Gordon Rennie

This is one big story, and I don't have meaningfully distinct comments about each volume, so this review takes in both.

Titan's Doctor Who crossovers got bigger every year. This one is eight issues and two collected editions, and crossed through its ongoings (instead of just featuring characters from them), taking in issues of The Tenth Doctor: Year Three, The Eleventh Doctor: Year Three, and The Twelfth Doctor: Year Three. It also features the ninth Doctor, Rose, Jack, Tara, Madame Vastra, show more and Jenny; Jenny, the Doctor's daughter; the fourth Doctor and second Romana; and River Song in a set of specials. Plus every other incarnation of the Doctor puts in at least a one-scene cameo. Is that enough already?

It is, in fact, too much. It follows the Big Finish model: the characters are mostly separate for most of it, which means they undertake pretty generic adventures, and then the characters come together at the end, which means the narrative doesn't have room for anything other than simple solutions and generic Doctor sniping... something we've seen twice in the past two years! I have posited in the past that Big Finish's nostalgic crossovers are pointless because they bring together characters we see in ongoing adventures all the time already, and the same is true here. There is no novelty to bringing "back" the tenth Doctor, Gabby, and Cindy when I read their adventures already. The only characters we don't already see all the time in Titan adventures are Jenny, the fourth Doctor and Romana, and River, but the first of those I had no desire to see come back, and the others I listen to the adventures of already via Big Finish. (Plus, I didn't find the stories or dialogue very good; the River story in particular was confusingly written and poorly illustrated.)

If we aren't getting nostalgia, then we're not getting anything, because this story isn't really about anything. A dimension turns people into mindless zombies... as Doctor Who threats go, it's definitively bottom tier and generic. Does this story have any interesting themes or clever characterization? Basically, no. The one exception is the Eleventh Doctor issue, which isn't by any of the regular Eleventh Doctor writers but is at least by regular Eleventh Doctor artists Leandro Casco and I. N. J. Culbard. It's a decent tale of the eleventh Doctor and Alice being trapped on ancient Gallifrey and becoming inadvertently involved with the Time Lord's early TARDIS experiments. The rest of it all is sound and fury, signifying nothing. I'm glad that after three goes, Titan finally abandoned these annual events; I had mixed thoughts about Four Doctors, but it was overall pretty interesting. The latter two have been exercises in tedium.

Titan Doctor Who: « Previous in sequence | Next in sequence » show less

------------Updated review, *****, Feb 16th 2023

First time I read this book I was little bit puzzled. Reason was simple, I did not have much contact with the W40K universe and [thankfully] I made my first steps through period of relative normalcy in this universe, so called Horus Heresy.

As time went by I started reading additional books (and some comics) and very soon found myself face to face with nightmarish 40th millennium. And while comics weren't always that good, novels and short show more stories were truly excellent.

And so after reading this collection in 2012 I decided to go through it again, this time with better knowledge of the universe. And I have to say it had a much better effect on me than before so I give it 5 stars (from original 4).

Entire collection is made of comics published in 2000AD-like magazine and it does feel. Story flow is little bit short, you know trying to put as much in in 20-ish pages, but man does it pack the punch.

First thing, art. It is epic and it is something I have not seen up until the Robertson's fantastic covers for Horus Heresy and other series that followed it. FYI, art forW40K was usually like nightmarish Judge Dredd style, slightly cartoonish with exaggerated body language, ornaments, garments, weapons and limbs (and this is reason why W40K comics are general miss and hit for me, unlike books where I create images with my inner eye :)). All our heroes here, and gotta admit even the bad guys, are epic, greater than life. In heavy armor, piercing sight and lightnings coming out from everywhere every page is so full of dark atmosphere, almost suffocating darkness against which our champions stand against. Framing, composition ...... utter brilliance. Even when we move from the beautiful black and white painting style to more pencil style in later issues, entire book remains pure joy for the eyes.

