Invasion of the Mindmorphs Part 1

"I'm here to show you what adventures in time and space are really like."

Writer: Robbie Morrison
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 25th May 2017
Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 18

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor

Synopsis

Thanks to the rather exciting Julie d'Aubigny, the Doctor defeated an infestation of cosmic darkness in Paris, France, in 1695.

Though Julie was interested in joining the Doctor on his travels - as long as she got to drive! - the Doctor has left her to get on with her own adventures for the time being. Perhaps she'll be back for seconds in the future...? In the meantime, there are always new adventures to be had, and new people to meet!

Verdict

Invasion of the Mindmorphs started in sublime fashion with this outstanding opening part! I can't believe I have to wait until the end of August for the second part to be released in the next issue of Doctor Who Comic because I absolutely loved this first part of the story. A Doctor Who comic strip adventure about a comic strip based upon the Doctor is such a wonderful idea and seeing the subtle differences between the reality of the Doctor and his travels through space and time and that of the Time Surgeon was just brilliant. It was intriguing to open the comic and see Clara on the opening page but we soon learned that was actually the Time Surgeon's assistant called Nurse Kara. The idea of the story behind Day of the Deathroids was fantastic and seeing the Daleks and the Master being dubbed as Deathroids and the Minister was just fantastic. It was a nice little throwback to Frontier in Space and after Doorway to Hell, it was terrific to see a glimpse of the Twelfth Doctor and the Master as portrayed by Roger Delgado together once again. I really do think that this story may house the best opening to a comic strip in recent memory. I thought it was that good. I may be overplaying its quality but it just reached out to me and I could not help but love it. The story was then made even better by the arrival of the actual Doctor and he had been reading up on the Time Surgeon 'rip off' of his life. Instead of being angered, he wanted to provide its writers and artists with a bit of inspiration so he basically kidnapped them and took them to the Jurassic period to be chased by a t-rex. If he was going to be ripped off in a comic strip, the Doctor wanted to make sure that it was done properly and that the representation of his life was somewhat accurate. I imagine that on a different day though he may be less pleased about being ripped off in a comic adventure. Sonny and Val were great characters and I loved seeing their relationship develop in the short time of the comic strip. The animosity between them was heightened by the fact that they were roommates but as the Doctor pointed out, there was also an attraction there. Living with someone you're attracted can be difficult, I know from experience, and that definitely seemed to hold true here. The moment that Sonny stepped out of the animosity to protect Val from the dinosaur was evidence that it was all an act and the pair actually did enjoy each other's company. The Doctor giving them a tour of a lot of the good he has done in his life was terrific, even if he can't help but think he was bragging a little bit, and with each new venture Sonny and Val came closer together and seemed to return to what was obviously their old ways before the Time Surgeon comics. The conclusion of the story seems to have set up the concluding part in a different direction with the evil brains wanting to eradicate free thought from the three new arrivals to Zarma. It was not what the Doctor expected on his arrival with the city being devastated which was a far cry from its normal peace and harmony. It seemed that in wanting to provide inspiration to the comic writing team, he had actually now placed them in real life danger. I get the sense that Sonny and Val are going to get their own personal adventure and they won't be in control of its destiny. Let's hope the real life Time Surgeon can save the day! Overall, a wonderful opening part to the story and I can't wait to read its conclusion in a couple of months' time.