Spirits of the Jungle Part 3

"Doctor, your persistence is almost endearing..."

Writer: Jonathan Morris 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 17th September 2015

Printed in: DWM 491

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis 

With Clara seemingly weaponised and the crew who the Doctor enlisted the help of left helpless, can the Time Lord truly defeat the Hadux Ura?

Verdict 

Spirits of the Jungle concluded brilliantly with this third and final instalment of the comic strip adventure in the latest Doctor Who Magazine. I'll get back to the comic strip itself shortly but as is now usual I like to discuss the magazine itself. This month is a 100 page bumper issue at a steep £5.99 but I just can't miss out on the new episodes previews and the conclusion of a comic strip story now, can I? I'm really looking forward to the preview of The Magician's Apprentice/The Witch's Forever as it seems that Moffat is heading back to the sixth series and starting off with what could be easily mistaken as a series finale! We've got Missy and a whole bunch of Daleks from throughout Who history in the opening story so I really can't wait for the series to get started now. Don't let the date of the blog entry fool you - at the time of writing I haven't yet seen the brand new episode so the preview will be just as eagerly read. I'm glad to see that the previously unnamed episodes 3 and 4 have finally had their titles revealed as the intriguing Under the Lake/Before the Flood. The story is in safe hands for sure and I'm looking forward to reading what this one is all about. I have no idea what to expect so I'll be eagerly anticipating this one whilst at university. I'm usually not a fan of the Fact of Fiction feature but when the segment is focusing on my all time favourite story in The War Games, I might have to make an exception. The 100 impossible facts seems to be something brand new which should be good! DWM Review is always good and I've already read the write up on Royal Blood which I'm glad was positive as I really enjoyed the novel. I'll see to the other two shortly. I'm not too familiar with the two interviewees in this issue but that will give me an open mind when reading. They should definitely give me an added insight into how the series is made. I'm not too keen on a feature on Lego Doctor Who appearing these pages. Surely it would be better fitted in DWA? Relative Dimensions is always a wonderful read and I can't wait to see what the wonderfully barmy Jacqueline Rayner will be talking about this month! She really is whacky. Steven Moffat's answering column was good this month and I'm looking forward to Galaxy Forum this time around after the flooding of Colin Baker letters after his recent interview. It looks set to be a great magazine! Now, back to the comic strip and after the shocking cliffhanger of Clara being weaponised, I'm still not sure whether I like the resolution or not. I can't decide whether it's clever or lazy to have Clara as actually being a jungle avatar. What would be her purpose otherwise than a cheap save? Hmm, I still need to ponder that. I bloody hope this is the last we see if anything resembling Danny Pink. He died in Dark Water - can't we just leave it at that? We saw him beyond the grave in Death in Heaven, returning in Clara's dream in Last Christmas and now he was in avatar form here. Aghh! Go away! I mean, it's nice Clara got to kiss her deceased boyfriend one last farewell but please oh please let it be the final goodbye. I liked how this part was all about double bluffs and u-turns. The Hadax Ura certainly seemed too easily defeated and I loved how its real intention was to escape. I can't say I saw that coming. The characterisation of Clara was actually very good and it seems to be improving all over the board lately with the new novels and also DWC! I'm a happy bunny when characterisation is nailed but ironically for the first time I didn't think the Twelfth Doctor's was quite right. I've been quite critical of Jonathan Morris in previous blogs, notably my reading of The Child of Time graphic novel but I have to say he impressed me with this story. It wasn't his best ever but it was consistent, solid and very good. I can't ask for much more than that. 

Rating: 8/10