Supremacy of the Cybermen

"You look for crisis in the beating of a butterfly wing."

Writers: Cavan Scott & George Mann
Format: Comic Strip
Released: July-November 2016
Printed in: Supremacy of the Cybermen #1-5

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Eleventh Doctor, Alice, Tenth Doctor, Gabby, Cindy, Ninth Doctor, Rose, Captain Jack

Synopsis

The Cybermen have already won... YOU WILL BE DELETED!

Exiled from Gallifrey at the very end of Time, Rassilon, fallen leader of the Time Lords, has been captured by the last of the Cybermen. Now the Cybermen have access to time travel! With it, every defeated is now a victory. All of the Doctors' lives are in grave peril, but will they be able to defeat the odds and champion over a Cyberized universe?!

Verdict

Supremacy of the Cybermen was a superb comic strip adventure! I have been waiting for over two years to do this story but I have never found a good enough offer and the local library sadly doesn't have it in their collection. However, I opened it this morning as a terrific gift from my wonderful girlfriend and with no festive episode of Doctor Who on, I had to read this straight away! It was quite different to what I expected and I was surprised that the Doctors didn't actually meet up. Instead, it was pretty much a Twelfth Doctor tale with extended flashbacks to the three immediate predecessors. That was a decent approach and I think it definitely worked well with Cybermen rewriting time. I question why the publishers of this graphic novel didn't put the prologues at the very start of the collection but I really enjoyed them, and the little flashbacks to Classic-era Doctors was terrific. I particularly loved the Fifth Doctor and Peri arriving on Skaro but found that the Cybermen had wiped the Daleks out. That really sold just how much the Cybermen were in control. Pairing them with Rassilon following his expulsion in Hell Bent was an incredible concept and a brilliant partnership. Imagine just how powerful they could be with full cooperation! The Ninth Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack rescuing Jackie from a Cyber-ravaged Earth in 2006 was intriguing and I thought Rose getting partially-converted was fantastic. The Doctor's reaction to that was one of immense anger but he quickly accepted that he wouldn't get her back. The Tenth Doctor, Gabby and Cindy encountering the Sontarans was delightful and I loved the irony of the Doctor being appointed Field Marshall. The Rutan had been made extinct by the Cybermen and now the Sontarans didn't know what to do. I was surprised they quite obviously feared the Cybermen and seeing a Sontaran Prime was also excellent! The Eleventh Doctor and Alice being on prehistoric Earth to find a fruit for Vastra was great but they soon encounter Cyber-Silurians! I loved that idea and the Doctor's reaction to it was tremendous - it just shouldn't have been possible. One slight qualm here, I didn't think the artwork for the Eleventh Doctor was too good sadly but that didn't have an effect on the story. The Twelfth Doctor returning to Gallifrey via Karn was superb and I just loved that we had another modern era story set on the planet of the Time Lords. The return of the General was very good and I liked all of the statues of past incarnations of Rassilon very much. The plan to create a new universe and give the Cybermen the powers of creation was staggering but they soon turned on Rassilon as they wanted everything for themselves. The Cyberiad was an interesting concept and I also liked that we saw the CyberKings and the Cyber Controller. The latter has been well overdue a return! The ending was pacy and quick with the Doctor and Rassilon making contact in the traditional multi-Doctor story way with the latter realising that an alliance with the Cybermen was not the way forward. Their rewritten victories were soon returned to defeats and time was put back on its rightful path. The use of regenerative power going backwards there was a simple yet great way to defeat the Cybermen. Overall, a superb comic strip! Merry Christmas!

Rating: 10/10