Marjorie Finnegan: Temporal Criminal Presents a More Violent River Song
Spoilers for Marjorie Finnegan: Temporal Criminal ahead!
AWA Upshot’s Marjorie Finnegan: Temporal Criminal presents a much more violent version of Doctor Who's River Song. Written by Garth Ennis, with art by Goran Sudzuka, colors by Miroslav Mrva, and letters by Rob Steen, the first issue of this eight-issue miniseries is on sale now in print and digital.
Since her introduction in “Silence in the Library” in 2008, River Song has become one of the most popular supporting characters in Doctor Who history. A professor of archaeology and a time-traveler much like the Doctor, River Song leaps through time, having adventures and running afoul of the authorities on occasions. Her adventures are PG-13 for the most part, being part of a family-oriented program and all, but Marjorie Finnegan: Temporal Criminal presents a fascinating concept: what if River Song’s adventures were rated R, and full of the sex and violence that comes with the rating?
The issue opens in ancient Egypt. The pharaoh has just passed, and he, along with an entourage of servants, handmaidens, and his vast treasure are about to be committed to the afterlife. Marjorie, disguised as one of the handmaidens, is there for the dead pharaoh’s treasure. As matters continue going further south in the pyramid, Marjorie escalates the situation, producing a gun and proceeding to blast everyone who gets between her and the treasure. Meanwhile, readers meet Marjorie’s sister, Harri—an officer for the Temporal Police Department! Readers also meet Marjorie’s crew, including Tim, her tech person, who is a severed head hooked up to a computer containing his conscious—who also has a crush on her. She celebrates her victory in Egypt, but the festivities are cut short when her sister arrives, looking like she means business.
Much like River Song, Marjorie Finnegan is a time-traveler, with fantastic technology at her disposal. Both of them are roguish and morally ambiguous, and River has been known to steal, but the key difference is River Song would never slaughter the people she was robbing. Marjorie also took a great deal of glee while she was doing it—something River Song would never do. Despite her criminal ways, River was possessed of compassion and empathy—two qualities that seem to be missing in Marjorie Finnegan. It is worth noting there is an actual Doctor Who shout-out in here: as Marjorie lays waste to the pharaoh’s army, she screams “Say Hi to Doctor Twelve.” She means the twelve-gauge shotgun she’s using, but astute readers will see it as a shout-out to the Twelfth Doctor, with who River Song shared adventures with.
AWA Upshot’s Marjorie Finnegan: Temporal Criminal shows readers what Doctor Who's River Song would be like if she was more dark and violent, and under the excellent direction of Ennis, Sudzuka, Mrva, and Steen, the results are quite entertaining.