Writers: Gordon Rennie & Emma Beeby
Artist: Brian Williamson
Colorist: Hi-FiLetterers: Richard Starkings and Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Senior Comics Editor: Andrew James
Assistant Editors: Jessica Burton and Gabriela Houston
Designer: Rob Farmer
Released: May 25th 2016, Titan Comics

Like it or not, it’s inevitable – every winning streak has to come to an end sometime. Just look at how Lost struggled to maintain the tension surrounding its array of long-running mysteries during its final few seasons, or how Doctor Who itself produced a rather divisive run in the form of 2012-13’s controversial Season Seven despite Matt Smith’s first two runs in the titular lead role having gone down a storm in 2010-2011. Perhaps it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise to regular followers of Titan Comics’ Fourth Doctor miniseries, then, that after two immensely satisfying opening issues filled with nostalgic call-backs to the hallmarks of the Tom Baker era, visually stunning gothic action, intelligent characterisation and well-timed cliff-hangers guaranteed to draw readers back for me, Issue 3 doesn’t quite hit the same remarkable highs, resulting in a slightly less captivating reading experience than those which came before.

If there’s a root cause to be found here for the marginal drop in quality, then it’s undoubtedly the comparatively simplistic structure of the latest instalment in Emma Beeby and Gordon Rennie’s five-part serial, “Gaze of the Medusa”. One would have hoped that, given the success with which the pair paralleled the Fourth Doctor, Odysseus and Athena’s search for Lady Carstairs with Sarah and Carstairs’ exchanges regarding the latter’s centuries-spanning plot, developing the personalities of each character involved at every opportunity, they’d see fit to continue this strategy here as the Fourth Doctor and Athena hunted for their now-united companions in Earth’s distant past. Unfortunately, though, the two scribes stray worryingly close to the overly set-piece-orientated approach often taken by mainstream comic-book writers at companies like Marvel and DC, with proceedings mostly consisting of predictable chase sequences that don’t so much give us a better insight into the current TARDIS crew – much as their on-screen incarnations are still perfectly adapted onto the page here – or their Victorian allies and adversaries – much as Odysseus and Athena’s endearing paternal dynamic still makes them fun to ‘watch’ – as stall subsequent character progressions for the remaining pair of issues, as if they’ve only just realized that they’ve still got 50 pages’ worth of speech bubbles to fill before their contract’s done.

Indeed, this sense of the series’ traction coming to an abrupt halt with Issue 3 carries through to its plot, which – as an easily foreseeable by-product of the aforementioned decision to structure proceedings around chases through the Carstairs residence and a sinister cave – does little to nothing, barring a frustratingly predictable twist at the last moment, to offer us a sense of exactly where the “Medusa” arc will head between now and its denouement in a few weeks’ time. A little ambiguity’s more than welcome here and there, of course, yet when readers are expected by their publishing overlords to shell out upwards of £10-15 in order to experience the entirety of a five-part arc, it’s hardly unreasonable for them to expect each instalment to come off as an inspired work of fiction in its own right rather than as a cumbersome work of little more than filler material. True, Issue 3 doesn’t scrape the bottom of the creative barrel for new twists to nearly the same extent as is often the case with many of the 22-part dramas dominating the US TV market at present, but knowing that doesn’t make the disappointment of consuming a narratively stagnated chapter such as this any less demoralizing, especially on the basis of the stellar opening duo.

Rest assured that for all its faults in terms of characterisation, structure and overall plot progression, however, Titan’s latest foray into the realms of 1970s / 1980s Doctor Who absolutely retains some of their mini-series’ defining strength in the form of Brian Williamson’s consistently astounding accompanying artwork. It’s a testament to the visual impact of the unashamedly grim but somehow still bold – not least thanks to the inclusions of antagonists playing on the concept of the cyclops of ancient Greek mythology – drawings on show here that although there’s nothing substantial to report in terms of how the “Medusa” tale moves forward at its midway point, a fair number of the readership are bound to find that they couldn’t care less, since they’ll be too preoccupied with immersing themselves in a rendition of the Victorian age so true to the gothic style of the Hinchcliffe histories that one could be forgiven for mistaking this for a printed adaptation of The Talons of Weng-Chiang, albeit featuring fewer monstrous rodents or soon-to-be Big Finish-endorsed detectives. At this rate, even if Rennie and Beeby somehow manage to undo much of the great work they completed over the course of the first two issues of this strip – though the chances of this seem as slim as Michael Gove’s chances of becoming Prime Minister of the UK at the time of writing – there’s little to no doubt that the mini-series as a whole will still be fondly remembered regardless on account of its stellar aesthetic output.

