Strange things are afoot at the department store.
Creative Staff:
Story: Nick Abadzis
Art: Giorgia Sposito
Colors: Arianna Florean
Letters: Richard Starkings and Comicraft’s Jimmy Betancourt
What They Say:
3.1: It’s a brand-new season for the Tenth Doctor and his loyal travelling companions, Gabby Gonzalez and Cindy Wu! Jump on board with a two-part opening story – ‘Breakfast at Tyrannies’ that introduces a whole new terror to test the Doctor and his friends! Plus: a new companion joins the TARDIS – the like of which you’ve never seen!
3.2.: From award-winning writer Nick Abadzis (Laika)! New adventures of the Tenth Doctor, as played by David Tennant!
3.3: FROM AWARD-WINNING WRITER NICK ABADZIS (LAIKA, PIGS MIGHT FLY)! NEW ADVENTURES OF THE TENTH DOCTOR, AS PLAYED BY DAVID TENNANT!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
So, funny story: I invented a time machine in the desert. I theorized that a person could travel within their own timeline, but, afraid that my funding would be cut, I entered into the particle accelerator early and now I leap through time, taking the place of people (yet somehow I always look like them). The only way I can “leap” in time is by helping these people fix their lives. So I keep leaping, hoping that the next one will be the leap home.
And that’s why I’m late with my reviews. I actually wrote this in 1976 and had it sent Western Union to myself on this date. They do good work.
Moving on to another time traveler, the Doctor wakes up under a pile of cardboard in a strange city with no memory, no sonic screwdriver, and no clue that his traveling companions are missing and in danger. The only place he can think to go is the ominous department store at the heart of the city.
Meanwhile, Gabby finds herself bussing tables in her family’s restaurant, slowly dying under the tedium, completely unaware that until just recently she was traveling through time and space with the Doctor and her best friend, Cindy. Her only clues to her real life lie in her notebook, which tells her to go to the department store.
Cindy runs, looking for her lost dog, Noobis. Aided by her girlfriend, Cleo (who showed up last season), Cindy decides to take a break from the hunt and get some breakfast at the department store.
As yet another time traveler, Ted Theodore Logan, would put it, “Strange things are afoot at the Circle K.” Or in this case, the mega department store.
It turns out that the Doctor, Gabby, Cindy, and Anubis (or “Noobis” as Cindy calls him now) are trapped in some sort of dreamstate while aliens syphon off their energy to power some huge engine. What the aliens didn’t count on, though, is the tenacity of Cindy Wu and the strength of her bond with her companions. The group manages to free themselves, only to find that the aliens constructed a red, tentacle-y, organic TARDIS. The aliens kidnap Cindy, and the Doctor, Gabby, and Anubis stay hot on their trail, landing in ancient China centuries before the great wall was constructed.
There they meet an unlikely friend in Father Wu Wei. Wei appears to know the Doctor, and refers to him as Xian. The Doctor doesn’t remember Wei, but that could be because of wibbley-wobbely-timey-wimey reasons.
Despite the fact that the Great Wall won’t be built for centuries, a pretty good facsimile was created by a person going by the name The Red Jade General. With the help of the townspeople, he erected the wall in just a week.
And then the disappearances started.
No one who breaches the wall comes back, and no one can approach without permission, lest they find themselves beset by elemental guardians. Fortunately, the Doctor has a cunning plan, but—like most plans—it falls apart near the end.
The first two issues (3.1 and 3.2) tell the “Breakfast at Tyranny’s” storyarc (I’m so jealous I didn’t think of that title). The story itself was fairly interesting, but it didn’t really pay off. It functioned more like a book chapter, and because of that, the narrative arc felt stilted and underdone. That’s always the issue with sequential storytelling: some require that you read through every issue at once to get the full impact. If you read it in monthly installments, you might feel a bit frustrated.
Issue 3.3 worked much better. It begins with Wu Wei telling a story to his son Li. The story is about Xian, his companions, and their search for their missing friend “MuWu.” The story comes full circle when the Doctor, Gabby, and Anubis arrive at Wei’s door. The issue plays with time in interesting ways, as it seems to be both telling the story after it happened while telling it as it happened. Frankly, I got a little dizzy writing that sentence. I can’t imagine how dizzy Nick Abadzis felt when writing the actual story.
Issue 3.3 also features some of the best, most inventive arc of these three issues. Several pages are done in the style of ancient Chinese silk screens, and they’re gorgeous and give this storyarc an unique identity. It also serves as an example of why I love the comic form so much: it provides artists and writers so many opportunities to play with form and story that simply aren’t available in other mediums. Kudos go to the entire team, but especially Giorgia Sposito and Arianna Florean for putting it all together.
In Summary:
So far, Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor season three has been a mixed bag. While each issue was enjoyable, well-written and well-drawn, the storyline is definitely ragged at the moment. Again, it could just be that this reads better when taken in whole, but reading it issue by issue, it feels like it gives us all setup and no resolution. I’m sure that will change as the season wears on. In the meantime, this Doctor gives this a….
Grade: B
Age Rating: 12+
Released By: Titan Comics
Release Date: 3.1: 11 January 2017; 3.2: 15 February 2017; 3.3: 15 March 2017
MSRP: $3.99 apiece
