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Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor (Titan Comics) #8

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Facing Fate Vol 1: Breakfast at Tyranny's

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It's the start of a brand-new year for the Doctor, Gabby, and Cindy, and things are looking VERY different for the Tenth Doctor TARDIS team! Dangerously different, in fact! Did the Doctor really abandon Gabby back to her life on Earth - and never come back? Has Cindy really been 'replaced'? And why is the Doctor wandering homeless, without his TARDIS, on a mystifying alien world?

The truth will dazzle, terrify, and entertain you!

112 pages, Hardcover

Published August 22, 2017

8 people are currently reading
169 people want to read

About the author

Nick Abadzis

122 books64 followers
Nick Abadzis was born in Sweden to Greek and English parents and was brought up in Switzerland and England. He is a writer and artist who likes comics (which means these days he seems to be known as a "graphic novelist"). His work for both adults and children has been published in many countries across the world.

He also works as an editorial consultant and has helped set up several best-selling and innovative children's magazines, including most recently, The DFC for David Fickling Books, the first British children's comic to feature original characters in nearly a quarter of a century. His storytelling contribution, Cora's Breakfast, was featured in The Guardian. His work has also appeared in The Times, The Independent on Sunday, TimeOut, Radio Times, and various other BBC publications and websites. Other clients have included Eaglemoss Publications, HarperCollins, Harcourt Education, Scholastic, Orchard Books, DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and 2000AD. He lives in London with his wife and daughter.

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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
Profile Image for Chris Lemmerman.
Author 7 books123 followers
August 20, 2021
The Doctor, Gabby, Cindy, and new arrival Noobis find themselves at the mercy of an alternate reality TARDIS piloted by a new version of an old foe, who traps them inside the worst department store imaginable.

I'll give it to this volume, it's trying something new. The plot's pretty clever, and it tries to delve into Gabby and Cindy a little more than we have in the past. The problem is that it's just kind of flat. Nothing of impact actually happens to any of the characters, and there's a great reveal at the end of the first issue that goes absolutely nowhere. I'd say it's style over substance, but it doesn't feel like much substance either.

Then the second two issues of the volume fall into the trap of the worst volume of the Tenth Doctor's adventures by overloading us with overwritten monologue boxes so it takes half an hour to get the plot moving and then the issues are over. Get to the bloody point already!

The artwork's okay too. The Tenth Doctor's comic has had a fairly consistent visual style even if it hasn't managed to pin down one artist for more than three issues, and this one fits the bill too.

A stumble out of the gate for Year Three. Hopefully we can recover going forward, because we're running out of volumes to get it right.
Profile Image for Anika Claire.
Author 3 books46 followers
April 18, 2018
First in a new series for the Tenth Doctor, Gabby and Cindy, and while I still love these characters, their story didn't really do it for me in this one. Still gorgeous art and great ideas, just wasn't my fav.
Profile Image for Derelict Space Sheep.
1,387 reviews18 followers
July 20, 2020
42 WORD REVIEW:

