Don’t diss the witch.
Creative Staff:
Story: Nick Abadzis
Art: Eleonora Carlini
Colors: Arianna Florean with Azzurra Florean
Letters: Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
What They Say:
THE WISHING WELL WITCH Part 1! It’s Gabby’s first trip to the UK, as the Doctor shows her (and her new fellow TARDIS traveler!) around his adopted gaff. But a visit to the countryside swiftly turns into a gothic horror story, as the gang discover the curse afflicting a small town!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The TARDIS never takes the Doctor where he wants to go, but it always takes him where he needs to be. After their prehistoric adventure, the Doctor decides it’s time for a holiday and transports his companion, Gabby, and her best friend Cindy to London. At least, that was the intended destination. Actually, they land in Dewbury, the fabled village of bookshops known far and wide for being a hotbed of mysterious activity of all types. The most famous mystery revolves around the well witch, who may grant wishes if summoned, but might also take pieces of yourself, making you a hollow, broken person.
The Doctor doesn’t become involved until he meets one of the witch’s victims, a young woman who was misdiagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder. Apparently, the girl took part in some Pagan summoning ritual and came back broken. The Doctor sends Gabby and Cindy off to find the other participants in the ritual while he goes and investigates the witch herself.
The investigation doesn’t go as planned for either party. The Doctor mistakenly scares the witch, sending it off on a desperate rampage through the village, and Gabby and Cindy fight and split up. Tension has been building between the two for quite some time now, with Gabby becoming jealous of any attention the Doctor gives Cindy, and Cindy acting out because of the events she experienced in the previous story arc. As it stands right now, things don’t look so well for the Doctor, his companions, or the village of Dewbury.
Once again, this creative team has done a great job of capturing this version of the Doctor and his adventures. Eleonora Carlini does very well capturing David Tennant’s likeness without making it look all photo reference-y. She also captures his posture, facial expressions and mannerisms, providing excellent characterization that is faithful David Tennant’s portrayal.
The same goes for Nick Abadzis’ writing. You can hear the inflections and see the little verbal ticks of Tennant’s Doctor in his writing. He also writes a mean story, providing us with an intriguing mystery, a pretty scary monster, and hints to the greater conflict to come in the series. I don’t know if Abadzis follows the Levitz Paradigm, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did, given the way he juggles past, present, and future storylines.
Something big and bad is coming, and I’m very excited to see the Doctor, Gabby, and Cindy take it on.
In Summary:
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor 2.8 begins a new storyline and serves as a good jumping on point for new readers. “The Wishing Well Witch” has it all: great character work, an intriguing mystery, a good, scary monster, and hints for what’s to come farther down the line. Dr. Josh gives this an….
Grade: A
Age Rating: N/A
Released By: Titan Comics
Release Date: April 6th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
