JODY HOUSER

Comics about the adventures of the Doctor and her adventures are something that Titan Comics is well-known for. Their Doctor Who books are enjoyed the world over by Whovians of all ages. That is why this latest collection, Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Vol. 3: Old Friends, is one that will thrill and excite everyone who picks it up.Written by comic book superstar Jody Houser (Star Wars, Spider-Man, Mother Panic), illustrated by Roberta Ingranata (Witchblade, Robyn Hood), and colored by comics pro Enrica Eren Angiolini (The Steel Prince, Warhammer 40K), the creative team steps up and brings a dynamic twist to the story, art, and colors for this fantastic arc.

Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Vol. 3: Old Friends

Writer: Jody Houser
Artist: Roberta Ingranata
Colorist: Enrica Eren Angiolini

When accused of stealing the precious Gem of Niag, the Doctor and friends go in search of the true culprit. They soon find themselves entangled with an old friend of the Doctor’s – the rogue Time Lord, the Corsair! Styled like a daring adventurer, with a pirate ship-Tardis to boot, the Corsair leads the gang on a rescue mission that seems dubiously like a heist…

The Corsair was created for the TV series by Neil Gaiman – this is her first ever appearance!

Buy it, read it, then travel back in time to read it for the first time all over again…!

Collects Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor #9-12.

PopCultHQ had the honor of interviewing Jody Houser & Enrica Eren Angiolini about this collection. Hear Jody discuss what draws her to writing complex characters, crafting the character of The Corsair, and writing a team-up between the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctors. Then listen to Enrica talk about breaking into the industry, how she developed her unique style, working on Doctor Who, and getting to work with artist Roberta Ingranata.

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PopCultHQ Creator Spotlight:
Creative Team of Titan Comics’
DOCTOR WHO: THE 13th DOCTOR
Vol. 3: ‘Old Friends’

PopCultHQ Interviews:
Writer Jody Houser

PopCultHQ: You’ve written for a wide variety of superhero comics over the years: Faith, Mother Panic, Amazing Spider-Man. What is it that draws you to working on books with such varied and complicated heroes?

Jody Houser: I like working on a range of different tones of books, but the main thing of interest to me is always character. So complex and very varied characters is really the ideal workload for me.

PopCultHQ: Working on Doctor Who, audiences are fully introduced to the character of the Corsair. Were there any challenges to crafting her personality?

Jody Houser: Neil Gaiman wrote an amazing post about The Corsair, which was the main basis for my take on the character. The biggest challenge was not to lean too much on the version of the character I played on a livestream RPG show a couple years back.

PopCultHQ: A follow up question, what are you hoping Doctor Who fans will take away from this story arc?

Jody Houser: I hope that getting to see a new Time Lord and how it brings out another side of the Doctor will be a different story than Whovians have really gotten to see, especially with Thirteen.

PopCultHQ: Is there anything in particular you are looking forward to with writing the team-up between the Thirteenth and Tenth Doctors?

Jody Houser: I’m excited to write the interaction between the two Doctors, of course, and to write Ten again. He’s one of my favorites. And, we can’t forget, Martha Jones. Meeting another version of the man she’s so in love with is going to be interesting.

PopCultHQ: You’ve got a great creative team working with you for the series. What have you enjoyed most about working with Roberta Ingranata and Enrica Eren Angiolini?

Jody Houser: Aside from being amazingly talented, both of them are so invested in what we’ve been doing in the book. It’s lovely when you have absolute trust that the book is going to look amazing and that your collaborators are fine with getting weird!

PopCultHQ Interviews:
Colorist Enrica Eren Angiolini

PopCultHQ: As a colorist, how did you take your passions for art and photography and apply them to breaking into the comics industry?

Enrica Eren Angiolini: I strongly believe that all creative passions and hobbies a person has positively influence each other. My love for drawing and photography taught me a lot about composition, color theory, rendering, and even how to use tools like Photoshop. I haven’t gone to art school, so everything I know now, came from personal research and study: knowing how to frame a character in an illustration or how to properly use light in portrait photography, all feed into being able to correctly use values, hues, saturation, contrast and so on, when I have to color a page or a cover. All those skills were crucial when it came to putting together my first colorist portfolio; I had already tested and honed them in other fields, instead of just starting from zero.

