The Heretic

"I have been granted permission to save you – but not restore you."

Writer: Ian Winterton

Format: Comic Strip

Released: February 2023

Printed in: Gods & Monsters 1a

Featuring: Sutekh

Synopsis 

Rescued from oblivion, fallen God Sutekh the Destroyer leads an unlikely army of liberation to free a far flung galaxy from the clutches of evil demon Azag. But will the found adoration of billions of freed slaves be his undoing?

Verdict

The Heretic was a good start to the Gods and Monsters series of comic strip adventures from Cutaway Comics! This has been a long time coming in getting to blog this as I was actually incredibly lucky to be given access to the comic strip early with the intention of publishing a review, however a laptop failure and a lengthy process in retrieving the links meant that I had been unable to do so for the longest time. But better late than never! This was an intriguing adventure and it is made even more so by the events of the on screen adventures of the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby in having Sutekh make a triumphant return in The Legend of Ruby Sunday before unleashing havoc in Empire of Death. Of course, on screen there isn't much room for manoeuvring between the return there and his debut in Pyramids of Mars, but the likes of Big Finish have used Sutekh before so Cutaway should be no different! They have the blessing of his creator of course, and I've always found the wider media and formats to be akin to historical interpretation. I think they're all valid and just different versions of what could happen. Such as the case with Sutekh here as he was recovering from a mighty defeat and fall, rescued by his sister-wife Nephthys. She was almost the star of the show for me despite not featuring all that much but the prospect of her saving Sutekh showed what kind of power she was able to yield. I was actually a little disappointed by the epilogue and her role there because after an emphatic cliffhanger where it seemed Sutekh was being destroyed by Azag, she made claim to having already defeated him now and her wish as victor was to save her beloved sibling. I thought the dynamic between Sutekh and Azag was very good and I love the idea of pitting would-be gods against one another. Let the claims of false proclamations come! Neither were receptive of the other, but Sutekh did seem a little gullible with how quickly he had conquered the galaxy. He acknowledged this and dove in to the prospect of being in a trap, but carried on regardless. That seemed a little strange for a god, but I guess he was waiting to confront Azag. I liked his reaction to having an entire population completely devoted to him, and playing with the idea of love versus death was very good. It was that love that would surprisingly bring about something of a downfall for Sutekh as with billions devoted to him, Azag would destroy the galaxy and see how Sutekh could survive. I thought that was a good premise and a mighty fine cliffhanger. The little link at the end with the mention of the Eltralla was good given the name of the next comic strip in the book, and it seems the mystery is far from over! I thought the allusion to the Time Lords without actually naming them was excellent and there could be no doubt on who the weapons mentioned were created by. That was actually quite fun and I'm always fascinated by the world of licensing. It's amazing to me that we can get stories for characters like these from the Whoniverse, but I'm absolutely all for it. And the artwork! Well, I must say it was absolutely stunning. The colours were so vibrant and the design of Sutekh as the Destroyer was tremendous. I was so impressed with that and it definitely aided with my enjoyment of the story. With the announcement of Phase 3 coming in this series, I'm tempted to be part of the crowdfunder now given this solid start. Maybe I'll make a decision tomorrow when I complete the book! Maybe just a little bit less of Sutekh proclaiming death because that was overplayed even for him. Overall though, a solid read for sure! 

Rating: 7/10