Shuri: A Friend in Need and Other Stories by Nnedi Okorafor, Rachael Stott, et al.

The second half of the Shuri series continues the story of what Shuri is up to on Earth, acting as Black Panther while T'Challa is missing in space. First there's a two-issue fill-in by Vita Ayala and Paul Davidson about Shuri going to New York City tracking down black holes, where she ends up working alongside the Miles Morales Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel. I was a little skeptical of this going in, to be honest, but I ended up enjoying it a fair amount. Ayala (mostly) has a good command of Ms. Marvel, and the story does some interesting, nuanced things that stop it from being just another generic superhero punch-up. (I did find it weird that Kamala said she was a science person, though.)

from Shuri #9

The last three issues bring back series writer Nnedi Okorafor, alongside a new artist, Rachael Stott, to wrap up the series's various ongoing threads. Stott was one of the regular artists on Titan's Doctor Who work, where she did great stuff particularly on their twelfth Doctor series, and I was glad to see her making the jump to one of the "Big Two" publishers here.

I did think that the three issues here struggled a bit to get everything together; in particular, Shuri's friendship with the mysterious anonymous hacker Muti ultimately seems pretty underdeveloped. Yes, Muti plays a role in wrapping up the ongoing crisis with the music-loving black-hole-generating space bug that threatens to eat Wakanda's memories, but I felt like there was more to do here in terms of characterization with the idea that Shuri's only real friend was someone she never saw or met! In the end, it feels like Okorafor bit off slightly more ideas than than she could chew in a ten-issue miniseries; Wakanda's growing connection to other African nations is just a random bit of flavor rather than something dealt with substantively.

from Shuri #7

It does have some good touches; I liked the inclusion of a made-up piece of Wakandan dance music, and I was pleasantly surprised that the story ended with Shuri still having access to the powers of ancient Wakanda memory, since I figured the point of the series was to remove them to more closely align the comics version of the character with the film version.

So ultimately I found the first half of this series stronger than the second... but it is definitely the best showing from Okorafor on a Black Panther-adjacent comic and, other than Rise of the Black Panther, probably the best Black Panther comic of the whole "Coates era."

Issues #6-10 of Shuri originally appeared from May to September 2019. The stories were written by Vita Ayala (#6-7) and Nnedi Okorafor (#8-10), illustrated by Paul Davidson (#6-7) and Rachael Stott (#8-10), colored by Triona Farrell (#6-7) and Carlos Lopez (#8-10), lettered by Joe Sabino, and edited by Wil Moss.

ACCESS AN INDEX OF ALL POSTS IN THIS SERIES HERE 

The Wicked + The Divine, Vols. 7–9 by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, et al.

The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 7, Mothering Invention
The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 8, Old Is the New New
The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 9, "Okay"

Collection published: 2018
Contents published: 2018
Acquired: June 2020
Read: October 2022

Collection published: 2019
Contents published: 2016-18
Acquired: June 2020
Read: November 2022

Collection published: 2019
Contents published: 2018-19
Acquired and previously read: June 2020
Reread: November 2022

Writers: Kieron Gillen, Lizz Lunney, Chip Zdarsky, Chrissy Williams, Romesh Ranganathan, Hamish Steele, Kitty Curran & Larissa Zageris, Kate Leth

Artists: Jamie McKelvie, André Araújo, Ryan Kelly, Stephanie Hans, Aud Koch, Kris Anka & Jen Bartel, Rachel Stott, Chynna Clugston Flores, Emma Vieceli, Carla Speed McNeil, Erica Henderson, Lizz Lunney, Chip Zdarsky, Clayton Cowles, Julia Madrigal, Hamish Steele, Kitty Curran & Larissa Zageris, Margaux Saltel

Colourists: Matthew Wilson, Tamra Bonvillain, Erica Henderson, Dee Cunniffe

Letterer: Clayton Cowles

Flatters: Dee Cunniffe, Ludwig Olimba, Brandon Daniels, Fernando Argüello, Juan Castro, Becka Kinzie

I read the last three volumes of The Wicked + The Divine pretty much in a row. The first two were new to me; the final was a reread, since I read it on its own and was baffled when voting in the 2020 Hugo Awards. (The publisher very kindly provided all nine volumes at the time, but I did not have the time to actually read them all.)

