Image Credit: Cutaway Comics (Fair Use)

Image Description: The cover of Lytton #4

Tides was provided with a free review copy of the comic

By James Ashworth

Nine months, and four issues later, it’s time for Lytton to come to the end of its series as the final comic rolls around – for now. Travelling from the nightclubs of London to abandoned tube stations and catacombs, Gustave, Wilson and new companion Artemis have led a thrilling route across space and alternate dimensions in order to track down an alien visitor to Earth. In the final issue, our heroes loop back to where they began as the limited series come to a close.

As predicted in the third issue, this final story has a lot of plot to get through – and it does. However, it continues to cut the stylistic path cut by the previous two issues, with a number of ‘silent’ pages as our heroes come together before the title page. This leads those remaining with a lot of plot to get through, tying up the fates of Miss L, Artemis, Mr Longbody and more in the pages it has left. That said, while there is a lot of exposition to be had, the comic continues to cut a distinctive swathe, with fight scenes unlike little else in Who media these days.

While some of the resolutions are somewhat convenient, the story continues to intrigue, and Eric Saward’s Lytton continues to be a sardonic delight. Barry Renshaw also continues to deliver, with his art scenes returning from the psychedelic art of the previous issue into the starker style of the first, as our heroes come face to face with their antagonist – and a couple of others besides. While the apparent Earthshock references drop by the wayside quite quickly, fans of The Visitation will not be short changed, setting up continuing plot threads that Cutaway Comics promise to follow up on in the future.

Now the first series of Lytton has come to an end, has it all been worth it? Pioneering a new route of Who in the modern era, the only answer can surely be yes. Though the series may not appeal to all, with scenes of violence harking back to Saward’s own time as script editor on Doctor Who, it has launched Cutaway as a new player in the field of modern Who, and provided new stories for characters both old and new. With Omega continuing, Paradise Found coming soon, and Doctor Who Magazine shortly to reinstate its comic strip, it’s a great time for Who comics – and it’ll be well-worth sticking around to see what comes next.