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.

Written by Nick Abadzis
Art by Rachael Stott and Leonardo Romero
Lettering by Richard Starkings
And Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Colorist Hi-Fi
Published August 12, 2015 by Titan Comics

Millennia ago the Gods left the Earth. That’s when the Cult of the Black Triangle formed. Generation after generation its members have waited, keeping both the faith and the secret. Now their time has come. The Gods have returned. But will the cult members get rewarded as they think they should? The Doctor, Cindy and Black Triangle gang are transported up to the alien’s ship where they come face to face with the Seeker, an artificial intelligence whose sole purpose is the destruction of all evidence that the Gods ever existed.

For some reason I thought that this was going to be the last issue in the story arc so I was a little disappointed and also excited when I reached the final page and realized there was still more to come. Here we are four parts in and writer Nick Abadzis has everything clicking along perfectly. There are plenty of characters in this storyline that are new but at this point you feel like you know them and understand their intentions and motives. To keep things fresh he changed the perspective on us for part of this book. A few pages in Cindy takes over the narration.  Set up like she is sending texts to her best friend Gabby back down in New York, she describes the attitudes and actions of the cult members and the Doctor as they argue and fight over what to do next. It works as a segue or montage to help show the passing of time onboard in an interesting way.

The Cult of the Black Triangle members were first convinced that Dorothy Bell was their Goddess incarnate. After that they decide that the being who brought them onto the ship must be their God. But it turns out it isn’t even a living being but a program that searches the universe seeking out all the left over artifacts from when the Gods were prevalent. Once found, it destroys them. As with many other stories, these aliens masqueraded as the Egyptian gods we are so familiar with.

Some of my favourite stories, whether they be comic books, novels or even television episodes, hinge on the “something familiar is actually not what you thought.” Doctor Who has done this so many times that you actually have to stop and think for a moment before you can find an item that hasn’t been twisted in that way. And even though it has been done quite a bit, I still love it.  This story is a take on the Egyptian mythology, that the Gods were actually aliens. A concept that has been done before, notably it formed the entire basis of the movie Stargate and the subsequent spin off TV show Stargate SG-1. The show even gets a mention from one of the characters during this issue. But of course classic Doctor Who fans know the idea goes back a lot further than the early 90’s. The Tom Baker story The Pyramids Of Mars quickly comes to mind with the villainous Sutekh. In many ways this might be a sequel to that story, or at the very least a new chapter. Speaking of new chapters, now that I know that this story isn’t done yet, on to the next one!

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

The Doctor is getting fat from eating too much ice cream so Rose The Cat decides he should regenerate to get over his lost love and lose some weight. After a couple of really funny bonus strips this one didn’t do much for me. The plus side is that the previous two were good enough that I don’t automatically dislike them anymore.

Written by Nick Abadzis
Pencils by Elena Casagrande
Lettering by Richard Starkings And Comicraft's Jimmy Betancourt
Inks by Simone Di Meo
Colorist Hi-Fi
Published July 29, 2015 by Titan Comics

Dorothy Bell has joined an alien force and the symbiosis has given her incredible powers. Cleo, Erik and their cohorts are searching for Dorothy believing her to be a Goddess incarnate. As usual, the Doctor is the only one who knows that none of this is going to end well.

By the title you would think that this is the beginning of a new arc but in reality it is the 3rd issue about these characters. It all started back in # 11 when we first came across the alien device, Dorothy and Cleo. So why change the name for this story? Why not just have it be The Fountains of Forever Part 3? I don’t really know, but if I had to hazard a guess it would be that the main focus has now shifted from the out of this world fountain of youth device to the aliens who created it. The story is no longer about an aging Hollywood starlet trying to recapture her youth and beauty, now we are focused on the consequences of awakening an alien consciousness from its slumber.

The details are finally starting to fall into place. Last issue we were left dangling as far as who Erik and his cohorts are and what they want with the alien object. It turns out they aren’t a top secret government agency or mercenaries or an evil organization but in fact a cult of fanatics who believe it to be a religious artifact. They are the faithful who think that their Gods have abandoned Earth and now with this device they are calling them back, hoping to bring on the “Day Of Ascension”.

That’s where Dorothy Bell fits in. In her twilight years she was searching for a way to extend her life. Now she has merged with an alien intelligence. It gave her everything she wanted, her youth and beauty has been restored along with almost limitless power. After the symbiosis she is treated with reverence by Erik and his cult because they believe her to be the Goddess incarnate, though they change their minds and later decide she is a harbinger of the Gods. Dorothy knows that she isn’t a herald and she completely ignores them, choosing to put her new found powers to use instead. Another famous web-slinging comic book character from New York told us “with great power comes great responsibility.” I don’t know if Dorothy is a Spider-Man fan, but she understands the lesson. Imbued with the power to do whatever she wants Dorothy chooses to use it benignly, reshaping NYC to make it easier for people to travel, taller buildings, better hospitals. But the beings behind her power are coming and they aren’t happy with her.

