Publisher: Titan Comics
Writer: Dan Watters
Artist: Kelsey Ramsay
Colorist: Valentina Bianconi
Release Date: 20th November 2024

As “unmissable” conclusions go, Dan Watters’ narrative for issue four of Doctor Who: The Fifteenth Doctor certainly lives up to its publisher’s boast of being an “action-packed final part.” However, having regaled his audience with some headlong chases down the numerous corridors of a claustrophobic wine cellar, as well as witnessing the titular time traveler whack an almost endless supply of valuable bottles with a baseball bat, the British author rather disappointingly has the all-powerful Sommelier simply pack his bags up and meekly depart, rather than be bested by anything spectacular the Timelord might have conjured up.

Indeed, the sense of anti-climax as Rose Sunday simply threatens to smash villain’s flask containing “the scream of Toraji, the living sun as it collapsed into a white star” unless he surrenders is truly palpable, and genuinely must have left many a Whovian wondering what the whole point behind this mini-series was – apart from a speculative cash-grab. True, the sudden departure of this comic’s central antagonist does then provide the writer to pen an endearing origin story for poor little Maria and her cuddly teddy bear. But as twenty-two page periodical’s go, the vast majority of its readers were probably not expecting the main threat to be defeated just half-way through; “Get out of here. Take your collection and leave.”

Also making matters even more sugary sweet than they needed to be is the way this book deals with the apparent deaths of “two timid little cockroach aliens”, who were cold-bloodedly murdered by Earth’s last shoppers when they exposed the extra-terrestrials to a planetwide solar storm. Ruby’s grief at their demise should generate plenty of sympathy, as it touches upon what monsters Mankind can become when people are scared. Sadly though, such a message is ruined, or at least greatly diminished, by the Gallifreyian taking his upset companion ten years into the future, and showing her that rather than be killed by the Sun’s particles, the two Cankaranka were actually able to fly to safety.

Quite possibly this comic’s biggest asset therefore lies in the artwork of Kelsey Ramsay, who does a top job of imbuing the fifteenth incarnation with all the dynamic energy shown by actor Ncuti Gatwa on the small screen. In addition, along with colorist Valentina Bianconi, the London-born illustrator does a super job in turning the Sommerlier’s scream cellar into a truly terrifying location to navigate – especially when being relentlessly pursued by an army of emotionless Cybermen.

The writer of this piece was: Simon Moore
Simon Tweets from @Blaxkleric ‏
You can read more of his reviews at The Brown Bag