[alert variation=”alert-info”]Publisher: Titan Comics
Formats: Hardcover, eBook
Purchase: Amazon | IndieBound | Barnes & Noble[/alert]
The Doctor is in with this new story from writers Al Ewing and Rob Williams. Doctor Who stories traditionally start with background on the friend that will be joining the Doctor, and this story is no different. We begin the story with Alice Obiefun mourning the loss of her beloved mother, as well as her job as a library assistant, just after she finds out she is being evicted.
The coloring on these pages (and the following flashbacks to this point in Alice’s life) is so stark and grim; they truly reflect the feeling of suffering and loss. Of course, in the midst of this pain, Alice is thrown into an adventure as the bumbling doctor runs across her path, while chasing down an alien.
The Doctor, fresh from the events of the season 5 finale, Big Bang, is simultaneously mournful and happy for his recently married friends, the Ponds, and trying to move on. He is the Eleventh Doctor we all know, love, and greatly miss – quick to act, but full of purpose and thought, with a little bit of peppy jokester. His stubbornness, youthfulness and lighthearted nature move the story along with ease.
Alice Obiefun is one of the most incredible and unique friends The Doctor has made. Her mourning is punctuated with her passion and sense of adventure. Her knowledge from being a library assistant is consistently demonstrated as she remembers obscure facts – her comradery with the Doctor is up with the best of the Doctors traveling friends in the show.
At one point, Alice calls The Doctor out on running away from all of his problems, one of the most evocative and meaningful sequences in the story. She accuses The Doctor of believing he treats his companions as friends, but really he treats them like pets. Pets to be watched, and protected and adored. Yet even this conversation is halted by an emergency and seems to have no meaningful impact or change in the character of our time-traveling hero.
All said, this is a well-written story arc by Ewing and WIlliams brought together by the art of Fraser and Cook. Highly recommended if you are looking for more stories with the Eleventh Doctor while you wait for Moffat to finish bringing together the next season of Doctor Who.
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