It's 'Torchwood' comics week, as two 'Torchwood' comics debut

It's still a few more months until Torchwood comes back with its new season, "Children of Earth", but for now Torchwood fans can turn to a couple of comics coming out this week for their fix.

UK digital channel Watch has debuted a five-page web comic featuring the classic Torchwood team discovering aquatic aliens after a day off ice skating. (US-based Torchwood fans will be happy to discover the site isn't geo-locked.) While there's no Captain Jack/Ianto snogging, Ianto is pretty quick to take off his shirt as the first sign of the temperature rising.

Honestly, I'm not very impressed with this Torchwood comic. It suffers from the same problem I find when TV shows become comics -- the story is too short to capture the feel of Torchwood (okay, they do bumble their way into the case, though no screwdrivers are carelessly thrown around) which was the same frustration I felt in years of reading Buffy the Vampire Slayer comics.

Captain Jack makes a mental note to turn up the thermostat at the Hub

However, could another upcoming Torchwood comic be more satisfying?

This week, the new issue of Torchwood magazine hits the newsstands in the UK this week, including the "Captain Jack And The Selkie" comic strip that was co-written by John Barrowman. (Those of us in the US will have to wait until next month to get the magazine). I'm feeling more hopeful for Barrowman's comic considering how the one of the best Buffy comics I read was the Willow & Tara mini-series co-written by Amber Benson, who played Tara.

A panel from "Captain Jack and the Silke"

Benson's understanding of Tara and her then-newfound appreciation of comics certainly helped make for a story that came pretty close to capturing the TV series. Barrowman definitely understands Captain Jack and he's a longtime comic reader, as well.

In an interview with his sister Carole E. Barrowman (his co-writer on the comic strip) it turns out the siblings enjoyed Neil Gaiman's Marvel 1602 and that superheroes were a major part of John's childhood. "I think it has something to do with when we immigrated to the States in the late 70s and I was trying hard to be an American kid. Couldn’t get enough of comics and Captain America," he says "but I also love Superman -- all the Justice League heroes for that matter. "

What do you think, Torchwood fans? Am I too harsh to the web comic? Do UK readers have any reactions to Barrowman's Torchwood comic strip?