The Organ Grinder

"It's as we feared. The Daleks have brought the Cyclors into the war."

Writer: Si Spurrier

Format: Comic Strip

Released: 15th December 2016

Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 14

Featuring: War Doctor, Squire, Alice

The Organ Grinder was an excellent comic strip adventure but was rather different to what I expected to be reading! I am more than used to the theme of the Time War in the Eleventh Doctor section of Doctor Who Comic but I was not anticipating an entire story featuring the War Doctor! I mean, I was thrilled to get one as any further stories we get with the lost incarnation are most welcomed in my book but I just wasn't ready for it and it kind of threw me a little bit. Now, I'm not sure if the information revealed in this story has furthered my understanding of the Doctor being accused of genocide in The Then and the Now and everything that has happened since or if I'm even more confused. Either way, I absolutely love it and I'm looking forward to more getting revealed in the upcoming issues as we reach closer to the conclusion of the second year of adventures. Blimey, time is flying by! It only feels like last week that I started collecting DWC whilst in college and now I'm nearly halfway through my second year of university. It's quite surreal how quickly things pass by and speaking of time, I liked how the War Doctor refused to acknowledge that Alice could be from the future. As far as he was concerned, the Time War meant there wasn't one. Seeing a younger version of the Squire was intriguing as she was obviously very acquainted with the Doctor so it begs the question as to why the Eleventh Doctor can't remember who she was. I'm sure that'll be answered in good time and I look forward to it. The biggest surprise in this story though had to go to the appearance of the Master in a previously unseen incarnation! And a very young one at that! I'm very interested to see where in the Master's timeline this incarnation fits but seeing as regeneration has never been depicted as reverting back to being a child, I would assume that he is the Master in his infancy. Some of the Doctor's comments may dispute that but his failure to recognise the infamous pillar design of his TARDIS would suggest it being his very first incarnation. Seeing the Doctor and the Master fighting side by side really does highlight the horrors of the Time War though and that's something I really like. The Volatix Cabal was a very interesting Dalek society and I just loved the whole concept behind them. Daleks who had the ability to be creative. That's quite a scary thought and despite being thought lowly of by the pure Daleks, this society could bring victory in the Time War. I absolutely adored the comment about all wars being won by madmen and it appeared that's what these Daleks were searching for. The Cyclors being explored further was good and I liked how the Doctor's comments at the start of the story sold how terrible they were. Alice and the War Doctor interacting was fantastic but again I'm intrigued to see where this places After Life and Alice's first meeting with the Doctor. The cliffhanger was very good with the emergence of a God-like creature and I'm looking forward to seeing what significance she has in upcoming stories. But for now, an excellent comic strip!

Rating: 9/10

The Jazz Monster

"Someone stole my music."

Writer: Nick Abadzis
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 15th December 2016
Printed in: DWC: Tales from the TARDIS 14

Featuring: Tenth Doctor, Gabby, Cindy

Synopsis

The Doctor, Gabby and Cindy land in New Orleans at the dawn of the Jazz Age, tracking down the source of the Nocturnes, twisted memetic creatures who ride music and use it as a weapon. Can the TARDIS team change the Nocturnes' tune before they infect all life on Earth?

Verdict

The Jazz Monster was a very good comic strip that has kicked off my blogging of 2017! I would like to extend a happy new year to anyone and everyone who reads my blog but I must start off by saying that I think 2017 could be a pretty quiet year for Doctor Who Verdict which is a bit of a shame but I have taken the difficult decision to put other things first and see my intake of Doctor Who put on the backburner for the time being. My resolution for this year was simply to live my life more and that means experiencing new things and just enjoying myself. Now in the past, when I've gone on a daily run of blog entries, it has often felt like a burden and with my second year at university now into full swing, I just don't need it. Now, I am and always will remain a huge Doctor Who fan but after an incredible run in 2016 which somehow saw me blog more than ever before, I'm taking a backseat and I'll honestly be surprised if I do more than 10 entries a month now. I will continue to get DWM and DWC and will of course watch the new series but once my few Christmas presents are done and blogged, I'm not sure how often I will do things. University and my personal enjoyment has to come first so here's to a quiet year! Now. to the story itself and I thought it was a pretty good start to a comic strip adventure that clearly will continue in the next issue which is actually out next week. I was swamped with catching up on Series 9 before Christmas and during this issue's release and with a break over Christmas it has taken some time to open the pages. I loved the New Orleans setting of the Jazz Age and it was nice to see that Gabby and Cindy were getting that extended break they so yearned. They had both dressed the part and I liked the references we got to The Singer Not the Song with the musical theme. I didn't expect the theme to be quite so expanded upon come the latter stages but I did like how similarities were drawn. There was also quite a bit of ambiguity surrounding the creature the Doctor labelled as 'the boss' and it did appear that he was related to the Nocturnes in some form. The foreshadowing of The End of Time with the Doctor not being too keen on songs ending was a very nice touch and I liked how it reminded us how close towards the end of the Tenth Doctor's life that these stories are set. It was the obvious gap to place a comic series in his timeline and it's worked wonderfully and I like how it continues to be referenced. The mention of The Weeping Angels of Mons was also excellent and I liked how the Doctor's initial memory of a Jamie was his companion during his second incarnation. This time it was Cindy who had fallen for someone in the form of Roscoe but he had been the subject of some alien meddling as he had forgotten how to play his jazz, and he wasn't the only one that had happened to in the area. The Doctor had sniffed out trouble and now it was revealed. However, it was going to be more troublesome than he had envisaged as the method he believed would make this boss of the Nocturnes weaker was actually making it stronger! That obviously wasn't what was expected and I liked how the Doctor looked worried. The cliffhanger was pretty good with the monster rising and claiming that everyone present would be its servants and I'm looking forward to seeing how things play out in the next part. But for now, a very good comic!