Writer - George Mann
Artist - Emma Vieceli
Colorist - Hi-Fi

Letterer- Richard Starkings + Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Editor - Andrew James
Assistant Editors - Jessica Burton & Gabriela Houston
Designer - Rob Farmer
Cover Art - Rachael Stott + Hi-Fi

Released February 17th 2016, Titan Comics

An arrestingly powerful being that seems to have sprung to life from the folk tales of yesteryear threatens a community of aristocrats and servants in the early 20th century. It has the power to completely subjugate even the most steadfast human that treads the earth. It reveals itself through a grisly combination of vines, leaves and bark, as it displays its sheer power of physical strength and mental control.

Ultimately a sacrifice of at least one person with much integrity and good will may prove unavoidable. And this is despite the considerable life experience and ingenuity of the evergreen, curly-haired Doctor. (And not forgetting the spontaneous problem-solving of Josie, who defiantly styles her hair in colours that raise an eyebrow or two in this altogether more reserved period in British history).

The budding new partnership of Josie and the ball-of-energy Eighth Doctor continues to ring true in this story, and I almost worry that this may one of a small handful of chances for the pairing that may not ever be taken up by another creative team. Within a seemingly short space of time, there seems to be an easy rapport, and solid understanding of what Earth girl and Gallifreyan semi-eternal each need and expect from one another. This story could have been presented in a deadly serious fashion and still worked handsomely, but the moments of levity that occur every so often are judged just right and consolidate the good character work of prior issues.

Writer George Mann certainly knows how to keep the reader hooked for the concluding fifth issue, and does so by an apparent 'flash-forward' where the Doctor and his green-blue-haired companion are at an auction of some significance. For the most part though this adventure is set in one place and one time zone, but is still rich in atmosphere, world building and confident in its use of an alien race. The Nixi has some superficial similarities to the dreaded Krynoid (of the Tom Baker TV era), but is rather more 'grey' in terms of its actual morality. It is portrayed as being not suited to our world as we know it, and of potentially devastating influence on any flora and fauna it comes across. Ultimately, though it is a threat that may be better off rendered  docile and dormant, rather than facing rather more brutal and desperate methods of defeat.  

Although artwork was on occasion inconsistent early on in this mini-series, last issue's The Silvering saw a definite raising of the bar. This trend continues with Briarwood. There are many wonderful images that deserve to etch themselves into the memory banks of the reader.

Page layouts are also pleasingly varied and the right choice of grand scale for action or visual exposition is mirrored by appropriate instances of smaller panels that solidify this story's emotional core. We are made to care for virtually every character we meet; whether a minor player or a major contributor to the plot. Clearly by now, Mann and Emma Vieceli have truly meshed in achieving both their individual and joint creative intents.

My one reservation that impedes this being a sure-fire classic is that the latter stages of the story feel a bit rushed. Having a crammed final page, with a squashed 'to be continued' just seems to be the result of not quite enough planning, and is unfortunate given how measure the telling of the story was for most of the preceding pages.

EXTRAS:

Once again there are a number of variant covers. In addition to the one featured with this review, there is a secondary cover by Will Brooks, and a tertiary one by Carolyn Edwards . The main image is nicely indicative of the main threat, and should help retain previous purchasers of these Eighth Doctor adventures. It is so striking that it deserves to catch the eye of those who roam their favourite comic stores and may not have yet given the Doctor Who universe a try in this ever-popular medium.

Titan have somewhat shied away from the light-hearted and satirical bonus strips of late. But by and large we have been granted some fascinating behind the scenes material. For this fourth edition of the mini-series, there is a nicely done 'q/a style' interview with Paul J. Salamoff, who is privileged in that he owns a refurbished version of the actual console from the 1996 TV movie. Salamoff has shown much career versatility in the space of two-and-a-half decades, by being a movie and book writer, a producer, a film executive, and a make up artist - all in addition to being well-recognised as a comic book creator and visionary.

