The latest offering from Titan’s Doctor Who Comic range is a little different, though it hails from the usual team of writer Jody Houser and artist Roberta Ingranata. Doctor Who: Missy features the female aspect of the Master, the Doctor’s arch-enemy, as played by Michelle Gomez (from Peter Capaldi’s time as the Twelfth Doctor), teaming up with her original incarnation, as portrayed by Roger Delgado during Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor era. It’s 50 years since the Master first appeared, cooking up schemes to take over the universe, so it’s high time time they finally get to be the focus of a comic.
The plot is fairly slight: Missy springs the original Master out of prison and they have to head to decisive moments in their own timeline to help them locate the Key To Time. Of course, it’s really just an excuse to show some memorable moments – featuring all the different faces – of the Master. Once again Houser shows her love and knowledge of the TV series as familiar scenes get a new perspective, including the latest version of the Master as played by Sacha Dhawan going up against Jodie Whittaker’s Thirteenth Doctor. The real joy here is seeing the interaction between two very different aspects of the same character as they observe the key moments.
Once again, Ingranata’s facial likenesses are a mixed bag. Just occasionally some of the guest cast look a little generic – Alex Kingston’s River Song could have been anyone, but fortunately she introduces herself with a ‘Hello Sweetie!’ This is only a minor quibble, as generally Ingranata’s art here is the strongest we’ve seen it.
This is a slower, more dialogue-heavy story and quite a different pace to the current TV series, which is big, brash and in-your-face. It’s a proper love letter to the Master/Missy, with continuity references and in-jokes aplenty. Maybe this isn’t going to bring in new fans, but it’s a lot of fun nevertheless!