The Clockwise War Part 1

"There have been six regenerations in the past hour. They have all failed!"

Writer: Scott Gray
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 5th April 2018
Printed in: DWM 524

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Bill

Synopsis

The Twelfth Doctor is following a faint distress call but is doing his best to hide the information from Bill... but isn't doing very well. He's freaking out and is soon caught up in a time machine graveyard where he is reunited with some old foes...

Verdict

The Clockwise War started in tremendous fashion with this terrific first part! It really was rather eventful and has left a lot of questions to be answered which is a good sign because I really cannot wait for part two now! This is the first time in quite a while I have blogged the DWM comic strip on the release day and that is partly down to my subscription copy arriving on time this month! I think the cover is wonderful and I really am looking forward to reading about the upcoming additions to the Target range with the novelisations of some new series episodes. I will certainly look to pick up a copy at some point as they do interest me greatly. The continuation of the Logo-Polis feature is something I am also looking forward to this month as I thought the first part of the feature in the previous issue was excellent and really intriguing. I am quite disappointed to see that the Cosplay feature is continuing as that doesn't interest me at all and I'm really not sure there's a big enough audience to warrant its position in DWM. To Infinity looks another interesting feature and it will be good to read about an upcoming Doctor Who game which is something I have never fully dived into. Resl Mania is an incredible title as I am a huge wrestling fan and whilst I doubt there are connections between Doctor Who and WWE in this article, it will provide another interesting read. I quite enjoyed the Out of the TARDIS interview with Dan Starkey in the previous issue so that segment continuing should be good and I'm delighted to see that Russell T Davies is back in the Production Notes this month. I even read the Fact of Fiction last month for the first time in full and I found it quite good so I think I'll give it another chance here with Sleep No More. Anyway, the issue looks good but I've already dived into the comic strip and it was tremendous. A partial Gallifreyan setting after the events of Heaven Sent/Hell Bent excites me very much and the idea of regenerations failing is superb. I really look forward to seeing how that connects with the overall story will be very intriguing. I was surprised to not see Fey feature but her role in the adventure was very much felt as not only did Gol Clutha return from The Stockbridge Showdown but she was now working for Jodafra who was back from Oblivion! It was quite the assembly and the connections are something that I can't wait to discover. The cliffhanger was really good with the emergence of the Clockwise Men and I thought they seemed very good in their brief appearance. Overall, a terrific start to the story!