The Pictures of Josephine Day

"It's the painting. The characters. They've gone..."

Writer: George Mann
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 4th November 2015
Printed in: Titan Comics: The Eighth Doctor #1

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Josie

Synopsis

The Eighth Doctor has come a long way since he regenerated in the morgue of Grace Holloway's hospital. He has known many friends and fast companions in his life - Charley Pollard, C'rizz, Lucie Miller, Tamsin Drew, Molly O'Sullivan, and many more.

Now travelling alone after an intense period in his long life, the Doctor has returned to his most regular haunt... Earth.

Verdict

The Pictures of Josephine Day was an excellent comic strip and a brilliant start to the Eighth Doctor's adventures in the pages of Titan Comics. It has taken me a while to finally purchase and start reading the A Matter of Life and Death graphic novel but thanks to some shoddy work by BBC Worldwide, the availability of the Titan stories is often confusing and mixed. Anyway, onto the story itself and I have the complete mini-run in my hands with this collection which is a positive and I thought this was a tremendously good start. The Doctor returned to his cottage which, judging from his description, he hadn't been to since his third incarnation and with the presumed present day setting, I'd like to think it hadn't been in use since the days he was UNIT's scientific adviser. I really enjoyed how he kept referring to his past incarnations in the third person and he was now looking for his copy of Jayne Eyre by Charlotte Bronte. Things took a little detour, though, as he encountered Josie in humorous fashion but the opening exchange captured the likeness of Paul McGann's Doctor wonderfully well. The characterisation really was excellent and that made me very happy. Josie herself seems like another brilliant companion and I'm intrigued by her artistic similarities to Gabby who of course accompanied the Tenth Doctor during his travels. Josie is a very talented artist and had been selling her paintings in the local village, which I was delighted to read was in Wales, but what she was painting was remarkably interesting! She had painted a Kroton, Ice Warrior and even a Cyberman at one point and the Doctor's delayed reaction to wanting to know how that was possible was terrific. The way he nudged Josie into the story's resolution was fantastic and I liked how he angry and helpless she felt before his words clicked in her mind. Her paintings were helpless monsters because she was writing the story and all she had to do, with a little help from her anime particles, was draw the Doctor and the painted version would know exactly what to do. And that's exactly what happened. The simplicity was terrific and I loved how enthusiastic the Doctor was when Josie fetched him the copy of his book he sought after. Inside though, in some familiar but unrecognisable handwriting, was a sort of checklist of things to do. Space coordinates at the ready, the Doctor and Josie were about to have some adventures of their own. Overall, a superb start to the mini-range and I can't wait to read about the 'to-do list' adventures.

Rating: 9/10