Cleo continues to surprise in this issue. She’s has betrayed the Doctor on numerous occasions but when his life is in danger she stands up for him and protects him, placing herself at risk instead. Cindy, Gabby’s best friend and a minor antagonist, continues to be a wallflower during much of this story. So much so that she even makes a comment about just staying out of the way. I have a feeling that when this arc reaches its end, Cindy will play a big role. We will find out soon enough.

A Rose By Any Other Name By Rachael Smith

In my review of that last issue I confessed that I didn’t like this bonus strip. It really did very little for me; I found it mildly humorous at best. My resolve to dislike them is slowly being eroded away. The previous strip was good and this one was actually enjoyable. In order to get the Doctor out of his funk, Rose The Cat takes him to a speed dating service where the creatures across the table are all old villains. How could you go wrong with that?

Writer: Nick Abadzis
Artists: Elena Casagrande
Letterer: Richard Starkings and Comicraft's Jimmy Beancourt
Colourist: Arianna Florean
Editor: Andrew James
Publisher: Titan Comics
Release Date: June 10, 2015

Last issue Gabby defeated the Shreekers but now she faces a bigger challenge:  mending things with her BFF Cindy. Is there room for a third wheel now that Gabby’s hanging around with the Doctor? As they attempt to sort things out, the Doctor tracks down some out of this world artifacts that are being auctioned off on the black market.  

Before getting into the ups and downs of this issue, there’s a big change to be noted. After finishing the Weeping Angels of Mons storyline, Robbie Morrison wrote a filler standalone issue for #10 before relinquishing the writing duties to Nick Abadzis. This is the first part of the next storyline that will take us through the end of the first year of these 10th Doctor comic book adventures.

This story gets off to a dramatic start but it’s more like Keeping Up WithThe Kardashians than Gone With The Wind. The very first page has a giant panel of Cindy’s pouty face while she is texting Gabby calling her a “bad friend.” That angst filled message is just a device to keep the main characters in New York for another adventure, but it ends up being one of the more annoying moments in this issue.  I had a lot of trouble identifying with these two characters, especially Cindy. All of their early panels together feel like bad reality TV, full of superfluous drama that does nothing for me as a reader. It’s only later when Gabby starts to understand her relationship with the Doctor that things become interesting. Those epiphanies won’t be new to the reader though, we’ve seen them before on the silver screen.  Moreover, after Cindy’s petulant start to this issue, I had already decided that I didn’t like her and nothing in the rest of the comic changed my mind. My only hope is that her character is meant to be irritating and grating and that as this story moves toward its resolution she will find herself becoming the hero much like Gabby did in the last issue.

So, one storyline feels like filler but what of the other? The Doctor gets off to a decent start, strolling through the city singing “New York, New York” and name checking Joey Ramone and the CBGB club as he tries to barge into the secret auction. As he thumbs through a catalogue of junk being sold off as alien artifacts he has a clobbering run in with a professional acquirer. Cleo has made a living stealing items of interest and selling them off to private collectors. She’s here looking for one particular device that offers its user a “fountain of youth.” The technology is too dangerous to allow in human hands, so the Doctor decides to team up Cleo to recover it. He forgets rule number one, don’t trust a mercenary, and ends up being betrayed by her multiple times.

I found this issue to be a somewhat challenging read. The entire secondary storyline with Cindy and Gabby didn’t hold my interest. Watching the Doctor on the trail of a deadly alien device should have been an enjoyable romp, but it wasn’t. I was irritated that Cleo kept making a fool of our hero and that he had ever trusted her in the first place. The artwork did its job but nothing above and beyond. The real saving grace to this story is the final two pages when the Doctor finds himself on the wrong end of the fountain of youth device. The last couple panels all but guarantee that you are going to come back for another installment. I’m hoping that things pick up in the next issue and that this is just a rough start to a new arc with a new writer.

Bonus Comic Strip: A Rose By Any Other Name by Rachael Smith

The Doctor is still depressed over losing Rose-The-Human so he immerses himself in the sitcom Chums. Rose-The-Cat tries to convince him that there are better things for him to do with his time, but instead finds herself completely enamoured with the show as well. After wallowing in self-pity for a long time the Doctor realizes that he isn’t good for anything anymore prompting his feline friend to suggest they travel back in time to when he was good at something. I thought this humour strip tucked away at the end of the main comic was enjoyable and poignant.

