A Doctor in the House?

"I am easily the most Doctor to ever Who!"

Writer: Jody Houser

Format: Comic Strip

Released: June-July 2023

Printed in: Doom's Day #1-2

Featuring: Doom, Missy

Synopsis

This lonely assassin from the 51st Century is hunting for her survival, and there's only one person who can save her: the Doctor.

Using her vortex manipulator, she'll do anything to find the tempestuous time traveller, including cavorting with the maleficent Missy. 

Every hour a new adventure, every hour closer to death...

Verdict

A Doctor in the House? was a great comic strip story to continue the trans-media story from Doom’s Day! I was always looking forward to reading what the Titan Comics contribution to this intriguing concept would be as their comic stories are always more in depth than its Doctor Who Magazine counterpart. I did feel like Four Hours of Doom’s Day felt a little rushed as I just couldn’t buy into six pages being enough to fill an hour, especially when the first instalment of that release was literally two pages long! However I felt this adventure was much better and definitely felt like it could take place over four hours. I must admit I was kind of hoping for the four hours to be contained to one specific story, and whilst that wasn’t strictly not what happened, we did get a different and target on four occasion to mark the start of a new hour and a new mission for Doom. I’ve accepted that’s the format now, even if I don’t think that’s quite the best way of doing it. I think it’s a stroke of genius to include Missy during her time of atonement with the Twelfth Doctor in this series when Doom is searching for the Doctor. Just hearing her going around flaunting herself as Doctor Who is so much fun and whilst I did think some of the artwork didn’t do a stellar job in capturing the likeness of Michelle Gomez, the writing of Missy was brilliant. She’s so much fun and of course with The Master Plan she’s no stranger to Titan Comics and author Jody Houser. Getting a glimpse of the Delgado incarnation of the Master at Stormcage alongside River Song and Missy being mistaken as the Doctor was so much fun, especially when it was referenced that the Master removed her previous self from the prison. But she was the Doctor so obviously the reasons for doing so were good. The dynamic between Doom and Missy was fascinating and I liked how it was actually the latter who was chasing after the former. That wasn’t what I was expecting given Doom’s desperation to find the Doctor, although one comment that did irk me was that if Missy was actually the Doctor then Doom would have what she was looking for. Except she’s already met the Doctor? Although it was his sixth incarnation, how would she know Missy was the right one? However, she was pretty quick and insistent on the fact that Missy wasn’t who she said she was. I did think the Time Lord’s defence of her attire was a good one though! Some of the different settings here were good and I particularly enjoyed getting a New Earth convention celebrating the ways of Old Earth. Who better to know to the old ways than the Doctor? It was a logical place to find him. But alas he wasn’t there. We saw Doom at her very best when it came to being an assassin as she really didn’t let up. I thought this was her best representation by far of having her in action showcasing why she is the most feared assassin in the universe. She was brutal, swift and completely lacking in remorse. Missy was almost impressed. But of course she was good now. Having her tackle her upmost desires of evil was fun stuff when it came to their placement on the last with the planet not even having a name, but she was challenged to do something clever if she was actually the Doctor. That also meant it couldn’t involve bloodshed or stabbing. Not even a little bit. Doom having simply poisoned the three-eyed madman before Missy had even arrived was delightful. Such simplicity and she was multi-talented. The arc of the Perpetual Topaz running through the four mission was what I really liked to bring the whole story together and give it that overlapping feel that I have felt has been missing from the range thus far. An honourable mention also to Missy for giving up her guise as the Doctor because it would involve paperwork. Overall, a great read!

Rating: 8/10