Author: Nick Abadzis
Artists: Elena Casagrande
Colorist: Arianna Florean
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
Title: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 1: Revolutions of Terror
Publication Info: Titan Books, 2015.
Summary/Review:
The Tenth Doctor comics explores adventures that take place after he tragically mindwipes Donna (I’m still not over that), and reluctantly begins traveling with a new companion, Gabby Gonzalez. And what a wonderful companion she is! Gabby is a young Mexican-American woman living in Brooklyn and working in her family’s restaurant and laundromat, but dreaming of becoming an artist and going on adventures. She’s utterly charming and clever, and well characterized for a character original to the comics.
This volume contains two adventures. The Doctor and Gabby meet when the Pranavores, a psychic lifeform that exists in a symbiotic relationship with intelligent lifeforms and feeds off their positive energy, come under attack. Their assailants are the Cerabavores, scientifically modified Pranavores who hunt the Pranavores by causing the humans they’re associated with to have horrific visions. Gabby’s quick wits and cheerful spirit help the Doctor defeat the Cerabavores and he invites her on a one-time trip on the TARDIS.
Because Gabby is an artist, he takes her to see an art gallery on a magnificently strange planet and meet an artist named Zhe who uses her mind to create block transfer sculptures. Of course, Zhe is in trouble, trapped in stasis while two malevolent apprentices she created attack the Doctor and Gabby. The story is illustrated with fun house visuals accompanied by Gabby’s sketchbook where she tells the story through sketches and notes to her friend. It’s a wonderful visual story best suited to the comic book art form.
This is a great start to the Tenth Doctor comics series and of course, Gabby is invited back for further travels so there’s more to look forward to in upcoming comics.
Rating: ****
Author: Robbie Morrison
Artists: Daniel Indro & Eleonora Carlini
Colorist: Slamet Murjiono & Hi-Fi
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
Title: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 2, The Weeping Angels of Mons
Publication Info: Titan Books, 2015.
Summary/Review:
Gabby & The Doctor land in No Man’s Land in the midst of The Great War in 1916. There they discover that Scottish infantrymen and their German opponents are both facing a much greater danger – The Weeping Angels! The battlefield scenes of mud, smoke, and darkness are a perfect fit for the angels and the comic quickly sketches an interesting cast of guest characters. Gabby continues to be wonderful and is growing into one of my favorite companions rather quickly. The story builds on the Weeping Angels mythos created in “Blink” but not as well explored in their later tv stories.
<HUGE SPOILER>The brilliant – if obvious in retrospect – twist is that one of the soldiers is sent back in time to a nearby French village, where he marries and settles down as a farmer, waiting to catch up to the First World War and bail out his friends.</HUGE SPOILER>
The only downside to this comic is that the Doctor seems to a sanctimonious ass for much of this comic, which I guess is true to the characterization of the Tenth Doctor, but I still don’t have to enjoy it. The volume also includes a one-issue story called “Echo” set in contemporary Brooklyn which is highly derivative of the Pranavores plot except these are creature who amplify sound instead of feelings. The resolution is also derivative of “Daleks in Manhattan/Evolution of the Daleks” so it makes me wonder if the creators of this issue were just in a rush to get something out.
Rating: ****
Author: Robbie Morrison
Artists: Elena Casagrande, Eleonora Carlini, Rachael Stott, and Leonardo Romero
Colorist: Hi-Fi and Arianna Florean
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
Title: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 3: The Fountains of Forever
Publication Info: Titan Books, 2015
Summary/Review:
After a silly, short story about the TARDIS laundry and a golem of sonic screwdriver activated dirt, the Doctor and Gabby return to New York. Gabby’s friend Cindy is seething with jealousy and the two quarrel, an unfortunately stereotyped depiction of relationships among young women. The plot moves into a story about ancient artifacts, a cult, and an aged movie star that eventually reveals itself to be a sequel to Pyramid of Mars. Honestly, I got bored with it and ultimately lost the plot. This is a disappointing volume after the first two collections were so very good.
Rating: **
Author: Nick Abadzis
Artists: Eleonora Carlini, Elena Casagrande & Leonardo Romero
Colorist: Claudia SG Iannicello and Arianna Florean
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
Title: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 4: The Endless Song
Publication Info: Titan Books, 2016
Summary/Review:
The Tenth Doctor and Gabby’s adventures continue, beginning with another conceptual being, the Shan’tee, who are perceived by humans as music, making for a clever albeit somewhat cliched adventure. Gabby’s notebook returns as Cindy, left behind on Earth, reads it to herself and notices that stories are changing. Unfortunately, the story devolves into something more boring involving Ebonite, but is redeemed by the appearance of Jack Harkness! The final story involving early humans and Neandethals is kind of, eh?