Nevertheless, whereas certain standalone chapters in Titan’s regular Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctor comic-book franchises warrant a purchase on the basis of their own distinct merits regardless of the issues that precede or follow them, it’s safe to say that only those fans who’ve followed this particular five-part arc since its inception back in April will get the most out of what Issue 3 has in store for its owners. Even then, however, none of the material on offer comes particularly close to matching the plethora of memorable moments littered throughout Issues 1 or 2, making this specific edition a tougher one to give a wholehearted recommendation until it’s featured in one of the publisher’s yearly online sales of digital strips. Those craving an action-laden, character-light dose of Hinchcliffe-esque Who to kill the time until the Twelfth Doctor returns to our screens this Christmas could do worse than to head here, but ultimately, those looking for more value from their cash would be far better placed to try Titan’s ongoing sale on their regular Who strips instead.

Writers: Gordon Rennie & Emma Beeby
Artist: Brian Williamson
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letterers: Richard Starkings and Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Senior Comics Editor: Andrew James
Assistant Editors: Jessica Burton and Gabriela Houston
Designer: Rob Farmer
Released: April 20th 2016, Titan Comics

If the superb opening instalment of Titan Comics' five-part Fourth Doctor miniseries gave fans of Tom Baker's incarnation the impression that they might be in for something special, then Issue 2 confirms those suspicions wholeheartedly, embracing its predecessor's strengths whilst building upon them so as to further fulfill the "Gaze of the Medusa" storyline's vast potential.

Penned once again by Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby, this similarly accomplished sophomore instalment doesn't so much centre on Issue 1's fascinating final panel revelation - namely that Sarah Jane appears doomed to be converted into a lifeless statue by the supernatural forces plaguing the TARDIS crew at present - as put it to one side for now. Instead, its focus lies on how the mysterious Lady Emily Carstairs' temporal machinations have forced the ancient Greek and Victorian worlds to abruptly collide, placing Sarah at the heart of the exposition as she converses with Carstairs about her somewhat tragic past while the Doctor tags along with his newfound allies, Professor Odysseus James and Athena, in the hope of rescuing his companion before it's too late.

This somewhat familiar premise might sound like a recipe for mediocrity to those readers still on the fence about picking up Titan's latest Doctor Who strip, but for all Part Two treads water as opposed to making genuine progress towards this one-off serial's endgame, there's plenty of compelling material to keep Fourth Doctor devotees hooked regardless. No more do the strip's merits come to the fore, in fact, than with the scribes' decision to separate their lead players for the majority of the issue, since their depictions of both Baker and Lis Sladen's characters are accurate in their emphasis on how each of the two characters can more than hold their own in the face of seemingly unfavourable odds. Yes, Sarah might remain in Carstairs' clutches here, yet by no means does that make her a passive participant in proceedings - if anything, that she manages to quickly convince Carstairs of how invaluable both she and her waylaid Time Lord can be to their foe if she keeps them alive only goes to demonstrate her endearing charisma, while the Fourth Doctor's constant joke cracking clearly does just as much to earn him the faith of his latest comrades as they plunge headfirst into a wealth of new dangers.

What's more, despite them having only five issues in which to depict the Baker era's most beloved assets and convey a captivating standalone narrative, Beeby and Rennie also show an admirable commitment to rendering their secondary constructs as equally sympathetic individuals to 'watch' develop. Odyesseus, for instance, displays a rather charming passion for the unknown that prompts him to seem believably reckless at times, with his daughter's determination to rein in this enthusiastic fervour for his own safety feeling similarly akin to some of the more memorable parental relationships we've seen on the TV series in recent years - albeit with the parent usually worrying more about their offspring than the other way around. Carstairs' surprisingly heartfelt backstory, meanwhile, endeared her to this reviewer far more than he might ever have expected upon picking up Issue 2, a trait which could bode extremely well for her memorability as a regretful antagonist of sorts in future issues should the capable writing team capitalize on her appeal between now and the "Medusa" arc's conclusion. Nothing's guaranteed, of course, but at the rate Beeby and Rennie are developing their impressive level of layered characterisation from issue to issue, chances are this five-part saga's primary and secondary constructs alike will linger in the memory of the strip's followers long after they've read its final panel.

