A very paint by numbers issue
Creative Staff:
Story: George Mann
Art: Mariano Laclaustra
Ink Assists: Fernando Centurion & Nelson Pereira
Color: Luis Guerrero
Letters: Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
What They Say:
George Mann – novelist behind the New York Times bestselling Doctor Who: Engines of War and the Newbury and Hobbes series – joins the ongoing Twelfth Doctor series for an extremely special issue! • Mariano Laclaustra joins him in his first solo outing! Fresh from their adventures in Las Vegas, the Doctor and Clara are eager for a change of scenery, but their next destination aboard the TARDIS will prove a SHOCKING change of pace!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
After saving Las Vegas from an alien threat, the Doctor and Clara travel to Margate for a lovely seaside trip. Just as naturally as Bugs Bunny failing to take that left turn at Albuquerque, the TARDIS travels to a completely different place and time—Derbyshire, England in 1845. The TARDIS materializes in front of two young women, Charlotte and Ellen, spooking their horses, and causing Charlotte to fall and twist her ankle. The Doctor carries her to nearby North Lees Hall, the home of Lord Marlborough, and there they find more than just lodging.
As near as I can tell, this is George Mann’s first Doctor Who comic, and while the story was perfectly serviceable, the writing and art come off as very average. Perhaps I’ve come to expect too much because of Paul Cornell and Neil Edwards’ excellent Four Doctors, but there really wasn’t much to grab me here.
The mystery the Doctor stumbles onto involves a “Dreaming Sickness” that the Lord’s servants succumb to. It’s a good idea for a mystery, but there is very little suspense in the way it plays out, and the symptoms are vague and inconsistent. The mystery exists, but it’s not very interesting. If it were more fully developed, and if a greater sense of atmosphere were injected into this piece, the comic would be far more engaging.
Much the same can be said about the art. There are moments when Mariano Laclaustra’s work shines—such as the creepy dinner party scene—but there are also moments when it falls flat. His figures and facial expressions come off rather wooden, and there are times when the effect is made worse by Luis Guerrero’s colors. Clara and the Doctor look jaundiced in some panels and ghost white in others with little rhyme or reason behind the color choices.
In many ways this is a very paint by numbers Doctor Who story. It hits the right marks, but it lacks that necessary artistic flourish and energy to make it memorable. The Doctor stumbles upon a mystery, discovers the source is alien, tries to save everyone, and occasionally fails. Even though there are no new stories under the sun, there’s still such a thing as being too formulaic.
In Summary:
Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor 11 is a very paint by numbers issue. It knows where to put the color, but it doesn’t play with it at all, destroying the verve and joy that we should experience when reading it. In many ways, this is the type of comic that’s the hardest to write about, because so much of it relies on my own subjective point of view. A bad work can be dissected, as can a good work. A middle of the road book, on the other hand, defies careful analysis. This was just boring. Dr. Josh gives this a…
Grade: C
Age Rating: N/A
Released By: Titan Comics
Release Date: September 9th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
