Reviews
REVIEW: Doctor Who: Empire of the Wolf #1
Book Title: Doctor Who: Empire of the Wolf #1
Book Description: At the end of the second season of the Doctor Who television series we got our hearts wrenched out when Rose Tyler found herself trapped in a parallel dimension and had to say goodbye to the 10th Doctor, the man she had come to love.
After that, we did get to see her in our dimension again. When this happened she was a freedom fighter helping to right wrongs. We also saw her appear in “The Day of the Doctor” as the Moment. After all that time Rose was the most important thing to the Doctor.
Doctor Who: Empire of the Wolf #1 begins with a summary of Rose’s adventures with the Doctor. We then see that she and the 10th Doctor find a way to be together and live a more settled down lifestyle.
Then Rose has a vision of impending war. Before she and the Doctor can decipher what the vision means she dematerializes and reappears in another dimension. Rose reappears on the beach she found herself on when she first crossed dimensions. Then she wakes up. It was all just a dream.
In this dimension, Rose has become Empress. She summons one of her minions to go on a hunt for the Doctor. She has questions that need answers.
We then see the TARDIS appear in 20th century London. There are air raid sirens going off when the 8th Doctor steps onto the street. He can’t help lamenting humanity and our wars. When the Doctor looks up he sees a battalion of Sontarans poised for battle.
Mysteriously, the Sontarans disappear. The Doctor runs back to the TARDIS to see where they went. He finds an outline of someone that appears to be wolf-shaped and follows it through space and time. When he opens the door to the TARDIS Rose Tyler is there.
At this point, she is the Doctor’s future. He doesn’t know her. However, he has no doubt she clearly knows him and they get back into the TARDIS to go on an adventure.
Surprisingly, we then shift gears and see the 11th Doctor. He’s still reeling from losing Amy and Rory to the Weeping Angels and adjusting to traveling by himself. He needs a holiday. He finds himself in the middle of anything but.
Book Author: Jody Hauser
Book Format: Paperback
Publisher - Orgnization: Titan Comics
Publisher Logo:
Illustrator: Roberta Ingranata
- Story(3.3)
- Interior Art(2.9)
- Cover Art(3.75)
- Dialogue(3.4)
- Mechanics(3.8)
- Editing(3.5)
Summary
I’ll be upfront and say that I am not familiar with much of Doctor Who before the reboot with the 9th Doctor in 2006. The 9th-12th Doctors are in my wheelhouse though. While some (Richard Starkings) will argue that Sarah Jayne is the best companion ever I don’t have a basis for comparison, YET.
Of those I am familiar with, my favorites are Rose Tyler
and Amy Pond. Getting reminders of how Mr. Moffat took them from us and getting a taste of the life that could have been for Rose was a hard kick to the feelers by Jody Hauser. Doing so also offers us a glimmer of hope that somehow, someway Rose will be reunited with the Doctor and finally get her happily ever after.
I liked the ebb and flow of the story. We don’t get much time to dwell on what could’ve been or the dearly departed because there’s so much happening in the moment. Whether it’s the 8th Doctor finding Rose or the 11th Doctor trying to find a good spot for holiday, we’re drawn in.
As soon as I saw the Bad Wolf graffiti on the TARDIS on the cover I knew we were getting Rose back and had to buy it. Well played!
I liked how the artwork on the interior pages fuse so well with the story. I would have liked a touch more detail. The trade-off is with some panels, like seeing Rose with baby Mia, less detail makes it better. You don’t realize it’s a dream until things come more into focus.
As a geek on a budget my recommendation for Doctor Who: Empire of the Wolf #1 is to know yourself. If you’re enough of a Whovian to be familiar with Doctors 9-11, you’ll be in for a treat. Otherwise, you’re going to find yourself in a paradox from knowing the future before you should.
User Review
( votes)
