The Hyperion Empire Part 2

"I seem to have inadvertently reanimated a small army of smouldering zombies."

Writer: Robbie Morrison 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 28th January 2016

Printed in: DWC 2.05

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis 

The Hyperions are burning up! And they're planning on taking our planet with them... Can Clara and the Doctor, alongside their new friend, Fireman Sam, stop the complete destruction of what remains of the human race?

Verdict 

The Hyperion Empire continued in tremendous style with this excellent second part to the four part first year finale of Twelfth Doctor and Clara comic strip adventures! I bet Titan Comics are secretly quite happy with the news that Doctor Who won't be airing Series 10 until spring 2017 as their second year run of comics with the current incarnation, as far as I'm aware and can guess from Relative Dimensions, also features Clara as the companion. I think it's great that through Doctor Who Comic, and I'm guessing through the comic strip content of DWM, that we are still going to be having numerous adventures with Clara. I mean, we've had plenty so far but I've got absolutely no problem with us having a few more! She's just brilliant and even in these comic strip adventures she just continues to impress. The story itself continued very well after the suffer cliffhanger of the first part with Clara and Sam emerging to the Doctor's rescue. When I reread that part, it seemed a whole lot more familiar than my recent rereading of parts for Weapons of Past Destruction which I blogged over the weekend. I'm not too sure as to why that was but I think it did help remembering a lot about the previous part and rereading just consolidated what I already had fresh in my mind. The story itself is just devastating and it's quite a brave move in having London, and the rest of the world, completely obliterated really. I mean, it worked for The Dalek Invasion of Earth but that was set two centuries after the broadcast. This is modern day London, a story in the present, and presenting it as being a burned wreck is a bold way to go. I must admit, I like the audacity of Robbie Morrison to go in that direction and it presents an interesting dynamic for characters we are familiar with such as Clara and Kate. I really liked having Kate included again after her appearance in The Fractures and this part she was a lot more prevalent than in the first. The moment she and the Doctor met again was magnificent and I just loved the continuation from Dark Water/Death in Heaven with the Doctor again exercising his right as President of Earth. The entire planet was at the mercy of an extraterrestrial race and that meant that the Doctor was in charge. His word was law so what he said went, and it nearly resulted in a politician getting his head cut off with an axe! It was all a misunderstanding that was quickly resolved though. I really liked the relationship between Clara and Sam in this story and I especially loved the Doctor's reaction to finding out that Clara had gotten friendly with fireman Sam. I must admit, I'll be surprised if we don't get a kiss moment like Gabby had in The Weeping Angels of Mons but I'm not sure how far after Danny's death this is set. Is Clara ready to see other people? They certainly seem to have hit it off together. The characterisation of both the Doctor and Clara was very good and I must say DWC has absolutely nailed the likeness of Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor and lately they really have captured Jenna Coleman's portrayal wonderfully well too. I have a feeling that Robbie Morrison is a big fan of Game of Thrones as I noticed a couple of references to that incredible show in this comic strip. We had the Doctor saying "off with his head!", a catchphrase of Joffrey, and then we also had the infamous "winter is coming" said! That was magnificent and I do hope more GoT references come! The cliffhanger was very good with the Hyperion Angels (no connection with the Weeping Angels I believe) arrived and had the Doctor, Clara and co sentenced to incineration. There was a lot of intrigue in the story with an apparent Human-Dalek hybrid being part of the historic alliance that took on the Hyperions. The Scorched were a horrific concept and we had great references to The Time of the Doctor and Terrorformer, but these angels really intrigued me and I can't wait for the next part!