The Tenth Doctor and three non-television companions are thrown into a disorienting world of illusion (hence, not a good point to join the comic strip adventures). Once the action moves to Ancient China there are some nice visual touches to the storytelling.
Profile Image for Nelle.
59 reviews3 followers
Read
January 9, 2021
DNF this didn't feel like a doctor who story plus I was super confused...
Profile Image for Jacqueline.
487 reviews18 followers
November 10, 2017
I absolutely love the title of this volume of Titan Comics Doctor Who original graphic novel adventures for the Tenth Doctor (as played on the BBC series by David Tennant), Breakfast at Tyranny's, however the title really has little to do with the actual stories. Still, it's a great title. This is the opening volume of the Third Year of Titan's Tenth Doctor series, yet they have changed the numbering so rather than having it officially as Volume 8 as it should be, it's "Facing Fate vol. 1", which, I'm guessing will be the theme for Year Three.
The story opens with the main characters back in their old lives. Gabby is working as a waitress at her family's restaurant, where she experiences the daily abuse of being in customer service. Cindy and her "dog", Anubis, are also back home where Cleo starts a relationship with her that revolves around a lot of shopping. And the Doctor wakes homeless and alone on the streets, with no companions and no TARDIS. It's Cindy who discovers the mysterious "department store" is the center of this cruel illusion and wakes up. With mental encouragement from Anubis ("Noobis") she wakes in an Axon-like spaceship and breaks free of the loop where she is being held captive and drained of her energy. She returns to the illusion to break out Cindy, Anubis, and the Doctor. Although they break free of the illusion then escape the strange, organic spaceship, when they return to Anubis's home, they learn from the Seekers they were only gone a few moments. The organic spaceship, which looks like a Red Tardis escapes, grabbing Cindy with a Lovecraftian tentacle.
The Doctor, Gabby, and Cindy follow in the Doctor's TARDIS, and after an accidental Time Ram they land in Ancient China. But the alien Red Jade General landed months earlier. Arriving after a devastating flood, he offers to build a wall to prevent the river from causing such destruction again. Unfortunately for the people, they do not realize the high cost of trusting this General. When the Doctor and company arrive, a dam has been built to hold back the river, the town is behind the wall but isolated from the rest of the country, meaning friends and relatives from the next town over can't see their friends and family any more. The dam is also guarded by personifications of elemental forces. The Doctor and his companions meet Master Wu and his son. Much of the second story is framed as a story that Master Wu Wei tells his son. Master Wu recognizes the Doctor, and before long they have organized the families of the people in the village to attack the Guardians. Anubis assists Gabby who uses her ability to create block transfer butterflies to enter the isolated town. The villagers with the Doctor's help defeat the Guardians. Gabby finds a building and searches for Cindy. She finds hundreds of Cindy Clones, whom she stirs up in rebellion. Eventually she finds "the original", "mother".
By this time, the Doctor also gets in after Gabby opens the door, and the Doctor and company confront the Red Jade General. It turns out that the Red Jade General is from a Nestene Conscience-type race, who can manipulate organic matter rather than plastic. Unfortunately, it used the residents of the town as raw material to create the Cindy clones. The Doctor is able to defeat the Red Jade General and destroy it's fake TARDIS, then he and his companions leave in the TARDIS.
I really enjoyed this graphic novel volume, especially the second story set in Ancient China. The artwork for both stories was wonderful, especially the washed, scroll-like pages for the second story. I highly recommend "Breakfast at Tyranny's", and will look forward to future volumes.
Profile Image for Eren.
385 reviews5 followers
January 11, 2021
Yeni yılda da biricik 10.Doktorumuzun maceralarını okumaya devam ediyorum. Geçen sene en son yedinci ciltte yani serinin ikinci yılında okumayı bırakmıştım. Bu ay itibariyle de kalan üç cildi bitirmeye niyetliyim. Sekizinci cilt, yani üçüncü yılın ilk cildinde de son ciltteki maceradan sonra bir şeyler oluyor ve macera bu şekilde devam ediyordu.
Sekizinci cilt, dört sayıdan oluşuyor ve toplamda birbiriyle bağlantılı iki hikaye mevcut içinde. İlk hikaye, yedinci ciltten sonra Anubis'in gezegeninde kalan doktor ve yol arkadaşlarının birden kendilerini gerçeklikler arasında gezinirken bulmasıyla başlıyor. Çok sayıda Doktor, çok sayıda Gabby ve çok sayıda Cindy var ama hiçbiri gerçek değil gibi. Öyle ki Gabby başka bir yerde garsoniyerlik yapıyor ve şimdikinden daha yaşlı, Cindy, daha önceki yoldaşlardan(çizgi romanda) Cleo ile sevgili, Doktor çöplükte yaşıyor gibi gibi... Gerçeklikler birbiriyle karışıyor ve ekibimiz bunlar arasından gerçek benliklerini bulmaya çalışıyor. Daha sonra bunun asıl sorununun Tardise benzeyen bir organizma, fakat bu kırmızı renkte, olduğu fark ediliyor. Bu uzaylı ise Cindy'yi kaçırıyor ve cildin diğer hikayesi başlıyor. Cindy'yi Uzakdoğu'nun antik zamanlarına götüren bu yaratık, orada insan klonlayan bir uzaylı teknolojisinin de merkezi haline geliyor. Doktor ve Gabby de arkadaşlarını kurtarmak için zamanda yolculuk yapıp oraya gitmeye çalışıyor. Gittikleri zaman Cindy'nin genlerinden oluşturulmuş bir sürü insan daha görüyorlar.
Hikayeler birbiriyle bağlantılıydı, bu yüzden aslında tek hikaye gibi de düşünebiliriz bunları. Hikayelerin yoğunlukları azalmış gibi geldi bana, zaten ilk üç cildin tadını vermemeye başladı seri ama yine de okunup kafa dağıtmak için iyi gidiyor. Gabby, son bir iki ciltte beni etkilememeye başlamıştı; neyse ki toparlamışlar. Ve artık yeni bir yol arkadaşımız geldi: Noobis. Anubis'in gerçekliğinin aktarıldığı yeni formu olarak karşımıza çıktı ve Doktor'un yeni yol arkadaşı oldu. Biraz farklılık açısından iyi bir adımdı bu. Yine de hikayeler eski tadı vermemeye başladı. Bu durum beni pek memnun etmese de yine de seriyi bitirmeye karar verdiğim için devam edeceğim. Zaten 10. Doktor mevzu olunca her türlü okunuyor, bu da bir gerçek.
Seriden iki cilt daha kaldı, onları da bu sene başlarında bitirip belki de dokuzuncu doktorla okumaya devam etmeyi düşünüyorum. Bakalım devamında neler olacak.
Profile Image for Rex Libris.
1,343 reviews3 followers
June 7, 2022
Two connected stories. Some psychic alien has taken the Doctor and his companions captive. Locked in a dream sleep, they somehow feed the alien through their thoughts. In their dreams they go to a department store, which is where the alien is hidden. However, they are mentally strong enough to break out of the alien's dream sleep contraptions. But nit before the alien can construct his own TARDIS. This leads us to the second story . . .

