Titan Comics have been knocking it out of the park when it comes to their range of Doctor Who comic books. They’ve done this by picking each their writers and artists very carefully. Titan runs separate titles for various incarnations of The Doctor, and for Eleventh Doctor, they’ve chosen the team of Al Ewing, Rob Williams, and Simon Fraser. This happens to be a team of creatives who are well known for being quirky and off-the-wall, yet filled with an underlying and engaging seriousness. Or to put it another way: a perfect match team for creating Eleventh Doctor stories.
Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor Vol. 3: Conversion is the third and final part of Ewing’s run, so the book mainly focuses on tying up loose ends. What becomes apparent in this concluding instalment is that the trilogy’s themes are tightly focused and deliberate. This is a story about compassion, identity and how acting purely through emotion and selfishness can end in ruined lives. Ewing, Fraser, and Williams have created a tale worthy of the Eleventh Doctor’s epic adventures, yet they also keep things personal and thought provoking.
Ewing is best known for writing comic books such as Zombo: Can I Eat You Please? and Loki: Agent of Asgard. His trademark approach is to take a slightly slanted look at the world the main character inhabits and then stir in a bit of liberal politics and add some pop-culture inspiration. Whereas other writers may simply reference the odd David Bowie song, Ewing goes a step further and gives us a Doctor Who companion clearly inspired by Bowie. This makes for the perfect foil for many of The Doctor’s shenanigans, and is focus of much of the humour throughout.
This, coupled with illustrator Simon Fraser’s ability to make even a conversation in a shop look like a scene from an action movie and it all makes for a highly enjoyable Doctor Who romp. Firmly recommended.
DOCTOR WHO: THE ELEVENTH DOCTOR VOL. 3: CONVERSION / WRITERS: AL EWING, ROB WILLIAMS / ARTISTS: SIMON FRASER, WARREN PLEECE, BOO COOK / PUBLISHER: TITAN COMICS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
