Station Zero

"I'm not an alien! I'm Welsh!"

Writers: John & Carole E. Barrowman
Format: Comic Strip
Released: February-May 2017
Printed in: Torchwood #2.1-4

Featuring: Captain Jack, Gwen

Synopsis

Torchwood. Earth's last line of defence against the extraterrestrial and temporal threats that it faces, and led by the immortal former Time Agent and all-round charmer, Captain Jack Harkness.

The alien Navigators have begun their plan to harvest the Earth, aided by the duplicitous Lady Karina and the roguish Captain John Hart. Jack and his team must find a way to stop them, and the answer may lie in Captain Jack's past as a Time Agent and some former enemies of a certain Time Lord...

Verdict

Station Zero was a bit of a mixed bag and was not the continuation I was hoping for following World Without End. I'm really not sure about the direction of Titan's Torchwood adventures and I really don't see why the story still hasn't concluded! I fully appreciate that in comic strips the need for story arcs is there and I more than welcome them, but this is far beyond a mere arc. This story just followed on where the previous one left off and with a gap between release dates that was quite considerable, I just don't understand it. This wasn't all bad though, far from it. I really liked that we got to see a flashback, albeit into the future, of Jack's past as a Time Agent and his mission to Mogor with John was really intriguing. Introducing the Vervoids to Torchwood was a really great step and after their appearance in The Trial of a Time Lord, I liked how that story was subtly referenced. I thought it was the right step to not mention the Doctor and Captain Jack really did shine in this story. Seeing his younger self was very good and I just love the idea of a Classic era monster from Doctor Who appearing in Torchwood. The artwork was very good for them and I also liked that some of them had interbred with humans and created hybrids. That is what Jack thought Karina was and it seemed to make sense. I thought Gwen had a bit of a quiet story which was a shame as she's such a strong and powerful character and believe it or not, she wasn't the one who said my quote for this story! Being Welsh, I really liked that outburst from Rona. Her meeting her dad unexpectedly was interesting but things were just moving awfully fast without a lot of clarification as to what was actually happening. Dana was badass, as was stated, and Hollis was experiencing considerable pain, but there wasn't a lot of development for the Ice Maiden crew that seem to have made the new Torchwood. Honestly, I'm not a fan and I'd have much preferred something set with the old team. Captain John was very good as the villain and I liked how he let on that Jack knew more than he was saying but the way he revealed the location of the astrolabe seemed far too easy. I also thought more was needed about this mysterious TARDIS. For me, the story had its good elements but it seemed to be trying to do too much at once. There was an awful lot going on too fast. It was all there but not quite in the right places. Overall, a little frustrating and harsh but it just wasn't there for me.

Rating: 6/10