Posted in: Comics, Review | Tagged: Comics, Declan Shalvey, doctor who, HRL, image, image comics, Injection, Jordie Bellaire, LGBTQ, quatermass, representation matters, Review, sherlock, warren ellis

Injection #14 Review: The Doctor Is A Black Irish Lesbian Now, And It Rules

Injection #14 released by Image Comics, written by Warren Ellis and with art by Declan Shalvey and Jordie Bellaire, continues the teams weird and twisted journey through British storytelling.

Because that is what Injection is all about, really: British fiction. Ellis has discussed this idea before, but as each arc has focused on a different member of the scientific group that created the Injection, the story has been essentially a take on classic examples of British fiction, from Quatermass, to Sherlock and now, Doctor Who.

And this Doctor, computer scientist and hacker Brigid Roth, is a wonderfully modern take that still honours the idea of the Doctor. She's a scientist, capable of making incredible technologies (she made the Injection, basically a TARDIS and teleportation technology, so, you know, somewhat ahead of the curve) and by and large she uses knowledge and information to solve her problems.

The different here is that instead of some near-god-like alien messiah, our hero is a human, a person who has faced adversity and come through it herself using her own means. And yes, one who sometimes will get her hands dirty too.

It's a very modern take on a Doctor Who story, one that has the hero be more like us instead of so distant, and who is not afraid of being a blunt instrument when required. This is a Doctor Who tale for a modern Britain, perhaps.

And yes, Brigid Roth is witty, and badass, and full of understated sass, and it's been a blast following her.

It's also fun watching Injection take shape. Yes, it's structured around the ideas of British fiction, particularly science fiction, but also a key element is British myth and legend, and the connection between the two kinds of storytelling. There's an idea of the modern vs. the old or traditional, but also of the modern merging with the old. It's strange and can be confusing, and some can want to work against it, or it can get out of control. But perhaps it can also move things forward.

It's been interesting to see the story keep progressing, and see where each new twist takes us.

The artwork, as ever, looks fantastic. The team of Shalvey and Bellaire work brilliantly together, and Bellaire's effects when the Injection enters the scene are as ever disturbing and effective. The Shalvey's work on the action sequence is both methodical and brutal, and feels realistic and visceral.

As the issue wraps, we're set up for perhaps the Injection's biggest step against our "heroes", so it will be intriguing to see where this goes next.

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