Comic Club: D11Y3.1 The Sapling: Growth

Remembrance
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The Scream
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The Tragical History Tour
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Please discuss below - no need to finish it first, discuss as you go along but please add spoiler tags for anything that could be considered a spoiler!

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2 Likes

I read all of these thinking that they were the same story. I thought that this had something interesting going for it, but it felt too dragged out, and I almost lost interest by the end of it. I hope that it picks up a bit in the next one. I am not a fan of these year-long arcs.

5 Likes
Remembrance - 5/10

Rememberance is fine, but feels very rushed, you’ve got three seperate stories here that could very easily have been at least two issues, and while they all kinda interesting, none of them are really given the attention they deserve to fully flesh them out.

For the Britzit section it’s not too bad, given that’s more there just to get the ball rolling and to be a fun little gag, but when it comes to Jones’ Funeral, the fact this isn’t split up really does mean that section just isn’t given the time and weight that it really deserves, which really sucks. Sure there’s mention on how The Doctor’s always moving on from one thing to the next, but Alice is then dragged into doing the same, and the story doesn’t focus on her feelings at all.

And then the end seems to be getting into the arc stuff, which is fine and all, but with it being a third (mostly) disconnected section, it’s another thing that just messes with the pacing a bit.

Overall, this has some things going for it, but doesn’t devote nearly as much time to said things as they need. I can’t help but wish they didn’t leave Jones’ funeral, and spent the rest of the issue showing how the characters feel about that, leaving the arc stuff to start in #2.

3 Likes

Remembrance is a bit weird in that it’s technically just the first part of The Scream, yet it’s considered its own story. I read this like two months ago and don’t remember a lot. That’s saying something.

5/10

Remembrance is more of a stepping stone than a fully realised story, laying the groundwork for the Sapling arc but offering little of substance on its own. With a lack of narrative focus, underwhelming visuals, and a general sense that it’s just biding time for the real action to begin, this one is easily forgettable.

You’re welcome to read my full review below (spoilers hidden):

2 Likes

The Scream is where things turn interesting. We see the return of the Silence through the fanatic individual known as Scream. And we are introduced to Eleven’s next companion, Groot Sapling - but that’s about it. This is a bit too talky for my taste.

6/10

As the second half of the Remembrance/Scream storyline, this issue doesn’t quite stand on its own. It feels like an extended info-dump, more concerned with explaining things than telling an engaging story. While the Sapling’s introduction holds promise, the villain lacks impact, and the pacing suffers under the weight of excessive exposition. Instead of a gripping adventure, The Scream feels like a necessary but unremarkable transition into the next phase of the Eleventh Doctor’s journey.

You’re welcome to read my full review below (spoilers hidden):

2 Likes

Where is it :sob:

1 Like

Oops, pressed send too early. It’s there now!

1 Like

This last story is fine, I guess. A really cool timey-wimey concept and good development of Sapling. But the villains are lacklustre, and the art style isn’t to my liking.

6/10

While The Tragical History Tour presents an interesting sci-fi premise, it never fully capitalises on its potential. The fractured Earth concept is intriguing but underexplored, the supporting cast and villains are forgettable, and the visuals don’t elevate the story. There are some nice moments of character interaction, particularly with the Sapling, but overall, this feels like an issue that skims the surface rather than fully immersing itself in its own ideas.

You’re welcome to read my full review below (spoilers hidden):

1 Like

All of the stories are fine, nothing outwardly remarkable. Remembrance is a bit half baked, it could have benefited from a bit more from time to dwell on the death of Jones. It does however lay the foundation for The Scream. It’s an interesting return of The Silence but it doesn’t get utilized all the much, more of a transitory villain than anything. The Tragical History Tour plays with a very interesting concept of so many different versions of oneself but it’s ultimately pretty forgettable.

1 Like

Not overbearing, not solely fixated on build-up, just… being fun. I approve.

