The Fractures Part 2

"I'm the Doctor. This world is under my protection. Go back to your own reality - while you still can."

Writer: Robbie Morrison 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 13th August 2015

Printed in: DWC #8

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis

When the Doctor returned Clara to Earth, she expected a brief respite from adventure. Instead, a crack has formed in the Void between universes - and trouble is spilling out. 

In our world, UNIT scientist Paul Foster was killed in a car crash, while his family survived - in his, it was his wife and daughters that perished. Now, this alternate Paul Foster has made the leap through the Void to reunite with his family. But he doesn't belong in this dimension, and a menacing group of body-hopping entities known as the Fractures are hunting Foster to stop reality from rupturing! Can the Doctor save the universe and bring a family back together - or will sacrifices have to be made?

Verdict  

The Fractures continued magnificently with this second part in the latest issue of Doctor Who Comic. The entry is a day late after release and that's due to yesterday being the small matter of A-Level results day! I'm happy to report that I achieved ABC and met the conditions of my firm choice of Bath Spa University! So, six weeks on Sunday I will be moving out and starting an exciting chapter in my life. Sadly, I think that'll mean a reduction in the amount of blogged entries partly because a lot of stuff will be left at home! But there's still six weeks to get through a lot of things and I'm starting with this comic which is a summer-special feature length and has 2 consecutive Eleventh Doctor stories. But we'll get to those in the next few days. I really loved this part and I thought it was better than the first which I reread prior to reading the latest part. I loved the detail of the multiverse ongoings and I really like how in Doctor Who it's not a theory. Inferno, the E-Space Trilogy and Rise of the Cybermen have shown us that all before! But it has been quite a while since any kind of story dealing with different realities. I really liked the determination of Paul who just couldn't bare the fact that he had lost his wife and daughters. His intelligence must be quite incredible and it's no wonder he was working with UNIT seeing that he was able to track the reality where it was he that died in the car crash and not his family. The characterisation of both the Twelfth Doctor and Clara was superb and these comics are really coming into their own across all three Doctors. I've criticised comic strip interpretations of Clara in the past but this story in both parts has been brilliant for the English teacher and it certainly seems like the character of Series 8. That's where the story appeared to take place and with that I loved the foreshadowing of Dark Water/Death in Heaven when Clara described what she'd ever do if she lost someone. Some dialogue in this story contradicts with the UNIT arrival in the second part of that TV story but I'm willing to let it slide. Osgood really would be gutted to miss seeing the Doctor though, no matter the appearance! Kate didn't feature much but I like how she's increasingly having a bigger role in stories across all mediums. She was characterised really well. I must say that the artwork of this story so far has been astounding. It literally looked as though the Doctor and Clara could have been photoshopped in it was that good. Hannah dealing with the emotional turmoil of her dead husband returning must've been difficult but this is where my skepticism comes in. The Fractures are a new race for the Doctor to encounter (that in itself is rare) but why didn't they threaten Mickey after he stayed on 'Pete's World' or Rose after she was trapped there when Pete saved her from the Void? I do hope they're new species but that to me didn't seem to make sense. That was a shame really as the story really is fantastic so far and I can see that the high quality ratings are set to continue. But we'll have to wait until this story concludes for a rating!