‘Doctor Who: Empire of the Wolf #4’ Review
Written by Jody Houser | Art by Roberta Ingranata | Published by Titan Comics
Atmosphere is such a woolly term, it can cover a whole lot of factors after all, but this book has atmosphere. It has the feel of a solid Who adventure, from the story, the setting, and the characters. Jody Houser just seems to effortlessly tap into the Who fan base, into what they want to see, and then delivers it every time. I mean, this story has dished up two Doctor’s, a non-Time Lord regeneration of The Doctor, John Smith, two Roses, two TARDIS’s, some Sontarans, and a partridge in a pear tree. Well, maybe not the last one, but pretty much everything else. This issue is the endgame, as Empress Rose has been shown that good intentions don’t always translate into good deeds. The Doctors know that themselves. Both Doctors and both Roses are now on the same side, which is lucky as a load of Sontarans have just shown up.
It seems that Empress Rose has been duped by her second in command, D’Pau, who has been secretly working against her. Part of this palace coup has been the recruitment of the perfect military force, the Sontarans. Not blessed with intellect, just a strong aggressive streak, they are perfect soldiers. That being said, I’d take brains over brawn any time. D’Pau, though, bears no real malice against our gang, just wants to strike out on his own and build a new empire, minus the pointless morality (as he sees it) of Rose. Still, he could cause an awful lot of havoc with the ships he’s stolen, so time for the two Doctors to put their heads together and sort this all out. Plan C I guess, as the first two didn’t really work.
Plan C is a tad risky it turns out, but then we expect nothing less. Two Doctors, two Rose’s and two TARDIS’s mean time paradox. Time paradox means time instability. The Sontarans seem to have escaped from a point of time that’s not the current one, so more paradox may undue their paradox and send them back. Timey-wimey stuff. So, two TARDIS’s breach D’Pau’s ship, one obvious and attention-seeking, one covertly. Two Rose’s touch hands and the Sontarans are gone, D’Pau beaten. I know time travel and paradoxes are always an easy ‘get out of jail free’ plot device but here, made perfect sense.
So, time to drop everyone off at the time and place they came from, before any lasting temporal damage is caused. Empress Rose is still in charge, for now, but has a lot of soul-searching to do in her time and place. The Eighth Doctor leaves, knowing his next incarnation will be the one that meets Rose for the ‘first’ time. We’ve just time for a nice little nod to past and present as Eleven and Rose have a chat about their respective futures, and then everyone’s gone. Rose returns, as hoped, to her alternate Earth, and her husband and daughter. The human version of the Tenth Doctor has the smarts but none of the Time Lord tech, so is pleased to have Rose back. We love a happy ending.
In many ways this was quite an old fashioned story, and I mean that in a good sense. Not overcomplicated, no need to know 30 years of continuity to enjoy it (though knowing the back story adds an extra layer of enjoyment of course), and nothing too bad happens to anyone. They meet, adventure, depart. Job done. Sometimes simple is best. I doubt Jody Houser would have it any other way. Traditional storytelling and genuine affection for the characters will do it for me every time, and that includes artist Roberta Ingranata too. Always solid art, easy to follow panels and great likenesses. Long may these two team up on Who projects.
So, a Rose by any other name, is still a Rose. And a Doctor, by any other face, is still The Doctor.
