A Matter of Life and Death

"You cling to life without remembering what it's really about."

Writer: George Mann
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 16th March 2016
Printed in: Titan Comics: The Eighth Doctor #5

Featuring: Eighth Doctor, Josie

Synopsis

It's the final stop on the Eighth Doctor's enigmatic to-do list: a Bakri Resurrection Barge, where the super-rich are 'remade' into luxurious artificial bodies after corporeal death. But the resurrectees are dying... their bodies rebelling against their implanted minds! And what is the shocking truth Josie has been hiding from the Doctor?

Verdict

A Matter of Life and Death was an excellent comic strip and a brilliant conclusion to the graphic novel of which it is the titular story. This adventure also brings an end to the comic run of the Eighth Doctor and Josie but I do hope that it is not the last we see of the pairing as they really have been terrific together. The pairing here were at the last stop on the to-do list first seen in The Pictures of Josephine Day and things started to come full circle. The setting of the Bakri Resurrection Barge was an intriguing one and the concept behind humanity downloading their mind into another body at the point of death was very good indeed. What I liked even more was the fact that the bodies humanity had been transferring their memories into weren't exactly dormant. They were sentient in their own right and the bodies were overloaded with two personalities fighting for control. It was quite a horrendous happening and the Doctor stood up and gave his thoughts in a mesmerising way. I thought his speech was superb and a defining moment for the incarnation in the comic strips and it really was fantastic to see the Eighth Doctor stand his ground so passionately. Josie, too, had a wonderful moment where she defended the new species that humanity had basically developed but the reasoning behind that would soon be revealed spectacularly. It turns out that we really didn't know our Josie well at all as she was not an innocent artist from 21st century Wales. In fact, we met the real Josephine Day who had downloaded herself into a Bakri and then we got some answers about Josie's true identity. Her connection with anime particles was soon realised as she was a portrait herself! It was quite a mesmerising history and we would learn that the Twelfth Doctor was actually purchasing her portrait in Briarwood. There was a terrific reference to The Silvering and I also really liked the mentions of the Great and Bountiful Human Empire and the Shadow Proclamation. I thought the resolution to this story was good and fast-paced and that allowed for some reflection on the overall comic run of the Eighth Doctor and Josie. The cameo of the Twelfth Doctor and Clara was magnificent and the story behind him sending Josie to enjoy adventures with the Eighth Doctor, who was a better people person, was magnificent. The Doctor thinking she was referring to the Third Doctor was great and his reaction to hearing a description of his future self was excellent. It was a really nice moment and I loved that there was more than enough room for adventures between the pair to resume in future. Overall, a brilliant story!

Rating: 9/10