The first, Mothering Invention, brings the series closer to its complicated endgame, explaining much of the series's backstory and incorporating a variety of plot twists. Quite frankly, Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie are often too clever for their own good. One issues, for example, is entirely made of up six-panel pages, where each panel is ninety years after the previous, showing Ananke killing some member of the Pantheon, from 3862 B.C. to 2014 A. D. Is anyone really reading this issue panel by panel? Seems doubtful. In another, there are ten pages of all-black nine-panel grids, showing how a character is dead for all ninety years between Pantheons! Okay, I guess they are playing with the conventions of what comics can do... but shouldn't it also be interesting to actually read? As always, my ability to invest in the plot is dampened by the fact that I feel like I ought to care about the characters more than I actually do.

The second, Old Is the New New, collects a series of one-shots and side stories: stories about historical Pantheons, ones about the current Pantheon set before (or early in) the series, and noncanonical gags. There are lots of talented guest artists and writers here, but boy do I wish I cared about this series more.

When I originally read the last, "Okay", on its own, I wrote:

It's not this book's fault per se, but there was really no way I could enjoy reading the last six issues of a 45-issue comic book series on their own. I tried at first to work out who all the characters were from the chart in the front, but there were too many of them in too many guises and it wasn't really helping me enjoy it. Maybe someday I will have time to read them all, but not now!

Perhaps it is the book's fault, because now I've read the preceding 39 issues and I guess I understood it but I didn't care that I understood it. And now I hated the epilogue, which was unnecessarily indulgent even by the standards of these things.

I've complained about it in earlier reviews, but I can't help but feel there's a much more interesting version of The Wicked + The Divine out there somewhere, one that works with the actual premise of pop stars as deities that this one largely used as scene setting for uninteresting characters in an overly convoluted plot.

Doctor Who: Old Friends by Jody Houser, Roberta Ingranata, and Rachael Stott

 Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor: Old Friends

Collection published: 2019
Contents published: 2019
Read: January 2022

Writer: Jody Houser

Artists: Roberta Ingranata, Rachael Stott

Colorists: Erica Eren Angiolini, Tracy Bailey

Color Assistants: Viviana Spinelli, Aaron Daly & Sari Chankhamma

Letterers: Richard Starkings & Sarah Jacobs, John Roshell & Jimmy Betancourt

There's a good idea at the heart of this volume: the Doctor runs into the Corsair, an old Time Lord friend she learned died back in "The Doctor's Wife." How do you handle a situation like this? Unfortunately, I felt that that aspect of the story was barely present; I only really got what the story was going for in its last issue. If the Doctor had talked about this with her companions, it could have been highlighted more, but much like on screen, Houser's version of the fam are interchangeable recipients of exposition. There's just nothing very characterful here. What do they all make of meeting another Time Lord at last, so different from the one they know so well? Who knows. Probably this is how Chris Chibnall would handle it on screen, as in, just as dully. Not terrible, but it's a disappointment for our first real glimpse of the Corsair.

I read an issue of Titan's Doctor Who comic every day (except when I have hard-copy comics to read). Next up in sequence: The Thirteenth Doctor: Time Out of Mind

Doctor Who: Hidden Human History by Jody Houser, Roberta Ingranata, and Rachael Stott

  Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor: Hidden Human History

Collection published: 2019
Contents published: 2019
Read: January 2022

Writer: Jody Houser

Artists: Roberta Ingranata, Rachael Stott

Colorist: Erica Eren Angiolini

Color Assistant: Viviana Spinelli

Letterers: Sarah Jacobs and John Roshell

This volume perfectly evokes the screen adventures of the thirteenth Doctor. Unfortunately, for me, that is damning with faint praise. The story is mostly the Doctor wandering around, seemingly rarely actually doing anything with any sense of urgency, following by three companions who altogether have the narrative function of a single person, until the story comes to an end without any kind of climax. It might have worked as a two-parter, but unfortunately it runs four issues. I much prefer Scott Gray's approach to thirteenth Doctor comics over in DWM (which is to tell the same kind of Doctor Who stories he always does, but with different characters in them).

I read an issue of Titan's Doctor Who comic every day (except when I have hard-copy comics to read). Next up in sequence: The Thirteenth Doctor: Old Friends

Doctor Who: A New Beginning by Jody Houser, Rachael Stott, et al.

  Doctor Who: The Thirteenth Doctor: A New Beginning

Collection published: 2019
Contents published: 2018-19
Read: December 2021

Writer: Jody Houser

Artists: Rachael Stott, Giorgia Sposito, Valeria Favoccia

Colorist: Erica Eren Angiolini

Color Assistant: Viviana Spinelli

Flatters: Sara Michielli, Andrea Moretto, Adele Matera

Letterers: Sarah Jacobs and John Roshell

This is the first proper installment in Titan's Thirteenth Doctor series, with a four-issue adventure for the Doctor, Graham, Yaz, and Ryan. Rachael Stott does great art, of course, but beyond that I found it pretty forgettable; it explains the mystery of the time portal in The Road to the Thirteenth Doctor, but I wasn't too fussed about that despite the ad in the back of this one trumpeting that I can pick up that story to discover the first appearance of Perkins. It is impossible for me to imagine someone finishing this story and wanting to do that, and if they did, all they would find there was a hand emerging from a time portal!

