Doctor Who #10
Written by Andy Diggle and Eddie Robson
Art by Andy Kuhn and Charlie Kirchoff
Covers by Mark Buckingham and Charlie Kirchoff
IDW Publishing
Release Date: June 19, 2013
Cover Price: $2.99

The latest issue of IDW’s Doctor Who enters the second part of a new story arc called Sky Jacks, which (plot wise) is about as mad as many of the episodes of the long-lived and much-loved television series. The current issues have now moved on from the Pond days of the Matt Smith Eleventh Doctor era, and now Clara Oswald, our new companion, is included in the IDW series.

The opening of this issue features a reunion between Clara and the Doctor – both have been sucked into a dimensional universe thingy of some kind through a white hole, that’s made their arrival more than timey wimey: for the Doctor, he’s been there three years (and now has a huge beard), and for Clara, it’s only been a few hours.

Determined to work their way out, the Doctor (in his few years of isolation) has taken to be tinkerer, trading with the other sentient beings also lost in the dimensional universe thingy of some kind through a while hole, and has developed a TARDIS detector attempting to find his beloved ship. The strangeness becomes stranger as the story progresses.

The writing in Doctor Who #10 is fairly good, and the strangeness of the story is so ridiculous (this is a good thing) that you could almost picture it being an episode of the series. There are some liberties taken with the science stuff (as it always is in Who), for the sake of humor and moving the story along, but for the most part, it’s very entertaining.

The artwork is of a good quality, though it takes a more cartoonish approach, often reminding me of cartoon designs from Clone Wars (as one example). Sometimes it is a bit lampoonist, with the appearance of being caricaturist, with the especially amplified CHIN of Matt Smith in the story. That being said though, it does gel well with the story for the most part, and I think the art will resonate well with younger readers.

Doctor Who #10 is a reasonable read, and it’s quite fun. I think die-hard Whovians will like it, but this particular issue I think will be more popular among younger readers. There’s a Clone Wars vibe I’m getting from the artwork, and I’ve found in the past that this style appears to be more like among younger fans than it is among us ancient fuddy-duddies. Oh, well. It’s worth a look if you’re a fan.

Overall Rating: 3½ out of 5