Speaking of the panels themselves, thanks to Brian Williamson's phenomenal Gothic artwork, they're just as much a thing of beauty as the "Medusa" storyline itself. Whether he's depicting a simple, carraigebound exchange between the Doctor and his Victorian partners-in-crime with photorealistic facial imagery - not to mention authentically chilling mists surrounding the carriage - or the temporally unique, supernatural glare of the lamp of Chronos as it illuminates the room in which Sarah's busy untangling Carstairs' intentions or indeed the horrifyingly morbid cliffhanger moment which will all but guarantee that readers can't help but return for Issue 3 to discover what's next for the character, Williamson doesn't falter on any front whatsoever. Indeed, it's a wonder that he's not called upon more often to accompany the scripts for the Ninth, Tenth, Eleventh or Twelfth Doctors' regular strips, since judging by the work he's produced in the space of two Fourth Doctor-centric issues alone, the man's got just as much to offer Titan Comics' ever-expanding franchise of Doctor Who comics as any other artist who's contributed to the various ranges to date.

Alternatively, though, Titan could take an even more obvious route once Issue 5 brings the "Medusa" arc to its end, commissioning a regular Fourth Doctor strip off the back of this miniature arc just as they did after their five-part Ninth Doctor miniseries, "Weapons of Past Destruction", met with such critical and commercial acclaim upon its debut on the comic-book scene last year. Certainly, based on the immeasurable strength of both Issue 1 and its immediate follow-up, there's no substantial reason to think why a fully-fledged continuation courtesy of Rennie, Beeby and Williamson couldn't continue to develop the pitch-perfect adapted rapport of the Fourth Doctor and Sarah, their era's much-loved supernatural array of adversaries as well as the supporting characters tasked with helping or hindering the pair in their adventures for many issues to come. Perhaps the Fourth Doctor will one day return to the TV series in the form of the Curator as introduced to us in 2013's televised 50th Anniversary Special The Day of the Doctor, but in the meantime, the character's printed incarnation evidently has plenty of life in him yet.

"THE ONE - PART 1 OF 2"

WRITER - ROB WILLIAMS

ARTIST - SIMON FRASER

COLORIST - GARY CALDWELL

(ABSLOM DAAK CREATED BY
STEVE MOORE AND STEVE DILLON,
+ APPEARS COURTESY OF PANINI COMICS, 
WITH THANKS TO DOCTOR WHO MAGAZINE)

LETTERER - RICHARD STARKINGS AND
COMICRAFT’S JIMMY BETANCOURT

ASSISTANT EDITORS - JESSICA BURTON
+ GABRIELA HOUSTON

EDITOR - ANDREW JAMES

DESIGNER - ROB FARMER

MAIN COVER BY ALEX RONALD

RELEASED MARCH 2ND 2016, TITAN COMICS

The Doctor, Alice, The Squire and their 'ally of convenience' Daak have finally located the ultra-confident, ultra-capable Professor River Song, after more than a few parsecs travelled across the universe. A reunion for this version of the Doctor and River is somewhat overshadowed by the continued threat offered by 'The Then And The Now' being. But perhaps some solutions can be found at last to this rather unwelcome scenario the TARDIS crew have been immersed in. And this could see the Doctor clear his name at last, long after the actions of a former incarnation that he rarely mentions to even the closest people in his life.

Reaching the halfway-point of Year Two, I continue to be impressed by the direction this timey-wimey, French-loaf-twisted arc runs along. There is lots of vigour and derring-do and all the regular characters are sufficiently engaging to make the spectacle resonate to full effect.

