Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor: 2019 Holiday Special #1 (Family Comic Friday)

 If you were expecting a Doctor Who holiday special for 2019,  sorry, it already happened! The New Year's Day episode titled 'Resolution' was the only live action fun starring everyone's favorite Timelord! But that doesn't mean that Whovians will have to go without any further festive fun! Thanks to our friends at Titan Comics, we get not one but TWO! holiday specials in sequential art form! Join Family Comic Friday as we look at the Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor: 2019 Holiday Special #1 and 2!

(Please Note: Rating is for issue #1 only!)

Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor: 2019 Holiday Special #1 
Written by Jody Houser
Art by Roberta Ingranata
Published by Titan Comics
Retail: $5.99 each

After an adventure on an interstellar amusement park, The Doctor and her companions Graham, Ryan and Yaz all seem to have differing accounts of just what happened. This isn't a case of witness bias. The Doctor recalls Graham being eaten by a carnival game. But Graham thinks that 'The Doc' is bonkers. It was Ryan who got into trouble at a haunted house- and it almost turned him into a ghost!

This case of mixed-up memories has The Doctor alarmed. Going to the TARDIS memory banks, the Timelord discovers that the ship has no memory of ever going to such a terrible planet! Thus The Doctor and the gang will retrace their steps by going to the last place recorded in the TARDIS data banks: a world that only wants the Thirteenth Doctor to leave- AGAIN!

 By the end of the first issue, this band of heroic time (and space) travelers will encounter evil toy soldiers, a evil Santa wannabe and a hidden terror that will make the blood flowing through both of the Doctor's hearts run cold!

When I first heard of a Doctor Who holiday comic special coming to stores for the 2019 Christmas season, I was thrilled! But to find out that we're getting 2 issues! Holy Cow! Santa must have known that I had been really good this year!

The story starts off kinda slow. It really doesn't reflect the holidays until about the last third of the first issue. I'm really hoping that issue #2 will be chock full of festive fun!

The idea of the 4 members of the TARDIS having differing accounts of their previous adventure made for an intriguing mystery. Jody Houser (Stranger Things) has really set the stage for what I hope will be an exciting issue #2.  

Parents and guardians should note that while issue #1 is quite safe for the entire family, issue #2 promises a menacing creature that may be too scary for very young readers.

The Doctor's companions are some of the best we've had to grace the TARDIS since the Ponds and Houser really captures their energy and personalities very well. I only wish that the artist could have done the same with their likenesses.

Artist Roberta Ingranata (Robyn Hood) does a good job illustrating Graham and Ryan. But the images of the Doctor are hit-and-miss. Sometimes it looks like actress Jodie Whittaker. Sometimes the art looks like a random cosplayer dressed as the Thirteenth Doctor. but Ingranata's renderings of Yaz are just not good. Instead of reflecting  Indian-English actress Mandip Gill, many of the panels of Yaz look nothing like her! I was  very disappointed in that.

Issues with the artwork aside, I was pleased. Despite the BBC and Chris Chibnall being Scrooges by not giving us an official 2019 holiday TV episode, Titan Comics made off like Santa by gifting us with this two-parter. Even a Doctor Who special with flaws is better than no Doctor Who at all!

Doctor Who The Thirteenth Doctor: Holiday Special 2019 #1 debuted in stores and digital platforms earlier this month. Issue #2 will debut on December 18th, 2019!

Worth Consuming!

Rating: 8 out of 10 stars.