Let’s start reading about the 12th Doctor’s adventures! This first collection collects these two stories:
Terrorformer
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4
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7
8
9
10
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The Swords of Kali
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5
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7
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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!
If you’ve previously read the book and want to join in the discussion, that’s great too!
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Read Terraformer yesterday. I thought that it was okay. Sometimes the characters felt spot-on and sometimes they felt completely out of character. 3.5/5
I’ll get to these soon but noticed the comment above about The Swords of Kail being renamed The Swords of Okti and it seems that a spokesperson for a Hindu group voiced an objection to the depiction of Kali in the comic strip so it was changed for the UK release (although, as it says on TARDIS wiki, Doctor Who Comic, which is the edition of this I have, didn’t re-title it).
Half way between a 6 and 7 to be fair, if this were a televised story I think it’d be a 7, but the art and quick jumps in places bring it down a bit for me
Interesting to see that it’s a story with a pre-established companion this time instead of a new one for the comic, being published just as season 8 was ending it makes sense given still with Clara for another season, but with the way it ends they could’ve done a new companion if they wanted
Exploring different cultures, showing their past and a future based on them, time travel as a big part of the plot, gay people, great art, what more could you ask for?
Well, apparently cultural sensitivity and more interesting villains, but can’t have everything I guess
A fun, but safe beginning for this series. Not as out there as the 10th and 11th Doctor comics and having Clara as the companion means there’s more time devoted to worldbuilding and adventure. I adore the colourful art style and the way the action has been presented. Twelve is very well-written and Clara is an overconfident know-it-all. That fencing scene with her actually made me cringe. Kano Dollar is a fun take on a greedy, ignorant leader so it’s a shame he doesn’t appear more (though, I was very satisfied with his ultimate fate).
So, the living sun monster isn’t the most original idea, but I like how it’s another race destroyed by the Time Lords and the one we meet here gets some good scenes with the Doctor. And it seems that we’ll see more of these in a later story.
It’s an okay volume. I don’t have any particularly strong feelings about the stories one way or another.
Terrorformer
Terraforming is an interesting scientific concept, so I like that it was used for a story. Seems like another warning against hubris. Ultimately, though, this story doesn’t really have anything that makes it distinctive. Except perhaps the killer monkeys.
The Swords of Okti/Kali
I think that the setting of this story was my favorite part. I enjoyed the fact that the conflict was split over past and future India. Loved the Fourth Doctor cameo in the pictures. I am curious if the Amazonian guard which is discussed in the story really existed. I can’t find a record of it online. The nineteenth century part of the setting feels shafted in comparison with the twenty-fourth century setting. I do feel that the villain could have been better.
Terrorformer - 8/10 for me. Sometimes it’s fun to have a Doctor Who comic strip which has art which doesn’t make your head hurt and a plot which takes you from A to B via a fairly straightforward route with some fun backstory and nice character moments.
I enjoyed Clara’s fencing (even if the ‘I’m a teacher in a rough secondary school’ schtick did start to grate a little) and I loved the comeback to the Doctor Who? line.
Some great visuals and it struck me as a bit of Doctor Who does a disaster movie which, with a Hollywood budget could have looked amazing on screen (I love disaster movies).
This felt like a TV story in comic strip form and sometimes that’s no bad thing.
The Swords of Kali/Okti was huge fun. Loved the split time periods and really enjoyed Clara and the guest characters. I’m even liking 12 in comic strip form
Also the vibrancy of these story’s art really stands out against 10 and 11’s stories.
8/10 even if the ending was a bit 'ghosts solve the problem with very little explanation).
Oh and I loved the idea of 4 having an unseen companion in Tiger Maratha - would love to see some of their adventures.
Well this had a completely different vibe to the Tenth & Eleventh Doctor series! Of course 12’s character is a complete departure on TV as well, but here you really get the impression that the Doctor’s glib wisecracks have just been transferred straight across to Clara. I found her annoying enough on TV but she seems even worse here - I just couldn’t help thinking “you have it coming…!”
I’m not sure why they decided to / were allowed to use the TV companion in this series but not the others but I’m not yet convinced - I really hope she gets less irritating but I won’t hold my breath.
As for the story itself - it was good and the sun creatures were an interesting new race - but what made them turn from good to bad in the first place? I understand that they may be returning so maybe we’ll get to find out?
The Twelfth Doctor #3-5 - The Swords Of Okti (the version I had)
Leaving aside any debate about whether this should have been changed or not & focussing on the story:
I really enjoyed this one. I much prefer the longer multi-issue stories anyway as there is more time for world-building & character-development.
It was a surprise to discover that Tiger had been a companion of the 4th Doctor rather than one of the more recent incarnations & like others I would like to see this story told one day.
Clara was less annoying here but I’m wondering if she was telling the truth at the end or whether this was the point where she really started to believe in her own invincibility?
I was surprised at the grand scale of the space station and all the work that went into building it just as a trick to harvest all those souls - it did seem a trifle improbable - surely there musy have been an easier way?
I really liked the way they gave Rani closure and the chance of a happliy ever after though - she certainly earned it!
I really like the art on these. Terrorformer I enjoyed a lot, especially with all the beautiful pictures of the planet. I think these stories made the twelfth doctor out to be a little too mean, but that might also be because it’s harder to convey tone in text. In swords of okti, I thought the side characters were very cool, but the storyline wasn’t my favourite.