Rating: ***
Author: Nick Abadzis
Artists: Eleonora Carlini, Elena Casagrande & Iolanda Zanfardino
Colorist: Arianna Florean, Rod Fernandes, & Hi-Fi with Azzurra Florean
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
Title: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 5: Arena of Fear
Publication Info: Titan Books, 2016
Summary/Review:
This volume starts with epic weirdness as the Doctor and Gabby are forced into an epic fight against Captain Jack, Cleo and Cindy. Everyone’s memories are twisted and the story from the Pleistocene era is incorporated, so it’s just so very strange. Later they travel to the UK and end up in a spooky story involving a witch in a well. I feel that the characterization of Cindy is improving and that the stories are feeling less contrived, but I do wish there was less emphasis on continuing story arcs. I just don’t care about Anubis
Rating: ***1/2
Author: Nick Abadzis
Artists: Giorgia Sposito
Colorist: Arianna Florean, Azzurra Florean, Mattia de Lulis and Adele Matera
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
Title: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 6: Sins of the Father
Publication Info: Titan Books, 2017
Summary/Review:
This volume begins with the Doctor and Gabby enjoying some down time in 1920s New Orleans and Cindy even finding romance (and while it’ll be played as a tragic romance trope, it’s still nice to see new things done with her character). Music infects this jazz age story and the Nocturnes are back to infect the music, perhaps the best return of an original monster in these comics. And then Anubis and Sutekh return. Yawn!
Rating: ***
Author: Nick Abadzis, James Peaty
Artists: Giorgia Sposito, Warren Pleece
Colorist: Arianna Florean, Azzurra Florean, Mattia de Lulis, Hi-Fi, Adele Matera
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt; Nick Abadzis & Arianna Florean
Title: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 7: War of Gods
Publication Info: Titan Books, 2017
Summary/Review:
This volume pairs the ongoing (and hopefully conclusion) of the yawner of the Sutekh story. The Revolving Doors story sees Gabby going to London for the first time and dwelling on the Tenth Doctor’s man pain. These comics have fallen a long way in my estimation since they began.
Rating: *1/2
Author: Nick Abadzis
Artists: Giorgia Sposito
Colorist: Arianna Florean
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
Title: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor – Facing Fate, Volume 1 – Breakfast at Tyranny’s
Publication Info: Titan Comics (2017)
Summary/Review:
Hooray for new storylines! Anubis continues in the story but now as an amnesiac going by the name Noobis, and more interesting for doing so (especially when depicted as an actual dog). The first story sees the TARDIS team stuck in a virtual reality in a New York City department store, that is basically The Matrix with tentacles. Things get better when they travel to ancient China – with portions of the comic in the style of traditional Chinese art – and liberate a castle full of hundreds of Cindys!
Rating: ***
Author: Nick Abadzis
Artists: Giorgia Sposito
Colorist: Arianna Florean
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
Title: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor – Facing Fate, Volume 2 – Vortex Butterflies
Publication Info: Titan Comics (2018)
Summary/Review:
The Doctor leaves Gabby and Cindy in a house he keeps in London (but not the English house he has in the Virgin New Adventures, alas) where Sarah Jane comes to their aid when Gabby falls ill. The Doctor meanwhile seeks out what is troubling the TARDIS, and discovers that the Vortex Butterfly is a manifestation of Gabby’s Block Transfer powers. It’s a nice way to develop an ongoing story going back to the origins of the comics, but it also is resolved a bit too easily.
Rating: **1/2
Author: Nick Abadzis
Artists: Giorgia Sposito
Colorist: Adele Matera
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt
Title: Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Facing Fate Volume 3 – The Good Companion
Publication Info: Titan Comics (2018)
Summary/Review:
This appears to the conclusion of the Titan Tenth Doctor Comics featuring Gabby. The Time Sentinels are a strange and kind of uninteresting antagonist. But I do like how this book brings back old themes and characters (Cleo and Zhe) to tie together Gabby’s ongoing story. It’s interesting to see how much – and how believably – everyone has changed since being introduced. There’s also a nice cameo at the end.
Rating: ***
Panorama of the Mountains 