The Titan Comics Four Doctors summer event has reached that all important third and middle episode. The tenth, eleventh and twelfth Doctors are being herded round a maze-like trap along with various companions. Even with laser bolts blasting from all directions there is still time for various introductions as the Doctors get to know each other’s companions (this is pre-Clara days for the eleventh Doctor). More important is the trap they are headed for and its consequences.

Without giving everything away (and lots happens over the course of a mere couple of dozen pages), there is a lot of opportunity to explore key aspects of various incarnations and the breadth of Paul Cornell’s ideas for this story can only be admired. There is enough here for several comics, all tightly squeezed into a fast paced story that still finds moments to vary pace and draw the reader in further.

This is all helped by Neil Edwards’s artwork. While it is still the case some of the characters are more authentic than others, in the main the visuals are gorgeous and in many cases very fluid, suggesting motion with subtle shading and use of perspective.

Of course it all ends with a twist, and we have to wait another week for the next issue.

Anyone who has tried this mini-series out will have been very pleased with #3, and the final two parts can’t come soon enough. We still have reservations about the number of characters on offer, though we understand why the tenth and eleventh Doctors are accompanied by their Titan Comics companions. We’re not sure they are essential to the story, but we’re happy to be proved wrong by later instalments.

DOCTOR WHO: FOUR DOCTORS #3 / WRITER: PAUL CORNELL / ARTIST: NEIL EDWARDS / PUBLISHER: TITAN COMICS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW