Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor #1
Written by Cavan Scott
Art by Blair Shedd
Covers by Alice X. Zhang and Blair Shedd
Titan Comics
Publication Date: April 1, 2015
Cover Price: $3.99

Being a Whovian that is also the co-host of Geeks Of Doom’s TARDISblend podcast, I’m a little picky and particular about my Doctor Who stuff. But I can say, without a doubt, that Titan Comics’ opening salvo for their Doctor Who: Ninth Doctor comic book series is a good shot.

First up, you have the Christopher Eccleston Doctor, in all his grumpy glory, with his adorable companion Rose Tyler who is still softening up his hardened Time War scars.

However, what makes this book special is Captain Jack.

A mortal, pre-Torchwood Captain Jack Harkness. How cool is that? It’s a question I’ve often asked myself. How many adventures did those three actually go on? By the time Mickey the Idiot meets up with the trio in Cardiff on the television series, the Doctor/Rose/Harkness trio have such an awesome rapport, it does make you wonder.

Well, wonder no more, because here in this delish little issue, we get the first chapter of that answer. The Doctor brings his friends to the planet Excroth, only to discover (in lovable Star Wars Alderaan style) that it’s simply not there and turned into rubble. At the location, the heroes find themselves torn between two sides at war; facing an unfathomable and potentially fatal conundrum.

The pacing of the plot works well and plays out just like a television episode to begin with. There are a lot of unanswered questions at this stage, but hey, ya gotta expect that with an introductory issue.

And the artwork by Blair Shedd is phenomenally superb. The likenesses of the characters are dead-on perfect (although young Jack Harkness looks a little younger than I remember in some frames), and the portrayal in frames work just like storyboarding for the series. It’s a beautiful scene with the right coloring chosen, the right shading, and some of the best likenesses of characters I’ve seen in a comic adaptation.

It’s pretty rare and hard to give a top-notch review to an opening issue of a new series, because there are so many things yet to be revealed. But in the case of the Doctor Who: Ninth Doctor #1, the work by writer Cavan Scott and artist Blair Shedd is top notch. Doctor Who fans will love it for sure, and they will be captivated by this first issue.

Overall Rating: 5 out of 5