An old foe makes its first appearance in the Doctor Who comic series as the team jumps between eras to find the elusive Entity.
Written by Rob WilliamsCover by Simon Fraser
Illustrated by Warren Pleece
Colored by Hi-Fi
Lettered by Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy BetancourtA thrilling TARDIS chase through the atmosphere – after no ordinary comet! Tracking the Entity’s signal from the Berlin Wall in 1976 to Rome, 312AD, the Doctor, Alice, Jones and ARC stumble into an ancient mystery that will forever change the course of human history! And the burden and dangers of a life aboard the TARDIS start to hit home for Jones – is this his farewell tour? Rob Williams (Ordinary) and Warren Pleece blast into a brand-new story arc!
Written by Rob WilliamsCover by Simon Fraser
Illustrated by Warren Pleece
Colored by Hi-Fi
Lettered by Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy BetancourtTwo Emperors, and two halves of the Roman Empire, clash inside a freshly-exploded crater in 312AD – as the Doctor, Alice and Jones attempt to solve the mystery of the horror that rode down to Earth aboard the titanic meteor that caused it!
Plus a surprise villain that threatens them all – one so secret there’s no way we’re mentioning them here!
A hallmark thus far of this Doctor Who series is a lack of classic Whovian foes. We haven’t seen the Daleks, the Cybermen, or the Silurians yet. It bears similarity to the first season of Jodie Whittaker’s Doctor, where series lore was left out of the writing room in order to provide new viewers a chance to jump on fully fresh, without worrying about endless continuity, that bane of existence for any longtime property. (See: why I haven’t really read too many X-Men titles.)
But like the 2019 New Year’s Day special introduced the Daleks to Whittaker, Yasmin, Ryan, and Graham, the comics finally dip into franchise history with this two parter, putting the Cybermen front and center. (The 4th century Rome setting is also a nice callback to Matt Smith’s TV tenure with Rory as a Roman centurion, and the cover of issue #13 has cheeky fun recognizing this moment. Eat your heart out Rory Williams is right!)
Before we head to the Battle of Milvian Bridge, there’s a brief jaunt in 1970s Berlin atop the Berlin Wall as Jones and the Doctor are running from German police. We can presume this was part of their search for the Entity (and clearly an unsuccessful one), since the reader is dropped right into the middle of the action. It’s a big gap the reader has to assume between the end of the last issue when the team decides to head for a showdown with the Talent Scout and the opening pages of this issue. Why Berlin in the 1970s? What strategy is at play here (that isn’t John Jones’s random strategy/songwriting inspiration cards)? It’s such a brief appearance, lacking in connection to the rest of the story in both these issues, that it could probably be removed and the overall arc would not suffer. It’s another example of the disconnect in those who write solicits for comic issues and the scriptwriters, an emphasis on what turns out to be a very minor aspect of plot.
Of course, the Doctor and the Romans successfully vanquish the Cybermen and the Entity, along with finding out the latter’s real motives for gathering an army: not conquest, but protection. Naturally in all combat, there is also loss. And that loss here is Mr. Jones, initially absorbed by the Cybermen but not returned upon their defeat. I wish I could say I felt something upon this reveal, but I can’t. That’s due to the lack of singular identity or backstory the writing staff gave Mr. Jones throughout this series. The changing identities played on the gimmick of his David Bowie-esque persona, but it lost the connection to character we needed to make a moment like this, his disappearance, have gravitas. Had the reader learned more about John Jones the Human, and less about John Jones the Musician, this cliffhanger would have had the emotional impact Rob Williams intended.
Continued belowWarren Pleece is back on art detail for these two issues, and guess what? I still don’t like him. He does fine work in wide-frame shots, just as he did in “The Eternal Dogfight” and “The Infinite Astronaut.” You feel the heat and sense the danger of the comet hurtling its way towards Earth. The ground shudders beneath you as you see its mushroom cloud explosion. Every Cyberman in the collective’s appearance at the end of Part 1 is meticulously alike, just as the soulless Cybermen should be. And he weaves the Entity’s tentacles in and out of this cybernetic crowd so organically (irony noted) so you know just who is really in control. This is an artist who provides a master class in the art of the establishing shot.
He continues to stumble when it comes to close-up character work, still relying on the same square-oval face shape, bulbous noses, and an overuse of shading. In some panels, he opts for only the minimal of detail in shape (you’ll see a sample of this in the postscript to this review), the result lending to a more alien look to our human (or human-like, in the case of the Doctor) characters. Should he return to the Eleventh Doctor in another series, I would hope that he’s paired with an artist who excels in those character moments. That would be a dream team to behold.
I was also curious about the “special thanks” to a Professor Doug Lee at the University of Nottingham in the credits of both of these issues. I figured that Mr. Lee was some sort of scholar in history or classics that provided context and guidance on the late Roman empire at the center of this story. My hunch is indeed correct, as he is a scholar in “Later Roman Empire, especially military, diplomatic and religious history. Ancient warfare and international relations.” This was also the first time the comics dip into actual historical events, something Who is known for from its start more than half a century ago. I’m glad they called in an expert to ensure they got it right.
Fans of Game of Thrones know that the penultimate episode of every season (often the ninth episode) was the one with the highest stakes. leaving the season finale to deal with the consequences. Think the Battle of the Bastards. The Rains of Castamere. The Battle of Blackwater. “Conversion” is that ninth episode, setting up the game board for its final moves.
A brief postscript. I couldn’t find a place to fit this in with the flow of my thoughts, but I couldn’t not share my favorite moment from these two issues. Alice knows a thirst trap when she sees one.
Next week, we close out the inaugural series of Titan’s Doctor Who franchise with issues #14 and #15, “The Comfort of the Good.” We’ll also outline the plan for the rest of this summer’s dive into Matt Smith’s comic book adventures.
If you’d like to read along with me this summer, all issues of the series, single and trade, are available on Comixology. If you are in the United States or Canada and your local library has access to the Hoopla Digital service, you can make Alice happy by borrowing single issues and trades from the series via your local library.
