| Title | : | Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor, Time Trials Vol 2: The Wolves of Winter |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | 1785865404 |
| ISBN-10 | : | 9781785865404 |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 112 |
| Publication | : | First published February 21, 2018 |
And in a one-shot adventure, the Doctor takes Bill and Nardole on a trip to an intergalactic supermarket, where they make an unexpected new friend!
Collects Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Year Three #5-7 and #9.
Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor, Time Trials Vol 2: The Wolves of Winter Reviews
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Wolves of Winter is an ambitious story that is both a prequel and a sequel to an old Seventh Doctor story. There are a lot of factions at work, and sometimes things get a little messy in terms of who is working with/against who, but for the most part it's fairly successful - it's also a good example of how to do what the last few volumes have been doing, the old 'alien spaceship crashes and causes problems on Earth', properly.
The one-and-done set in the space supermarket at the end was fine, nothing overly special. The banter between the Doctor, Missy, and Nardole was the best bit.
The artwork's pretty neat too - Brian Williamson returns for the Wolves Of Winter, while new fill-in artist Pasquale Qualano handles the final issue.
A much better entry into the Twelfth Doctor's comic adventures, if a little overly complicated at times. -
Finally, Bill, as the series catches up with Capaldi's one good series just in time to end (if the 'Time Trials' subtitle signified anything substantial, I'm missing it). The pair of them get entangled with Vikings who accuse each other of having no head for stratagems without being able to spell 'stratagem', and take the Doctor and Bill for emissaries of the gods even though the Norse gods were more likely to turn up in person, and I could maybe overlook that if any of them had the faintest wisp of personality, but they don't. As for the SF elements, well, at first they seem to be tying a few adjacent bits of Who lore together quite neatly, but ultimately it collapses into inconsequential fanwank.
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Getting better. Definite improvement on previous volumes.
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Vikings and Ice Warriors and Fenric, oh my! The second volume of Titan Comics third year of Doctor Who Twelfth Doctor stories brings in Bill Potts - finally. It's good to have a permanent companion for the Doctor again. The TARDIS lands on a volcanic island in the 9th Century CE, where the Doctor and Bill meet some friendly Vikings. The Vikings assume the Doctor is a messenger of the gods, especially after they see inside the Doctor's TARDIS. The Vikings tell the Doctor about seeing two lights in the sky - one which appeared to burn up but the other disappeared. Thinking it was a ship that landed, the Vikings, The Doctor and Bill investigate. They find a group of Ice Warriors. The Ice Warriors are pursuing one Warrior who was infected by the Flood and escaped Mars in a stolen vehicle. Knowing that if the Flood infects Earth it will destroy the planet, the Ice Warriors want to destroy it first. The Doctor quickly talks the Ice Warriors and Vikings into forming an alliance. They even agree to kill anyone on either side infected by the Flood and possessed.
The Doctor formulates a plan - the Vikings will go inside the warm volcanic mountain, where the heat threatens the Ice Warriors, and the Ice Warriors will guard the exits. All are armed with sonic weapons. But the Doctor also feels he has to give the Flood a chance, so he dresses in a spacesuit and enters the volcano to speak to the Flood. He discovers a Haemovore, Viking runes, a cursed treasure, chess pieces, and other clues that link to Fenric. The names of the Vikings are also familiar. The Doctor tells Bill a little of his Seventh incarnation's encounter with Fenric.
However, The Doctor is able with the help of the Vikings and Ice Warriors to defeat Fenric (for now) and prevent his poisoning of the Earth with the Flood. The Ice Warriors leave in their spaceship and the Vikings head off in their longboat by "the South way" with their cursed treasure hidden away. As they leave, the Doctor and Bill see a polar bear with her cub - the purpose of their journey originally.
