REVIEW: Doctor Who Four Doctors #1 (Comic Book)

August 15th is Doctor Who Comics Day, an annual event celebrating the fantastic work being done by Titan Comics. What better way to celebrate than with the release of Issue #1 of a multi-Doctor extravaganza? Written by Paul Cornell, Four Doctors will bring together the three main comic lines from Titan, as Doctors Ten, Eleven, and Twelve must work together in an epic quest that goes back to the Time War.

Doctor Who: Four Doctors #1 by Paul Cornell, with cover art by Neil Edwards (Credit: Titan Comics)

Cornell is no stranger to Doctor Who. I became a fan in the the early 90’s with his contributions to Virgin Publishing’s range of novels featuring the Seventh Doctor. He has also contributed to Big Finish, as well as penned three of the best episodes of the new television series: ‘Father’s Day‘ stands as the best episode from Christopher Eccleston‘s run, and his adaptation of his own novel Human Nature became a wonderful two-part highlight in David Tennant‘s second season. Since Cornell is one of my favorite writers, I went into this comic with huge expectations.

The story begins with a flashback to the War Doctor on the planet Marinus during the Time War. The Voord have changed significantly since we last saw them in the First Doctor adventure ‘The Keys of Marinus.’ Thanks to the Time Lords, the Voord have become upgraded with paradox shields and have become formidable allies against the Daleks. The opening shot of the Dalek saucer crashing is spectacular. The Voord are concerned that the Time Lords will revert them to the weaker creatures they used to be once the Time War ends. The War Doctor agrees to act as an intermediary but tells them he cannot guarantee anything.

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Flashing forward to the present, the current Doctor has no memory of the planet Marinus at all. On an unnamed jungle planet, Clara learns that a mysterious photograph showing all three of the most recent Doctors together will lead to the end of the universe. Clara takes it upon herself to stop this from happening without letting her Doctor know. Next stop is Paris in the 1920’s where this event is supposed to occur. Naturally, Clara’s plan falls apart. Cornell wastes no time in getting the three Doctors together, which is where the fun really begins.

It is difficult to write for one of the Doctors in a format that doesn’t have the benefit of the actor’s performance. Then, there’s the added challenge of writing for multiple Doctors at once. This to me is like trying to balance on a ball while juggling flaming swords.

The War Doctor and the Voord collude on the planet Marinus.

(Credit: Titan Comics)

Fortunately, Cornell rises to the challenge and goes beyond. His dialogue for each of the three Doctors is spot-on and does a perfect job of capturing the nuances of each one. We always enjoy some good bickering between multiple Doctors, and thankfully there is plenty of it going on here. The Tenth Doctor naturally doesn’t trust the Twelfth, as he doesn’t understand how the latter could exist in the first place. The Eleventh tries to mediate between the two but that doesn’t really turn out so well. There are a couple of really funny lines as well, such as Ten telling Twelve he can’t be the boss by doing “the lapels thing.”

Cornell said he wanted to give this series a summer blockbuster feel, and he succeeds admirably in doing so. In this first issue alone, we are treated to several different settings: from Marinus to a jungle planet to Paris in the 1920’s. Artist Neil Edwards manages to capture the different settings as well as the likenesses of all the leads very well.

The story contains a very dense plot with a lot going on and leaves fans with a lot of unanswered questions. Fortunately, we will not have to wait long to get some answers as this is a weekly miniseries. Reading Four Doctors will definitely help curb the blues until the new season starts.

What did you think of Four Doctors or Titan Comics in general? Has anyone followed any of the other series? Sound off in the comments below so we can get a discussion going!

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REVIEW: Doctor Who: Four Doctors #1 (Comic Book)

By Joel Getter | Aug 14, 2015

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