In Review: Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor Volume 2

Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor Volume 2 - CoverDoctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor Volume 2
Writer: Jody Houser
Artists: Rachael Stott, Roberta Ingranata
Publisher: Titan Comics
Softcover, $16.99/£13.99
Out: Now
ISBN: 9781785866913

Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor Volume 2 - Sample

Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor Volume 2 - Sample

Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor Volume 2 - Sample

Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor Volume 2 - Sample

The Book: Best-selling comics writer Jody Houser and fan-favourite artist Rachael Stott bring you the second volume of the Thirteenth Doctor’s comic strip adventures, based on the BBC’s Doctor Who, featuring Jodie Whittaker as the first female incarnation of The Doctor.

This second collection of the Thirteenth Doctor’s comic book tales is a scorchingly fresh incarnation, taking the show – and its comic strip adventures – where no Doctor has gone before.

The Review: In the first Thirteenth Doctor stories from Titan Comics, the Doctor, Graham, Yaz, and Ryan came up against the nefarious Hoarder – a greedy and manipulative monster intent on getting anything and everything he wants… whatever the cost. With the help of new friends, and fellow  time travellers, Perkins and Schulz, the gang made sure the Hoarder won’t be bothering anyone ever again.

Now, the team  are caught up in a new series of adventures, all inter-connected, it seems by a podcast about “Hidden Human History” and one adversary – who prefers working from the shadows rather than facing the Doctor head on.

The adventures related in this latest collection of Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor stories are, I’d suggest, more about the human condition and how we evolve as time marches on, with the Doctor and companions very much observers of those changes, as well as instigating them. No major spoilers, here, but I don’t think it hurts to say that we see Perkins and Schulz again, whose inclusion very much illustrate how characters can change – perhaps not for the better…

Art wise, Rachael Stott delivers some terrific storytelling, with a deft hand  when it comes to expressions and figure work. The design of the ‘monsters’ in this saga, the Stilean, is terrific, too.

Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor Volume 2 - Sample

Character-wise, we also get some great moments “fleshing out” the character fo the Thirteenth Doctor, too, with Jody House delivering more than one great scene that sets out the time traveller’s personality – and there’s some fun along the way, too, with nods to the continued relationship between Doctor and TARDIS, and the growing bonds between her and her chosen friends.

Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor Volume 2 - Stilean

Creepy monsters… but the Stilean are much more than that…

There’s no huge action sequences in these stories; it’s actually a fairly quiet but engaging series of tales, with an equally gentle play off that some longtime Who comic fans may find out of kilter with the faster pace of the Thirteenth Doctor stories we’ve seen in Doctor Who Magazine. Both approaches work, but I’d be wary of maintaining the same style of stories for too long.

Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor Volume 2 - Cover Gallery Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor Volume 2 - Cover GalleryThere are hints within these tales that, perhaps, Jody is laying down some threads for some further dealings with the Time Agency Perkins and Schulz now work for, which could lead to a more climatical battle, but given the break in publication for the series, which resumes next year, it may be that I’m over reaching on that front. It might be that Year Two will start afresh, but they have a good team on board, who have developed a very engaging take on the Thirteenth Doctor’s adventures, and I’ll be interested to see what comes next.

This collection includes a great cover gallery, and an article from Jody on her love of Doctor Who, with some hints of her approach to writing the stories.

Doctor Who – The Thirteenth Doctor Volume 2 is on sale now in all good book and comic shops, including Amazon (Affiliate Link)

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