Over its run, which his now nine issues deep, Titan Comics’
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor has been an inconsistent, up
and down affair. Every time it appears that it’s headed in the right direction,
it takes a step backwards. That said, the last couple of issues have followed a
notable upward trajectory, which continues with the latest installment, “Rise
and Fall.”
The Doctor’s latest companion, Alice, is still reeling from
thinking her mother was back from the dead, a nasty trick played on her by the
Talent Scout, part of the nefarious Serve You Inc. that the team have
encountered a number of times. In fact, it may be one too many times now, as
they’ve finally gone too far. Of all the things we know about the venerable
Time Lord, we’re well aware that he doesn’t abide people fucking with his
friends or hurting the ones he loves. Now they’re out for a little payback, and
to put a stop to Serve You Inc. once and for all.
Alice is grey and numb on the inside, Jones can’t stop
writing songs on the fly, and ARC, well, ARC has become tight ball of fear, in
a very literal sense. But this is a massive, sprawling corporate entity, and as
such, you can’t reason with it, scare it, or attack it like you would a normal
enemy. But don’t worry, the Doctor has a strategy to dismantle the machine and
he means business. Of course, you know it’s never going to be that easy, and he
has to dive head first into what is obviously a trappity trap trap that will
put him face to face with the Talent Scout. You might remember that the last
time they went at each other, left the Doctor shaken, having seen things he
never knew he could see, things he keeps hidden even from himself.
Unlike many of the earlier issues of The Eleventh
Doctor, this is a piece of something larger. It’s the continuation of
their previous adventure, and a precursor to something more. “Rise and Fall” is
part of a larger narrative, and it gives the story the space it needs to
develop without rushing the action, and this also provides room for character
work and getting the reader emotionally invested in what they see on the page. It
may very well be the best work they’ve done thus far on this title.
Over the course of this run, that has been one of the major
issues, something that kept this from becoming something more substantial
instead of mildly amusing. It simply moved too quick and as a result, you never
got fully invested in the story or any of the characters. Hopefully this is
indicative of the direction of The Eleventh Doctor is headed,
it’s shown glimpses of progression in the past, but hasn’t yet delivered in a
consistent manner, though it looks like it may be moving that way.
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