Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Vol. 1: Terroformer

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor (Titan Comics) #1

by Robbie Morrison, Dave Taylor (Illustrator), Alice X. Zhang (Illustrator)

The first collection of the Twelfth Doctor series!

On the terraformed ice planet of Isen IV, the Doctor and Clara discover a monstrous Hyperion has been awakened at the planet's core. Can they halt the rampage of a living star, in the middle of the celebrity wedding of the century, before it escapes to conquer the galaxy?

And when Clara and the Doctor land in India, a conspiracy hundreds of years in the making comes to light! A Thuggee cult is trying to resurrect one of the most deadly aliens yet known... Split across two time zones, our heroes must stop this return at all costs – with the help of Rani Jhulka, 'the renegade Amazon' in the 1820s, and Priyanka Maratha, daughter of one of the Doctor's oldest friends, in the Mumbai of 2314!

To find out just what makes Peter Capaldi's incarnation of the Doctor so intoxicating, get on board now!

Collects The Twelfth Doctor #1-5

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

124 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 27, 2015

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories are about the 12th Doctor fairly quick after his regeneration and contain the first five installments of the comics about this Doctor. The are two stories the first one containing the return of a great species that turned really bad , so bad in fact it took the Timelords quite some effort to stop them. And now one of them is back and like the Doctor a sole survivor of his species.
The 12th Doctor was always going to be tough job for any actor after the sheer genius of the Smith Doctor, who was just brilliant not unlike the Tom Baker Doctor. So one should not blame the twelfth Doctor he was always fighting a battle he could not win.
That said both stories are fun and worthy material of the further adventures of Doctor Who. Certainly good material for fans of this Timelord.

[Chad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains 2 pretty generic stories featuring the Twelfth Doctor and Clara. I preferred the stories featuring the Tenth and Eleventh Doctors. They had new companions that allowed for more involved and cohesive story arcs.

[Cyndi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Doctor Who, but for the sake of honesty, I haven’t seen any of the latest Doctor. I know, its shameful. 😔 I’ve been a fan of the Doctor since the 1960’s so there is no excuse. But I promise to spend less time reading and more time watching tv soon...maybe.
Anyway, this book was excellent! I love Clara as a companion and enjoyed every story in this graphic novel. The art was superb and there was plenty of exposition along the way to make the story easy to follow.

[Just a Girl Fighting Censorship · Rating 2 out of 5]

This volume just does't measure up to Titan's other current DW titles (Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol. 1: Revolutions of Terror & Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor, Vol. 1: After Life).

Both stories, a terraforming gone wrong and an evil alien posing as a goddess, were pretty generic. The second story throws in a lesbian character, which is notable, but it does little to make the story more interesting.

While the Doctor's characterization was lacking, Clara's was pretty on point (unfortunately). I'm not sure why 10 and 11 get new companions in their titles, but we're stuck with same old Clara Oswald.

Overall, this was a disappointment, nothing to see here. Forgettable.

[Beth Tabler · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun romp through two Dr. Who episodes, one episode involves sentient sun creatures, the other episode involves time and India. Was it perfect? No, but for the discerning Whovian, this was a fun romp with the doctor. The characterizations were pretty good. Peter Capaldi's Doctor is done rather well, you get the gruffness and snark. Clara is whiny and snarky as usual. The artwork for the two stories was decent although I think the quality fell off sharply at the end of the first story. There are plenty of the usual one-liners that add just enough of cheek to know that you are, in fact, in an episode of Dr. Who.

Overall this was a fun read and I recommend it. Plus, next to David Tennant, Peter Capaldi is my favorite doctor so it was fun to see him in this format. Check it out. 

[Ivy · Rating 5 out of 5]

5 stars

Nice to see a story with the Doctor and Clara.

[Trevor · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book technically has two stories in it. The first one isn't especially interesting and has terrible art but its harmless. In this review, I'm going to focus on the second one. Set mostly in a futuristic version of India, it begins with the Doctor traveling to India and then immediately making a speech about how colonialism is bad and the East India Trading Company was made up of bad people. The rest of the story, however, is about how the Hindu gods are actually evil ancient aliens (that they occasionally refer to as demons) who want to enslave people and feed upon their life force.

