The last issue of Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, introduced a new creative team and kicked off the most grim,
desolate of these new adventures of David Tennant’s version of the venerable
Time Lord. Now they’re back with Issue #7, “The Weeping Angels of Mons.” Trapped
on the front lines of World War I, and if things weren’t bad enough, they go
from bad to worse as one of the Doctor’s most sinister foes has tagged along
for a ride.
After getting blown up by a mortar and imprisoned as German
spies, it doesn’t get any easier for the Doctor and his latest travelling
companion, Gabby Gonzalez. Not only do the British forces want to throw them in
front of a firing squad—one officer in particular might just dispense with that
formality in his office unless he can control his temper—but there are angles
about. And these aren’t the kind of angles you want to be touched by, no, these
are Weeping Angels, and they’ve come to hunt.
The bulk of the action of Issue #7 is spent dealing with
these dual threats. First, they have to navigate an untrusting, hostile
military authorities, which, as you can imagine, is no easy task. Then, after
they have to deal with the Angels, which is quite harrowing as well, as they
can send you back to random terrible points in history where you’re likely to
be dismembered by gladiators, involved in an epic train crash, or maybe even
burned at the stake as a witch. None of those sound like a particularly good
time.
Like the previous creative team, the latest group—including
writer Robbie Morrison and artist Daniel Indro—has broken their story down into
smaller sections. In many other comics, this adventure would be one issue, but
instead of one page worth of running, that’s basically the entire issue. This
allows them to take their time and instead of simple action, you still get a
lot of character work within the more up-tempo scenes. There’s not just war,
but time for the Doctor to expound on his theories and ideas about war and the
various problems and issues therein.
Both the story as well as the art bring a new level of
grittiness. This is a Doctor Who story, and contains all of
the various elements that you know and expect from such a tale, but it’s also
about war. Terrible things happen in war, dark, brutal things, and the
aesthetic and storytelling reflect this reality. There’s a gravity to this particular
adventure, and the installments that are to come—we’ll be getting at least one
more issue from this particular arena, likely more.
This air of seriousness is a welcome contrast to the likes
of The Eleventh Doctor, which is as bouncy and cartoony as
Matt Smith’s run at the control of the TARDIS. You still get the sense of
adventure and fun that you’re looking for out of a Doctor
Who comic, but there’s more depth, both in the characters and story,
and there’s just more to sink your teeth into. And that is why The
Tenth Doctor has become, and remains, the best of Titan Comics’
continuing slate of Doctor Who comics.
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