WRITER - ROB WILLIAMS
ARTIST - WARREN PLEECE
COLORIST - HI-FI,  WITH THANKS TO AMOONA SAOHIN

LETTERER - RICHARD STARKINGS AND
COMICRAFT’S JIMMY BETANCOURT

(ABSLOM DAAK CREATED BY STEVE MOORE
AND STEVE DILLON)

EDITOR - ANDREW JAMES
ASSISTANT EDITORS - GABRIELA HOUSTON
AND JESSICA BURTON
DESIGNER - ROB FARMER

PUBLISHED DECEMBER 23RD 2015. TITAN COMICS

The Doctor's antiquated but invaluable vessel has finally decided to land somewhere after a series of mind-bending detours. So begins an exploration of the Planet Veestrax. After everyone's ordeal in the TARDIS tested their perceptions of reality, some respite should really be in order. However, more headache-inducing visions soon appear on the horizon for the Doctor, his associates, and the unkempt, swearing and psychotic warrior - Abslom Daak.

The Doctor has to open up further about his past to a concerned Alice, as well as attempt to decipher the clues as to the present status of Veestrax. Can he do this, however, when another old enemy of his may also be about to make their presence known?

As intriguing as last issue's Pull to Open was, it ultimately has minimal bearing on this new story, albeit being part of a larger arc.  A lot of set-up and characterisation is the chosen focus by scribe Rob Williams. Despite the pace being sedate, there is much that is memorable here.

Daak certainly gets his best outing yet, in that his bullishness and lack of education comes to the fore. Most notably, there is a stark verbal reminder made by the Doctor of this grizzled near-do-well having much innocent blood on his hands. This is despite some of his heroic acts that helped save lives, once Daak became an infamous 'Dalek Killer'.

It is also engaging to witness how this chain-sword-brandishing man's involvement in the Time War is contrasted with the Squire's own battles. The Doctor is caught in a tightrope act of judging just whether she is a force for good or evil. Fall one way and denounce squire as an enemy in sheep's clothing, or fall the other way and place as much trust in this aged female warrior as any of his most beloved assistants from 'home from home' planet Earth. Pick the wrong side and he may feel guilty for letting her down, or feel guilty for risking the lives of others.

Outrun is also notable in reminding us how little the Eleventh Doctor tends to tell his companions about the period of his former life when morals were all variable shades of grey. Of course, compared to Doctors Nine and Ten, there was little over guilt over the deeds of yesteryear. Fittingly, Alice still knows little of her friend's role in the Time War. This is despite her many adventures shared with him, and furthermore, her retained memories of the adventures with both a past and future self of him, in the spellbinding Four Doctors crossover.

Of course, a good chunk of the Steven Moffat TV productions explored the Doctor being more dangerous than his worst enemies. For the new Year Two arc though, this is a chance to keep building on The Day Of The Doctor - which functioned as an intriguing nucleus of an idea, as well as a crowd-pleasing feature length special. Once again, a handful of panels feature the bearded John Hurt incarnation, who is also described as "X-rated" by the Eleventh Doctor. They manage again to leave an impression, perhaps because of their brevity. The standout example is the attempt by 'The Then and The Now' to regress the Doctor back to his past self. Another moment of impact - and one that has spooky undertones - is when Alice is totally confused by the fluctuations in time, and sees herself beside the aged warrior in the middle of an adventure, despite never having met him in the first place.

Again, I found Warren Pleece was up to the demands of Williams' vision for the vast majority of the tale. Character expressions are something that comics can boast as an inherent strength, and even over the televisual media, where it takes indifferent direction or a weak performance to miss out on a vital emotional beat. And the emotions explored in this story are definitely raw and heartfelt. The particular visual highlight from Pleece's art involves a jarringly blank 'protective view' of the Time War, which only the Doctor is able to really see for what it is.

The questions continue to outweigh the answers, come the final sections of the story. And this is welcome, as the parent TV show, with Matt Smith at the front and centre, did similar tricks in keeping followers intrigued, and indeed frustrated (!). This is a strong effort, and I unreservedly recommend it for reading, once the first two or three issues in Year Two are accounted for.

                                                                  ***

Bonus Humour Strip - "Who Who Who, Merry Christmas".

This comic was released just before Christmas Day, and fittingly this example of adventures and witticisms with the Pond 'family' centres on the Yuletide occasion. Whilst we are leaving Winter behind shortly, this still can be read as a depiction of the highs and lows that a group of relations encounter in having to put in some original effort into an overly familiar time of the year. The particular humour standout for me came in the form of mocking a number of festive foes, that were conjured up by showrunners Russell T Davies and Moffat over the years as a form of lightweight opposition.