Second thing, atmosphere. If you want to feel the W40K atmosphere - constant witch hunts, suspicions, trials and tribulations, daemons, betrayal, techno barbarians that would make Conan think twice, trust me this is book for you. One of the reviewers said that dialog and behavior in the book are very childish. It is age of puritans seeking evil in everyone, walking on steroids and enhancements and carrying tank-like armor and tank killing weaponry. It is time of zealots that can only utter various prayers to the Emperor, quote whatever passes for the holy book at that time and where even slightest hesitation in utter devotion would qualify entire planet to extermination. Free thinking is dangerous business, everybody is so full of religious zeal and lack of understanding toward the fellow man it is impossible to fathom it. And where you have zealotry and inability to communicate normally you have childish behavior (just look at zealotry in the last few years) - because that is how kids with tantrums behave, it is their way or the highway. Only difference is that tantrum people here are around 5 meters tall, sized like tanks wielding huge handguns and powered cutlery size of ordinary man.

Do note apparently there is a colored version of the book. I did not read that one, I read the black and white one. For me black and white works are higher form of art so I am not sure how would I like one done in color, so depending on your preferences you might want to browse a bit to see original art (b&W) and then compare it to the colored panels and then make a decision.

Story - hey, it is W40K. While one might expect bolter-porn all the way (especially in time when it was originally published) story is very very interesting. Ephrael Stern, one of the high ranking warriors in order of Sisters of Battle finds herself without memory, locked down in the order's monastery, writing down weird texts and talking in tongues. While just lack of memory would put her in front of the Inquisition and flame-throwers (because in this universe you just never know :)) she manages to clear her name (which is epic in and on itself in this universe) and become living weapon against the Chaos. During all of this she will befriend pretty stubborn Inquisitor, evade Ordo Malleus, destroy daemons, smuggle through cordons of hive gangs and police and set herself on the path to mysterious Black Library with another, very very unlikely hero/companion/sidekick. Through this all we see (or do we?) how story ends but by following Miss Stern you will be so much entranced that you will want to scream when you come to .....

The end..... I love cliffhangers, I truly do......but when they lead to something :) Here we are left dry after so much things happening, allies dying left and right and spectacular combat (combat with Culexus was miiii-iighty)...... But again, even with ending such as this it is still 5 stars for me!

With hope that this story gets a proper conclusion at some future date I can only wholeheartedly recommend the book to W40K and in general fans of SF-with-fantasy-elements epic stories.

------------Original review, **** (Dec 16th 2012):

Read this one as part of Daemonifuge (print on demand) from Black Library.
Great art and very interesting story.

Highly recommended for any fan of SF. show less

I discovered Doctor Who in middle school. I was a nerd in an age before being nerdy was cool in any way. I always had my nose in a book and took a lot of crap for being a straight A student. Most likely I was one of only 3 kids in my class that realized PBS showed more than Sesame Street and Electric Company. Doctor Who showed on PBS every weekday afternoon at 4:30. In the days before VCRs to tape shows (and definitely way way way before the awesome wonder that is DVR and satellite show more television), this left me in a rush to get home after school in time to see that day's episode. For whatever reason in the early 80s, PBS only showed episodes with one Doctor -- Tom Baker. #4. I rushed home every day for my dose of the fuzzy haired, scarf wearing awesome doctor and his companion, Sarah Jane.

I adored Tom Baker.

I saw the episode where the third doctor (Jon Pertwee) dramatically fell to the ground and morphed into Doctor #4. Then for months, the daily showings meandered their way through all of Tom Baker's exploits, ending with the episode that left me sad and pissed - the Fourth Doctor's regeneration into number five (Peter Davison). The station would show one or two Peter Davison episodes (which just made me madder....I wanted Tom Baker back. I remember being absolutely livid. I was a kid. At 12, I did not accept change readily. And I had never encountered a show that suddenly changed the main character like that with no warning.) and then bounce back to the first Tom Baker episode again. There were no Jon Pertwee episodes. There were only one or two Peter Davison episodes. Just Tom Baker on repeat.

I didn't mind. I loved Tom Baker.

Doctor Who was my secret nerd time every day. None of my friends watched Doctor Who. My parents didn't watch Doctor Who. My siblings didn't watch Doctor Who. I was a lone nerd, enjoying my little dose of Brit nerdery in secrecy. It was awesome!

I didn't discover all the rest of the Doctor Who Universe until years and years later. In college, I was much more accepting of change. My anger wore off. These days I don't even get upset when I think of the episode where my scarfed, strange, absent-minded doctor turned into a blonde, tall stranger.

