Titan Comics: Time Lord Victorious - Defender of the Daleks Review

One of the covers for the first issue of "Defender of the Daleks",
designed by Priscilla Petraites.

Written by Jody Houser.

Artwork by Roberta Ingranata.

When Titan Comics announced their contribution to the Time Lord Victorious story arc, I was a little bit surprised by the nature of their contribution. While featuring the Tenth Doctor (one of the three principle Doctors of the Time Lord Victorious event), the press release made it clear that this was the Tenth Doctor from around the time of the recently released strip "A Little Help From My Friends", which had been set during the events of the TV story "Blink". Therefore, this was going to be an unusual part of the story to begin with, and, having now read the full strip, that assessment remains very much intact. "Defender of the Daleks" is a bit of a miss-step all told, as, while it is a decent strip, with some great artwork, an interesting story and some of the most well-developed individual Dalek characters in Doctor Who history, it sadly seems incredibly disconnected from the main Time Lord Victorious story, and ends up feeling less like an essential piece of the story, and more like Titan Comics were given a limited brief just to get them in on the act.

The Doctor comes face to face with the Dalek
Emperor, in a panel from the first part of the
story.

The story sees the Tenth Doctor catapulted through a time fracture into a timeline where the Time War never happened, and the original Dalek Empire still stands. However, the Daleks are under threat: from a race called the Hond, who the Doctor believes should have died out in the Dark Times. As such, the Daleks need the Doctor to help them defeat the Hond, and thus the Doctor must ally himself with the Dalek Strategist to gain access to Skaro's dark secrets in order to do it. Now, I have to say this... for Titan's first comic strip to feature the Daleks, in plot terms this is very... unadventurous. I mean, while any story that forces the Daleks and the Doctor to work together must be somewhat interesting, as it doesn't happen that often, in a medium that has limitless visual possibilities, this approach seems somewhat muted. The best Doctor Who comics have been the ones that really push the envelope as to what Doctor Who can be, and I would have expected that "Defender of the Daleks" would have done much the same. After all, a lot of the other mediums that are part of this event are using it as an opportunity to show off what they can do, and really reel new fans into those mediums. Here, however, this simply feels put together to fulfill a remit, and, while it's competently written, it doesn't grab me in the way that any of the other Time Lord Victorious stories have done. Of course, what doesn't help with this approach is the choice of placing this story during Series 3 for the Tenth Doctor. As such, writer Jody Houser can only refer to the events of "The Waters of Mars" obliquely, and any attempts to do so fall down as a result. Even something like the Hond, who could have been an interesting creation, end up feeling phoned in as a result. They're a race of sentient pain... and that's about all they do. That in itself is an interesting idea, and the idea they just keep on living, no matter what, and so wish to stop everything else from feeling the same pain they do is a good motivation for them, but they ultimately just become one bunch of monsters for the Doctor to defeat. The story never picks up on how improbable these creatures existing is, and they are defeated incredibly easily, so they never come across as the all-consuming threat the Daleks purport them to be. The two parts of the story are incredibly unevenly paced as well: the first part doesn't really contain an awful lot of incident, and takes some time to get going, while the second part is forced to move at break-neck speed in order to conclude the story, and return the Doctor through the time fracture. I feel like this comic need a third part to it as well, to establish how menacing the Hond are, and how much of a danger they pose to the rest of the universe, in order for it to really work, and not to feel rushed or cluttered. There's plenty of potential in this story for it to be really great, but, to be honest, I just found it crushed by the constraints of the narrative and of the form, while not taking full advantage of the freedoms that comics have to offer. 

The Doctor is on the run from the Daleks. But
what do they want with him?

However, while I have been rather negative about this story, what I will say in "Defender of the Daleks"' defence is that it features some really interesting Dalek characters, who I hope will go on to play wider roles in the Time Lord Victorious story. The Dalek Strategist, especially, is a fantastic character, who is less interested in extermination and conquest. This draws a strange contrast with most Daleks, and paring this character off with the Tenth Doctor for the vast majority of the run-time means we get to see a lot of it in action. It has much more of an individual personality to it than the mindless grunts that usually populate the Dalek ranks, and it even comes close to be sympathetic at one point. The Dalek Emperor also seems more calculating and cold than most Dalek leaders in the past, and, together with his awesome design, makes an intimating presence in the story. I will also say that Jody Houser has perfectly captured the character of the Tenth Doctor: quirky and light-hearted, but with a dark streak that runs throughout his actions. And the artwork for the strip is fantastic: bar the design of the Hond (which, to me, could have been way more adventurous and really pushed the boat out), Roberta Ingranata's artwork is wonderful, and really captures the Doctor and the Daleks incredibly well. As time has gone on, we look, more and more with Doctor Who comics, for artwork that really captures the likenesses of the actors and monsters in the show. And "Defender of the Daleks" definitely does that. The Daleks are perhaps slightly more stylised than you would expect, but the way they are framed makes them look powerful and intimidating. The settings are vividly realised, especially somewhere like Skaro, which maintains its look from its recent appearance in "The Magician's Apprentice" and "The Witch's Familiar". The colours and inks are of a really high quality too, and just show how much love and care has been put into this story, even if the story itself is somewhat lacking.

One of the covers for the second issue of "Defender of the Daleks",
designed by Andie Tong. 

Overall, then, "Defender of the Daleks" is probably the first part of Time Lord Victorious that I've actually found underwhelming. I want to make it clear that I didn't mind anything this comic was doing: there was plenty of potential in the set-up, and the ideas on display, but the execution of them just left me cold, I'm afraid. Ultimately, it felt like Titan's hands were tied, and I think that, given half a chance, this could have been a key piece of the arc, and something to really get excited about. As it is, its ok, but its not a story I can picture myself going back to any time soon, or that will even play a huge part in the grand over-arching story of Time Lord Victorious. I'm afraid, for such a big licensee, with plenty of previously good stories, this comes as a massive disappointment, no matter what way you look at it.

"Defender of the Daleks" is available from Forbidden Planet, as well as other comic stores and online retailers:

https://forbiddenplanet.com/promotion/doctor-who-time-lord-victorious/?utm_medium=promotion&utm_source=home-page-carousel&utm_campaign=doctor-who-time-lord-victorious

All pictures copyright to the BBC and Titan Comics. Thank you very much for reading. If you wish to keep up to date with the blog, you can subscribe by clicking the link at the top of the page. Keep an eye out for special social medias for Who Time (& Space) coming very soon!