                                                                  ***

There is also another fine variant cover. It is described as a 'Subscription Photo', and credited to Will Brooks.

Writer: Nick Abadzis
Artist: Eleonara Carlini
Colourist: Claudia SG Iannicello
Letterers: Richard Starkings and Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Onsale: September 16, 2015

Here we are with a brand new year of Tenth Doctor stories courtesy of Titan Comics. Considering that it’s a new “season” there is very little change from the previous issues. They continue on with the same companion, writer and artist. The most notable change would be the numbering. The publishing company decided to go with a snazzy new numbering scheme this time around so instead of having the first issue of this story arc continue on from where they left off, they start fresh and add a 2 in front to designate year two. So we don’t have issue #16 but rather the slightly more confusing 2.1. Titan must be hoping that their renumbering would attract new readers. Starting with a fresh number one every year has been a proven winner for industry leaders like Marvel. For new readers it may seem like an ideal new jumping on point, while older readers will continue to buy and so it creates a spike in sales numbers and revenue for the publisher.

The format of the story also lends itself to the idea that new readers may be on board for the first time. It’s one of those stories where we come into it at the very end. In this case it starts with Gabby narrating. She’s talking about the Shan’tee, beings who are literally made of music. As she speaks, the the world around her crumbles to pieces.  When she cries out for the Doctor, telling him he can’t be late this time, we are then transported back to where the story started. By beginning at the end we are given a hook to catch all of those new readers who may be unfamiliar with the characters. Then it takes them away from the exciting and catastrophic events to the more tranquil beginning and starts the slow development of the story.

The planet Waputki is the perfect utopia. The Shan’tees music inspires the air-born bovodrines to feed. They are basically a jellyfish type creature except they graze like a cow. The floating air cows create the atmosphere that allows the humans to live and breathe and trade on the planet. Of course there is no such thing as utopia and something has to go wrong. A deadly virus is attacking the Shan’tee. In many cases it kills them out right, but sometimes it turns the beautiful creatures into something terrifying and sinister.

This first issue of year two gets us off to a promising start. I found it well paced and exciting. The beginning at the end worked for me. The Shan’tee are really neat creatures and their evil counterparts (the Nocturnes) are great as well.  

Bonus Strip- A Rose By Any Name By Rachael Smith

Anyone who reads my reviews knows that I seem to have a love/hate relationship with these strips. One month I am going on about how great it is, the next is does nothing for me. It almost seems the writer herself is feeling some malaise as this cartoon literally shows the Doctor and his Cat just going through the motions.

Writer: Robbie Morrison
Artist : Daniel Indro
Colourist: Slamet Mujiono
Lettering: Richard Starkings + Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt

Editor: Andrew James
Assistant Editors: Gabriela Houston + Jessica Burton
Designer: Rob Farmer
Released: December 23rd 2015, Titan Comics

Note: Some major spoilers are brought up in the course of this review.

"A generous offer, Time Lord: surrender the TARDIS and your death shall be quick, merciful. Resist, and you shall burn forever in the fires of Hyperios."

A bleak proposition from the Hyperion known as Zraa-Korr.

The final plans of the ruthless, truly despotic fire beings are coming closer to fruition, despite the efforts of the Doctor, his friends, and his various allies headed by UNIT. Warlord Dra-Khan is confident that he can counter any resistance, including some technology beyond the scope of planet Earth in this century. Thanks to the betrayal of self-serving politician Grove, the Doctor may now be a Hyperion prisoner, and so unable to offer his customary heroics. The Earth, its Sun and wider planetary systems are all at stake as the Hyperion Fusion Web nears final completion. Can the TARDIS possibly play a role though in preventing all-out catastrophe?

This latest epic for the team of Clara and the Doctor has done well to make the most of its four-issue story-telling space. Thanks to some good build up - in the very first story of Year 1 - there was always plenty of room for the already established Hyperions to be made out as an all-consuming threat, and thus deserving of a Doctor who is very much on-song with his intellect and application of centuries' experience.