Taking a page from Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom, the villains are thuggee worshipers of Kali* who want to perform human sacrifices to her. At one point the Doctor says to them that its refreshing to fight a villain that is purely evil. The story ends with them summoning Kali to earth and then the Doctor fighting and killing her.

Do we really need to take an actual religion, portray its god as an evil alien, and then have the Doctor kill her? It seems entirely unnecessary and offensive. I mean don't get me wrong, the goddess Kali makes me uncomfortable. But as a Christian, I also know there are aspects of my own religion that also can come off as barbaric and violent, so I try not to be quick to judge religions that I don't completely understand. I definitely think there is a place to criticize religion in literature, but this wasn't criticism it was just taking a goddess who people actually worship and using her as the monster-of-the-week.

*The version I read had changed the names slightly, renaming Kali as Okti and calling her a celestial instead of a Hindu goddess. But she was still a giant blue four-armed woman who was worshiped in India so it wasn't especially subtle. The original version used the real names.

[Kribu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two rather fun stories.

I wasn't really super-keen on the art - the Doctor was recognisable enough, I guess, although mostly thanks to that jacket than anything else (that said, I did like all the panels that just showed his eyes) but I'd never have known Clara was Clara if she hadn't been with Twelve and referred to as, well, Clara - and in some ways I found Twelve's characterisation a little simplistic, basically just relying on a couple of his less endearing traits, but the, those stories were probably written during the early days of Twelve, so...

Anyway, I enjoyed this collection, and I'm definitely looking forward to more.

[Goodreeds User · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two stories in this - the first one kicks ass, but the second one is a bit of a wet fart

[Jacob · Rating 3 out of 5]

Public library copy.

This was the first Titans comic BBC publication I've read since IDW is no longer a licensee and I thought the efforts were better than the content IDW put out. The covers and especially the sequential art was done by better talent and remained on model. Likewise the story was consistent with the spirit of the show and I'd imagine fan's of DW, particularly of the 12th DW/actor, will enjoy the 2 tales collected herein. I thought the writer did a tremendous job capturing the tone and putting words into the character's mouths I'd imagine they would on the television.

[Shannon Appelcline · Rating 4 out of 5]

Robbie Morrison's Twelfth Doctor does a good job of capturing the cranky, alien character of Twelve and also presents two fun action stories. There's a story of fiery sun-creatures that has good connections to Gallifreyan history and an Indian story that touches upon cultures not usually explored by Doctor Who. Meanwhile, we get strong characterization of Clara too, and plenty for her to do.

All around, a good start for this new volume of Doctor adventures. The only problem is that the art deteriorates toward the end.

[K.T. Katzmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what is says on the tin. The stories read just like a great Twelth Doctor episode with a much better budget. The terraforming story is filled with odd little throwaway world-building bits in particular, and I like how the second story tied in the Fourth Doctor. Nothing innovative, just a well-done by-the-formula Who collection.

[SB Senpai Manga · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two good Doctor Who stories should've been on tv. I really liked the second story, since it dealt with an updated mythology. I enjoy Capaldi's Doctor and this book captured it.

[Chris Lemmerman · Rating 2 out of 5]

The Twelfth Doctor and Clara head off on a pair of adventures, one a battle with the titular Terrorformer and the other a cross-time confrontation with an Indian god of destruction.

I like the classic Doctor Who approach of one sci-fi story and one historical one. That's probably the biggest compliment I can pay this volume tbh. The rest of it is kind of bland. Robbie Morrison's voice for the Twelfth Doctor fits, but he seems unnecessarily angry for like 80% of the story which doesn't feel entirely right. He's always been the brashest of the NuWho Doctors but not to this extent. And Clara, the first appearance of a TV companion since the Ninth Doctor's series, is mostly there for snarky comments and getting kidnapped, which is a waste.

Also, this volume falls into the trap that The Fountains Of Terror did during the Tenth Doctor run - if you're going to reference a pre-NuWho story, you need to do a little more than just hand-wavey references. The Okti story features companions from a Fourth Doctor comic with nary an explanation other than 'he's an old friend' and a picture on a wall, so I'm not entirely sure why I should care.

