Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time Vol. 3

Doctor Who: Prisoner of Time #3

by David Tipton

The conclusion to the year-long event celebrating the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who! The 9th through 11th Doctors are showcased in a story leading up to the final issue with all 11 Doctors.

Genres: Doctor Who, Comics, Graphic Novels, Science Fiction, Fiction, Time Travel, Graphic Novels Comics

102 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 20, 2013

Reviews

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the strongest volume of the series. The revelation of arch-villain is good and the Tiptons let the modern Doctors take a more proactive role than their predecessors. Still, we've got two issues that are mostly the same 'ole before we get our two-issue finale. (And the finale is good too.)

Sadly, this series never fulfilled its possibilities -- and amusingly it was two doctors out of date by the time it was finished.

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

RIP Adam. Good that Adam redeemed himself in the end. Hope they will be able to stop the Master some time.

Can't wait to read more Doctor Who comics!!!!!

[Tamara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well this one certainly was the best because my favoite doctor was in it :)

[Flávia (Fuga de Letras) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5*

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chock full of fan service with nice one-off vignettes featuring the ninth and tenth Doctors. Eleven’s vignette happens off screen to allow room for the dramatic conclusion. Or the fanstravaganza blip appearance of as many companions as they can manage. For the overall arc antagonist, I appreciate that they grabbed a dangling thread from the show and tied it up nicely. Utilizing an old school master throughout also helped provide an iconic look and was a nice nod to show the interconnectedness of the show over 50 years.

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Honestly, I really liked this story. It was fun to see the what Adam became – both as a result of his own foolishness and of the Doctor’s own tendency to leave his Companions behind, whether through their own actions or will or not. Here is a darker take of what happens – most of his Companions move on with their lives, but Adam doesn’t, and you see what could become of an abandoned Companion. But in the end, Adam actually manages to grow up (quite late in life, given his age) and shows that he genuinely was one of “the best”, a Companion True.

[Jamieson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prisoners of Time was IDW’s contribution to the 50th Anniversary celebration. A 12-issue series that was released monthly, each issue featured a different incarnation of the Doctor before the final issue tied everything together. Volume 3 collects the last four issues featuring the Ninth, Tenth and Eleventh Doctors plus the finale.

The Ninth Doctor issue sees the Doctor and Rose visit a monument to a dead gazillionaire. It turns out that the gazillionaire isn't dead and instead lives here with unstable time tech keeping him young. When he takes a fancy to Rose, the Doctor exposes him and he ends up dead. Then, the mysterious figure who's been stealing companions arrives and is revealed to be the Ninth Doctor's short-lived companion Adam Mitchell. We get an info dump as Adam reveals his motives for taking the Doctor's companions before he leaves with Rose.

The Tenth Doctor issue sees the Doctor and Martha at a California observitory in the 1950s. The Doctor shows Martha an afterimage of Gallifrey before they get involved in making a movie. It turns out that actors and staff are disappearing. The Doctor investigates while Martha becomes a star. Turns out that the Dominators are behind everything as they attempt to turn humans into a slave race to mine Earth of its resources. The Doctor stops them and in the aftermath, Adam abducts Martha.

The Eleventh Doctor issue see the series plot front and center. When Clara is taken at the start, the Doctor starts hunting down Adam. Soon he discovers the Time Agent from whom Adam acquired his Vortex Manipulator and is able to track his wayward companion down. Here, we learn that Adam has partnered with the Ainley Master. At the end of the issue, Adam gives the Doctor a choice: he has to choose one companion to save and let the other die.

The final issue wraps everything up and while rather busy, is a lot of fun. The Doctor makes his choice: all the companions. All the previous Doctors arrive (minus the War Doctor) and Frobisher frees the companions. The Master wants to destroy the TARDIS and has an Auton army to keep the companions busy. Adam sacrifices himself to stop the Master and is declared a true companion with the Ninth Doctor regreting his choice to abandon Adam after one mistake.

A fun comic, this volume has good art and an intriguing plot. For an anniversary story and as a multi-doctor story it works well. Is it the greatest Doctor comic? Not necessarily. But it is enjoyable and, apart from an issue in Volume 2, has good art. It's also nice to see the individual issues focusing on lesser-known returning monsters (like the Dominators here or the Animus and Zarbi in the first issue). Yes, there's a lot of continuity references, but I still think it's accessible if you only have a limited knowledge of the series. A fun read, that's well worth checking out.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

We finish out our run of 11 Doctors (at the time) before they team up at the end to stop the big bad behind it all. These teams ups of this many Doctors usually leads to some lackluster stories and that trend continues here.

[Kieran McAndrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

What seems to be a series of unconnected events in the Doctor's travels results in the disappearance of his dearest friends.

The key art is OK, but there are times when the character art looks way off. The mystery is excellent and Tipton has captured the spirit of each Doctor very well.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good end to the series loved the art in this volume.

[Thebruce1314 · Rating 3 out of 5]

The artwork and characterization of the Doctors and companions were pretty spot-on, but I always feel like I’m missing something in the story.

