The Mark of Mandragora

"The Helix is like a cuckoo in the nest, making the place its very own, making us the intruders..."

Writer: Dan Abnett 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: November 1990 - April 1991

Printed in: DWM 167-172

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Ace

Synopsis 

London. The end of the twentieth century approaches... perhaps more literally than anyone expects. Allied with UNIT, the Doctor and Ace have unlocked the secret of the Falling Star nightclub. That secret is raw energy of the Mandragora Helix, preparing to infect Earth with its infernal power...

Verdict 

The Mark of Mandragora was a simply stunning comic strip adventure to continue along my reading of The Good Soldier graphic. With the preludes that came with it, I have split the blog entry as you can see below and wrote my comments immediately after reading. 

Darkness Falling

This comic strip takes on a unique format in that it has not one but two preludes printed in the pages of DWM prior to its official beginning. With each prelude just three pages, there's no way I can count each of them as a separate story instead I'm including in the overall comic strip adventure as a whole. With build up like this, I really hope it lives up to the hype! I'm not sure I would be a fan of the DWM each of these preludes were printed in as the comic strip is a large reason why I purchase the magazine so to only get three pages of comic strip would have been quite disappointing, even if the Brigadier was featured! UNIT was in big trouble, and even with the great man looking more like his old self than what we saw in Battlefield, he was hoping for the help of the Doctor. I get the feeling he'll soon be on his way...

Distractions 

Now this was a wonderful prelude to the overall comic strip adventure! The Seventh Doctor and Ace had arrived into the picture and would you know it, Ace was upset. She'd been wondering about the TARDIS for four hours and the Doctor hadn't bothered trying to find her. I can't say I blame him. But she did manage to find her way to the secondary control room which was magnificent to see once again! That really is a throwback to the Fourth Doctor era! We had a superb flashback and reference to The Masque of Mandragora, and it appears that the deadly Helix is back for revenge! It's been biding its time and growing with each visit of the TARDIS, and now it appears ready to strike! Let the adventure begin! 

The Mark of Mandragora

Now this was more like it! A simply stunning adventure that more than made its mark. Pun absolutely intended. I really did love this comic strip and there's no doubt that this was a triumphant return for the Mandragora Helix. I really did like The Masque of Mandragora, but I've only watched it once and that was probably three years ago now. However, I have read the novel within the last year and I absolutely loved that! I liked the continuity from the aforementioned TV story in that it was set roughly 500 years after those events. Despite the waiting game, the Helix still remembered the Doctor and the defeat he caused in their last encounter. However, this time it was the Helix that had the advantage of using the Doctor's TARDIS against him. That advantage though would be the cause of defeat. I really liked Captain Frost being part of UNIT but I was surprised that the Brigadier didn't appear more prominently. He only had cameo roles which I thought was a shame. We could have had an extension of Battlefield, a story that was neatly mentioned, in that the Seventh Doctor and Brigadier could join forces once again. Although I haven't read The Iron Legion, I loved the reference to it and the fact that they were referencing a comic strip adventure that was released 160 odd issues before the one the reader was holding! The audacity! I thought it was brilliant. I also liked the reference to Fellow Travellers and that story can now have an added subtly to the title as we know the Mandragora was waiting and rebuilding in the TARDIS. The drug Mandrake being used throughout London was clever and I liked how it would hide the mention of the Mandragora as it used its previous name. Stranks served as a very good villainous enemy and I liked the dialogue he and the Doctor exchanged. I wasn't struck on the artwork for Ace but I thought the characterisation of her was excellent. They also absolutely nailed Sylvester McCoy's Seventh Doctor which was fantastic to see. I thought the cliffhangers were very good and the pace of the story was perfect. I was quite surprised that the Doctor accepted defeat but in the end he got lucky. The TARDIS prevented the Mandragora from reverting the Universe to its own design by being the weak link. It hiccuped and actually saved the Doctor! I bet that got mentioned at one point during unseen conversation in The Doctor's Wife. I liked how the Doctor was utterly depressed when he thought the TARDIS was gone forever, disintegrated into nothingness. He'd reluctantly agreed once again to join UNIT which I bet he wasn't thrilled about. But then ebullience came together as the TARDIS came to him and Ace and put a smile on the Brigadier's face as he knew they were off adventuring once again. Overall, a stunning comic strip adventure! This graphic novel must be something special if this gets topped. 

Rating: 10/10