The artwork's also pretty flat. Dave Taylor's Doctor looks like his face is going to fall off most of the time, and the colours do nothing to enhance the story. There's no depth to anything.

I sound overly negative, but this volume's not bad. It just...is. And just being isn't really enough to be impressive.

[Frodo · Rating 1 out of 5]

santísima nai de deus, isto é malísimo. nin o doutor é o doutor nin clara é clara nin as historias son interesantes nin o dibuxo é bo. o único decente de todo isto as dúas portadas de alice zhang, que esas si están cucas

[Alex Sarll]

Cover aside, the Doctor herein looks more like an odd composite of half-a-dozen Scottish actors than Peter Capaldi, and only intermittently sounds like him. Clara Oswald, alas, is accurately depicted in all her smug, whiny obnoxiousness. Indeed, at one stage a completely pointless side scene sees her posing for the Mona Lisa, thus further bolstering her unjustified ego while simultaneously messing up one of the all-time great Doctor Who stories, City of Death. There are two tales here (geoengineering gone wrong; alien posing as Earth deity), which would both have been at home amid the generic fare in DWM (though the latter does have rather a sweet romantic subplot). If this volume is any indication, definitely the weakest of the three ongoing Who comics from Titan.

[Rocky Sunico · Rating 3 out of 5]

This first volume of the Twelfth Doctor's comic book adventures felt a little flat for me. There's something about his characterization that felt off from the nuances of his TV counterpart and we ended up with someone who was just old and cranky but lacking the spark that makes the Doctor so distinct. And this is coming from someone who enjoyed the TV run of the Twelfth Doctor a LOT.

He just felt mean more than anything else and the first story in the volume wasn't all that exciting. I enjoyed the second arc involving quite the complex time-traveling adventure with some deep references to prior classic Doctor Who lore, but it still wasn't enough to make this first volume feel like a great start to a new adventure.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was enjoying this comic just as much as the Ten and Eleven ones, especially since they gave us a story line involving one of the Doctor's old (old, old) friends, wrapped up in Indian culture and mythology (!!!), but I was put off by the addition of several homosexual characters, which ruined the story for me.

They still did a good job keeping Twelve believable and in-character. Wholly original stories, completely in-tune with the show's feel and quality.

[Angela · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Doctor is travelling with Clara in this volume. An Indian based alien cult is impacting India and the Doctors old friends. The thugee storyline is very interesting with some strong characters, in fact, I was surprised that one of them didn't become a companion. It was not as gripping as the other 2 books in the Titan series, but all characters were well depicted. A good read.

[Amanda [Novel Addiction] · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really like the Twelfth Doctor. However, I'm not the biggest fan of Clara (she's not horrible, obviously, but I'm ready to move on from her). So please, more Doctor, less Clara in the future. Why not give him a new companion to travel with?

[Maria]

I loved the story, I loved Twelve as much as I love him in the series but I h-a-t-e-d the artwork. The only part of it I liked was the cover. Clara didn't look like Clara at all and if I didn't know it was her I would have never recognised her. :( Other than that it was an enjoyable read.

[Katka Heřmanová · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was just amazing. It felt exactly like a 'normal' episode would and Twelve was so wonderfully... Twelve. Scottish and eyebrows and everything.

[Schopfi · Rating 4 out of 5]

the artwork is a bit too simplified when it comes to the main caracters, the story is ok, the second one good even, providing a bit of a classic who-twist.

[Phoebe · Rating 4 out of 5]

The spirit of the Twelfth is nicely portrayed. The second story line was the more entertaining one for me. Definitely recommended for Doctor Who & comic fans!

[Kat · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of 12th Doctor comics contains 2 stories. The first is "Terrorformer" and the second is "The Swords of Okti."

WARNING: SOME SPOILERS BELOW!

"Terrorformer" has an interesting concept, introducing the race of Hyperions, sentient stars that used to be benevolent but then went mad and started destroying things until the most advanced civilizations, including the Time Lords, stopped them. The Hyperions are the main recurring villains through several more 12th Doctor comics. The story itself and characterization is pretty good, but the artwork is not in a style I prefer; neither the Doctor nor Clara really look like themselves. (Clara gets some especially weird facial contortions.)

