Clara Oswald and the School of Death Part 4

"We, the Sea Devils, intend to bring about the extinction of your whole race."

Writer: Robbie Morrison 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 2nd June 2016

Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 07

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Clara

Synopsis 

The shadowy puppet masters behind the darkness of Ravenscaur are revealed, as the body count climbs and the shocking revelations add up! Can the Doctor and Clara, armed with a hundred years of secret history, triumph over the conspiracy and drive out an ancient evil?

Verdict 

Clara Oswald and the School of Death concluded in excellent style with this fantastic fourth and final part! It's been the longest opening story of the second year of adventures in Doctor Who Comic's Tales from the TARDIS but that doesn't mean it hasn't been great. I really like the differences the three segments of the comic have taken after four issues of the second year with these Twelfth Doctor comics having the feel of just getting started while the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor stories seem well into an ongoing story. However, this story brought back the Sea Devils which was just terrific. In saying that though, despite the Doctor identifying them as a warrior class differing to the type he previously met in The Sea Devils, this fourth part confirmed my disliking of the change in appearance. I just didn't like it which was a shame. I think they tried to be a little too different and with the hatchlings being present in the story I'm not sure it was needed. I liked that concept and the whole Ravenscaur setting was superb. Based on the way this story ended though I don't think we'll be getting a return to the mysterious school. The Prime Minister announcing his resignation whilst in his native Sea Devil form, live on television, was rather humorous and with the events of Aliens of London/World War Three and Utopia/The Sound of Drums/Last of the Time Lords, it does seem that this story adds to a list of modern Doctor Who stories that likes an alien Prime Minister! I loved the inclusion of UNIT in this story and it was magnificent to see the two Osgoods present but there was some contradiction with things there because that means the story has to be set prior to Dark Water/Death in Heaven but the Doctor exercised his role as President of Earth, something he wasn't aware he had until that aforementioned story. It doesn't take much from the comic strip but sadly it does prevent a perfect rating, not that I'm sure I would have given one anyway. This last part, whilst good, was the worst of the four that made up the story as I think it was filled with a little too much action. Action works well in comic stories but I thought there was just a tad too much here. I thought the characterisation of Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor was as tremendous as always and I also liked how well Jenna Coleman's likeness as Clara was captured within the pages. It was done very well and the relationship definitely seemed very Series 9 which at my point in reading is something I'm happy with. It would appear that Witch Hunt was the comic strip bow of Clara in Doctor Who Magazine so it seems that these comic adventures are the last new stories I have to feature Clara. She's been an incredible companion but thanks to DWC her story isn't quite finished yet and that's just the beauty of the comic strip format. The Doctor having Kate's picture edited with a moustache in his phone was stunningly good and I just had in my mind the moment the Doctor set it to that and him just chuckling to himself in the TARDIS. Sonny was an intriguing 'companion' in the comic and was rather reminiscent of Handles in The Time of the Doctor and I loved how Clara eventually just gave up about him being a stuffed fish. The Doctor proclaiming him to be the best companion he's ever had was quite a shock but it was mere humour which was good. The way the Doctor defeated the Sea Devils was very good by using the sonic devastators against them and in turn destroying Ravenscaur with the isle safely evacuated. The ending with Jack and Lucy holding hands was a nice touch and I liked how Clara let them keep the neural enhancers as a souvenir for their help. Overall, an excellent start to the second year of Twelfth Doctor adventures!

Rating: 9/10