Doktor Sleepless #13

Written by Warren Ellis
Art by Ivan Rodriguez, w/ Seabra

It's been a while since we've seen an issue of this title, and Ellis makes up for the absence by giving us the most action-packed and fast-paced issue yet. As the Doktor's plans progress, Heavenside burns.

This issue takes a kaleidoscopic approach, as it jumps from character to character, and sub-plot to sub-plot, with very few long scenes. You could never start reading this series with this issue, but if you've been with it from the beginning, there's a lot of stuff taking place that you've been waiting for.

My complaint about this issue concerns the backmatter. Usually this book can be counted on for being a good read from cover to cover, and at times, the rants or articles Ellis fills the last few pages with can be more interesting than the comic itself. This issue only gives us the script for the first few pages of issue one. I know that a lot of completists go nuts for this kind of thing, but I'd rather read something more like his piece on citizen journalism of a few issues ago. I get the feeling that they needed to get the book back on schedule, and so they jettisoned the usual approach. Hopefully things will be back to normal with the next issue.