. . . where the alien has gone back in time and place to very early China and sets up a kingdom. The baddie takes the local population and overwrites their DNA with the DNA of one of the companions, who are then turned into craven slaves. However, the Doctor did something to replace the polarity of the TARDIS, thus destroying the alien's own machinations.

I have always found the books to be much weaker than the TV shows, but the comic book/graphic novels are even weaker than the books.
Profile Image for Rocky Sunico.
2,279 reviews25 followers
March 20, 2020
So many stories in the run of this series seem to inevitably go back to having the Doctor and his companions not remembering who they are whether because of outside intervention or part of the Doctor's plans to escape notice. It's an acceptable Doctor Who trope, I know, but I feel like it's been happening a wee bit too often for this particular incarnation.

The enemy is an unusual one and how this story drags out across time and space makes for decent story material and some beautiful depictions of the Doctor in the style of ancient Chinese art that gives the Doctor some serious Avatar feels. The resolution to this whole adventure was pretty satisfying and very in theme with the Tenth Doctor.
Profile Image for Jacob.
122 reviews
November 19, 2023
This is the first of the Titan Tenth Doctor comics I've read, and Titan themselves claim that the start of each "Year" can be a jumping on point for new readers.

This is mostly true, I think, but a bit more context and backstory could be given at the start of the volume. For instance, one of the companions has some sort of butterfly-related superpowers, but this is never mentioned at the start.

With all that said, it was still quite an interesting story. The three original companions in this comic are all quite fun - though I with Anubis was given a bit more to do. Perhaps this TARDIS team is feeling a little crowded?

Worth a read, but I would recommend perhaps starting from the start of the run instead of jumping on here, like I did.
Profile Image for Chad.
10.5k reviews1,061 followers
September 15, 2023
A volume 1 that's really year 3 of the series. It would help to have read the previous volumes so labeling this vol. 1 adds needless confusion. The Doctor is still with Gabby and Cindy along with Nubis. They get sucked into a fake Tardis that contains a shopping mall that drains life energy. Then we head to old world China for a not very good story about a walled off town with hundreds of Cindys in it. I kind of quit paying attention as this was explained as it wasn't interesting.

The art is solid but suffers from sameface. I couldn't tell Gabby and Cindy apart most of the time. Everyone just looked like the "girl".
Profile Image for Adam Graham.
Author 63 books69 followers
August 30, 2017
This book collects Issues 1-4 of Year of the Tenth Doctor's adventures. Issues 1 and 2 open with the Doctor having lost his memory and everyone in a strange position because of a strange villain. The story leads the team back to Ancient China for Issues 3 and 4 in pursuit of Cindy and a strange red TARDIS.