In the second, much shorter story, the vault where the Doctor is holding Missy, needs to have a part replaced so the Doctor, Bill and Nardole head to the Ubermart. There the Doctor and Bill are soon separated. Bill meets a young girl who has also gotten lost. Bill and the girl are pursued by Owl-like creatures and both Bill and the Doctor and Nardole are harassed by the store's security bots. Eventually, they all meet up again. The young girl turns out to be a Pathicol - symbiotic beings that feed on empathy. The owl-like beings are the Pathicols in their natural, undisguised, state, and quite friendly. The child is returned to her family and the Doctor, Bill, and Nordole return to the TARDIS.
I enjoyed this story very much. It ties into the New Who Tenth Doctor story, "The Waters of Mars" and the Seventh Doctor story, "The Curse of Fenric" - which is one of my favorites. The Ice Warriors in this story are Classic Ice Warriors and also an intelligent proud warrior species, who end-up as good friends with the Viking Warriors. The story also has several awesome references to Norse Mythology that makes a lot of sense. The artwork in the story is also beautiful. And it was great to finally see Bill Potts in the comics! The second story is short and cute, and a good way to round off this collection. The Pathicol in their native state though did remind me of the Court of Owls from Batman. Anyway, this collection is highly recommended. -
Doctor Who: The Wolves of Winter collects together two very different stories in one bumper volume, with the short sci-fi adventure to a space supermarket, and a brilliant journey to the past that involves Vikings, as well as a number of monsters from past adventures.
The first story is definitely the stronger of the two, whilst this is in part because it has the majority of book in which to tell its story rather than one single issue. With a setting that we rarely see the television series attempt, our heroes land unexpectedly in the Antarctic wastes, besieged by snowstorms. It’s an atmospheric location, one that has lent itself well to horror stories in the past.
That’s what this first story is, as horror. It has more of a spiritual connection to John Carpenter’s The Thing than you’d initially expect from a Doctor Who story, and whilst at first it appears to be a story about Vikings, the sudden inclusion of The Flood infection pushes it into horror territory.
A prequel story of sorts to the 2009 special ‘The Waters of Mars’, we get to learn more about the mysterious water virus that wiped out the Mars colony in that story thanks to the inclusion of Ice Warriors, who are able to fill in some of the background details that were only vaguely hinted at in the past.
Whilst this would be enough to be a story in itself, the fight against time to stop The Flood reaching Earth’s oceans and infecting everything, it goes one further by adding connections to the Sylvester McCoy story, ‘The Curse of Fenric’, introducing vampire creatures called Haemovores.
The additional faction means that the Doctor and Bill really get pushed to their limits as they must not only juggle an uneasy alliance between Vikings and Ice Warriors, and stop The Flood from getting to the ocean, but also contend with vampire monsters from the future who are working for an evil godlike entity.
This may have been too many story threads for some, but the writer, Richard Dinnick, is able to keep all of these plot threads in the air at the same time, giving each of them time to breath, shocking moments, and realistic connections and interactions. Even if you are unaware of these past stories the book manages to tell its own engaging narrative that stands on its own.
The second story, which sees the Doctor and his companions going shopping, is very short in comparison, but that’s a good thing. There’s very little that happens in this story and the characters come across as very one-dimensional and shallow, which is a stark contrast to the previous tale.
It also has some fairly standard and predictable sci-fi plot points which means that it’s very easy to see where the story is going, and nothing about it is a great surprise.
Doctor Who: The Wolves of Winter has a great main story, one that draws upon the history of the franchise and delivers an engaging and tension filled adventure. Sadly, the second story lets the book down somewhat as it fails to capture the imagination, or entertain. -
Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor, Time Trials Vol 2
[Collects Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor Year Three #5-7 & #9]
Ok, but lacked captivating story lines. Still, never pass a chance to read the adventures of The Doctor and Bill.
Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor: 3.5
The Wolves of Winter. Part 1
"Vikings. Again!"
