Four Doctors Part 1

"We're all going to have some sort of 'multi-Doctor... event!' Whether you like it or not!"

Writer: Paul Cornell 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 8th October 2015

Printed in: DWC 2.01

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara, Eleventh Doctor, Alice, Tenth Doctor, Gabby, War Doctor

Synopsis 

The Doctor is never cruel or cowardly, he champions the oppressed across time and space. His Twelfth incarnation is done with guilt, wants to fix things, and now he feels he has the license to - and doesn't have to be a happy, fun Manic Pixie Dream Doctor to do so. 

Clara Oswald has known the Doctor through both his Eleventh and Twelfth incarnations, and has stuck with him through thick and thin. A teacher at Coal Hill School, she juggles her 'real life' with her secret adventures in the TARDIS! 

Verdict 

Four Doctors kicked off in tremendous style with this superb first part of the feature length comic adventure! Ever since Titan Comics released Doctor Who Comic in the UK, I've been excited about this one for a very long time. Now, I wholeheartedly disagree with the decision to skip ahead to this story but while it's happened there's nothing much I can do about it. I now have an incentive to purchase the graphic novels though. This story sees a revamp of the magazine and a return to issue one, why I'm not so sure but that's the direction they've gone in. This really did have it all and if anyone should be trusted to write a multi-Doctor comic strip story, then it's Paul Cornell. The choice of the four incarnations is an intriguing one in having the War Doctor featured instead of the Ninth Doctor. I'm not complaining at all but I'm surprised we haven't had a meeting of the four revival Doctors in any form yet. I'm sure that will come! This started off on a planet I certainly did not expect - Marinus! I absolutely love The Keys of Marinus, it really is one of my all time favourites, so that story getting referenced and the War Doctor revisiting the planet was sublime. The Voord have had quite the revamp as well! They'd changed considerably since their TV appearance and Domain of the Voord and I liked how that was down to the effects of the Time War. Marinus was now just an acid desert but what significance it has in the Time War remains to be seen. I loved the artwork in making the War Doctor look a lot younger than when we saw him in The Day of the Doctor. Clara referencing that story was very good. She was excellent in this meeting up with Gabby and Alice and she was so convincing and passionate about the trouble the Doctors meeting would cause that her predecessors took to her pretty much without question. Past companions meeting each other is one thing, but I must admit I absolutely love it when the Doctors all join together! It seems even more special when it's the revival Doctors as it hasn't happened much at all since 2005. We had the brief but brilliant Time Crash and then The Day of the Doctor. The Classic Doctors have met numerous times now thanks to the superb audios so this really did feel special. The Twelfth Doctor reacted exactly as I would have hoped for and he wasn't too impressed with his past selves. I didn't like that he couldn't remember Marinus though! The banter and bickering amongst the three Doctors was superb and it was excellent that the Tenth and Eleventh knew that the Twelfth just shouldn't exist. Calling him an abomination was a bit far though I thought! The return of the Reapers serving as the cliffhanger was another added bonus and I liked how it came about very much! It's going to be interesting to see how they pan out in comic strip format but I have every confidence in Paul Cornell. Why wouldn't I? The reference to The Next Doctor was outstanding and really fitted in with the point of travel for the Tenth Doctor and also the possibility of what the Twelfth Doctor was. Seeing the Eleventh Doctor not recognise Clara was also interesting but this is obviously a long way before The Snowmen in the timeline of that Doctor. How Clara acquired the photo of the three Doctors together is interesting but I'm not sure what the presence of ARC will mean. But anyway, for an opening part this was phenomenal! And I don't have to wait a month for part two - I just need to flick the page! I can't wait to see what happens.