Doctor Who: Four Doctors #1

By Paul Cornell, Neil Edwards & Ivan Nunes

In 2013, Doctor Who celebrated its fiftieth anniversary in one of the best ways possible, bringing the tenth and eleventh Doctors together as they collided with John Hurt’s War Doctor, who was entering the final days of the Time War and was about to push the button to end it. It was an excellent special that was arguably one of the best episodes of the new series since it returned, and as of such, that kept fans eagerly anticipating more meetings between the Doctors in the future. Four Doctors is something that provides a welcome treat to those who love it when the characters paths cross, with writer Paul Cornell, artist Neil Edwards and colourist Ivan Nunes combining to kickstart the big major event of 2015, and unlike The Day of the Doctor, it throws in Peter Capaldi’s twelfth for good measure into the mix as well, in what should be an interesting start for any fans of the series.

However, if you’re a new reader to Titan’s Doctor Who comics or have fallen behind on them then you’ll notice that both the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors have new companions, Gabby Gonzalez, a young would-be artist from New York, companion to the Tenth Doctor, and Alice Obiefune, a former library assistant and companion to the Eleventh. Four Doctors handles these characters well and gives time for newcomers to connect with them as they spent plenty of time interacting. This reviewer isn’t familiar with either of the two new companions but it makes for an interesting development, and with Clara Oswald on board as well as the 12^th’s companion, things are interesting indeed.

Paul Cornell, who’s written some of Doctor Who’s best episodes – Season 1’s Father’s Day and Season 3’s Human Nature & The Family of Blood two parter, doesn’t disappoint in the writing department, with an exciting start to the mystery that handles the characters well, capturing their distinctive voices, quirks and mannerisms, making each Doctor feel unique, and the back and forth banter between the characters is handled very well. John Hurt’s War Doctor shows up at the beginning of this issue, but as of right now, he’s the only one not to interact with the other Doctors. Despite that, the issue is well paced and ends on a pretty good cliffhanger, featuring the return of a race of aliens who we haven’t seen in the TV series in a while, so it will no doubt be very interesting to see where this event takes us.

Neil Edwards’ pencils are solid and mixed with the lighter colour palette of Ivan Nunes, The Four Doctors #1 opens with a pretty solid start artist wise. The characters look like their live action counterparts and the issue, which is mostly spend with the characters interacting, is handled well, with some great character designs on play here and arguably the strongest one being Clara’s. The art fits right at home with the tone of the show, with the locations that the characters visit in this chapter, Paris in 1923 and a desert planet called Marinus among them, being brought to life just as well as the characters who inhabit them.

If you’re a fan of Doctor Who and love multi-Doctor stories and want some more excitement featuring the characters, The Four Doctors should be right up your street as things can only get better from here. However, if you’re not familiar with Doctor Who, this comic probably won’t be your best jumping on point, but it’ll still be here for you when you catchup.