WRITER: Robbie Morrison
ARTISTS: Eleonora Carlini
COVER BY: AJ
PUBLISHER: Titan Comics
PAGECOUNT: 32​pp​
RELEASE DATE: May 13

After being subjected to the horrors of World War I in the previous adventure, the Tenth Doctor and his companion Gabby return to her home in New York City to check in on her family. When a sudden and extreme rise in noise pollution starts driving the Big Apple’s citizens mad, the Doctor knows he needs to stop it, but will it be too late for Gabby’s family?  

This issue is a standalone story where the reader doesn’t really need to know anything about the comic line in order to get into it, understand and appreciate it. In fact, this was the first Doctor Who comic that I have read in a few years.  Previous adventures and bad guys are mentioned and name checked, but the only information vital to the story is Gabby’s desire to return home, something that television viewers would be familiar with.

Sometimes, the noise of the world is deafening

The story itself is quintessential Doctor Who. You take something normal, average, every day and turn it into an enemy.  We’ve seen this premise in many of the televised episodes over the past ten years, perhaps most strikingly done with the Weeping Angels. In this case, who hasn’t been walking down a busy street and felt under audio assault from car horns, construction work, the buzz of conversation and a host of other noises? It has almost become a fact of life that nearly everywhere you go your senses are under one assault or another.  

In true Doctor Who style, there’s always more going on than first meets the eye. The Aliens behind the sonic attack, are they malicious? Misunderstood? Or themselves the victims?  

There are some political overtones to this story as well. The question is raised- just because something is legal does that make it morally right? What responsibility does a bystander have when something legal but morally reprehensible is happening in front of them?

The other main theme here is grabbing the moment. After the events of the previous story arc involving both the Weeping Angels and World War I, this issue seems to be all about not taking things for granted, whether it be the love of family and friends or even just a moment of peace and quiet stolen from another wise busy day.

The artwork is very appropriate to the story. In a tale where sound is the main villain, just how can that be portrayed on paper? The art team does a really splendid job of making those every day noises stand out, starting first as innocuous letters on the page (so subtle that it was my second read through before I noticed some of them) and then expanding outward, becoming more than just words as the victims succumb.  

A great example of this is the opening three pages. At first we see a very striking war zone image. We hear soldiers shooting at each other, bombs going off and buildings collapsing. The sounds dominate the panels, taking precedence over the pictures. Then it pulls back to reveal that the action we are 
seeing is really just a newscast and we are actually in an apartment with a couple who are arguing and a baby that is crying. All of those noises are now added into the mix, creating a visual cacophony. The following page shows Gabby’s best friend Cindy walking down the street in Brooklyn. Her phone is ringing, sending vibrant red music notes dancing across the panel while we see other noises in the background. Over the course of Cindy’s phone conversation, the background noises encroach further and the panels tighten up claustrophobically until there is nothing but Cindy and the noise.  When we return to Gabby and the Doctor on page 5 we are treated to wide open spaces and that built up tension is finally released.

Some of the wordplay used here is reminiscent of Marvel’s blind superhero Daredevil, who sees using sound. Perhaps it might even be an homage to that style.

One of the major fallacies of standalone stories is the pacing. Echo moves forward at almost breakneck speed with short and concise plot panels and action sequences that are very limited. The reduced number of panels showing explosions and battles is actually a nice change when compared to the massive page eating spreads that dominate most mainstream publications and are used to turn two issues worth of plot into five comics.  

This story has a quick resolution that appropriately gives the reader just a moment to pause for reflection before nudging them on to the next story.

Overall the story was an enjoyable read, but the plot was often predictable. With Gabby as the lead, it was inevitable that she would become the hero and save the day, her family and the earth. It tries to use familiar NYC back drops to give the story a more international feel, but instead it felt like retreading material that was done better on our television screens. All of those short comings are more than made up for by the phenomenal art direction. This was a visually dynamic comic to read.  

Bonus Humour Strip: A Rose By Any Other Name by Rachael Smith.

In this installment Rose-the-cat wants the Doctor to get over Rose-the-human, so she suggests a shopping trip. The Doctor agrees and takes them to a planet just outside Nebula 6879H that has been having a going out of business sale since the beginning of time.  The Doctor tries on a few new outfits to comedic effect and makes some purchases. It seems Rose-the-cat had ulterior motives for the shopping spree when she dives in and begins playing in all the empty boxes.  The strip is mildly amusing, with no real tie in to the main comic storyline except for a line at the end about trying to enjoy the little things in life.