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Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor: 3.6
The Wolves of Winter. Part 2
Slower plot, but great dialogue and wit
“They made me play the SPOONS. Imagine! Me? More of an AXEMAN now.” – Doctor
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Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor: 3.7
The Wolves of Winter. Part 3
… Haemovore .. Fenric … return to 7th Doctor’s encounters, but here with Ice Warriors, Vikings and The Flood virus!
“It’s COMPLICATED.” – Doctor
“Mate, that’s not an explanation, that’s a FACEBOOK RELATIONSHIP STATUS!” – Bill
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...
Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #3.9 by Richard Dinnick, Brian Williamson, Hi-Fi, Adam Cadwell.
THE GREAT SHOPPING BILL
Fun comic primarily about Bill Potts, with the Doctor and Nardal doing a bit of shopping too – and getting lost in the aisles! Nice redemptive finale. Oh! And Missy is in it.. still in the vault.
****
“SHOPPING. I'm not very good. The whole LIST thing seems just so … LACKING spontaneity! Takes all the FUN out of it.” - Doctor
“Welcome to the UBERMARKET! … Each aisle has its own ARTIFICIAL GRAVITY, so you can shop but you'll never drop!” - Doctor
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Good solid volume of the ongoing 12th Doctor's adventures. This one has a main story regarding the ice warriors and old foe from his 7th incarnation returning.
Its very cool to see Bill in this volume, though there is no introduction. The volume is heavily tied into the show so if you are not watching the show, first off, why are you reading the comic then?, then the sudden appearance of Bill can be a bit confusing as it is not explained at all.
Still, its great that she's there and the writer definitely captured her voice well. The last story is a stand alone with Bill and Nardole and its very good. There's even a quick Missy cameo.
My criticisms are that the art at times, feels a bit rushed. And the plot of the main story gets a bit convoluted at the end, which is saying something when talking about Doctor Who.
Overall, good story, if you are a Doctor Who completionist, its worth a read! -
If you enjoy your Doctor Who chock full of references, callbacks and tying up loose ends that you didn't know were loose, then oh boy is this volume for you. If not... well, enjoy the supermarket story anyway. My mouth hung open during most of my reading of this volume, not only for the sheer fun and audacity of Richard Dinnick's yarn-spinning but the beautiful artwork as well. For a more detailed review, visit
www.travelingthevortex.com (episode #370) -
An exciting story with great canonicity to reward long running fans of new and classic who, the characters are written well (The playful banter/mentor chemistery with the Doctor and Bill is great) The only criticism's I would say is that it's a bit over stuffed and comes to a conclusion too quickly, with all it's mostly successful ambition. The extra story is fun but mostly superfluous.
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The Doctor travels to the past with Bill and comes across Fenric, and Vikings.
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On the plus side, a little bit of Bill never goes wrong! The plots of these two storylines, however, felt like they either dragged (in the first story arc) or were too simple.
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Nice to have Bill and Nardole in the mix. It does get a little ambitious trying to connect to Curse of Fenric, but ends up being less than the sum of its parts.
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This book collects two stories.
The first is the three issue titular story, "The Wolves of Winter," which throws a lot of elements in. The Doctor and Bill arrive to find Vikings fleeing from other Vikings and they encounter Ice Warriors who are on the trail of the Flood (the monster from Water of Mars.) The book also throws another mystery villain from Classic Doctor Who. Usually, when Doctor Who comics throw in a bit of continuity, it doesn't work. This book is an exception. Nothing feels really extraneous and the story is well-paced. Good luck understanding it if you're not a Doctor Who fan, but this is a good story.
The other issue is, "The Great Shopping Bill" which finds the Doctor, Nardole, and Bill having to make an emergency shopping trip after the dimensional stabilizer in the Vault fails endangering its occupant. So the Doctor, Nardole, and Bill go to the Ubermart where Bill runs into a lost little girl and tries to help. This is a fun cute little run around that's a pleasan diversion and a nice little one-shot. Overall, this is a fun little volume.