Amongst all the rushing around, and name checking with UNIT, there has also been a fine exploration of the central relationship between the savvy Coal Hill school teacher and her grey-haired genius friend. Much of Series 9's goes onto see a warm relationship, and that was partly done to make Clara's exit that much more affecting. But 'The Hyperion Empire' can be regarded as a spiritual sequel to Death In Heaven, and one that could be of a significant collection of non-televised stories set between the first and second Capaldi TV seasons.

The Doctor is certainly still full of vanity and self-importance, but does have that element of winking and revealing a tender side, especially when he and Clara finally reflect on the sum of their efforts. A gun toting and militaristic Clara is perhaps a reminder of the odd characterisation of Nightmare In Silver but when not engaged in the frenetic action directly, is quite well portrayed by scribe Robbie Morrison. I enjoyed especially her slap to the head, when the Doctor claims to only have 'shared' when he actually has stolen a vital weapon from the "Elementals of Vortice City".  Another fine moment comes when her unpredictable partner in crime unashamedly explains how he can break a promise and yet technically still be honest, by stating that crossing 'one' of his hearts is not the same as crossing 'both' of them.

There was also a certain amount of set-up over the course of this Four-Parter that never quite pays off, which arguably came at the whim of the creative team. Sam was a character that perhaps did not make much new ground, but still had enough to him to be likeable and relatable, and would have offered a point of reference for forthcoming stories set on contemporary Earth. But Morrison chooses to both deny him a potential future role, and fizzles out any fleeting hope of a romantic link with Clara, into the bargain.

But a redemption of sorts is achieved for Colonel Weir, and it brings back memories of the somewhat disturbing fate of Astrid Peth in the 2007 Christmas TV special. Despite her family relatives having featured in a handful of panels, and being a case more of 'telling' rather than 'showing', it is still praiseworthy that the story ends with a final coda that is elegantly bittersweet.

The artwork has again reverted back to Daniel Indro, and perhaps due to the locations and character actions featured, there is less of the heavily gritty and jagged style and somewhat more of the expansive and 'big sci-fi concepts' visuals instead. To have a story with the art changing twice over the space of three issues is curious, but since Issue 15 is one of the best Twelfth Doctor comics in some time, I am inclined to accept this inconsistency.

BONUS:

No humour strip is included, but some alternative covers feature.

The second of these below is courtesy of Neil Slorance, who has previously done many humour strips. The first and third are by Will Brooks and Simon Myers respectively.

Also, a black-and-white preview of the art of Rachael Stott for Year 2 Issue 1 is on show. On the evidence of this single page, it is most welcome to have more work from her, following the excellence that closed the Ninth Doctor Miniseries recently.

Written By: Si Spurrier
Art by: Simon Fraser/
Colours By: Gary Caldwell

Letterer: Richard Starkings + Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Editor: Andrew James
Assistant Editors: Jessica Burton & Gabriela Houston
Designer - Rob Farmer

(Abslom Daak created by Steve Moore and Steve Dillon)

Published December 9th 2015. Titan Comics

Some crucial problems with the TARDIS linger on for rather too long in this latest batch of adventure, mystery and emotional bereavement. The TARDIS crew, their new ally the Squire, and Abslom Daak all fail to get an easy ride. Potential enlightenment may be the silver lining to the cloud, however.

Alice and the Squire are trying to cope with an uncooperative and arguably perilous TARDIS in a state of flux. Former Dalek killer Daak eventually comes into proceedings, and is still mightily frustrated over a lack of answers as to where his wife's body has been hidden. The TARDIS' long-lived pilot could resolve some of these issues, but he is nowhere to be found.

The Doctor is seemingly facing a judicial enquiry over the actions of the one past self he tries to shun completely. There is no way out of the law process that the Doctor had tried to avoid (in the preceding two-parter), and he feels there is little reason to deny what he may have been capable of. Whilst his abilities to recall everything that happened are affected by issues with the fabric of time itself, he still is prepared to confess every action that does enter his head..

The story does well to give regular readers more insight into why the War Doctor stepped in to ensure the removal of the Cyclors, and thus cause major seismic shifts in the Overcast society from that point onwards. The reveal of who the Doctor is actually talking to is also done well, and whilst not unprecedented in Doctor Who comics, is still a fine bit of (welcome) revelation.