I still adore Tom Baker though. I have a replica of his scarf. I own his Funko pop figure. I have a stuffed K9 that talks. I even have a Tom Baker keyring. I like the other incarnations of the Doctor...but #4 will always be my favorite. He was my first doctor.....and that's just a special thing.

When I heard that Titan Comics was doing a 5-comic series featuring The Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane, I knew I had to read it! Unfortunately, I heard about it too late to get the whole 5 comic run...so I waited for the hardback compilation book to be released right before this past Christmas. The book was my Christmas present to me.

I waited until after the holidays were long over and life had calmed down to read it. I wanted nothing to interrupt my Classic Who time.

The story is classic. The doctor and his companion travel back to Victorian London on a lark, where they encounter aliens who want the secret of time travel. Sarah Jane is captured, and the doctor must get her back.

Brian Williamson's artwork is amazing! The cover of the hardback compilation is beautiful! The story line is classic. Gordon Rennie and Emma Beeby did an awesome job of bringing my favorite doctor back in all his absent-minded glory.

I loved it! For a little while it was like being back in the 80s, sitting down in front of the television after school to see what sort of trouble was going to unfold for The Doctor and Sarah Jane.

I highly recommend Gaze of the Medusa to any fan of classic or new Doctor Who! show less

I've read this a bunch of times over the years, but it never ceases to amaze!

The Thrice Born Heretical Saint and one of the greatest to bear the bob and Bolter of the Adepta Sororitas, Ephrael Stern, continues her one-woman crusade to hold the galaxy record for most jumps between an eternal succession of frying pans and fires, as she reckons with what she is becoming after the bizarre torrent of memories of centuries of Sisters of Battle and searches for a way to hurt Slaanesh in a way that show more doesn't just make them more horny.

In the first volume eleven was already in the distance, so Emperor knows what this is cranked up to now with apostate priests of the Dark Prinze and Black Templars under his thrall, a non-psyker Inquisitor who cosplays as an Astartes, goes Gamora in Commorragh, makes a Pariah pal who gives her a phenomenal view of the Webway--seriously, Kev Walker went absolutely wild with a spread of all manner of Eldar, portals, and at least one of pretty much every vehicle you could find parked on a Craftworld at time of publication--it's wild!

It truly fills my cold, heretical heart with joy to see the Imperium
and the wider galaxy presented in its ridiculously grim, ludicrously epic, and perfectly awful. I feel like as time's gone on the chances of a member of the Inquisition being a pure vessel for evil, tainted by Chaos or just a sadistic bastard, but in Daemonifuge a couple of good ones exist, a one is already lost in the Abyss and reduced to making vague, ominous ghost calls, while the rest are doing the witch walk from Hocus Pocus dressing in ways that would make George Miller say that look to ridiculous and evil. It's horribly glorious.

Walker's art truly is something else and absolutely bursts off the page, making you see the colours of the Warp, despite being in black and white (I really do need to finally track down and get my hands on the 20th Anniversary Colour edition), and the script is silly in its seriousness, which is totally the vibe.

I think the only thing I take any issue with, braids the blasphemy of putting a Battle Sister in Wych's ludicrously tiny knickers, is the not as bad arse a line as it thinks it is when Ephrael says something to the effect of 'I'm no frail, scared woman! You see the bob!? That means I'm Mrs Hereticus'. Well she says at t lesdt the first bit, which, when you're already the gnarliest SoB in the Imperium, a heretical saint with centuries of other Battle Sisters in your mind, force lightning, and a friend who used to be a Harlequin, you really don't have to do misogyny to prove how epic and not like other girls you are.

This really series was one of those first big bits of Warhammer media of a quality, along with things like Gaunt's Ghosts, and the Horus Heresy series that lead to the popularity of the galaxy far beyond the tabletop that made it possible for us to end up with the various media goodies we get to enjoy today, like the stack of genuinely great video games in the vast sea of Warhammer IP, the Horus Heresy series itself, and, I'm not sure if I'm in the minority with this or not, but in my personal opinion, phenemonal animations like Hammer and Bolter, Pariah Nexus, Angels of Death, and Astartes.

Epic comic is epic, even without a Titan in sight...damn, I really do need to reacquainted with Imperius Dictatio after rhe next volume of this! show less