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"THE HANS OF FEAR – FAIRYTALES, FROST, AND FIFTEEN IN COPENHAGEN"

Leave it to Doctor Who Magazine to deliver a gloriously bonkers historical romp that takes the Fifteenth Doctor and Ruby Sunday to the snow-dusted streets of 19th-century Copenhagen for a showdown with Hans Christian Andersen and an Ice Queen hellbent on literary revenge. Alan Barnes’ The Hans of Fear, with lush, expressive art from Mike Collins, is a frosty delight that blends folklore, metafiction, and a healthy dose of Nordic camp.

ONCE UPON A TIME IN DENMARK

It’s a rare treat to see Doctor Who set in Scandinavia—rarer still that the Danish capital is so vividly brought to life. The comic gives us a magical version of Copenhagen, infused with snow, looming Gothic architecture, and a real sense of fairy-tale melancholy. This is a city where stories can come to life—and indeed, that’s the central conceit of the tale.

The Doctor and Ruby arrive just in time to meet the great Hans Christian Andersen himself—depicted here as a neurotic, theatrical, and somewhat insecure genius. The Doctor is, delightfully, a massive fanboy, and it’s hinted that the two go way back. That sense of warmth and familiarity anchors the story emotionally.

And what a title! The Hans of Fear is a pun so gloriously awful it immediately signals the tone: witty, self-aware, and firmly in the tradition of comic Who at its most playful.

THE ICE QUEEN COMETH

The villain of the piece is the marvellous Snedronningen—the Ice Queen herself, brought to the comic page in all her icy regality. With her ability to bring endless winter, freeze her victims into fantastical forms, and generate experimental beings inspired by her stolen stories, she’s a fabulous blend of comic-book melodrama and fairytale menace. Think Frozen’s Elsa reimagined by Stephen King.

Her vendetta against Hans for libelling her in his fairy tales (by painting her as a villain) is as inspired as it is ridiculous, introducing the concept of interdimensional beings holding grudges over how they're portrayed in fiction. In an era where the Fifteenth Doctor’s stories are full of genre-blending and reality-bending, this fits right in.

The fact that the Ice Queen transforms humans into living fairytales is chilling—literally and figuratively. The Ugly Duckling, the Tin Soldier, the Little Mermaid, and the Match Girl all show up in tragic, twisted forms. It’s a brilliant way to weave Andersen’s actual stories into the plot while adding a creepy new layer of body horror.

HANS, HENCHMEN, AND HOMAGE

Andersen is written with real affection. His quirky Danish speech patterns (“five and twenty” instead of “twenty-five”) and self-deprecating charm are well observed. There's a delightful moment when we learn he travels with two muscle-bound bodyguards—one from the Gold Coast and the other amusingly named Thomas of Finland, a cheeky nod to the iconic Finnish artist. And yes, there are shout-outs to Nordic cultural figures like Avicii, Loreen, and Jenny Lind, keeping things gloriously weird and rooted in the region.

The comic makes time for poignant moments, too. One of the story’s strongest threads is Hans’ relationship with his father, who once gave himself up to Snedronningen to save his son and now returns as one of her transformed tin soldiers. That their fate remains unresolved at the end adds a bittersweet coda to the fairytale antics.

FAIRYTALE BREAKDOWN

Ruby doesn’t get a ton to do here, but her frozen transformation—complete with wings—is visually striking, and she plays a pivotal role in helping the other victims resist Snedronningen’s mental hold. Her belief in fairy tales falters, sparking a rebellion that ultimately undoes the Queen. It’s a clever inversion of Peter Pan: instead of clapping if you believe, you have to stop believing.

The resolution—defeating the Ice Queen by stripping her of narrative power—is meta and fitting. Like all great fairy tales, this one ends with a moral: stories matter, but only if we choose how we tell them.

Each issue opens with a quote from Andersen’s The Ice Queen, and even some of Hans' dialogue is taken from his real letters. It’s a rich tribute to both the man and the myths he spun.

📝THE BOTTOM LINE:

The Hans of Fear is a gorgeously realised comic tale that blends gothic fantasy, literary history, and playful Doctor Who storytelling. It’s clever, campy, poignant, and laced with snowflakes and sorrow. With a wonderful setting, a flamboyant villain, and a storybook heart, it captures everything that makes the Fifteenth Doctor’s era so special.

Rating: 8/10

The Fifteenth Doctor #08

'The Hans of Fear' (2024) from Doctor Who Magazine 604-607.

Certainly not my favourite of Fifteen's stories thus far - although that's primarily down to me know being familiar with the source material. It just feels a little nonsensical without that context, and very comic-booky with the Snedronningen villain. Ruby has a fun presence - I wish she got to keep the wings for longer - but The Doctor's techno-babble is a little grating and I don't find Hans to be all too interesting.

I did not care for the setting or characters, which made this really hard to get invested in. There were some interesting ideas with the Snow Queen inspired villain, but this was not capitalised on well.

this story didnt go the way i thought it was going but it was definitely interesting i think i struggled as a dyslexic person to pronounce the names used in the comic tho

This story has the Fifteenth Doctor's voice and vibe down really well, but I'm not sure how much he fits into this particular story. Either way though, I liked this story fine.

C. Maybe B.