The Clockwise War Part 2

"The Clockwise Men are on their way. Don't run and hide, they want to play."

Writer: Scott Gray
Format: Comic Strip
Released: 3rd May 2018
Printed in: DWM 525

Featuring: Twelfth Doctor, Bill

Synopsis

The Clockwise Men are causing havoc. Jodafra of the Oblivion Empire is questioning the motives of the Doctor. A companion of old and long thought dead seems to hold the answers to all the questions. Britain has a secret space programme by the name of Wonderland. Disaster is imminent and it seems that nowhere is safe...

Verdict

The Clockwise War continued in excellent fashion with this terrific second part of the story. It seems set to be an epic one as I recently learned that this is the comic farewell for the Twelfth Doctor from DWM so it's bound to be good! But for now, let's talk about all things Doctor Who Magazine and this looks set to be a decent issue. The introduction of a brand new Time Team was quite unexpected and I'm looking forward to the revamp and reading about more than one story per week and not in the broadcast order. The timing is a little strange but I must say that the backlash towards the new team in the past week has been a bit overboard and unwarranted. Michelle Ryan getting interviewed with the upcoming release of her audio spinoff is good and I'm looking forward to her thoughts about that. The Fact of Fiction dealing with Planet of the Dead this month is nice timing too. The theme of the magazine's features focusing on missing bits of Doctor Who that we never got to see is intriguing and I'm looking forward to seeing exactly what will be discussed this issue. I haven't managed to finish last month's issue yet due to balancing my recent blogging and my dissertation which I have thankfully submitted today! It's a huge relief and I hope for more reading this summer. Janet Fielding being the subject of this month's Out of the TARDIS is great and I'm also looking forward to the usual stuff of Galaxy Forum and the Gallifrey Guardian. Now, back to the comic strip and this was quite an intriguing continuation. There was no further appearance of Gallifrey but one could guess that the Clockwise Men have something to do with the inability for regeneration that has been plaguing the Time Lords so I'm intrigued to see how everything ties together. That includes the first page's revelation that Britain has an inter-space programme of Wonderland. There's a lot going on and there was considerable action in this part which I liked. Jodafra and Gol Clutha fell victim to the Clockwise Men in horrific fashion and the main reason surprisingly seemed to be Fey. I'm not sure if I have read everything with her and the Eighth Doctor but her actions here have been extremely surprising. She seems to be doing the dirty work of the mysterious Absence and I like the ambiguity surrounding this villain. Is it somebody that we know? I look forward to finding out. It has been following the Doctor for some time now and The Phantom Piper was neatly reference as now the Absence and Fey have a complete map of the space-time vortex thanks to Chiyoko. Just what they'll use it for remains to be seen, but it doesn't look good for the Doctor. Overall, an exciting and intriguing continuation of the comic strip!