River Song once again is used to good effect alongside the Eleventh Doctor, and how nice to have her grace more than a few comic strip panels and play a full part in proceedings. As enjoyable as it was to see her appear frequently in the bonus strip, it is considerably more involving when we are reminded of the complex non-chronological timeline that she and the Doctor are forced to share together.

Abslom Daak continues to add colourful unpredictability to the storyline; his wildcard status is neatly complementary to the stalwart Squire and the thoroughly down to earth Alice. The Doctor clearly enjoys having to juggle many things all at once, and be pushed to his limits, but is clearly in a comfort zone whenever his beloved River is in close proximity.

There have been plenty of references to the Master, at this point, and with a bit of luck we will get to see him reappear. Being that this is pre-Capaldi-era, the expectation is that we get the traditional male version. (Although having Missy somehow appear would be truly special, the question would then arise how the Twelfth Doctor does not recognise her).

Year One for the Eleventh Doctor had plenty to it, and required readers pay attention and remember various pertinent details. This second year is more of the same, but 'dialled-up', and writer Rob Williams has showed just how many tricks he has up his sleeves. It lives up to the clever nature of the Matt Smith TV outings, and especially the carefully pre-planned 'Series 6a and 6b'; (within were never my favourite stories, but unquestionably ones that showed Doctor Who could yet again re-invent itself to compelling effect).

Artwork continues to convince and thrill in equal measure. Simon Fraser confidently portrays the frenetic travels through both physical space and the (often chaotic) dimensions of time. 'The Then And The Now' is a great idea, and continues to be used well. It is hard to imagine this remorseless foe being any better in televisual or audio format. The colour work for these stories is also more than acceptable, although some of the finishes for the Eighth and Ninth Doctor Mini-Series of recent times were just a touch stronger at leaving a lasting impression

This now well-established monthly series from Titan, dedicated to the bow-tie-wearing variant of the Doctor, continues to surprise and delight. It also remains faithful to both its source telly-box origins, and to the visually infinite universe of comics.

BONUSES

HUMOUR STRIP - LOVE THY NEIGHBOUR - (Art and Visuals by Marc Ellerby)

A solid comedic display again from Ellerby, who has his own unique brand of depicting the familiar 'TARDIS family', as well as supporting or one-shot characters. The tenuous nature of neighbourly relations gets to be the main focus in this mini-story, and should evoke familiar emotions for the vast majority of readers. This material would arguably look at home in a regular daily newspaper, and its reach never exceeds its grasp. 

---

Two alternate covers feature amongst the final pages. One is a photo-style image of the Doctor reacting to a figure that casts a curly haired silhouette on the TARDIS, in the backdrop. The other is a quirky collection of images, which charmingly conveys an abundance of joy and humour.

Writers: Gordon Rennie & Emma Beeby
Artist: Brian Williamson
Colorist: Hi-Fi
Letterers: Richard Starkings and Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Senior Comics Editor: Andrew James
Assistant Editors: Jessica Burton and Gabriela Houston
Designer: Rob Farmer
Released: March 23rd 2016, Titan Comics​

Vintage Doctor Who – that’s the best way to summarize the joyful, relentlessly entertaining experience that awaits fans as they approach what feels like Titan Comics’ one-hundredth title set in the worlds of the BBC’s longest-running science-fiction drama. Given the sheer number of Doctors the publishers have been juggling around of late what with their ongoing series themed around Eccleston, Tennant, Smith, Capaldi and even Hurt (on occasion, anyway)’s incarnations, one might have initially expected their writing teams to falter under the weight of yet another version of the Time Lord – particularly one so esteemed as Tom Baker’s – but true to form, their The Fourth Doctor saga looks set to enjoy just as much critical success as its esteemed predecessors, if not more-so, based on its opening outing.

Just as many Baker devotees will surely have hoped, much of the appeal of his first Titan-produced comic strip adventure lies in its capitalising on the elements which made his era such an enduring hit: extra-terrestrials masquerading as human beings as they pursue sinister machinations, and best of all a reprise for the much-missed Lis Sladen’s Sarah-Jane, who continues her travels alongside John Smith at some point after the events of “Pyramids of Mars” (though the continuity references are justifiably kept to a minimum here so as not to leave newcomers in the dark). Throw in a deliciously gothic Victorian London backdrop which couldn’t feel more reminiscent of “The Talons of Weng-Chiang” if Jago and Litefoot appeared in the background, and the result is a promisingly authentic debut narrative which could well give the strip just as much as momentum as the Ninth-Twelfth Doctor series already have so long as its next few instalments pan out effectively.

