Just a quick spoiler warning - I will be talking about the plots of the issues in question, although I won't reveal too much about the cliff-hangers if I can avoid it.
"The Twist" Part 1. Writer George Mann. Artist: Mariano Laclaustra
It's worth mentioning that we are now in the post-series nine continuity, so Clara has gone - at last - and the Doctor is travelling on his own.
It's also all change on the creator front, as George Mann is back as writer and Rachael Stott is taking a well deserved breather. Instead we have Mariano Laclaustra on art duties. Mariano is no stranger to the 12th doctor comics - in fact he seems to be George Mann's go-to guy when George writes the series - however, it's the first time I've come across his work since I started doing these reviews, so lets see how he does…
The Doctor is visiting "The Twist", a gigantic inhabited Mobius strip in space. He seems to be there to indulge this incarnations fascination with Punk Rock, as that’s where we first encounter him - wearing his hoody and rocking out in the depths of the young crowd. After the gig he works his way backstage and meets Hattie, the bass player. Although he seems to be admiring her guitar, he's actually there to watch as a harassed man runs past, swiftly followed by a troop of armoured policemen in black. As the Doctor give chase, he's still got hold of Hattie's instrument, so she has no choice but to follow on behind.
Using a different route to the cops, the Doctor gets to the man - known as Jakob - first, and pulls him into hiding. It turns out that Jakob is being falsely accused of the murder of one of his friends - a local councillor called Idra Panatar. Taking the Doctor and Hattie to the scene of the crime, Jakob explains that he believes it to really be the work of vicious red-furred creatures that hide in the dark places of the colony - and that the authorities are trying to cover up their existence (hence why he is being framed).With the help of his new sonic screwdriver the Doctor uncovers a secret room in the apartment where Idra was collecting evidence about the monsters.There is definitely a conspiracy of some kind going on - and the Doctor is going to find out what it is.
Intending to track the creatures, the trio head for the "Power Park", where artificial trees provide electricity to The Twist. Suddenly those nasty cops reappear. Dodging through the trees the Doctor and his companions crouch done by some roots, only to be confronted by a huge beast with slavering teeth, sharp claws and a red bushy tail...
Okay, so far this seems to be a fairly traditional tale of monsters in the dark, government cover-ups and possible an oppressed second set of inhabitants of the Twist.What makes it stand out are the personalities of the two people the Doctor meets. Hattie is feisty, but a little bewildered as she is caught up in the wake of the Time Lord's investigations. Jakob meanwhile is clearly frightened, but not enough to give up on solving his dear friends murder. There's also something more to him. He seems to have one electronic eye. Whether than is just an artistic design choice to make him seem more alien or part of the plot only time will tell.
Art wise I have to say I'm pretty impressed with Mariano Laclaustra. There is a glowing, luminescent quality about his artwork that I really like - as if someone is shining a light through the back of the page. This may be down to the work of the colourist, Carlos Cabrera, of course but even so it's very striking. Laclaustra's character work is really varied and expressive and he has Peter Capaldi's distinct features down pat. I'll have to see what his creature designs are like when we see more of them in part two.
However in this issue it's in the double page spreads that Laclaustra's design sense really explodes off the page. There is a lovely image of the Twist colony itself at the start - a massive almost impossible structure floating serenely in space. But the real standout is where he uniquely illustrates a chase sequence, not by using multiple panels, but with corner illustrations, coloured arrows and a spectacular aerial view of the cityscape. It's very, very clever and gives a sense of scale, a sense of pace and keeps the plot moving in just one simple sequence.
All in all it’s a solid start for this storyline and hopefully its going to go in an interesting direction. We'll see next month. If there is one niggle, it's that yet again Titan have decided to spoil things by giving away the name of the new monsters in the next issue blurb at the back. That’s what the story is meant to be for! It's really starting to annoy me now.
Sorry. Pet hate.
It wouldn’t be one of my reviews without a quick walk through the variant covers. There are actually five this month. I'll skip past the fairly bland Will Brooks photo cover and the standard pose from "Young Justice" art Todd Nauck. On the third cover we get an absolutely lovely shot of the Doctor leaping in space as he plays an alien looking guitar. This is from artist Steve Pugh, probably most well known for Animal Man and more recently the DC Comics reinvention of The Flintstones. Is it a tribute to Prince? Possibly.
Simon Myers does another album cover homage. This time it’s the classic "Hot Rocks" by the Rolling Stones. Instead of Mick, Keith and the band we get The Doctor, Clara, Missy, a Cyberman and an Ood. I have to say, it's pretty darn good.
My top praise this month goes to anther image from Robert Hack, who I raved about in my review of the Fourth Doctor comic last time. Admittedly it's not moving very far from his wheelhouse - a spooky looking house on an alien moon with his usual orange based colour palette. No, top marks go to Robert for making the Doctor himself look absolutely bloody terrifying as he strides towards the viewer, with a furious look on his face. This is not a Time Lord I'd mess with !
