172 Doctor Who Third Doctor: Heralds Of Destruction

I was slightly disappointed by the beginning of this story.  I expect more out of Paul Cornell.  But then he pulled the rug out from under me.  I should NEVER doubt Paul Cornell.  What he did early in the story he did on purpose and it paid off.  How's that for no spoilers?

Also, I could hear the voices of the actors in my head while reading this.  He nailed it.  I want more Paul Cornell Third Doctor stories!!

Doctor Who Third Doctor: Heralds Of Destruction

Writer: Paul Cornell

Artist: Christopher Jones

Titan Comics

141 Doctor Who - The Tenth Doctor Vol 6: Sins Of The Father

Okay, so I've read a lot of Doctor Who this week while being cooped up at home.   This is the third book (and the last on my backlog shelf of books to read) one.  What I love about the Doctor Who comic series is it takes a page from the tv show and stages out seasons of storytelling.  Like on the tv show, there's a big, over-arcing story being told at the same time as single, smaller stories are unfolding.  But the catch with that is if you don't care for the big story, all the rest of the smaller stories don't do it for you.

This volume deals with two big over-arcing plots, neither of which I care much for.  There's this storyline with the Nocturnes that has been unfolding since the fourth volume of this book and another storyline dealing with Anubis which is been going on since maybe the third?  I really don't care for either and that's distracting from any enjoyment I might find in this book.  I'm anxious for all these arcs to reach their conclusions so that I can get back to really liking the Tenth Doctors' adventures.

On a happier note, the art is as gorgeous as ever.  There's that, at least.

Doctor Who - The Tenth Doctor Vol 6: Sins Of The Father

Writer: Nick Abadzis

Artist: Giorgia Sposito, Eleonora Carlini, Leandro Casco, Simon Fraser, Walter Geovanni

Titan Comics

136 Doctor Who - Tenth Doctor Vol. 5: Arena Of Fear

I didn't care for the 4th volume in this series, but volume 5 was significantly better. 

Two tales in this book.  The first picks up where the last volume ends.  There's a group of travelers consisting of Captain Jack and Cindy (among others) who are wandering the earth.  They really have no idea of who they really are or what they're doing.  They eventually cross paths with the Doctor, who is in the same situation.  And that's when memories begin to return.  A fun adventure to kind of undo the boringness of volume 4.

But the better story is the second one in this book.  The Doctor, Gabby and Cindy try to take a vacation but end up in the middle of an adventure featuring a witch.  Sounds boring, but it was actually quite good.  And this being Doctor Who, you know there wasn't really a witch.  But what was it?  Hmmmmmmm.....

Doctor Who - Tenth Doctor Vol. 5: Arena Of Fear

Writer: Nick Abadzis

Artist: Eleonora Carlini, Elena Casagrande, Iolanda Zanfardino, Simone De Meo, Luca Maresca

Titan Comics

134 Doctor Who - Tenth Doctor Vol. 4: The Endless Song

For the most part, I really like the Doctor Who comics.  Especially because there are so many more things they can do here than they can do on tv.  But just because it's something you can't pull off on tv doesn't mean you should attempt it in the comics.

This starts with an awful story about living music creatures or some such bullshit.  Honestly, I hated it and didn't finish it all the way through.

Thankfully it's followed up with an earth based story involving cavemen.  And a side story about Cindy, friend of the Doctor's current companion, which expands into the next volume

But all in all, this book felt like a waste of my time.

Doctor Who - Tenth Doctor Vol. 4: The Endless Song

Writer: Nick Abadzis

Artist: Eleonora Carlini, Elena Casagrande, Leonardo Romero

Titan Comics

099 Doctor Who - Tenth Doctor Vol. 3: The Fountains Of Forever

I'm still trying to play catch up with posting my finished books here.  I'm down to about a dozen, plus whatever I'm finishing while I still have this queue.  Anyway....

I mentioned in my last Doctor Who post that I've fallen behind on the Tenth Doctor's adventures because my comic supplier never got the second volume.  Now that I've finally finished it, I felt free to start reading the small backlog I have of this book.  

