COMIC BOOK REVIEW: Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious #1

DOCTOR WHO: TIME LORD VICTORIOUS #1
Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Roberta Ingranata

A thrilling new adventure for the Tenth Doctor (as played by fan-favorite David Tennant) that sees the shocking return of his deadliest enemies: the Daleks! But things aren’t what they seem – time is all wrong, and something is coming that terrifies even the Daleks… The first of two oversized issues kicking off the BBC’s highly anticipated multi-platform Doctor Who epic, Time Lord Victorious!

So, while I am a reasonably big fan of Doctor Who, I’ve never really dabbled beyond the main TV series and the odd collectible (and a couple of the Terrance Dicks books as a kid), but for some reason the new multi-platform event, Time Lord Victorious, has grabbed my attention and, against my better judgment, I have decided to go all in for it.

What does that mean? Well, between now and Christmas there will be comics, novels, collectibles, audio-adventures and more, all of which will form on massive story line featuring various incarnations of The Doctor.

And it all kicks off tomorrow with the release of Titan Comics’ Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious #1.

And it’s a fun read, if a little… uneventful.

The book, which has gorgeous art from Ingranata, sees the Doctor – recovering from his adventure with the thirteenth Doctor in the last Titan Comics run – opens the door to his TARDIS to come face-to-face with his oldest foe, the Daleks.

So far, so Who.

But, to tired to face-off with his enemies, the Doctor nips off across time and space, only to open the door repeatedly, in new times and places, to… The Daleks. When he realises they aren’t trying to kill him, the adventure begins.

I don’t want to spoil too much here, but The Daleks are seeking The Doctor because something is threatening them – and all of existence – and the believe only he can help.

And honestly, aside from a few asides to previous Doctor Who lore such as the Time War, the whole story is that…

And when we do see what the new threat is it comes of as rather silly instead of scary… but, isn’t that maybe the truest compliment a Doctor Who monster?

The book, while not particularly eventful, is wonderfully drawn and the character of Tennant’s Doctor is spot-on, as is the obvious disdain the Daleks have for their predicament, so character isn’t an issue either – and when the art and characterisation is on point, you’re almost there.

#TimeLordVictorious: incoming message from the Dark Times…

🔥 Head to https://t.co/QIDCF0fbTJ for more 🔥 #DoctorWho pic.twitter.com/AkU1oB8SXD

— Doctor Who Official (@bbcdoctorwho) September 1, 2020

And it’s not that it’s not an enjoyable read, it just feels like the story which took place over 48 pages could comfortably have been done in half that – there’s only so many ‘oh, yes you will!’ ‘Oh no, I won’t’ panels you can read before you just want the story to progress.

But, it’s a first chapter in a much bigger tale and it sets up the story and it introduces us to the new villain… and, as I said already, it does look great, so it’s certainly worth checking out.

I just hope the remaining books and chapters have more substance.

3 out of 5 Nerds