As the tale’s similarly 1970s-esque title – “Gaze of the Medusa Part 1” – suggests, writers Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby take a refreshingly bold dive into Greek mythology in this instance, weaving iconic creatures such as the Cyclops and Medusa herself in a manner which already seems far more seamless than BBC One’s attempts to merge myth with modernity in Atlantis, with the aforementioned adversaries all but guaranteed to herald from distant nebulas as was the case with the show’s take on the Loch Ness Monster in “Terror of the Zygons” or Egyptian deities in “Pyramids”. That said, barring a last-minute revelation surrounding the original femme fatale’s stony complexion, there’s sadly not much time for the scribes to develop these potentially fascinating ancient antagonists’ characterisation here, with much of their focus lying instead on bringing perhaps the most beloved TARDIS team in the show’s history back to life.

Suffice to say that any new work of Who fiction which dares to cast Baker’s eccentric, lovable galactic hipster in its leading role must live and die based on its depiction of his and Sladen’s characters, which makes Rennie, Beeby and Brian Williamson (who takes on artistic duties here, rendering the Doctor, Sarah-Jane in an impressively realistic style that goes so far as to border on the uncanny)’s success in this regard that much more of a substantial relief. Far from them coming off as caricature versions of their televised selves, both constructs instantly boast the same USPs on the printed page in 2016 as they did three or so decades ago, with the Doctor taking advantage of every and any opportunity to crack a quip about Buffalo Bill or War and Peace and Sarah brimming with much the same honest charm and intelligence as she did in both Who and her subsequent beloved spin-off series. Indeed, it’s overwhelmingly reassuring to see that the writing team understand their leading players’ strengths to such an extent that even when readers are presented with a relatively uneventful, oft-meandering yarn such as “Part 1”, they’ll still probably have a great time thanks to the protagonists’ instantly endearing dynamic.

Better yet, those readers who’ve been waiting for a “but…” to signal a shift towards this reviewer’s gripes are in for a shock, since in no small part thanks to Rennie and Beeby’s dedication to producing an authentic continuation of the Fourth Doctor era in terms of plot tropes, mythological intrigue and characterisation, the aspects which warrant even a single complaint are far and few between. Perhaps in an ideal world the core narrative surrounding Sarah’s untimely abduction by said legendary figures and the Doctor’s simultaneous encounter with a fearful father and his reckless daughter – whose names seem far too similar to those of other Greek icons to be a coincidence – could have received a little more attention so as to allow its sophomore chapter to kick off with a greater degree of momentum, or perhaps we could have had at least a wink or two to other elements of Doctor Who’s Victorian era continuity such as the Paternoster Gang or a certain barmaid-turned-Impossible Girl, but that these so-called shortcomings barely ever came to mind in the initial read-through speaks wonders for how captivating a ‘season premiere’ everyone involved has concocted in this instance.

Indeed, rather than supporting those fears of oversaturation discussed at the beginning of this review, Titan’s latest canonical contribution to the worlds of Doctor Who only seems to confirm once again that BBC Worldwide has placed their much-coveted licence in precisely the right mittens. Not only have Rennie and Beeby showcased in abundance their understanding of the narrative elements which helped the scripts of Robert Holmes and company succeed, they’ve also accomplished the enviable feat – and in 30 pages, no less – of perfectly encapsulating the appeal of Baker and Sladen’s heroes to the point that it’s difficult to imagine any reader being dissatisfied by the end result. What lies in the immediate future for the Fourth Doctor saga remains to be seen, yet if its pilot episode in any way offers even the slightest of hints at what’s to come, then anyone wise enough to follow the series should be in for a simultaneously thought-provoking, exhilarating and hilarious ride.

The end may have arrived for Baker’s scarf-donning, jelly baby-offering wanderer of time with “Logopolis” in 1981, but judging by the immense strength of their debut take on the character, the moment’s been prepared for by Rennie, Beeby et al ever since.