The Legacy of Torchwood One

"Remember - it's tapping into your fears. Whatever you see, that's not what it really is!"

Writer: Simon Furman

Format: Comic Strip

Released: February 2008

Printed in: Torchwood Magazine 01

Featuring: Captain Jack, Gwen, Owen, Tosh, Ianto

Synopsis

Ianto is walking the streets of Cardiff in the early evening, when Rupert Howarth, his old mentor from Torchwood One, whom he believed to be dead, confronts him...

Verdict

The Legacy of Torchwood One was an excellent way to kick off the Torchwood comic strip stories! With AS exams slowly dominating my life, I needed something short but detailed enough to fill my Who fancy for today and after delving deep into my storage, I pulled out the very first issue of Torchwood magazine! To my expected hopes, a comic strip was within with the original team from the first two series'. The story started off well, with a lot of intrigue regarding Rupert Howarth. It was a bit random how he stopped Ianto in the middle of the street, especially once more of the history of the man was explained. I really liked how he had previously worked for the now defunct Torchwood One, whilst being a mentor to Ianto whilst he worked there, before ultimately faking his own death to protect his life from the pharmaceutical companies who'd discovered he may have the power to wipe out viral disease. Although minimal, I like the way Jack's presence added to the story. He was still undoubtedly in charge despite Ianto vouching and knowing a lot about Rupert. The creature of Chimera was fantastic and I really liked its similarities to Bilis in End of Days, trying to show the team what they most feared. The image of the creature was quite impressive which is always good. The physical nature of the comic strip was somewhat different to that of the DWM comic strips and I think Torchwood can flourish in this format due to its more adult orientated audience. Jack's trust shown in Ianto was very good and undoubtedly proved, if it ever needed to be proved, that the events of Cyberwomen were far, far behind the pair. Speaking of that episode, the reference to Ianto's fear being a metal man was very clever, of course referencing the Cyber-Dalek war that was depicted in Doomsday. Hell for Ianto, as was explained in the aforementioned Torchwood TV episode. The finale of this story was the only real let down as no matter how small a story is in length, the resolution/climax to the danger/villain should always be eventful and significant. I like it to have a wow factor. But I didn't get it here unfortunately. The Chimera was just shot but the way it conveniently killed Rupert as well, snapping his neck, was great. As it allowed the current team, Torchwood Three, to reflect on what their legacy might be in the future. I'm sure they're hoping for a much better one than their One cohorts, as all that was left was a deceased alien and a dead man already thought dead. But overall, a great story and a good start to the comic adventures!

Rating: 8/10