I want to be known as “That Demon of Hindrance”
Creative Staff:
Story: Nick Abadzis
Art: Giorgia Sposito
Colors: Arianna Florean with Adele Matera
Letters: Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
What They Say:
The tension mounts in the penultimate episode of the Tenth Doctor’s second year! Has Anubis fallen to the darkness in his family tree? Can Gabby and Cindy staunch the corruption in an entity powerful enough to snuff them out with a thought? If you think you know where this year’s finale is going… Think again!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
While the Doctor and Cindy travel to the incredibly distant past to grab the final item for Anubis’ machine, Gabby and Dorothy are trapped on the Shining Horizon. Anubis’ father, Sutekh, left a fragment of consciousness in his son’s psyche—a sort of psychic virus slowly reprogramming the Osirian and preparing the way for the real Sutekh, who has resided for millennia in exile in fourth dimensional space. Although Anubis fights, his will so far proves inadequate against his father’s, and if the Doctor doesn’t return quickly and do something exceedingly clever, something ancient and dangerous will reenter our universe.
Nick Abadzis crafts yet another compelling story. This issue moves along at a steady pace with no snags or slowdowns, and I’ve greatly enjoyed reading about the Osirians and Sutekh. They carry a good weight to them, a sense of history and power equal to the Time Lords, making them an interesting counterpoint and antagonist for the Doctor.
One of the reasons why the Osirians resonate so well for me is Giorgia Sposito’s art, specifically her setting. Her backgrounds are always rich and full of interesting details that build the world—qualifying and aiding that sense of history and power I talked about.
The colors, too, create this overall atmosphere. Arianna Florean and Adele Matera do a bang up job using colors to create and enhance mood and adding a greater sense of verisimilitude.
As solid as the backgrounds and colors are, the character work definitely lacks. While each character is recognizable and on-model, there’s no real life to them, and they seem oddly separated from their surroundings. This disconnects them from the situation in some extent and takes away some of the narrative power of the story. If we see them as being somehow separate, then the sense of danger is lessened.
Thankfully, that disconnection isn’t enough to hurt the work. The other elements—the world building, the antagonist, and the characters—make up for where the art lags. Still, I’d love to see what Rachael Stott would do if she got her hands on this. I bet it would be amazing.
The issue ends on a solid cliffhanger, with the Doctor, Cindy, and Dorothy with their backs against a pretty big wall, and I’m looking forward to seeing how they get out of this one, so I’ll most definitely be back next month.
In Summary:
Despite some issues with the art, Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor 2.15 delivers the goods: fun worldbuilding, an engaging antagonist, and a great group of protagonists. Dr. J gives it a…
Grade: B
Age Rating: N/A
Released By: Titan Comics
Release Date: October 19th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