I read an issue of Titan's Doctor Who comic every day (except when I have hard-copy comics to read). Next up in sequence: The Thirteenth Doctor: Hidden Human History

Doctor Who: The Road to the Thirteenth Doctor by James Peaty, Iolanda Zanfardino, Pasquale Qualano, Brian Williamson, et al.

 Doctor Who: The Road to the Thirteenth Doctor

Collection published: 2019
Contents originally published: 2018
Acquired: March 2020
Read: November 2021

Writers: James Peaty, Jody Houser
Artists: Iolanda Zanfardino, Pasquale Qualano, Brian Williamson, Rachael Stott

Colorists: Dijjo Lima, Enrica Eren Angiolini
Letterers: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

This volume seems pretty pointless. Do new incarnations of the Doctor need "roads" to them? What does that even mean? How can you set up a new incarnation of the Doctor? What it turns out to mean here is three standalone stories about the three previous incarnations of the Doctor, the three who had ongoings from Titan for the previous three years. So we get a tenth Doctor, Gabby, and Cindy adventure; an eleventh Doctor and Alice adventure; and a twelfth Doctor and Bill adventure. Each is fine, but I found the reveals in the tenth Doctor one not very convincing (the monsters look cool but that's it) and the story in the eleventh Doctor one confusing. I don't even remember the twelfth Doctor one. Some Titan writers have done impressive single-issue adventures (mostly the writers on the Eleventh Doctor series), but these are not of them.

Each story is followed by a short back-up featuring the same Doctor, but by the creative team of the upcoming Thirteenth Doctor book and set during an episode of the tv show. In each case, the Doctor sees a hand coming through a time portal, and then does nothing about it, continuing about his business. Having already read the first volume of The Thirteenth Doctor as of this writing, it's pretty pointless set-up, and I don't entirely buy that the Doctor would just ignore each of these time portals and go about his business. Sure, we know it has nothing to do with the events of "The Girl in the Fireplace" or "The Power of Three" or whatever, but how does he? But I do like some Rachael Stott art.

I read an issue of Titan's Doctor Who comic every day (except when I have hard-copy comics to read). Next up in sequence: The Thirteenth Doctor: The Many Lives of Doctor Who

Doctor Who: The Lost Dimension by George Mann, Cavan Scott, Rachael Stott, Mariano Laclaustra, et al.

Collection published: 2018
Contents originally published: 2017
Read: September 2021

Collection published: 2018
Contents originally published: 2017
Read: September 2021

Doctor Who: The Lost Dimension, Book One

Writers: George Mann, Cavan Scott & Nick Abadzis
Artists: Rachael Stott, Adriana Melo, Cris Bolson, Mariano Laclaustra, Carlos Cabrera, Leandro Casco, & I. N. J. Culbard, with Pasquale Qualano, Mony Castillo, Klebs Jr, JR Bastos, & Fer Centurion
Colorists: Rod Fernandes, Marco Lesko, Dijjo Lima, & Hernán Cabrera

Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

 

Doctor Who: The Lost Dimension, Book Two

Writers: Gordon Rennie, Emma Beeby, George Mann & Cavan Scott
Artists: Ivan Rodriguez, Wellington Diaz, Rachael Stott & Mariano Laclaustra, with Anderson Cabral, Marcelo Salaza & Fer Centurion
Colorists: Thiago Ribiero, Mauricio Wallace, Rod Fernandes & Carlos Cabrera, with Mony Castillo
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

 

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, 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.

 

(If, like me, you are curious about what issues are collected where, the collected editions give incomplete information, and the Tardis wiki is flat-out wrong. Book one collects what was originally published as parts 1-4 and 7: The Lost Dimension: Alpha #1, Ninth Doctor Special #1, The Tenth Doctor: Year Three #9, The Eleventh Doctor: Year Three #10, and the Jenny and Alice stories from The Lost Dimension Special #2. Book two contains parts 5, 7, 6, and 8 in that order: the fourth Doctor story from The Lost Dimension Special #1, the River Song story from The Lost Dimension Special #1 and 2, The Twelfth Doctor: Year Three #8, and The Lost Dimension: Omega #1. Thanks to a friendly Gallifrey Base poster for working this out for me. Not confusing at all! I also have a feeling the credits are incomplete or inaccurate.)

