A Celebration Worthy Of The Doctor In Thirteenth Doctor: The Many Lives of Doctor Who #0
by Josh Davison
[*Mild Spoilers Ahead!]
The Twelfth Doctor regenerates into the Thirteenth while reminiscing on his past lives. We join the Doctor on his winding trip through the first 12 (well, technically 13 with the War Doctor) and experience adventures that helped define the Doctor.
Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor- The Many Lives of Doctor Who #0 brings us an anthology of the 13 Doctors. Each short story aims to capture the defining qualities of each iteration of the Doctor and the many companions with narration from the Twelfth Doctor as he regenerates.
It’s a fun celebration of Doctor Who and its lengthy legacy. Each story is a zany sci-fi conundrum to be quickly solved by the Doctor and his companions while facing many of his classic foes, from Daleks and the Master to aliens threatening River Song, and even other Time Lords.
None of the stories are especially deep, even if they do summarize their Doctor and companion(s) pretty well. This is understandable given the short length each story receives. Again, the comic aims for fun and celebration more than ponderance and reflection.
There is a motif of the number 13 hidden not-so-subtly in many of the stories too.
Titan tasked a slew of talented artists to cover this trek through the lives of the Doctor. Each one does a good job of representing their Doctor and his aesthetic. Rachael Stott’s work with the Thirteenth Doctor scenes are outright inspired. I will say I wasn’t a big fan of Arianna Florean’s work with the Fourth Doctor, as it is a little too cartoonish for a Doctor that had a bit of a grim streak in him at times.
Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #0 is a good wind up before the first official installment of the Thirteenth Doctor’s comic book series. It looks back on the history of Doctor Who and does so with style and energy that worthy of the franchise. At $7.99 US, it is a bit expensive, but I can recommend it to a Doctor Who devotee excited for the new iteration of the Doctor.
This comic comes to us courtesy of writer Richard Dinnick, artists Mariano Laclaustra (with inker Fer Centurion on the Sixth Doctor story), Giorgia Sposito, Brian Williamson, Arianna Florean, Claudia Ianniciello, Iolanda Zanfardino, Neil Edwards, Pasquale Qualano, and Rachael Stott, color artists Color-Ice, Carlos Cabrera, Adele Matera, Dijjo Lima, and Enrica Eren Angiolini, letterers Sarah Jacobs and John Roshell of Comicraft, and cover artist Claudia Ianniciello.
