Vortex Butterflies

"Hey, you, my brightest star... shine on me endlessly wherever you are..."

Writer: Nick Abadzis
Format: Comic Strip
Released: June-November 2017
Printed in: The Tenth Doctor #3.6-8, #3.10

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Gabby, Cindy, Sarah Jane, Twelfth Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor has abandoned his crew to chase a mysterious message into deep space! As Cindy recovers from the splitting headache she developed on her most recent adventure, Gabby's mysterious block-transfer butterfly powers evolve even further. But will the team ever be reunited? And what secrets will the Doctor find waiting for him, out in the cosmic dark?

Verdict

Vortex Butterflies was an excellent comic strip adventure! It really did feel like a finale and the scale of it was fantastic. I absolutely loved how it was firmly a story all about Gabby and she really did shine once again. I think she has been the best thing to come out of the comic strips from Titan. I firmly believe she's a superb companion and her emotional journey here was extraordinary. I liked that it started where Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth left off, and Gabby really was feeling the effects of seeing Cindy die. At least, what she thought was Cindy but was in fact one of the duplicates. Cindy naming all of them was a nice touch and I liked how she grew to understand how she became her own ancestor. That was pretty stunning. The way the events in China had altered Gabby and Cindy's relationship was quite heartbreaking to see and I was quite surprised that the Doctor left them alone in 2009 London, even after Gabby stood up to him about how he needed them. The Tenth Doctor meeting the Twelfth Doctor was a wonderful and unexpected treat and I thought the characterisation of both was very good. I really liked how sympathetic the Twelfth Doctor was to his previous self and I loved that he echoed his comments towards Gabby from Four Doctors in wishing that he kept her around. Her fate is of course unknown at this moment but the prospect of her becoming a sentient being and time sensitive at one with the universe seemed devastating. The Doctor wouldn't accept that was her fate but I did enjoy the images of the Classic-era opening titles depicting the vortex in one of the universe's most empty spaces. The link between Gabby and the TARDIS was fantastic and I loved how we saw moments from the past three years of adventures that led Gabby to becoming time sensitive and having the vortex butterflies. I really liked the references to The Arts in Space and I also thought bringing Sarah Jane back was a wonderful move. Her relationship with Gabby and Cindy was terrific and I loved how she recollected on her time with the Doctor in the upmost of positive ways. I loved how Gabby saw, just from physical contact with Sarah, that she had also met Sutekh in a great flashback from Pyramids of Mars. The Doctor working out that the chalked equations and Gabby's drawings were block transfers of his own equations to severe the link between the TARDIS and his companion was terrific and I liked how he didn't know it was his future self that provided the ammunition to shoot down the problem. The ending was lovely and I liked the cliffhanger with the return of the Time Sentinels. I look forward to seeing where things go from here! Overall, a brilliant comic strip story.

Rating: 9/10