I read an issue of Titan's Doctor Who comic every day (except when I have hard-copy comics to read). Next up in sequence: The Tenth Doctor: Facing Fate: The Good Companion

Review: Doctor Who: Sonic Boom by Robbie Morrison, Mariano Laclaustra, Rachael Stott, et al.

Collection published: 2017
Contents originally published: 2016-17
Acquired: March 2020
Read: July 2021

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor, Vol 6: Sonic Boom

Writer: Robbie Morrison
Artists: Mariano Laclaustra & Rachael Stott, with Agus Calcagno & Fer Centurion
Colorists: Carlos Cabrera, Hernán Cabrera & Rodrigo Fernandes, with Juan Manuel Tumburus
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

I had some initial issues with Robbie Morrison's earlier contributions to The Twelfth Doctor series, but his final volume shows that he's totally worked out the kinks. This contains two stories, one three issues long and one two. The first is "Terror of the Cabinet Noir," with another between-Clara-and-Bill temporary companion, in this case Julie d'Aubigny, a real seventeenth-century opera singer-- among many other things. I don't remember taking much notice of Mariano Laclaustra's art before, but this is gorgeous and well-suited to the story. Both the twelfth Doctor and Julie sparkle in their repartee. The plot isn't going to set your world on fire, but I really enjoyed reading it.

The second is kind of goofy, and not as good as it probably should have been; the Doctor confronts the writer and artist team behind Time Surgeon, a comic series based on his own exploits (mentioned back in vol 4). I wish it had been a bit more meta and playful. Still, Morrison and artist Rachael Stott effectively communicate Twelve's dripping disdain for the entire set-up, and he gets some good jokes you can imagine Peter Capaldi nailing.

from Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor: Year Two #12 (art by Mariano Laclaustra, with Fer Centurion and Agus Calcagno)

I read an issue of Titan's Doctor Who comic every day (except when I have hard-copy comics to read). Next up in sequence: The Twelfth Doctor: Ghost Stories

Review: Doctor Who: The Twist by George Mann, Mariano Laclaustra, Rachael Stott, et al.

Collection published: 2016
Contents originally published: 2016
Acquired: March 2020
Read: April 2021

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor, Vol 5: The Twist

Writer: George Mann
Artists: Mariano Laclaustra & Rachael Stott, with Agus Calcagno & Fer Centurion
Colorists: Carlos Cabrera, Alexandre Siquiera & Rodrigo Fernandes, with Thiago Ribero & Juan Manuel Tumburus
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

This volume contains two twelfth Doctor stories, with a new short-term companion between Clara and Bill. The first, "The Twist," is set on a human space habitat in the far future, and the Doctor investigates a series of mysterious disappearances while also attending a rock concert. It's okay. It has a twist that's kind of dumb, and I didn't buy the resolution, but I enjoyed the ride well enough.

The second, "Playing House," is actively dumb. The big twist here is so obvious you feel insulted. The bigger-on-the-inside place the Doctor discovers... is a TARDIS! Wow, who would see that coming?

Also, I feel that between George Mann's three original companions (Engines of War's Cinder, The Eighth Doctor's Josie Day, and this volume's Hattie), I am far too able to triangulate what he thinks is sexy. He very clearly has a type!

from Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor: Year Two #7 (art by Mariano Laclaustra with Agus Calcagno & Fer Centurion)

I read an issue of Titan's Doctor Who comic every day (except when I have hard-copy comics to read). Next up in sequence: The Tenth Doctor: Sins of the Father

Review: Doctor Who: The School of Death by Robbie Morrison, Rachael Stott, et al.

Collection published: 2016
Contents originally published: 2016
Acquired: September 2018
Read: March 2021

Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor, Vol 4: The School of Death

Writer: Robbie Morrison
Artists: Rachael Stott, Simon Fraser
Colorists: Ivan Nunes, Marcio Menys
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

Previously, I have claimed to be of two minds about Titan's Twelfth Doctor ongoing. Well, I may be of two minds about the series overall, but I am of one mind about this installment! This is its best volume yet; most of the book is given over to a four-part story about the Doctor and Clara investigating strange goings-on in an exclusive boarding school. Morrison just gets the regulars; his Doctor is acerbic but also goofy, as seen by his attempts to go undercover here. His Clara is witty and attractive. Rachael Stott is a strong complement on art, also capturing the vibes of the two leads, and making a very action-heavy script perfectly accessible. Yes, it's got the Sea Devils in, but it's not overly nostalgic, and it's just fun. This is a daft plan carried out in enjoyable fashion; the twelfth Doctor with kids is always entertaining, and you can imagine Capaldi pulling off everything here with style. Big moments, good characters-- everything you might want from a tie-in comic to an ongoing show.