The bold decision to use the front door panel layout of the TARDIS Police Box with which to arrange the storytelling is laudable for its ambition. At times the panels are consequently small and some of the bigger 'event' moments feel short-changed. But we also have some more conventional pages without this framework, most often for the storyline with the Doctor answering for his past, so a compromise of sorts is reached.

Otherwise though, Fraser manages to get back his overall creative vision and produce artwork as good as any he has done in the past for the Eleventh Doctor range. The overall story may have a somewhat thin plot, but it has some quite deep emotional depths to plough, and so justifies the overall arc in taking a somewhat side trip approach for this third issue.

I have always enjoyed a work of fiction that explores the reliability of memory, and also the sheer importance most individuals bestow on those past recollections. Each of Alice, the Squire and Daak has to contend with the ghosts of yesteryear, and this is brought to full life, given the overall simple nature of the story. Those of us who grew up with Daak as the 'backup' comic strip in (what is the present day) Doctor Who Magazine cannot begrudge a very similar visual portrayal of the tragic end that Daak's other half Taiyin suffered.

In summary, this is a decent one-off that passes a reader's time pleasantly, but may not be one to keep reflecting upon to the same extent, that the opening multi-parter to Year Two had the quality of in spades.

Bonus Humour Strip

Gunpowder, Time Lord, And Plot is a tale which harkens back to the major celebration that all British people know and love - 'Guyfawks Night'. A two page entry, this has ample space for a bit of time travel and for Fawkes himself to assist with the powerful fireworks one would require for holding a private display at home. The Ponds and the Doctor almost get more than they had bargained for, but nothing too vital ends up blown to smithereens, come the last panel.

Written by Nick Abadzis
Art by Elena Casagrande
Lettering by Richard StarkingsAnd Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Colorist Hi-Fi
Published September 2, 2015 by Titan Comics

In the previous issue they established that we are dealing with the Osirians, a race of aliens who came to Earth and made our ancestors think they were Gods. We’ve seen them before, most notably Sutehk from the Pyramids of Mars. Now the Doctor is face to face with Sutehk’s son Anubis and they are squaring off over the fate of the entire universe. His family left thousands of years ago and now the Osirian wishes to rejoin them. Unfortunately the device that would allow him to depart this mortal plain is unstable and will destroy everything if used.

As things reach a boiling point here the Doctor is called upon to do his thing and save the universe. But the circumstances are a little unusual. Anubis is not a mad God intent on destruction, rather a forlorn wanderer who just wishes to return home to see his loved ones again.  Because this is a Doctor Who comic, in the end it reaches the expected conclusion. The universe isn’t destroyed. I don’t think anyone would be shocked to know that, but while wrapping up this particular story arc, things are still left open enough that I expect them to revisit this at some point.

I have to fess up to being completely wrong about Cindy. Over the past five reviews I have repeatedly mentioned that I thought she would shed her annoying in your face attitude and rise up to be one of the big heroes of this story arc. It didn't happen. In fact she had such a small role that it makes me wonder why they even brought her along in the first place. Perhaps she was needed as a plot device, something to get Gabby (her best friend and the Doctor’s current companion) from point a to point b. Beyond that she remained an irritating character who just got a little better over this story arc. Poor Cindy even has a terrible final scene where she turns down the Doctor’s offer of a journey through time and space in the TARDIS only to instantly regret it the second they dematerialize.

So over all how do I rate this story arc? It was pretty good. In my opinion it got off to a really slow start when Nick Abadzis took over but it picked up steam every issue after. There were characters who underwent radical changes (Dorothy, Cleo) and characters who defied expectations and stubbornly remained the same like Erik and Cindy.  While it was an enjoyable read I don’t think that there is much substance to it that would warrant revisiting it in the future, unless as a primer when the story picks up again.  If you are looking to read further adventures with the Tenth Doctor and Gabby, their story continues in the Four Doctors mini series as well as the Year 2 adventures beginning with the Tenth Doctor #2.1.

Bonus Strip- A Rose By Any Other Name by Rachael Smith

After a disappointing strip last month, I almost forgot to even read it this month. I am glad that I did. It was another enjoyable page. Rose-The-Cat decides to create a cat flap in the TARDIS door. The change distorts time and space resulting in some funny and interesting moments.