Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor Volume 3 – Official Secrets

Pursuing a human-turned-gargoyle into the past, the Ninth Doctor, Rose, and Jack find themselves in the 1970s, where UNIT is under siege from giant kaiju-like monsters and in danger of being superseded entirely by a private anti-alien group called Albion Defense. But that’s not all that threatens the Doctor and his friends, as the search for Captain Jack’s missing memories leads to slavers in Brazil in the 17th century and monsters lurking beneath the waves.

For fans of the Ninth Doctor’s run, this comic might feel a bit atonal. Eccleston struck such a masterful balance between funny, alien, soulful, and sinister that it’s hard to recreate. Scott and Melo’s version of The Doctor is distractingly abrupt at points, and Rose is more annoying than she ever was during Nine’s run on the show.

But those minor character missteps are overshadowed by Captain Jack’s spot-on portrayal and the very intriguing storylines crafted for the trio. Between a very sinister mystery from Jack’s past and transplanting a modern Doctor square in the middle of a Classic Who era, they’re taking big risks that pay off narratively.