has returned to New York to visit her family. The art by Eleonora Carlini is a little too cartoony for my taste, but does seem to suit this story well.
When you throw in several extra pages at the end which show the covers (and alternates) from the individual issues, you are getting 128 pages of very solid entertainment here. Well written, well drawn, great heroes and great villains.
Who could ask for more?
**** 4/5
Doctor Who: The 10th Doctor – Vol 2. The Weeping Angels of Mons is out now from Titan Comics.
