I thought this was going to be something slightly different than it was. Spinning out of the 2016 Christmas special, "The Return of the Doctor Mysterio" (the first issue came out literally the day after it aired), this sends the twelfth Doctor on an adventure with that story's superhero, the Ghost, and his wife and daughter. I thought it was going to be the ongoing superhero adventures of the Ghost, with the Doctor as a minor character maybe. Instead, it's a pretty standard set of Doctor Who adventures, but with the Ghost and his family as companions. There's no New York City superheroics here; instead, there's visits to the future and alien planets and Sycorax spacecraft to track down some cosmic thingummies

It's fine. I appreciated the focus on Grant's wife Lucy, who is the focal character much more than the Ghost, actually. But it's pretty bog-standard stuff, slightly enlivened by the novelty of having an entire family (including a daughter who is either eight or eleven) as a companion team.

But I feel like something funner could have been done. "The Return of Doctor Mysterio" was a pastiche of the Richard Donner Superman films, and it seems that a comic book version of the character could have been a superhero comic pastiche. I can imagine some fun stuff: give the Ghost a classic Siegel and Shuster social justice adventure, a wacky Mort Weisinger Silver Age tale, a John Byrne Man of Steel-era adventure, each with appropriate art. Heck, use the TARDIS to show him what he inspired in the 31st century for some Legion of Super-Heroes madness! I know damning a story for something for not doing something it didn't even aspire to do isn't the done thing in reviewing, but I really feel like this squandered the potential of a fun episode. As is often the case, Mann's Twelfth Doctor comics aren't as playful as the television run they are trying to emulate.

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Read issue 1.
Okay.
How does the artist make the Doctor look nothing like Capaldi?

This collection contains issues 1 to 4 of “Ghost Stories”, a story arc in which the Twelfth Doctor returns to visit “the Ghost”, a superhero created in the TV episode “The Return of Doctor Mysterio”. Grant is now married to Lucy and is a super stepdad to Jennifer, Lucy’s daughter. It’s Christmas Day, but the Doctor needs help recovering three crystals that are vital to the future of the universe. He needs Grant, but Grant is not about to leave his family behind. Cue several epic adventures and a heartwarming conclusion.

The storyline was OK, and I liked the idea of picking up this particular character thread—Doctor Mysterio is one of my favourite Twelfth Doctor episodes. I was less enthusiastic about the art, though. A throwaway line left me confused about Jennifer’s age, and that confusion was not easily resolved by her appearance. The whole thing felt pencilled-in and incomplete. And once again I find that the epubs have spacing issues with the text: bold italic text in speech bubbles runs into the not-bold text and makes it hard to read. ( )

Voor mij is de televisieserie en de daarop gebaseerde Big Finish audio's van Doctor Who zeer vertrouwd. Maar wat de stripwereld van Doctor Who betreft sta ik nog maar net aan het begin. Ik weet dan ook helemaal niet wat me te wachten staat wanneer ik met zo'n stripverhaal begin.

In deze Ghost Stories bezoekt de twaalfde Doctor Grant en Lucy, twee personages die kijkers kennen uit de kerstspecial The Return of Doctor Mysterio uit 2016. Handig dat de strip deze personages nog even kort voorstellen waardoor het ook niet noodzakelijk is om de televisieserie te kennen.

Grant en Lucy herkende ik snel weer maar met de Doctor had ik meer moeite. Hij is voor mij redelijk onherkenbaar getekend. Het is zijn kleding in combinatie van hoe hij dingen zegt dat ik snap dat dit de twaalfde Doctor moet zijn. Dit maakte het voor mij moeilijker om in het typische Doctor Who-gevoel te komen.

Het verhaal zelf is uiteindelijk best wel heel erg Doctor Who met het uitvoeren van een taak om het hele universum te redden waarbij er onderweg met allemaal nieuwe wezens kennis gemaakt wordt die goed of slecht blijken te zijn. En natuurlijk wordt er veel gerend. Dit alles met een voorspelbaar goed einde maar niet zonder dat er iets wezenlijks bij een van de hoofdpersonages veranderd is wat het dan weer interessant maakt. Dus qua verhaal zeker de moeite waard. ( )