Morrison, Robbie
About the Author:
Robbie Morrison is Scottish but lives in England.
AVERAGE REVIEW SCORE:
3.5 out of 5
(2 books)
Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor Vol. 2 - The Weeping Angels Of Mons
(Art by Daniel Indro and Eleonora Carlini)
The Tenth Doctor (David Tennant) and his relatively new companion Gabby Gonzales find themselves amid the battlefields of the First World War. Arrested as spies by the British forces undertaking the Somme offensive, they soon discover that a far more terrible enemy than the Germans is lurking amid the mist and shell craters.
I had been very disappointed by the first volume of this series (by Nick Abadzis), so I was very pleased to find that this book is leagues better. The First World War is an endlessly emotive setting for any story and Morrison does a great job of conveying the real-world tragedy that it represents. Also, rather than just being a gimmick, as the appearances of iconic Who monsters can be, the Weeping Angels are entirely appropriate to the story, as they thrive off of fear and find themselves hunting in a landscape where countless people disappear without trace anyway. Considering how important the visual aspect of the Angels' first and best appearance ('Blink') was, I was also pleased to see that their menace is also nicely conveyed in the art here.
The only real downside to this otherwise excellent Who story is the epilogue, which returns the Doctor and Gabby to present day New York and sees them encountering sound-based memory whales being hunted by funny little green aliens. It's too much like the bland and awkward storytelling of Vol 1 and does a disservice to the rest of the book.
4 out of 5
Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Vol. 1 - Terrorformer
(Art by Dave Taylor and Mariano Laclaustra)
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.
Plotwise, 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.
3 out of 5