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Fourth Doctor mini-series #4 (of 5):
"Gaze of the Medusa" Part 4. Writers: Gordon Rennie & Emma Beeby. Artist: Brian Williamson
Last time, we left the Doctor and Athena using the Lamp of Chronos to get back to 500 BC. They're trying to rescue Sarah Jane - who's now a petrified statue - and the Professor, who isn't but is about as useful as one. We get some lovely banter between the pair as the Doctor chatters on about the invention of ice cream and "hundreds of years to go before you've got anywhere to put a chocolate flake". Athena is interested in the battle of Marathon, but *I* want to hear more about the Great and Terrible Beast Emperor of the Third Crimson Collective. That one practically writes itself !
The Doctor now knows that the caves they are in are a prison for a creature known as a "Medusa", an ancient alien parasite that leeches the life energy from its prey. Those are not statues scattered around - every victim is quantum locked, frozen in a single moment in time so that the Medusa can feast on them over centuries. It’s a hideous fate, accompanied by some stunning - if slightly too green - panels from Brian Williamson.
Of course no mention of quantum locking can go past without name checking the Weeping Angels, so we get a slightly clumsy aside from the Doctor before Athena discovers her father staggering through the rubble. He escaped the Medusa after its gaze transformed Sarah Jane, but slowly he found himself being turned to stone, the monsters taunts echoing after him as he wandered the never ending passageways.
Learning of Sarah Jane's fate - and that she saw herself in stone form in the halls of Lady Carstairs mansion - the Doctor vows to rescue her. Meanwhile back in Victorian London, the evil Lady herself discovers the Doctor and Athena gone and ventures into the TARDIS. She realises that the Doctor has far more power than she credited him with, so she and her Scryclops henchmen step into the Chronos portal after him.
Discovering Sarah Jane's transformed body the Doctor talks fondly to her, knowing that right now he can't do anything for her - she is a fixed point in time and has to stay a statue for two and a half thousand years until at least the 19th century. Confronting the Medusa, the Doctor reveals himself to be a Time Lord and that he knows the monster is trapped in 500 BC despite everyone else being able to get in or out. Elsewhere, Athena and her father are faced with Lady Carstairs and a rampaging Scryclops and the failing Professor ends up sacrificing himself to let Athena escape.
Catching up with the Doctor who is still evading the Medusa's gaze thanks to his trusty sonic, the pair flee through the caves, only to be surrounded by a green glow which the Doctor identifies as a transmat beam. They rematerialise in front of…
Oh come on - you didn't think I would give that away did you?
That big twist is the saving grace of the issue, which to be honest is a bit of a run-around to get all the players into their places for the final episode. It looks like Sarah Jane is going to be side-lined for most of this mini-series as an ornament, which is a real shame. Lady Carstairs also seems to be becoming redundant - more plot device than antagonist. It's a shame the Professor has gone, but I've made no secret of the fact that I never warmed to him as a character. He does get to go out on a high though by giving Athena his blessing on her relationship with her "young military man" and in the end being a hero to save his daughter.
On a positive note the Medusa is a lot nastier this issue, slithering around and tripping the Doctor up, with a nice menacing voice. The design hold up pretty well, although its tail does seem to get longer and longer from panel to panel. In fact Brian Williamson does a reasonably good job all round, although the obvious photo reference likenesses are creeping back in and the less said about that single page of the TARDIS console room the better. It’s a bit *too* familiar. I won't miss the interminable cave backgrounds. Hopefully Brian will get something more interesting to draw next issue when….
Ha! No you don't!
We've one more issue to go and I am really intrigued now where this is heading. Lets hope Gordon and Emma can pull off an satisfying conclusion.
So what else do we get with this comic?
Well there are no less than six covers. The usual photo montage from Will Brooks, one by Todd Nauck again which is miles better than his Twelfth Doctor cover earlier. There is a close up of the Medusa by Brian Williamson that’s really quite hypnotic and a Holmesian themed cover from Kelly Yates, who did work on the "Prisoners of Time" maxi-series from IDW a few years back. The fifth is a beautiful painted cover from veteran Mark Wheatley - one of my all time favourite artists.
Top of the pile though goes to the cover / ad for Doctor Who Comics Day 2016 which is a loving Jack Kirby pastiche by Andrew Pepoy. It's aping Fantastic Four #49 from 1966 which featured Galactus, but here we have the Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane and K-9 being menaced by a giant Cyberman. It's just wonderful; and I'd happily have a print of it hanging on my wall. Forget album covers - I want more 'King' Kirby inspired work!
The Doctor Who Comics Day theme doesn’t end there though, as at the end of the issue there are two one page teasers to this years bi-weekly five issue event - "Supremacy of the Cybermen" - it being their 50th anniversary and all. The prologues features the Fourth and Eighth Doctors and don’t reveal much except that it looks like the series will be full of surprises. All five issues will be written by George Mann and Cavan Scott with art by Allesandro Vitti and Ivan Rodriguez. Issues 1 and 2 should be out now. Reviews may be forthcoming at a later date.
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