Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #1 Review: Made In America

There are two things built into the mythos of Doctor Who that are fairly ingenious. The first is the concept of regeneration, allowing the TV folks to recast the Doctor every few years and use it as a plot device.

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The second is that the Doctor can travel anywhere in time and space, meaning there could be any number of adventures that weren’t shown on BBC. That makes it completely logical for something like Titan’s Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #1 to exist, and it’s a pretty fair antidote for the pain of anyone who never got over David Tennant moving on from his most famous role.

Much of this first outing by writer Nick Abadzis and artist Elena Casagrande is devoted to introducing the reader to new companion Gabriella “Gabby” Gonzalez — a necessary move since the book is set sometime after the Tenth Doctor has parted ways with Donna Noble. We’ve always been led to believe that the Doctor traveled alone between his semi-tragic parting with Donna and his run-in with the Master in “The End of Time,” but it’s always difficult to tell how much time has elapsed in-between Doctor Who stories, so it could certainly work.

The fact that Gabby is American is a crucial part of her backstory, coming from an immigrant family where there are generational differences between old ways and new. Abadzis lays on the themes of duty and tradition versus free will and independence in a heavy-handed fashion at times, but one assumes they could play into the threat that arises and brings Gabby into the Doctor’s orbit.

Speaking of that threat, it’s time to assume my River Song voice and say:

SPOILERS!

The title of this issue, “Revolutions of Terror,” has to do with the fact that Gabby and her friend Cindy first encounter the force terrorizing the Mexican-American community of which they are both a part in the laundromat. It seems to be a classic “alien manifesting itself as supernatural” menace (including one character who is convinced it is the Devil), something fans of the TV series will agree is a staple of the franchise. We aren’t sure even by the end of the issue, and that’s fine. This is almost like the first 20 minutes of a TV episode.

The Doctor is onto the problem already, of course, and Abadzis’ characterization of the Tenth Doctor as someone who seems befuddled but is actually in control is spot-on. The question going forward is whether he can make something out of the set-up that sees Gabby trapped by her family and her place in life, which is sure to be a powerful motivator for her wanting to travel with the Doctor. As well, it’ll be intriguing to see why the Tenth Doctor will agree to take her on, as he had basically sworn off regular companions after Donna.

Titan must assume loyal Doctor Who fans are going to be buying this series, as it’s not very friendly to people unfamiliar with the core concepts except for some brief explanations on the inside of the front cover. That’s probably a safe assumption too.

Casagrande is called upon to do a lot of expressive work with a large cast of characters — especially for a first issue — and while she doesn’t exactly knock it out of the park, her style gets the job done. The monster isn’t very detailed, but that appears to be part of the point.

Favorite moment: The Doctor says the gizmo with which he’s tracking the monster is safe for eggs and chickens, but you don’t want to get it anywhere around cows.

Final thought: Getting all of the wonderful character quirks Tennant gave the Tenth Doctor to translate on the page is a task I don’t envy Abadzis!

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