The Ghost Ship

"We're in the middle of a weapons test."

Writer: James Peaty
Format: Comic Strip
Released: July 2018
Printed in: The Road to the Thirteenth Doctor #1

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Gabby, Cindy

Synopsis

The Tenth Doctor has his work cut out when he encounters a lost spaceship. The crew of which is being absorbed by mysterious ghostly creatures. Everything is not how it seems, however, especially when disturbing facts about the crew come to light...

Verdict

The Ghost Ship was a somewhat average start to The Road to the Thirteenth Doctor series of comic strips. It's quite a shame that it seems the ongoing run of the Tenth Doctor, Gabby and Cindy is over and whilst I'm still to read the final graphic novel, it's nice that the door seems to still be open for their adventures. Sadly, I thought the writing and artwork for them in this story was very mediocre. It just didn't seem like the adventure was written or drawn by those who had familiarity with the characters which was a huge shame as they're a trio I usually adore. I didn't like the shift from the normality of the ongoing series and I don't think I could quite get my head around it. It just didn't fit. I was quite stunned by the arrival of the TARDIS causing a death and the fate of Keeble was quite a horrific moment! The reaction of the Doctor by simply stating to the crew that he thought they were breathing him seemed more reminiscent of the early days of the Twelfth Doctor and I don't think it suited the Tenth Doctor at all. Despite that moment, the rest of the story had a decent characterisation of David Tennant's incarnation but I didn't like how Gabby and Cindy seemed to be restricted to just following the Doctor around from behind. The 31st century setting was good but I think the whole Earth-Corp focus would have been better if it was more of a familiar element in Doctor Who stories as a whole. It was good to learn about it and I actually really liked that the ship was actually a weapons test. That was simply barbaric! Using people as a means to test weapons is just disgraceful and Gilbraith revealing her cover was a good moment. Her anger towards the Doctor was clear and that was terrific to see. He'd come and crashed another evil scheme and the economic effect must have been quite annoying for Earth-Corp. The way the Doctor thwarted the ghostly figures was done far too quickly for my liking but I did enjoy the image of him emerging from within a pair of them just as they closed in on his companions and Kelly. She was a good character and I very much liked that she needed and wanted the Doctor's help. The death of Chen was unexpected but brutal and was probably the best moment of the story, if you can consider a death to be a good element. As a whole, the story had potential and delivered its moments but it was just lacking that oomph factor and some depth. Despite my negative comments, I've probably given it a bit of a generous rating but it was far from being all bad.

Rating: 6/10