Gaze of the Medusa

"Something happens to me here, and I'm trapped in stone, for two and a half thousand years!"

Writers: Gordon Rennie & Emma Beeby
Format: Comic Strip
Released: March-September 2016
Printed in: Titan 4D 1-5

Featuring: Fourth Doctor, Sarah Jane

Synopsis

When the Fourth Doctor and Sarah Jane Smith took a trip to London in 1887, they didn't count on being dragged into a petrifying alien conspiracy that stretches all the way back to Ancient Greece! Pursued through the streets by the fearsome Scryclops, and at the mercy of the mysterious Lady Emily Carstairs, the pair must team up with Professor Odysseus James and his adventurer daughter, Athena, to avoid a horrifying fate - one already set in stone!

Verdict

Gaze of the Medusa was an excellent comic strip adventure! This was a nice little purchase in the January sales and reading a Titan comic story all in one go was quite different from my normal approach through purchasing Doctor Who Comic over the last few years. It does make you realise just how lengthy and detailed each part is and when five come together to make a story you really do get something quite special. This was my first story from Titan Comics from the Classic era and I must say I was very impressed. The writers captured the feel of the Fourth Doctor with effortless ease and the characterisation was brilliant with Tom Baker's likeness being well captured. Accompanying him was Sarah Jane and this pairing really was something quite special so seeing them reunited for a brand new adventure was a real treat. They were joined in the story by Athena and Odysseus who made a great father-daughter pairing and their relationship brought some emotion to the comic strip with the tumultuous conclusion. The pacing of the adventure was fast which provided excitement and I did think the cliffhangers were all very good - especially part one's. Sarah Jane seeing herself petrified in stone was terrific in itself but the reveal that she had been that way for over two millennia really was a shock. I thought Emily Carstairs made a fantastic villain and her deal with the Medusa was quite heart-wrenching. The evil creature was just using the women who yearned to see her children again to break free of her prison. I thought the reveal of Zeus, or at least the creature that inspired the myth, came a tad late but that just meant a pacy conclusion which I was absolutely fine with. The Doctor working everything out with such speed was great and I really liked his admiration for Athena. If these comics ever get the nod to be extended into a full series then I think she'd make a very good companion. Odysseus was also great and the way in which he was killed was pretty brutal. The Doctor wasn't going to let him die in vain though and needed to keep Athena on his side. The Scryclops were good and the name I must say is genius. I liked how they had limited capacity to see into the past and future but the Doctor not being exactly right about that provided a very humorous moment. I loved the Doctor's comment about the Weeping Angels possibly a myth and it shouldn't be too long before he gets to meet the real thing. I thought the reference to The Myth Makers was wonderful and I also liked that the Doctor gave the Medusa a chance before containing the horror. The causality loop was a good resolution to what was a fantastic story! Overall, excellent.

Rating: 9/10