A fairytale of power and compassion.
Creative Staff:
Story: George Mann
Art: Emma Vieceli
Colors: Hi-Fi
Letters: Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
What They Say:
The Eighth Doctor and Josie Day start a universe-wide investigation! First stop – Lumin’s World, home to a raging war between the near-extinct Calexi and the crystalline Spherions! When Josie is wounded in the crossfire, it’s up to the Doctor to strike a peace – and find a cure – before she dies!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I’m going to start this review a bit obliquely by talking about Superman. I know this is a Doctor Who comic, but bear with me, I’ve got a point here.
When I was younger, I didn’t care much for Superman. He seemed too good, too powerful, too bland. It wasn’t until I grew older that I saw what made him such an amazing hero. It wasn’t his strength, his invulnerability, or his ability to fly. It was that every act he took came from a place of immense compassion, and because of his great power, he didn’t have to compromise. He could take the punches if it meant he might have a chance to resolve the situation through talking.
I didn’t really see the power of that until I became an adult. Sometimes adulthood seems like a never-ending series of compromises. In order to achieve our goals, we must sacrifice, and as time goes on, what we want and what we’re willing to sacrifice changes. Sometimes we stumble and make the wrong decisions out of fear or anger, and we think “If only I had more power, I would do this differently.” Superman has the power, and he serves as a model of how we should act if we did, too. And the same goes for the Doctor.
Although the Doctor doesn’t possess Superman’s vast strength, his intelligence, experience, and technology make him one of the most powerful and formidable persons in the universe. He defies the axiom that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely. Every action he takes springs from a boundless well of compassion. The Doctor doesn’t compromise. He doesn’t take the easy way out. He doesn’t give in to fear and anger. It’s a luxury born of power, and a wonderful fantasy.
This compassion and unwillingness to compromise his morals stands at the heart of this story. The Eighth Doctor travels with his new companion, Josie Day, to a place called Lumin’s World. Guided by a “to-do” list left by a previous incarnation, the Doctor expects the place to be peaceful and beautiful, but—as often happens—he lands in the middle of a war zone. The crystalline Spherions are bombarding the planet with crystal fragments, and if any puncture the skin, it transmits a transmogrifying virus that changes the victim into a Spherion.
Josie gets hit by one of these shards, and the Doctor must find a way to cure her and stop the violence. Complications arise with the Calexi, a race that has been driven nearly to extinction by the Spherions. They’ve lost their world and quite possibly their future, and their desperation and anger lock them in binary with the Spherions where only one race can survive.
Well that doesn’t sit too well with the Doctor, as you might imagine, and he uses his most powerful weapon: his words. He manages to open up lines of communication between the Spherions and the Calexi, but it’s Josie who actually saves the day, in proper Who fashion.
Given that this version of the Doctor will eventually make the decision to regenerate into the War Doctor, it’s interesting to see how the concept of war and his reaction to it play out in the story. Eight, like the other incarnations, despises it, treating it with the utmost contempt. He knows that there is a better way, and he does everything within his considerable power to stop it. The tragedy is that we know he’s going to fail and become the thing he hates the most—a soldier. George Mann does a great job acknowledging and foreshadowing this when he has the Doctor say, “War. It’s everywhere I turn. No matter where I go, or what I do, everyone is at each other’s throats. It’s as if the universe wants to tear itself apart. I’m weary of all the fighting, Josie. It’s like a contagion, and it’s spreading faster than I can contain.” I especially like that he uses such a medical term to describe it. It seems very appropriate for a man who calls himself “Doctor.”
Mann, Vieceli, and Hi-Fi hit all the right buttons in this issue. The plot is solid and uses standard Who tropes well, and the Eighth Doctor is incredibly charming in a way that’s distinct from his other incarnations. As I’ve said before, there’s a bit of Victorian explorer in his makeup—certainly in the way he dresses, and I greatly enjoy that. Vieceli brings that attitude to life with her great character work, and I love that Hi-Fi uses pastels for this series. It creates an almost fairytale-like effect and distinguishes this from the other Who titles on the shelf.
In Summary:
I know I began this review by talking about Superman, but in the end, it’s all the Doctor. This is a solid issue featuring what is becoming one of my favorite incarnations of this character. The writing is solid and the art and color are engaging. Dr. Josh gives this an…
Grade: A
Age Rating: N/A
Released By: Titan Comics
Release Date: December 9th, 2015
MSRP: $3.99