Bringing back John Jones for the start was a nice touch. I like how it both acknowledged his real-world inspiration’s passing and still let him go off on his own adventures. The design for ‘The Scream’ is pretty damn goofy (the writing on the forehead…), but I get the logic behind it: This is a monster obsessed with being remembered, like Adam from Torchwood, and everything down to the font on their forehead taps into an angsty teenager ‘TAKE ME SERIOUSLY!’ vibe that kind of works for this.

Also, sure, the titular Sapling feels like a re-do of the ARC story, of an alien on-board the TARDIS in order to learn about their own sentience and who they are as an individual, but I still like how it’s leaning even harder into making Eleventh and Alice into oddball parental figures. The Sapling itself is hella cute.

The Tragical History Tour was good too. The ‘Bretzit’ stuff in Remembrance was pretty goofy, but overall, it had a nice approach to commenting on that level of isolationist xenophobia. Calling out the regressive elements of the '60s counterculture that would end up becoming the Thatcherites of the '80s was a good move.

2 Likes

Not a particular strong Start of the new Arc, I think The Scream is the best one out of the bunch, while both Remembrance and The Tragical History Tour have great Ideas to them but don’t quite hit the nail, especially a shame with the former.

I like that they brought back Jones, both he and ARC felt like they got a very odd ending without much to it in Year 1.

1 Like

Not sure what to think of this one aside from what people have already said. I still love Alice and Jones’ funeral was touching although as @eevee says, deserved more time. I’m still not quite at home with the weirdness of artwork used for the 11 comics and I think the Britzit stuff with the Farage-clones and Boris robot was a bit too silly. (I don’t really get the world building there. Why do they all look the same and keep repeating Britzit? Are they robots? Mind-controlled? I know it’s more of a ‘middle of an adventure’ opening trope thing but it just doesn’t feel right).

I always feel a bit unsettled after reading an 11 comic and not in a good way. 11 is my favourite modern Doctor and, as I say, I love Alice but the comics for 11 just make me feel a bit weird.

2 Likes

The Scream continues the story from Remembrance and to start with, I was enjoying what it delivered. I love the idea of a Silent that even the Silence forget and that being the motivation for it stealing the Doctor’s memories is solid. I also like the idea of the Sapling although that could have used more introduction as a lot of the explanation happens after the fact which meant I felt like I was constantly playing catch up with the story.

Jones’ reappearance is fun but just feels too deux ex machina. He is there to throw the Scream out a door into space and then zoom off to who knows where. It’s all a bit unsatisfactory. I’m intrigued by the Sapling so we’ll see where he goes but this felt like the middle part of something else and didn’t really have its own identity.

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Reading the previous comments there’s already been a lot said. Starting it with Eleven and Alice escaping in Bessie II (awww, I miss that old car) and ending up at the funeral of an old companion is definitely a jarring way to start a story. There are a few funerals I do recall but they have all hit differently. I liked the sending Jones off though. The Scream was okay. I admit the Silence was never a favored enemy of mine so I wasn’t as into this volume very much. I am curious where they plan to go with the Sapling.

2 Likes

The Titan Eleven comic strips continue to disappoint me with another tale of clones and a big tentacly monster.

This one felt hugely like I was reading the Tenth Doctor story with the multiple Cindies and the Red TARDIS only this time it’s copies of some guy Alice once knew and a bit pink monster who is keeping some hippies in 1968 and somehow ransacking the future.

I don’t think any of this story made sense. How were they travelling in a bus from the 21st century back to 1968? How comes the humans could even begin to comprehend how there were multiple versions of themselves - and why did it only seem to be certain people and not everyone.

It wasn’t awful so gets a 2.5 but that’s mainly because I like Alice and I still quite like the idea of the Sapling.

But I don’t think I’m ever going to be a fan of Titan’s 11 output because I just don’t think they did my favourite modern Doctor any justice at all.

3 Likes