Hydra's Gate

"He won't come back. They never do."

Writer: Jacqueline Rayner

Format: Comic Strip

Released: February-April 2022

Printed in: DWM 574-577

Featuring: Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz, Dan

Synopsis

The Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz and Dan are on the hunt for a missing girl in Hackney, and all signs lead towards Hydra Hall. Mythology beckons as the gates to Hell are opened, and time displacement may have the answer to the missing children problem.

Verdict

Hydra's Gate was a pretty average continuation of the comic strip adventures for the Thirteenth Doctor, Yaz and Dan. I must admit that I've been pretty disappointed with the entire run of the Thirteenth Doctor's comic stories in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine and obviously a big chunk of content is missing thanks to the Covid pandemic and going nearly a year without a story printed, but since it's returned it just hasn't felt right and the stop-start nature of its publication doesn't help with that as it's not a smooth transition between stories. I don't read any part of the comic strip until the entire adventure is completed now and I was glad that this story was going to be four parts as I thought that would give it adequate time to flesh out the narrative and deliver a strong adventure, but sadly I think it was still hampered by the format. Each part only containing six pages really is not enough and it seems that by the time we get the titular page, we're getting a cliffhanger and 'to be continued...' which means there just isn't enough time to get invested in each part. It's a shame that things go by so quickly as one compliment I have to give is that the artwork was tremendous. I thought it was the best it has been in a very long time and really was a good saving grace. I was very impressed with it and the likeness of Jodie Whittaker's Doctor in particular was outstanding. I thought the characterisation was decent for all three and it was nice that they were out looking for a missing girl, although I'd like to have known why. Time just didn't allow for a lot of detail. I thought the cliffhangers were pretty decent and the first part having a boy from 1942 come through to the present day was great, but nothing seemed to get expanded on really. The missing girl was actually at an alien market and the Doctor sauntering through there was strong, but the threat of the butterfly man was pretty useless and the resolution to the part two cliffhanger was atrocious in having it basically ignored and the Doctor never being under threat at all. Vera was a nice character and I enjoyed her relationship with Dan, they seemed to get along well and she was like a lovely nan. Her looking after Sid was good and her connection with Hydra Hall was a sad history as it was the reason she had always been alone. I thought it was a little bit too cute to have Sid there elderly at the end without an explanation, and it hinted at Vera being a bit more knowledgeable and in the know than she let on, but there still wasn't confirmation of that. Dan taking it upon himself to go through the gates was very good but I thought the whole resolution was just too quick and easy. If the Hydra could grow two heads for every one chopped off, then a chief head just seemed a bit silly. Trip was an amusing robotic character to accompany the Doctor and locate the correct portal out, and it was nice that the Doctor got to save him but it was still a bit weak. Overall, not my favourite comic strip story in the world! 

Rating: 5/10