The Monster Is Capitalism — Reviewing ‘Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor’ #1

Traveling through time and space means access to a great many wonders. Such as the last shopping mall on Earth. Yes, even as things fall apart for the planet, capitalism remains beyond the end.

The Doctor and Ruby Sunday sure would like just a nice trip to the mall, but per usual something is very much amiss in Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor #1. A brand-new series for a brand-new Doctor era from Dan Watters, Kelsey Ramsay, Valentina Bianconi, and Richard Starkings of Comicraft.

What unfolds here is a pretty typical Doctor and companion adventure, which is not a bad thing at all. There are a number of things that should be done with a new version of a character or a new figure stepping into a storied role. Beyond setting up their own uniqueness, a solid thing to do is showcase something that ties them to the old. A nice bit of familiarity that can then be tailored to the specific quirks of the character.

Sure, the Doctor has a TARDIS, a companion, and a sonic screwdriver all the time, as they bounce through time and space. But finding those adventures that harken to familiar territory helps, both on the show and here in this comic.

Watters has a solid grasp of both characters here. Building out some mystery, dropping the prerequisite crumbs, and even tossing a classic (though very overused television wise) Who villain. What helps though is that they are not the main focus, there are other threats and mysteries beyond them to ponder. Another familiar thing is Doctor and Companion being separated, but as usual, it works to help expand what the story can do.

As well as build the drama tension, which we love to see.

Visually, Ramsay has a style that is easily full to the brim with a lot of whimsical energy. It clings to a ton of detail, and a very sort of roughness that works for this character and their world. We can look at the Doctor and Ruby Sunday and see Ncuti Gatwa and Millie Gibson respectively, but also see beyond them. With licensed comics it’s always best to try and find that middle ground. Renditions that reflect the appearance of the actors who portray the characters without falling into uncanny valley photo realistic.

There is a bit of sparseness in some respects. An example is the view of the TARDIS interior that loses a lot of its spectacular nature seen from the show. Yet, this makes sense because the design that we’re seeing with the new series would likely be so hard to render multiple times. The sparse nature is more about effect as it’s used for distance shots (faces missing) or buildings that just aren’t super detailed, because they don’t need to be in that moment.

Rougher textures pop up in the colors too as Bianconi takes a heavier hand here. Colors have darker undertones, giving them a weightier appearance. Even with those shadows there are plenty of more vibrant colors, especially in bits of nature that appear as well as the otherworldly things like the time vortex.

As is natural with the Doctor, there is a lot of talking. Tons of things to set up and situations to lay out for the companion and reader alike. It all flows around, never feeling too heavy at any given point, because of the work that Starkings puts in. Most of it is very straightforward bubble and font types, but here or there some colors and out of the box style choices are employed.

Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor #1 is now available from Titan Comics.