Dr. Who Special 2013

Writer Paul Cornell Artist Jimmy Broxton

 

Introduction

 

Paul Cornell has written some really fascinating Doctor Who adventures, some of which actually made it on the air with episodes like Human Nature. The David Tennant two parter was a dark reflection at an interesting aspect of the Doctor’s Humanity. Now that the writer has been given a new Matt Smith story just in time for Christmas, it has me interested to say the least. The book also contains pencils from Jimmy Broxton, who produces great work whenever he is paired with Cornell. The premise of the issue touches on all sorts of meta vibes that seem to quite popular in the space of comic books these days. The ever growing popularity of Dr. Who is finally going to examined within the pages of the comic itself, when the Doctor comes to our real world at an actual fan convention. This setup sounds like it could lead to some wacky adventures worthy of an adventure from the main television show. It is also special to see one of the last adventures from this Doctor, since Smith is leaving the show very soon.

 

Extras

 

It should be noted that this series comes with a little bit of baggage from IDW letting the Doctor Who license go after this comic book series. The Editor-in-Chief Chris Ryall gives a great introduction to this installment detailing all the years that IDW spent with Doctor Who.

 

Writing

 

Due the plot of the story, it has the potential to be very cheesy. The scribe goes for pure sincerity for the story. It is written with an incredibly optimistic viewpoint that embraces some of the lighter points that the bigger sect of Dr. Who fandom has on the world. Not every writer would take this approach, or be able to pull of this bright eyed and sweet story. Cornell does a great job, and captures Smith’s voice almost perfectly. There writing never becomes too precious for the tale to stop being enjoyable.

 

Art

 

Broxton’s pencils are exactly what readers would want from the artist. They are unique, while serving the story extremely well. The penciller is not watered down at all even though he is handling a different license and tone. Broxton can be considered a true comic book artist here, as he handles every single aspect of art in this issue besides the lettering. There are 34 pages of great original pencils, inks, and colors from the illustrator. The approach to coloring is extremely dynamic, and works in the issue’s favor by giving it so many unique tones. Broxton captures the likeness of Smith very well without making his pencils line up exactly with the actor. The fluid line work evokes the tone of the show really well. Storytelling is also one of Broxton’s strong suits, as expressive faces makes the script really shine. This is some interesting work from a talented comic veteran.
 

Conclusion

This is a great Dr. Who comic book that will delight even the most cynical fan of the material. Cornell and Broxton really nail the finer points of the franchise with immense quality. The tale also manages to find some of the brighter points of the way that the franchise has exponentially grown in the past few years. Make sure to pick up the swan song of IDW and Dr. Who.