Very Grant Morrison-ian.
Creative Staff:
Story: Robbie Morrison
Art: Rachel Stott
Colors: Marcio Menys (Although Ivan Nunes was listed in the solicitation)
Letters: Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Bencourt
What They Say:
It’s the long-awaited return of a deadly foe, as the Doctor and Clara face a monster that will have you checking your stack of comics for suspicious movement! Dare you continue reading, when every page turn could bring you into MORTAL DANGER?! You have to – you’re the Doctor’s only hope!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Taking a page from the Grant Morrison playbook, Robbie Morrison begins this story with the Doctor talking directly to the reader, warning us that “Reading this comic could destroy the world! Maybe even the universe!”
It turns out the Boneless, the two-dimensional beings first introduced a couple of seasons ago on the television show have returned and are using comic books to swap places with us normal, three-dimensional comic book readers. The Doctor gets put on their case by UNIT, who asked him to investigate energy fluctuations and mysterious disappearances. He gets sucked into a comic and must use the collective will of the trapped comic book readers to save them, himself, and the rest of the world. Meanwhile, Clara runs for her life from the Boneless, making a mess of a very nice comic store.
There are all kinds of fun pokes at comic books in this issue, from the Doctor and Clara going through the racks and mocking various characters (“Steel-Man? The Cybermen would use him for spare parts. Spider-Guy? Wouldn’t last a minute on Metebelis II.”). The best, though, is the Doctor discovering a comic based on him: Time Surgeon. Apparently cobbled together from Internet rumors, the Time Surgeon travels in a flatback wardrobe and probably uses a sonic allen key solve all his problems.
Even the solution relies on comic book knowledge. In order to return himself and the other captured comic readers, the Doctor must find a way to break “The Fourth Wall,” the barrier that separates dimensions. The joke here is that the Doctor has been doing that from literally page one, talking directly to the reader. As a nice bookend, he finishes the story by talking to us readers again.
Rachel Stott is quickly becoming my favorite Doctor Who artist. She’s quite good at drawing body language and facial expressions, and she does a bang-up job with controlling pacing and delivering gorgeous backgrounds. Of course, a great deal of credit for the backgrounds must go to the colorist (I’m not saying who, as there are two different colorists listed in two different places. Whoever did the colors, though, good job!). The scenes in space were particularly great.
My only issues with this issue (heh) is the comic store owners. They know that people are disappearing into their issues, but they do nothing to stop it. Sure, they talk about how they went to the police, but at least they could put up a sign: “Warning! Read at your own risk! You could get sucked into one of these comics!” But they don’t even do that. They simply continue to sell comics, abetting the Boneless’ invasion. I really wanted the Doctor to tell them off at the end, but he didn’t.
That issue aside, the best part of this comic is that—unlike Grant Morrison—this was actually comprehendible! Baboom! Take that, comic book writer who’s way more successful and beloved than I’ll probably ever be!
In Summary:
All kidding aside, I really dug this issue. I enjoyed the metafictive narrative and thought this was a well-crafted done-in-one issue. There’s a whole lot of fun to be found here. Dr. Josh gives this an….
Grade: A
Age Rating: N/A
Released By: Titan Comics
Release Date: 11 May 2016
MSRP: $3.99
