I’ve read these stories a couple times over the years, first around maybe 2018/19, and moat recently last year when I started going through all of Titan’s Who stuff.
Unlike a lot of Who comic’s, these stories have really stuck in my mind. Revolutions of Terror does a nice bit of world building, fleshing out Gabby’s family and life well, in typical RTD fashion, but it definitely feels American and not British this time. As some of you have said, Tennant looks off sometimes, and Titan has lots more dodgy Doctor art to come, artwork unfortunately not being a usual strength of the range. But these issue’s are quiet good. The Arts in Space begins the Gabby diary/letter type sections that become a regular feature of the range and a lovely insight into our companions.
I really like Revolutions of Terror. As others have noted, it does a good job of fleshing out New York as a real place, not just a backdrop on a stage in Cardiff, and life amongst the Gonzalez clan, who have a real “corner stone of the Latinx NYC community” vibe going.
For her part, Gabby feels very real compared to some comic-only companions because from the outset, we get a sense of her hopes and dreams, and this continues throughout the series (especially with the aforementioned diary parts).
★★★★☆
I liked these stories a lot, solid 8 for both! Though the Doctor looks a bit weird sometimes, I still liked this artstyle more than that of most other DW comics I’ve read so far. Gabby is a fun character, I’m always a sucker for characters that are into art and she feels like an actual person. Both stories had more of a spiritual feel to them than a scientific one, which is also something I enjoyed because I used to be really into fantasy stories (yes I’m super hyped for the new season) The diary bit was a fun addition that added a lot to Gabby’s characterization but the handwriting was difficult to read, half the a’s looked like e’s and I still don’t know what some words were supposed to be. The whole gender thing was interesting but it did feel a bit off to me in a way I can’t really explain, for example the boy part and the girl part of the apprentice seeming like entirely different people. Can’t wait to continue reading!
I realised today that I purchased this TBP digitally through Amazon years ago. It’s been sitting in cyberspace untouched until now!
I read the first story today. It felt like a pretty good RTD-era-style season opener. The art style is decent but not mind-blowing (Tennant does look weird), and it’s fast-paced, but there’s plenty of time to flesh out the story and characters. This one also dares to do things they couldn’t have done on a TV budget.
I like Gabby; she’s modern and resourceful, and since she is Mexican-American, the story can also explore her and her family through that POV. She fits this incarnation very well.
The dialogue felt natural and very believable on the Doctor’s part. I loved the small nods to past and future events (such as the Doctor looking worriedly at the angel statue in the cemetery or the reference to his song ending soon).
I also enjoyed the whole psychosphere, as well as the aliens feeding on emotions. The story explores these ideas thoroughly and then delivers a pretty straightforward conclusion.
I give this a 7/10.
I have read the second story now. I think that it was good but not as good as the first one. I had trouble reading some of the handwriting. This was a fun panel:
So I read the first story, Revolutions of Terror and it’s great. We get an American companion (and one not hampered by a dodgy accent), and a really good companion introduction in the vein of the RTD era. We get the new companion, their family and a story that revolves around them. The art is great and I didn’t have any issues with it not looking like Tennant, most scenes looked fine. I liked the use of the washing machines and using the companion’s culture as a part of the plot.
I’ve read the first part (Revolutions of Terror is split across two issues of Doctor Who Comic and The Arts in Space across the next two) and quite enjoyed it.
Gabby is fun from the start and I particularly liked the bit on the subway that forms the cliffhanger for this issue.
It’s very ‘Rose-like’ with it all being Gabby’s point of view and the Doctor being a mysterious figure on the sidelines.
There, finished the second story. I liked it (this isn’t my first time reading these), but I think I like the first story better (and the next story coming up). That’s not to say it isn’t good, it is. I really like the use of the medium to tell the story, even if Gabby’s handwriting isn’t always easy to read. This story is another good story for Gabby, getting into her personality and furthering her arcs. I forgot how early certain little threads were introduced. I also find the Tenth Doctor is captured well here. Not really much else to say. Bring on the next one.
I also finished the second story. Agree with most of what has been said above. It’s a shorter story and not quite as gripping as the first one. Gabby is the lead and we see things through her, which is great. I don’t find the side characters very compelling and while I enjoy the diary entry narrative style (which adds some flair to this and lets us understand Gabby better), her handwriting is a bit hard to read. I didn’t connect very well with the overall story either. The art is pretty good though, especially during the action scenes.
I gave it a 6/10.
Just finished Revolutions of Terror. Good solid adventure with no small debt to The Horns of Nimon.
Artwork was a bit iffy in places - I struggled to work out some images.
Also, who is this?
So can no one help me with who the face in the top left is. The panel before has the Master, a Time Lord, Sutekh and the Beast and this one has a Cyberman so I’m assuming it’s a ‘old enemy’ but can’t work out who.
Can you send a picture of the whole page? Dont remember this.
My guess is it probably is just the master again, the hair and facial hair are drawn similarly enough
That was what I thought initially but those eyes just don’t look like Simm.
But then, there are plenty of panels that don’t look like Tennant so…
Haven’t done these since like 2016-2018-ish - my, what an excellent read.
I’ve just finished Revolutions Of Terror but I’ll read The Arts In Space tomorrow as I do remember it’s quite shorter. The story is a wonderful example of what Expanded Media can do since it hasn’t the restraints of a T.V. budget or rules - the aliens & interactions here make the universe of Doctor Who feel quite more like a Cosmos of Species than Human-Human-Human, even in smaller moments.
Gabby is just as fantastic a companion as I recall: inquisitive, creative, & smart! & determined. A great compliment to 10 & a foil in others, such as when he’s being that little bit “un-talkative” about things as he sometimes does. /m
The feeling & scope of this feels very in-line with post-Series 4/during the 2009 Specials: it slots right into that gap quite neatly. It works very easily as a “Series 4B”.
More thoughts to come on Arts In Space as I said. Overall: a great first adventure for the Tenth Doctor at Titan Comics.
/g /pos
I started to read The Arts in Space last night but kept falling asleep and ‘Gabby’s’ handwriting is really difficult to decipher - what is with those letter 'g’s? Who writes like that!!
I’ve seen it once or twice in my lifetime, so it does exist in reality. Doesn’t make it any less of having to take a moment or two to set up the translator though. /g /j
10th Doctor Issues #1-#3 Revolutions of Terror
Well just finished my first foray into Titan Comics & I have to say I was pleasantly surprised. My only previous experience of the comics is the strips in DWW/DWM and this was worlds apart from that (in a good way!)
I don’t know much at all about the comic world (why are there all those different covers and what on earth is a humble bundle?) but I wasn’t expecting to find such character depth and world-building in a comic.
I loved the way the story was built seamlessly around Gabby’s family, work & culture so that it all felt natural instead of forcing an arbitrary background onto her after the plot had been written.
Yes the art was dodgy in places and the order of some of the panels was hard to follow at first (I’m reading in Kindle on my phone) but I soon got the hang of it and I’m looking forward to moving on to the next story. (I decided to go with the single issue option due to the downloads being smaller).
I finally finished The Arts in Space last week but keep forgetting to post about it. I found this one a struggle. I really don’t like the Gabby’s notebook bits mainly because the handwriting font they’ve chosen is barely legible in some places. I don’t really enjoy a story where I have to re-read a sentence 5 times to understand what it is saying. I also found the overall story a bit too weird for my tastes (and weird is often where the Titan strips go). So Revoutions gets s 7/10 but this one ends up with a 4/10.
Looking forward to The Weeping Angel of Mons though. I read that for my marathon a while ago and enjoyed it.