Doctor Who Comic: Missy #3

Doctor Who Comic: Missy #3

Titan Comics 2021

Written by Jody Houser

Illustrated by Roberta Ingranata

Coloured by Enrica Eren Angiolini

Lettered by Comicraft’s Richard Starkings

Missy wages war on the Third and Twelfth Doctors. Can they stop her from executing her lethal plot?

I absolutely adore this arc. Missy is a gem and I wouldn’t be upset if she dominated an entire year long story arc, see series, if not more. She’s delightful in trying to keep up the facade of being a Doctor and I’m really surprised that the Master hasn’t figured out she’s not one yet. I guess it doesn’t really matter because we know the two characters well enough by now to know that their conflict is still yet to come as once his usefulness to her and hers to him comes to a conclusion things will hit the proverbial fan. This is what I love about Jody’s writing, she manages to get the reader engaged in the story and well beyond what’s on the page so that we think about the franchise as whole and what the ramifications of the actions that we see will have. I love being taken on a journey that’s on the page and off so that it brings us this completely different kind of experience.

I am a fan of the way that this is being told. The story & plot development that we see through how the sequence of events unfold as well as how the reader learns information is presented exceedingly well. The character development is bloody phenomenal to see thanks to the dialogue, the character interaction as well as how they act and react to the situations and circumstances that they encounter. The pacing is superb and as it takes us through the pages revealing more and more of the story alongside the twists & turns along the way we are drawn deeper and deeper in Missy’s conspiracy.

I am thrilled by the way we see this being structured and how the layers continue to grow, evolve, strengthen and emerge as new encounters and events are seen. I love that these bits like seeing Missy trying to get the Tardis to run correctly or trying to manipulate the Master add this depth and complexity to the story. How we see everything working together to create the story’s ebb & flow as well as how it moves the story forward is perfectly achieved.

The interiors here a completely and utterly fantastic! The linework that we see is magnificent and how the varying weights and techniques being utilised to create the detail work that we see is stupendous stuff. How backgrounds are utilised throughout to not only enhance the moments but to bring us depth perception, a sense of scale and the overall sense of size and scope to the story is beautifully rendered. The utilisation of the page layouts and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels show such a masterful eye for storytelling. Also the creativity and imagination that is on display whether it be the locale or the inside of the Tardis or even Missy’s mismatched adorable outfit is all done in such a way that it enhances the readers experience. The colour work is fabulous! The various hues and tones within the colours being utilised to create the shading, highlights and shadow work shows an acute eye for how colour works.

​

Part of me wonders why Missy even bothers to pretend she’s a Doctor with the Master, after all the two could team up and cause some serious damage by working together instead of playing this game of cat and mouse. Of course the story would take on a decidedly different direction were that to have happened. As it stands the charm of this story exists thanks to the eccentricity of Missy and how she goes about trying to enact her plans. Jody and company have really created something extraordinary here and it’s only getting better and better with each new issue to come out.