There is an interesting turn around for Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time #11. While the rest of the series has been rather lackluster, this issue spikes it into the kind of scenario that could easily become an episode of the show. The series ends on an odd note, one that could one of two things, but more on that later. Overall, this is probably the best issue, plot wise, that Doctor Who: Prisoners of Time has given fans.
The eleventh Doctor (played by Matt Smith from 2010-2013) is finishing up an adventure with his companion Clara, when the hooded man who has been pursuing him hits the Clara and The Doctor from behind. Once again, a companion is stolen, only this time the Doctor remembers, and the hunter becomes the hunted. After ten issues of repetition in structure and plot, writers Scott and David Tipton reach deep into the new era of Doctor Who for their villain, while still bringing in a taste of the classics series.
How the Doctor discovers his enemy is unimportant, but the reveal of the villain as Adam Mitchell is quite ingenious. Even some fans of the show will not recognize the name. Adam Mitchell traveled for two shows with Rose and the Ninth Doctor. A computer hacker with a weakness for wealth, Adam allowed himself to receive an alien implant to his head that would deliver endless streams of information to his brain. When the Doctor found out, he promptly stopped the madness and left Adam on Earth to his own devices.
Living with a huge alien implant on his forehead forces Adam into the life of hermit. Even his own mother is terrified of him. The hatred festers, and Adam decides to use his implant to find a Time Agent, defeat him, and steal the agent’s time travel bracelet. From that moment on, Adam has been chasing the Doctor through his many versions and kidnapping the Doctor’s companions. When the eleventh Doctor finally catches up to Adam, and the Master, he is forced to make a choice. One companion may live, the rest must die.
Outside of including Adam, the more interesting part of all this is that the series does not end with issue #11. This raises one obvious question. is the twelfth issue going to contain 12th Doctor Peter Capaldi, or is it simply another issue involving the eleventh Doctor? The way these issues have been coming out, it is logical to think IDW would push the final issue to January, after Capaldi’s debut. Whatever the outcome, issue eleven of Prisoners of Time comes very close to redeeming the series as a whole.
Sadly, the art from Matthew Dow Smith is little more than a means to an end. Every comic book must have a visual element, but it doesn’t always mean said element leaps from the page, nor does it mean the element elevates the issue into something special. Smith’s art flat lines, it tells the story but does nothing else. Character faces are much too similar, the panels are awkward and clumsy, and it just has no visual appeal. It’s a shame, because issue #11 was the first example of Prisoners of Time really knocking it out of the park since the first few issues.
(4 Story, 2 Art)
