Doctor Tomorrow #4: The Return

Doctor Tomorrow is the ray of sunlight comics so desperately needs right now. Its proof that good ol’ fashioned good guys vs bad guys, with a few crazy twists is all you need to tell a great, entertaining story. I dare you to read this series and not get giddy on it, it’s like channeling all the best youthful adventure vibes from Karate Kid to Animorphs and OG Shazam and then some. The crazy part is how it manages to keep these amazing vibes despite how dire the situation really is. An entire world of heroes fighting against a guy with the power to collapse universes with the twist of a mood. Superhero comics, especially traditional/mainstream superhero comics seems to have lost this ability to feel like the stakes are real. But here we get it in spades that magic that makes you nostalgic and excited to read comics about good guys and bad guys in capes beating the crap out of each other.

Alejandro Arbona has a knack for writing extremely human characters while not making mundane flaws the center of why they’re relatable. It’s a weird masterstroke because the flaws in these characters is undoubtedly part of their charisma and what gets you drawn in but it never does so at the cost of what makes Doctor Tomorrow so super. Jim Towe and Kelly Fitzpatrick just hammer that point home with exquisitely fitting art, Hadrian and the now rogue Doctor Tomorrow look truly menacing, Bart Simms looks like a kid up to his neck in trouble and Simms as Doctor Tomorrow looks exceedingly heroic. The pair just truly bring out the classic superhero vibes to the fullest and nail the exact atmosphere needed each and every scene. No spoilers but the carefree yet shout worthy vibes of the final page is a perfect encapsulation of why this series is so fantastic.