Het hoofdverhaal is wederom een klassieker met zombieachtige leerlingen op een privéschool en uiteindelijk Sea Devils die de wereld willen heroveren. Weinig origineel en ik zuchtte even diep bij het zien van de Sea Devils. Maar vreemd genoeg ging die vermoeidheid over en werd ik alsnog in het verhaal gezogen.
De tekeningen bij dit verhaal zijn mooi en fijn om naar te kijken behalve dat ik de twaalfde Doctor er niet goed in herken en zelfs daardoor een scène eerst niet begreep.
De Doctor bruist van de energie en neemt een opgezette zwaardvis als companion als Clara niet in de buurt is. Dit levert hilarische momenten op. Er is sowieso veel humor in de dialogen van de Doctor met wie dan ook. Hij is op en top rap van de tongriem gesneden. Dat maakte dat ik leuk bleef vinden.

Het eerste korte verhaal vind ik niet zo mooi getekend maar het verhaal zelf vond ik wel heel erg leuk. De Doctor waarschuwt ons als lezer om niet de bladzijde om te slaan. Dat doen we natuurlijk wel en dan begint het avontuur waarbij mensen stripboeken ingetrokken worden om als 2D-personages te leven zodat 2D-wezens onze 3D-wereld kunnen overnemen. Heel leuk gevonden.

Het laatste korte verhaal vond ik wel wat kort door de bocht met Osgood die de Doctor om hulp vraagt en er met de sjaal van de vierde Doctor een gevaarlijke robot ontmanteld kan worden. Voor dit verhaal is aardig wat kennis nodig van de Doctor zijn geschiedenis met Osgood. Ik heb dat niet meer helemaal paraat en had daardoor het idee heel wat te missen.
Toch is elk Doctor Who-verhaal toch weer een klein cadeautje om even mee in het universum van de Doctor te kunnen zijn. ( )

Previously, I have claimed to be of two minds about Titan's Twelfth Doctor ongoing. Well, I may be of two minds about the series overall, but I am of one mind about this installment! This is its best volume yet; most of the book is given over to a four-part story about the Doctor and Clara investigating strange goings-on in an exclusive boarding school. Morrison just gets the regulars; his Doctor is acerbic but also goofy, as seen by his attempts to go undercover here. His Clara is witty and attractive. Rachael Stott is a strong complement on art, also capturing the vibes of the two leads, and making a very action-heavy script perfectly accessible. Yes, it's got the Sea Devils in, but it's not overly nostalgic, and it's just fun. This is a daft plan carried out in enjoyable fashion; the twelfth Doctor with kids is always entertaining, and you can imagine Capaldi pulling off everything here with style. Big moments, good characters-- everything you might want from a tie-in comic to an ongoing show.

(I will say the inclusion of a character based on Christel Dee is bizarrely distracting. Like, she's a well-known official personality. She can't also be a cute cameo; it'd be like Rary Gussell turning up.)

The Boneless of "Flatline" fame turn up here in an interesting one-issue story about comic books. Neat idea that felt to me like it didn't quite come off; needed to be more playful with the form of the book itself, and to have more to say. I also found the "people have been vanishing for weeks but the authorities are ignoring it" aspect pretty contrived. Like, close your comic shop if it's started killing people off! But I still enjoyed it. The short story about the K-2 robot and Osgood is decent enough, too. Hopefully the series going forward is more Robbie Morrison and Rachael Stott, and less George Mann!

Titan Doctor Who: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence »

In this fourth volume of the Twelfth Doctor’s comics, Twelve and Clara are at a remote private school off the west coast of Scotland: a boarding school for the rich and privileged, but also a place where something fishy seems to be going on. Clara is there because her friend Christel Dean (based on “The Fan Show” host Christel Dee), a teacher at the school, has disappeared. Twelve is there to keep an eye on Clara—and also because he suspects something is up.

The writing of this comic series continues to be strong and very Twelvey. Loved the appearance of the Osgoods and Kate, and cracked up at how Twelve has “doctored” his contact photo of Kate by giving her the Brig’s moustache! There is a lot to like about this comic (about the only thing I didn’t like was the scene where the Tardis accidentally materializes into the bathroom while Clara is having a bath. NOT NECESSARY!

The collection contains The School of Death and two shorter stories: The Fourth Wall and Robo Rampage. Of these two stories, The Fourth Wall is better. It makes very effective use of, you guessed it, the fourth wall—I laughed out loud! Robo Rampage, meanwhile, was OK, but the art was a bit chunky, and the whole thing was an anticlimax. It might have worked better in the middle of the collection.

I’m adoring these comics and want many, many more! ( )