DOCTOR WHO FCBD ’24 sets up an all-new adventure for the Doctor and Ruby

The Doctor Who FCBD ’24 issue is a short, sweet prologue to the upcoming ongoing story featuring the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday. It has a fun small-time villain, great callbacks to past adventures, and a mysterious big bad that hooks you in at the end.

Read on for The Beat’s full review, but as River Song would say, SPOILERS…!

Doctor Who FCBD ’24

Writer: Dan Watters
Artist: Kelsey Ramsay
Colorist: Valentina Bianconi
Letterer: Richard Starkings of Comicraft
Group Editor: Jake Devine
Art Director: Oz Browne
Publisher: Titan Comics
Publication Date: May 4, 2024
Story Genre: Science Fiction, Fantasy
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars

Official Synopsis: With his courageous companion, RUBY, the Doctor is back in the TARDIS for a whole new era of time-traveling tales. But fearsome foes await…

What did I enjoy about the Doctor Who FCBD ’24 issue?

I’m a sucker for when Doctor Who calls back to its older stories and characters, so the FCBD ’24 issue’s two-page spread, featuring several panels of locations from past adventures (both classic and modern) made me smile. I also like the dynamic between the Doctor and Ruby here; it bounces right off the screen and feels very natural. Dick Turpin, the famed Highwayman, is a fun minor villain for the Doctor to tussle with and gives us an introduction to the bigger bad, who does not have a name but looks like they could be a vampire of a sort?

The action scenes are really dynamic. I especially like the energy blasts coming off the cyber blaster; it’s a really well-drawn effect. There isn’t much to the story as a whole, but being a Free Comic Book Day issue, there doesn’t need to be. The book does its job well of acting as an introduction to this new series of Doctor Who comics and building up hype for what’s to come.

What I enjoyed less∗

*This is just me being nitpicky for a short, free comic because, yeah, it isn’t perfect, but that’s also okay. I still loved this book which is why these are simply the things I enjoyed less.

As well as beautifully depicting most of the still, quiet moments and longer action scenes, the crowd panels are a bit lacking at times. It’s not that they need to be detailed, but they do have a sort of rushed look to them, especially in individual faces.

I kind of wish we’d gotten a name for the mysterious villain at the end of the book, something to call him, but I’m still invested and ready to find out more.

The Takeaway

I hope you were able to pick this issue up on FCBD, if not may ask your local comic shop if they still have any available, or you can get it alongside other DW comics from Humble Bundle for a limited time. This was a really, genuinely, solid opening adventure for the Doctor and Ruby from Titan Comics and I’m very excited for issue #1 proper, which will be available June 26, 2024!

Check out The Beat’s coverage of the latest TV season’s first episode by D. Morris if you haven’t already! It’s shaping up to be a crazy ride!