PopCultHQ: Your style as a colorist is very unique and has a wide variety of hues. Are there any challenges to choosing colors for things such as clothing, skin tones, buildings, or scenery?

Enrica Eren Angiolini: Many of the projects I work on have fixed, specific palettes for the characters, which I can’t modify. So the challenge is less into choosing the colors, and more into making sure those palettes stay recognizable. Ambient light, particular atmospheres, and shadows drastically influence colors, so I need to find a way to make each character look like themselves, but still convey the specific emotion or reaction requested by the script, or that I think would suit the scene best. When it comes to skin tones, each of the characters has a specific skin tone I choose at the beginning of the series. It’s part of who they are and it’s crucial for me to put attention in things like that, keeping them constant throughout the issues. So I always work hard on making sure I can balance my colors in a way that adds emotion and detail to the lines, but also ensuring each character or place is portrayed correctly, making sure their identity and role are respected.

PopCultHQ: You’ve worked on some fantastic books and genres, from horror to magic to adventure. What was it like taking a step into the world of science-fiction comics with Doctor Who?

Enrica Eren Angiolini: It was surely a great honor to be invited into the Doctor Who universe. Of course, I had to do quite a bit of research (and episode-binging) and I still do it now. It’s always interesting how each book or movie gives their own spin on a genre, and Doctor Who surely has its own vibe and imagery. It’s a big responsibility, but I was always accompanied and supported by my awesome team and never felt like it was too hard or scary a task.

PopCultHQ: In Doctor Who: Old Friends, your colors applied to Roberta Ingranata’s art gave the characters such a life-like quality. How did you both accomplish this amazing feat?

Enrica Eren Angiolini: The first pages were tough (as they always are when you have to get used to a new artist), but once I understood how to adapt my technique to her lines and make sure the coloring style was consistent with the previous issues, but also matched and completed Roberta’s lines, everything clicked! Roberta has a less realistic style than Rachael [Stott], but it still gives me space for rendering face and expressions, enhancing the gestures and actions of the characters. We communicate a lot, and I know Roberta puts a lot of effort into her work, as do I, so I guess that’s what makes our pages good!

PopCultHQ: To follow up on that, was it a lot of fun working with Roberta on the book?

Enrica Eren Angiolini: Roberta is a wonderful person and artist and I’m very happy to be sharing this adventure with her. She’s incredibly kind and supportive, just lovely to work with! And she’s also very fast! Good relationships and great communication between the members of the creative team are crucial to make sure we put out our best work possible for our readers! And I’m glad (and lucky) to say our team surely does that very well!

PopCultHQ: If you could choose one series or character to be the colorist for, whom would you pick?

Enrica Eren Angiolini: I’d probably go for Marvel’s Thor! It basically has everything I love: adventure, action, fantasy and folklore themes, amazing and iconic characters, and so many beautiful stories! The other choices in my top 3 would be: Wolverine, because he’s one of my absolute favorites, and Doctor Strange, cause it would allow me to play with crazy colors and surreal atmospheres.

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Big thanks to Jody Houser and Enrica Eren Angiolini for taking time to be interviewed by PopCultHQ. And a special thanks to Titan Comics for arranging this interview.

Be sure to follow Jody, Enrica, and Titan Comics online (links below) to stay updated on all the latest Doctor Who news and make sure to pick up the collection at your local comic shop and online retailers!

Purchase Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor Vol. 3: Old Friends!

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Writer – Jody Houser

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Colorist – Enrica Eren Angiolini

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Publisher: Titan Comics

Titan Comics offers astounding creator-owned comics and graphic novels from new and world-renowned talent, alongside the world’s greatest licensed properties and classic graphic novels remastered for brand-new audiences.  Titan is one of the most successful independent publishing operations in the US, with a recent six-week run at #1 in the New York Times bestseller list. 

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