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