"The Swords of Okti" mixes Indian mythology with life-sucking alien vampires, which was kind of cool. The villains are so-so, but the monsters are creepy and the "goddess" Okti is pretty cool, as she takes the form of a multi-armed Hindu goddess, similar to Shiva. It also introduces (or reintroduces) a character from the Doctor's past, who I was unfortunately not familiar with but you don't really need to know details for the story to work. The characterization is still fairly good (although I do find the Doctor sword-fighting Okti a little laughable) and the artwork is a bit better. The women all still look the same face-wise, but have different haircuts and outfits so you can tell them apart. (To it's credit, the story also has some homosexual characters.)

All in all, a decent but not especially ground-breaking or overwhelmingly good set of stories.

[Gareth Leadbetter · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just finished reading this for the first time in about five years. This is a solid start to the Twelfth Doctor's tenure in Titan Comics.

There are 2 stories in this collection and both plant seeds for the Hyperion arc, which will be explored in further collections.

1. Terrorformer: The first and shorter of the 2 is a visually impressive and dramatic story. Artwork from Dave Taylor is richly detailed but Clara's appearance seems a bit vague. Not a great story but good enough to get the first year arc started.

2. The Swords of Okti: I first read this story several years ago in comic form and it was originally called Swords of 'Kali'. I personally liked the idea that aliens were impersonating or manipulating the persona of a real god but I can see how Hindus would find it offensive. I like the set up of this story and the artwork is even better this time. However, it drags a little in the middle and I don't want to spoil the ending but it's not exactly original and a little anticlimactic.

On the whole, a good volume. I would recommend based on the fact that it ties into the story arc of the next 2 volumes, which are arguably better.

[Nicholas Whyte · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/terrorformer-by-robbie-morrison-et-al/

compilation of two two-issue stories, both of which I rather liked.

Terrorformer has the newly regenerated Doctor and Clara visiting a planet which should have been an ice world but seems to have become rather hot; it turns out that there’s an intelligent star behind it all (this made me look up the temperature at the core of the Sun). Clara gets some decent character moments too.

The Swords of Okti is set in both past and future India, and puts Clara aside for most of it to give the Doctor two temporary Indian companions – who I think are the first South Asians to have that role in any medium? The story was originally published as The Swords of Kali, but re-titled after a Hindu group in Nevada protested at the appropriation of the goddess. In any case, it’s a fairly standard aliens-pose-as-gods narrative but with the extra cultural wrinkles.

[Ian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two adventures for the Twelfth Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and his companion Clara Oswald.
In the first they discover a planet where a rich magnate's terraforming plans have gone awry and in the second they have to save an orbital city from cultists dedicated to an alien being posing as a god.

Most importantly here, Morrison clearly has a good grasp of the Twelfth Doctor's character, capturing both his sincere compassion and his irritation with people acting stupidly (although I have to say that the snarkiness was occasionally overdone). With that in place everything else is elevated by association. Which is useful when things like Clara's characterisation doesn't feel quite so spot-on.

Plot-wise, the two stories offered here are perfectly fine, but lacking any real punch.
So overall, this book is also perfectly fine, but not more than that.

* More reviews here: https://fsfh-book-review2.webnode.page *

[Sophie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Was honestly just kinda meh. I didn’t think either of the stories were super engaging, although I did enjoy the first one. The doctors characterization was just kinda off. Clara was pretty on point though, but unfortunately her banter with the doctor just didn’t come through. I think the second story was just a bit to over complicated, it felt as if it was just trying to do to much so none of the plot could really get fully fleshed out. It was okay an enjoyable enough sorry but just nothing super engaging.

[Usama Albastaki · Rating 3 out of 5]

Doctor Who: Terrorformer is a quintessential British comic that captures the adventurous spirit of the series. The story grips you from the start, pulling you through with relentless excitement until the final page. However, the artwork feels overly polished, almost computerized, which detracts from its charm. The characters' lack of facial expressions makes it hard to connect emotionally with their journey. Additionally, the inclusion of a lesbian romance at the end felt abrupt and out of place, adding little to the narrative.