Overall, this book is okay. It has some decent ideas, but it's nothing surprising in here. It feels short (and at 4 issues, it really is a short trade.) but it has some school elements. I particularly liked the Chinese art in the second half of the book. Overall, not bad, but not a must-read either.
Profile Image for Rianna *Hermione* B.
295 reviews30 followers
October 13, 2022
I haven't read a graphic novel in at least a year. It's interesting to get the point across in few words and some visuals.
I didn't understand the first 15 pages or so.. but eventually, when they went to another time and place, I could be on solid ground of understanding.
Good portrayal of the Doctor and his language use. lol. Interesting story. I really liked it at the end.

Whether you're for, neutral, or against, I'll just note that it does have a minor F/F romantic relationship scene for a few pages. Nothing detailed.
Profile Image for Nicholas Whyte.
5,372 reviews207 followers
December 17, 2023
https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/facing-fate-breakfast-at-tyrannys-by-nick-abadzis-et-al/

Two two-part stories here, the first being the titular “Breakfast at Tyranny’s”, where the Doctor with companions Gabby, Cindy and the deity Anubis are held captive with their memories being harvested; and a more exciting second half, “Sharper Than a Serpent’s Tooth”, set in ancient China with Nestenes. The art here is not always up the usual standards, I’m sorry to say.
Profile Image for Helen (they or he).
1,247 reviews38 followers
August 6, 2025
This one was a bit confusing but not at all boring! It was so full of information that it felt longer than a hundred pages. I wasn't that into the first half but second half was awesome. I really like the way the chinese elements were drawn because I can tell they did their research. And I would agree that the Doctor is a Xian. Noobis in human form is extremely fun to look at. I loooooove seeing the Doctor wear ancient chinese clothing but with his own suit's colors.
Profile Image for Glenn.
127 reviews1 follower
September 14, 2017
Pretty middle of the road story. Not bad, but not great. It seems like the writers are trying to find something more to do with Cindy's character, but then tend to sideline her unexpectedly for awhile. I do applaud the efforts. And I appreciate the way the second part of the book is devised. The unique way the story unfolds is interesting to say the least.
Profile Image for Jenna.
3,833 reviews48 followers
November 19, 2017
Really disliked the art in the first issue, but overall I found the storyline weak and too familiar. Wish it had expanded or focused just on Cindy’s or Gabby’s POV to really immerse us in this alternate universe.

I did like the fact that there’s more focus on Cindy, but the moment we start to delve a bit deeper, she gets kidnapped and doesn’t reappear until later.
Profile Image for Ariel.
501 reviews9 followers
February 27, 2019
I found this story really excited!
I like the Chinese style art to it was really cool.

I felt really badd for the Earth and the Wood monsters.. they were killed :(
They were kinda cute.. lol

BUT Cindy is like her own Great great great great etc Grandmother.. kinda lol

Either way I was very happy with this one!
Profile Image for Timothy Pitkin.
2,000 reviews8 followers
December 21, 2019
An interesting villain and now I want to find the earlier parts of the series as I am curious about the Anubis character. Also one thing I like about the comics is that they are allowed to use ideas, concepts, and time periods that the t.v. series really cannot use because of reasons.
Profile Image for Jeni Enjaian.
3,699 reviews55 followers
July 20, 2022
I really enjoy these comics even though they never do anything groundbreaking. They feel like alternate ways of telling typical Doctor Who stories which I always tend to enjoy. (I also read several of them in quick succession. Thus, no individual reviews for each of these.
Profile Image for Steven Shinder.
Author 5 books20 followers
October 10, 2022
"Breakfast at Tyranny's" is actually the shorter story at the beginning of this. The art of it isn't my cup of tea. However, I enjoyed the story that came after, "Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth," which takes place in Ancient China. The storytelling moments had a charm to them.
Profile Image for Carl.
565 reviews4 followers
February 5, 2018
starts year three of the Tenth Doctor with a bang venturing to ancient china.
Arresting visuals and crackerjack dialog make this a joy for any whovian or Tennant Doctor fan!
Profile Image for Ben Biddle.
93 reviews3 followers
March 3, 2018
nice artwork, curious story. some preachy points and plot jumps.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews

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