The Fractures Part 3

"Opposing us breaks laws that cannot be broken, laws beyond courts, laws that shape and form the multiverse..."

Writer: Robbie Morrison 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 10th September 2015

Printed in: DWC #8

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara, Kate

Synopsis 

In our world, UNIT scientist Paul Foster was killed in a car crash - in his, his wife and daughters perished, and only he survived. This alternate Paul Foster has crossed through the Void to reunite with his family in our reality. But he doesn't belong here, and menacing group of body-hopping interdimensional entities known as the Fractures are hunting Foster to stop reality from rupturing! Now the Fractures have infiltrated UNIT headquarters, and Chief Scientific Officer Kate Lethbridge-Stewart knows there's only one person who can help them - the Doctor. But he and Clara have problems of their own! 

Verdict 

The Fractures concluded in excellent style with this third and final part to the story! It's come around very quickly but today is of course release day for Doctor Who Comic which has been just wonderful over the last 8 issues but judging from the preview of the next issue at the back of this one, it sadly seems that we're going to skip three or four adventures with each Doctor which to be honest I'm gutted about! It's not all doom thankfully as I saw the first batch of graphic novels for this series in Waterstones today so hopefully the next batch will complete the gaps. It's a strange choice from DWC in my opinion but providing I can find a supplier in Bath I will still definitely continue to purchase the magazine which I thoroughly enjoy. I must say that the artwork of the Twelfth Doctor series has been nothing short of remarkable. The likeness of both Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman is like nothing I've seen before in comics from any provider. It really does add to the story when the artwork is as impressive as this. As usual when it comes to a comic strip that is split over issues, I reread the previous part and the story as a whole really has been great. It's almost like a loose sequel to Army of Ghosts/Doomsday which I think is just wonderful! I loved how heavily Kate featured in this story and there's no doubt that she's following in her father's footsteps by getting a featuring place on this blog. She should be proud! The idea of the Rassilon Cube was intriguing and at first I thought it was going to be another throwback to The War Games but this was a different cube. It was a kind of prison, one that had kept even the Doctor trapped for six months sometime in his past! Clara driving a bus was pretty comedic and I loved the similarity to The Runaway Bride in having the Doctor park up alongside and companions jumping across. The Fractures were a great enemy but technically I would argue that they were not. They were just doing what they had always done! Paul Foster was in the wrong universe. He'd died in this one so he shouldn't be here but there he was. I'm not sure where they stand on Rose being in a parallel universe with a human version of the Tenth Doctor but hey, I'm not one to play semantics. I like the idea of UNIT playing an increasing role in the Twelfth Doctor era and I think it should definitely continue. Obviously I don't want the Doctor in exile like much of the Third Doctor era, but more frequent visits and encounters would be beneficial in my opinion. The Doctor seems to have learned from The Visitation after all this time by now having a spare sonic screwdriver for Clara to use to disrupt the Fractures. The Doctor's way of dealing with them and returning their victims who they used as a host back in their rightful place. The characterisation of the Twelfth Doctor was sublime once again and I don't think anybody has failed with him yet! That's surely a testament to Peter Capaldi. But for arguably the first time, DWC has now nailed Jenna Coleman's characterisation for Clara! DWM hasn't been the best for her, but here it was absolutely perfect which was lovely to read. The emotional story of the Foster family has been hard to see over the past three issues and the embrace between Paul and Hannah was nice to see - even if it wasn't for their children! The Doctor taking the risk of leaving Paul on this side of the reality gate was interesting. It seems more is going to come with the Fractures due to the actions here. Overall though, an excellent conclusion to what has been a great story! 

Rating: 9/10