The Old Doctor and the Sea.
Creative Staff:
Story: Robbie Morrison
Art: Rachel Stott
Colors: Ivan Nunes
Letters: Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
What They Say:
The gothic, sprawling Ravenscaur is the top private school in the UK, educator of the children of royalty, politicians and celebrities, and epicentre of generations of power and influence. When an old friend of Clara’s dies at the school under mysterious circumstances, she and the Doctor go undercover to investigate..
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
I’m not going to spoil anything, but the reveal on the last page of this issue will make old-school Who fans very happy.
Maybe it’s because I teach, but I really dug this issue. Clara’s friend, Christel Dean, went to work for the prestigious private school, Ravenscaur. She died under mysterious circumstances, and Clara and the Doctor go to investigate. Clara gets hired as the new English teacher while the Doctor goes undercover in the town as a sailor, with comic results.
Soon Clara learns about the school’s draconian policies (No smiling, no waving, etc.) and, despite her best efforts to go all Dead Poet’s Society in class, discovers that the student body (save two) are a bunch of self-centered snobby elitists. It’s immediately clear that something’s rotten in the state of Scotland, but the source of the rot goes unrevealed until the final scene.
This issue fired on all cylinders. Morrison completely captures Clara and the Doctor. He knows their personalities and their speech patterns, and it’s easy to hear the actor’s voice in your head saying the dialogue. Rachel Stott does a fantastic job capturing the actor’s appearance and body language, and makes the private school delightfully Gothic and creepy with the help of Ivan Nunes’ dark, atmospheric colors. This is clearly one of those issues where everyone involved is working at the top of their game.
I think my favorite part of the entire comic was when the Doctor first appears. Dressed in what Clara describes as the “Greatest Hits of nautical clichés,” he barges into a tavern on a dark and stormy night and does his best to blend in (love his hearts), and the result is pure comic gold. Again, Morrison and Stott do a fantastic job of capturing Capaldi in this comic. They manage to convey his rapid-fire line delivery and his ability to turn an emotional 180 on a dime. It’s really quite impressive.
The same goes for Clara. Morrison and Stott capture the essence of what Jenna Coleman brings to the role, making this representation of her just as intelligent, quick-witted, impish and brave as the live-action version. Of course, I would marry Clara Oswald in a heartbeat, so maybe take my gushing with a grain of salt.
In Summary:
Titan’s batting a thousand with its Doctor Who comics this week. Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor is fun, engaging, and possesses a healthy dose of both comedy and Gothicism. And the issue takes place in a school, which appeals to me for obvious reasons. Dr. Josh gives this an….
Grade: A+
Age Rating: N/A
Released By: Titan Comics
Release Date: February 10th, 2016
MSRP: $3.99
