A Wing and a Prayer

"I can't believe I'm actually going to have dinner with Amy Johnson! Look at me, I'm a time traveller!"

Writer: Scott Gray 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: June - August 2013

Printed in: DWM 462-464

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Clara

Synopsis 

The Doctor and Amy meet Amy Johnson, the first woman to fly from England to Australia. In Baghdad, the Doctor catches up with an old friend but sand monsters are forming and killer insects are on the loose.

Verdict 

A Wing and a Prayer was an excellent comic strip adventure! Now you may be thinking that this is a rather random story to be doing but whilst I'm in college (and officially have just seven educational days left) I thought I best take advantage of the college library having the graphic novel of The Blood of Azrael. Now, I completed the title comic strip of the graphic novel probably just about a year ago but the first two stories in this I had never done previously. That's what had put me off purchasing this graphic novel previously because I'd only be buying it for two stories consisting of five parts. For £13.99, it's just not worth it. Look at my recently purchased The Good Solider of which the contents I'll soon be blogging. I get 9 stories for the same price! So whilst I'm just in time, borrowing the graphic novel makes sense and here we are meeting Amy Johnson. For Clara's first comic strip adventure I thought they absolutely nailed her on the head in terms of characterisation. She was absolutely perfectly portrayed from the TV series in my opinion, which was somewhat of a surprise to me because in following comic strip stories I've been rather critical of her characterisation. No such problems here! The same goes for the Eleventh Doctor (not that I can really recall any major characterisation problems) who was perfectly captured here. If I can imagine the lines being said by the actor who plays the incarnation then things are working out well. The plot of this one was intriguing with killer insects with very alien powers! That's probably because they were alien but I guess I'm trying to say they weren't like what we saw in The Web Planet. The Howling Storm was a great name, even if it was for a pack of insects, and I liked how Koragatta was being hunted for deserting the Mother Prime. The way that worked against him at the climax with Bradshaw was somewhat ironic to say the least. Bradshaw is pretty much everything I hate in a person. His attitude towards women was a disgrace (I know the setting was 1930 but pompous and arrogant men I despise). I really wished Amy slapped the taste out of his mouth as that's what he deserved! She'd complete her mission of flying to Australia and he'd be gutted. Not that he'd live to see it though. Koragatta (they can't pick simpler names can they!) growing in size for the cliffhanger was rather impressive and I really thought the artwork was marvellous. The climax was fantastic with the Doctor and Omar (the best fez seller in the galaxy, ha!) being saved by Amy and Clara. The reference to The Impossible Astronaut was neatly placed and I liked how this story bore similarities with The Aztecs and just like Barbara there, Clara wanted to warn Amy about her future death. The revelation at the end surrounding Amy's body never being found was wonderful though! Overall, an excellent comic strip debut for Clara! My favourite TARDIS pairing doesn't fail once again. 

Rating: 9/10