Doctor Who: The Third Doctor #3

I liked the first issue of Doctor Who: The Third Doctor for its effective nostalgia, but by this point in the five-issue miniseries, I’m honestly (and pleasantly) surprised at the turns in the story.

The Doctor and Jo have been taken over by nanites, although since this story is set in the 70s, they’re called “micro machines” by writer Paul Cornell. For some reason, that means both characters are inside Jo’s mind, a crazy-colored landscape that the machines are trying to colonize. I liked this for showing her as more than just a running screamer, someone with depth and her own strengths.

Cornell does a great job including classic elements of Who stories while giving them more substantial resonance. For example, the Doctor faces off with the main villain, speechifying, something we’ve seen any number of times, but I found his monologue insightful while still being in the voice I expected.

Artist Christopher Jones’ character reactions are sometimes a bit broad, but come to think of it, that matches the original acting by Jon Pertwee and co. He does a good job with the various surprise reveals, including a cliffhanger with an in-continuity character I never dreamed we’d see again! I’m fascinated. Plus, we get a double-page splash of Venusian Aikido!

There are two additional variant covers.

(The publisher provided a digital review copy.)