(I will say the inclusion of a character based on Christel Dee is bizarrely distracting. Like, she's a well-known official personality. She can't also be a cute cameo; it'd be like Rary Gussell turning up.)

from Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor: Year Two #1
(art by Rachael Stott)

The Boneless of "Flatline" fame turn up here in an interesting one-issue story about comic books. Neat idea that felt to me like it didn't quite come off; needed to be more playful with the form of the book itself, and to have more to say. I also found the "people have been vanishing for weeks but the authorities are ignoring it" aspect pretty contrived. Like, close your comic shop if it's started killing people off! But I still enjoyed it. The short story about the K-2 robot and Osgood is decent enough, too. Hopefully the series going forward is more Robbie Morrison and Rachael Stott, and less George Mann!

I read an issue of Titan's Doctor Who comic every day (except when I have hard-copy comics to read). Next up in sequence: The Eleventh Doctor: The One

Review: Doctor Who: The Fountains of Forever by Nick Abadzis, Elena Casagrande, Eleonora Carlini, Rachael Stott & Leonardo Romero

Collection published: 2015
Contents originally published: 2015
Acquired: September 2018
Read: October 2020

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Vol 3: The Fountains of Forever

Writer: Nick Abadzis
Artists: Elena Casagrande, Eleonora Carlini, Rachael Stott & Leonardo Romero
Colorist: Arianna Florean
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

This volume wraps up "Year One" of Titan's ongoing tenth Doctor comic; if the opening volume was a highly effective pastiche of a Russell T Davies new-companion episode, this is a very dismal one of a Russell T Davies season finale. The Doctor and Gabby return to Gabby's home of New York City, and even though Gabby's friend Cindy gets swept up in events, none of it matters. There's no sense of personal investment here-- this story isn't about the Doctor or Gabby or Cindy in the way that "The Parting of the Ways" was about the Doctor and Rose and Jack and Mickey and Jackie, or that "Doomsday" was about the Doctor and Rose and Mickey and Jackie and Pete, or that "The Last of the Time Lords" was about the Doctor and Martha and Jack, and so on. Nothing is at stake here for our main characters, they're just participants. This could at least be a story about Gabby and Cindy's friendship, but mostly Cindy is just an extra person to stand around in scenes where lots of people stand there while the Doctor talks. (Nick Abadzis anticipated the storytelling tics of the Chibnall era, I guess.)

It just feels like a random standalone adventure except for the attempt at scale. The universe is threatened-- but so what? The Osirans from Pyramids of Mars return-- but so what? Your boring bad guy from a boring story being related to an interesting bad guy from an interesting story doesn't make him interesting. I found it very hard to get invested in whether this guy should go through some portal, and without the period trappings, the Osirans are pretty generic super-beings.

from Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #12
(art by Elena Casagrande & Eleonora Carlini)

Despite all this, and despite involving four different people, the art is pretty consistent and mostly very good. I'm not sure about the occasional manga-esque effect (they're so occasional it jars), but at least Gabby looks like a Hispanic woman again. These artists could be supporting a stronger story is all.

I was disappointed because I thought the first volume of The Tenth Doctor had real potential. The second was meh-- but it had a different writer, so I could accept that, and figured that when the original came back, things would be better again. Hopefully "Year Two" gets things back on track.

I read an issue of Titan's Doctor Who comic every day (except when I have hard-copy comics to read). Next up in sequence: The Twelfth Doctor: Hyperion

Review: Doctor Who: Weapons of Past Destruction by Cavan Scott, Blair Shedd, et al.

Comic PDF eBook, n.pag.
Published 2016 (contents: 2015)
Acquired September 2018
Read December 2019

Doctor Who: The Ninth Doctor, Vol 1: Weapons of Past Destruction

Writer: Cavan Scott

Artist: Blair Shedd with Rachael Stott
Colorist: Blair Shedd and Anang Setyawan
Letters: Richard Starkings and Jimmy Betancourt

I felt like this failed to capture the tone of the era it's supposedly recreating. It felt too action-y, too continuity-y. The Doctor talks a lot about the Time Lords and the Time War in an era that on screen was content to mostly hint obliquely. The plot seemed to pile complication on complication and incident on incident for the sake of it. It's a shame because Cavan Scott did a great job capturing this era in Night of the Whisper.

I also didn't care for Blair Shedd's weird faces, or his tendency to use silhouettes for random panels, which I think is meant to look artistic but is actually done to save him time drawing things.