What I like about this volume is that it could very easily have been an actual television story.  The amount of special effects it would require doesn't seem like it would be enough to break the tv show's budget.  The cool thing about the modern revival of Doctor Who on tv is that moreso than in the classic version, it works at building up the backstory of the companions.  This is no different.  A new companion was created for this series, Gabby Gonzalez.  This story we spend a lot of time with her best friend, something you'd never see in the classic series.  We get to see this story through a fresh set of eyes.  Gabby's friend Cindy realizes that Gabby isn't making up crap about what's been going on with her as she witnesses it first hand.

This is a fun story involving an aging Hollywood actress and an ancient extraterrestrial artefact.  This series makes me realize exactly how much I miss David Tennant's Doctor.  At least we still have new stories, albeit in comic format.

Doctor Who - Tenth Doctor Vol. 3: The Fountains Of Forever

Writer: Nick Abadzis

Artist: Elena Casagrande, Eleonora Carlini, Rachel Stott, Leonardo Romero

Titan Comics

092 Doctor Who Tenth Doctor Vol 2: The Weeping Angels Of Mons

I've fallen behind of Doctor Who.  Not because I'm disinterested, but I ordered this book forever ago from my comics retailer and it never came.  Volumes since have come, but for some reason, they were never able to secure this particular volume.  So I stopped reading until I could pick up a copy.  While on vacation last month, the only volume they had in stock at Half Price Books was this very one.  So I grabbed it.  It didn't even make it all the way home before I read it.  

What you need to know.  Tenth Doctor.  New companion.  World War I.  Weeping Angels.  It's everything you could imagine it to be.  It's everything it should be.  Those Weeping Angels are scary as shit.  This story doesn't fail in getting that point across.  Great story.  

One of the things I sometimes have to stop and think about when reading a series like this is I know exactly how the script should sound.  At least with the Doctor.  It's a lot of fun to hear David Tennant's voice in my head as I read.  Because it forces you to not just read the words, but read the words in the way you'd expect him to deliver them.

Doctor Who Tenth Doctor Vol 2: The Weeping Angels Of Mons

Writer: Robbie Morrison

Artist: Daniel Indro, Eleonora Carlini

Titan Comics

056 Doctor Who: Supremacy Of The Cybermen

I love the idea of multi-Doctor stories.  I think everyone does.  The reality of multi-Doctor stories is quite different.  Titan Comics recently published a Four Doctors series written by Paul Cornell.  Now if Paul Cornell can't pull off a successful multi-Doctor story, no one can.  Well, he didn't pull it off (in my opinion).  But Cavan Scott & George Mann have.  This should be a training manual on how to pull off a multi-Doctor story. 

Basically, it's a 12th Doctor story, but it also stars 9, 10 and 11 with their respective companions.  In a nutshell, the Cybermen hook up with Rassilon, thereby giving the Cybermen access to time travel and all hell starts to break loose.  None of the Doctors leave their respective timelines and meet up, but instead they each have to deal with the fall-out of the Cybermen disruption of time and reality.  

This was such a well done story.  I'd love to see another multi-Doctor story done in this style, maybe featuring some of the earlier Doctors, or a mix of old and new.

Doctor Who: Supremacy Of The Cybermen

Writer: Cavan Scott, George Mann

Artist: Ivan Rodriguez, Walter Geovanni, Alessandro Vitti, Tazio Bettin

Titan Comics

054 Doctor Who - The Fourth Doctor Vol. 1: Gaze Of The Medusa

Wow.  I wasn't sure what to expect from this volume.  I love the idea of Doctor Who comics, but they almost always seem to just miss the mark for me.  There's something missing and I don't know what it is.  But this.  This hit the target.  Bullseye!  It felt more like an episode of the show than any other Doctor Who comic I've ever read.  Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith took a trip back to the late 1800's and got caught up their usual shenanigans.  And much like a typical episode during Tom Baker's run, the Doctor and Sarah get separated and need to find their way back to each other, all the while battling the villain du jour.  This time it's a widow in Victorian England who, the the aid of magic lamp, wants to bring back her children from death but instead ends up as an agent of an imprisoned alien with, you guessed it, The Gaze of Medusa.  The book was well done and was over before I knew it.  Loved the story, loved the art.  I loved everything about this.  I know this story was put out as a mini-series, but I hope it's not a stand alone.  I want more!

Doctor Who - The Fourth Doctor Vol. 1: Gaze Of The Medusa

Writer: Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby

Artist: Brian Williamson

Titan Comics