In 1960s London, the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctors and their friends are under attack by the Weeping Angels and Autons. Will they be able to stop them without a paradox damaging time and space?
Following the launch of its second season back in January, Titan Comics‘ Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor series has now passed the halfway point of its latest story arc. Much like the latest television series, writer Jody Houser, along with regular artist Roberta Ingranata and colourist Enrica Eren Angiolini (as well as the rest of the series’ creative team), have proved themselves to be just as ambitious. To kick of this new season, Houser and co. have taken on the adventurous task of putting a fresh spin on one of the best-loved television episodes of Doctor Who of recent years.
Across the previous two issues, the Thirteenth Doctor, Ryan, Graham, and Yaz have found themselves brought back to London, 1969, in this re-imagining of Steven Moffat‘s iconic 2007 television story ‘Blink‘. It just so happens that the Tenth Doctor and his companion Martha Jones also find themselves stranded in the same time and place, after having been displaced by the Weeping Angels. Now it’s up to the Thirteenth Doctor and friends to figure out just why the TARDIS has brought them there, and risked causing such an enormous paradox?
Far from being a simple re-hash, or even an unwelcome re-write of the original story, this arc has instead given us a closer look at the Tenth Doctor and Martha’s perspective on the events of ‘Blink‘. Houser and co. have done what they do best, and expanded on the existing material to bring readers something new, just as they were able to do with The Corsair (who was previously only mentioned off-screen in 2011’s ‘The Doctor’s Wife‘) in the series’ previous arc. Now, we get to see just how the Tenth Doctor and Martha spent the intervening time between getting stuck in 1969 and their eventual rescue by Sally Sparrow and Larry Nightingale.
At the conclusion of the previous issue, it became clear that the Autons and Weeping Angels were done hiding in the shadows. The Thirteenth Doctor and Martha returned to the shop where Martha had been working to find the mannequins had gone missing. To make things worse, when last we saw the Tenth Doctor, Yaz, Ryan, and Graham, they had just come face-to-face with a Weeping Angel!
Issue #3 Proves the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctors are the Perfect Double Act!
As each incarnation of the Doctor and their companions fend off these formidable creatures, their escapes lead them back to the Thirteenth Doctor’s TARDIS. It’s here that the moment we’ve all been waiting for can happen – the first meeting between the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctors!
Many fans have drawn parallels between these two incarnations of the Time Lord over the past couple of years as we’ve got to know this current Doctor on-screen. It’s these similarities that make the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctors the perfect double-act we always knew they would be. Houser proves once again how adept she is at translating characters we know and love from the screen to the page, as these two Doctors riff off each other through spot-on dialogue readers will instantly be able to imagine Tennant and Whittaker themselves speaking.
On top of that, it was surprising just how exciting it was to see the Tenth Doctor step inside the Thirteenth Doctor’s TARDIS. In that first panel where we see him inside the current TARDIS, he fits perfectly against the backdrop of the interior, driving home that this these two incarnations really are the same software in different cases.
Elsewhere, these two Doctor and their friends work together to finally piece together just why the Autons and Weeping Angels have descended on 1960s London. Suffice it to say, there’s a very wibbly-wobbly, timey-wimey answer to these questions! Before they can begin planning how to put a stop to these formidable foes, however, they find themselves under attack once again. This gives the Thirteenth Doctor the occasion to give a very characteristic big speech, making this one of the stand-out moments of this issue.
As this penultimate chapter of this story arc closes, it feels as though it’s coming to an end all too soon. Nevertheless, following this issue, I for one can’t wait to see the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctors together again as they work together to stop the Autons and Weeping Angels in next month’s concluding instalment!
Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor: Season Two #3 is available to purchase now from all good comic retailers.
Check out the five variant covers available for this issue below, featuring artwork from Karen Hallion, Will Brooks, and Andy Walker!
Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor: Season Two #4 is due out on Wednesday 1st April.