[Adam Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Continuing the Prisoners of Time story from Volume 2:

"Mystery Date"-The quality of the artwork takes a turn for the better as we land in new Who territory with that lovely TARDIS team of the Ninth Doctor and Rose and a planet owned and built as an apparent monument to a rich man who's been dead for many years but is really secretly alive and wants to claim Rose as his "companion." It's an intriguing story in and of itself and it was on par with many of the stories that appeared Doctor Who Magazine at the time. (Though this made me hanker to re-read Doctor Who: The Cruel Sea At anyway, we get the first reveal as to the villain who's behind this, and it's very clever. Overall, a solid story hurt only by some poor lettering decisions early in the issue where you had to guess who was talking. Grade: A-

"Quiet on the Set"-It begins with the Tenth Doctor taking Martha to the 1940s and showing her an image of Gallifrey which escaped in what was a pretty poignant scene with Gallifey being beautifully drawn and then it's off to a movie set where Martha is cast in the lead and one of Doctor Who's least popular one-shot villains was at work. It was brave, but I'm not certain how good an idea it was to bring them back. The story is okay and ends with the Tenth Doctor setting us up for the finale. Grade: B

"The Choice and Endgame": The final two parts should be reviewed together. At the beginning of the comic, Clara disappears from the 11th Doctor, and he's off to find her, and events lead to the reveal of another villain and a big mash up full of Companions and Doctors. It's very satisfying and a superb celebration of the show and of the Companions love for the Doctor and they manage to give several Doctors good moments, although many of the Classic Doctors were a bit shorted, but somebody's going to be in a story of this sort. The final issue were very satisfying because I think only in a comic could you get in so many different companions and Doctors. In terms of Fiftieth Anniversary Specials, Big Finish was pushing the limit with eight Doctors and eight companions. You get far many more here, although sadly a few of them end up with only a line or two in the final story. Still, despite some flaws, the story is good and it's the right something special that the whole mini-series built towards. Grade: A-

[Christian Petrie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Within a 24 hour period I had read all three volumes. My finally summary, not a bad story arc, but not sure it would have kept my interesting by reading one at a time over a 12 month period.

For this final installment, I will give the similar review for each Doctor story, then a final summary.

In the 9th Doctor's story we find out who is behind everything, after going through a story regarding someone becoming obsessed with Rose. The key part to this story is the final reveal. The artwork is decent for this story.

For the 10th Doctor,we are treated to decent artwork again. The base story is good, especially since it features a return of an old enemy. This helped with the nostalgia feeling.

Unlike the others, the 11th Doctor's story starts off with the companion being taking and he begins his trek to confront the enemy. A decent story to start the final issue, the artwork is okay.

When we reach the final confrontation it just feels off. Even though I have been getting use to the different artwork styles, the last issue does not feel right. Also, once you through in all the Doctors and companions, it feels very cluttered. Also, what happens with the enemy feels a bit cliched as well.

Overall, not a bad series, but not sure when I would read it again. It is enjoyable for the 50th Anniversary.

[Yosef Shapiro · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is really hard to write a story including all 11 doctors (at the time) and also trying to include as many companions as possible. This would be impossible to attempt on tv for several reasons. Just a few reasons are: many of the actors are dead, it would be very expensive,not everyone would be willing etc. I give the creative team credit for trying. It is not a great story but a good one. Some of the doctors voices were captured Bette than others. I think they got the dialog right with the 9-11 doctors. It is worth reading for doctor who fans
But, not very user friendly for new fans.

[Romana1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The resolution upgraded by general feeling of the story as a whole to 4 stars.

The artwork in the last story was similar to the 5th and 8th Doctor stories and like the previous stories, seemed rather jarring next to the artwork of the others. Also-just a nitpick- Sarah Jane looked completely different-she was kidnapped from the 3rd Doctor's timeline, but when she was released with the others, her appearance was similar to that of her time with the 4th Doctor. Petty, I know-but Sarah Jane is my all-time favorite companion, so I'm going to notice more details about her than the others. ;-)

[Hector · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funciona mejor en los primeros números y decae al final. La idea es buena, especialmente en la elección del villano, además que permite conocer a varios de los compañeros de las distintas encarnaciones del Doctor Who sin embargo en conjunto se extraña una mayor cohesión y el hecho de tener varios autores involucrados no ayuda.
De todas maneras está por encima del promedio de cómics de Doctor Who de la actualidad.

[Demian Katz · Rating 4 out of 5]

This actually managed to end better than I had expected, with the identity of the series' mysterious villain being a little more interesting than I would have guessed. That's not to say that it's not all rather contrived and silly -- but it's a Doctor Who anniversary story, so that's just tradition. I enjoyed the ride.

[Andy Hickman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time. Vol.3
Featuring the 9th, 10th and 11th Doctors, concluding with all 11.

Issue#9 – Mystery Date
Issue#10 – Quiet On The Set - “Who am I? I'm the man who keeps this planet safe from fools like you who only want to steal everything that makes it special, time and time again.”
Issue#11 – The Choice
Issue#12 – Endgame

[shartyrant · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice twist to the ending. Also, I am extremely happy that they finally closed up one loose thread from season 1 (Eccleston era). Art was very good and the stories were interesting and demonstrated the different eras perfectly. Definitely recommend for Doctor Who fans.

[Kris Buckman · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good ending! I am always a fun of the multiple Doctor episodes on TV, and this version is very good. The look 11 gives Rose is heartbreaking! When the Doctor says "Hello Ponds!" I nearly cried. Bravo!!

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good conclusion, and the final issue/fourth of the volume takes the cake. Team-ups galore!

[Andrea Guerra]

No son tan buenos como esperaba, pero no me arrepiento de haberlos leído. Tener tantos autores diferentes mareaba.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice wrap-up to the story. All the Doctors (or rather the Doctor in all of his forms) come together to save his/their companions.

[James Bowman · Rating 3 out of 5]

A solid Ninth Doctor story (something we don't see enough of), an OK Tenth Doctor story, and a fun conclusion to the story entire! Ending isn't a big surprise, but it works. (B)

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this series. Nice to see all the doctors together at the end. And the identity of the villain made sense.

[Brian]

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