Epeolatry Book Review: Doctor Who: Doom’s Day #1

This is part of the latest multimedia Doctor Who event, Doom’s Day, in which a time-traveling assassin called Doom has 24 hours to live. She knows that the Doctor can save her, but she has to find them.

Each installment covers one or more hours, giving it a vaguely 24 vibe. Also, Doom’s Day is also part of the celebration of 60 years since Doctor Who launched.

This comic miniseries relates some of the early hours and sees Doom encountering Missy, who is pretending to be the Doctor for Missy reasons.

Missy is very well-written and easily captures the magic of Michelle Gomez’s portrayal. It’s very useful for this comic to have such a strong character as Missy because Doom just doesn’t land – at least, not with me.

I’d previously read the short comic in a recent Doctor Who Magazine, and it struck me that Doom is a bit of a difficult sell. She is supposed to be the universe’s greatest assassin. and yet she comes across as a children’s TV character. There’s no sense of menace. and for all her quirkiness that’s intended to be endearing, you are also reminded that she’s a lethal killer. Maybe this will come to life more in the forthcoming audio dramas due from Big Finish in September.

I understand that people might have gotten lost in the last multimedia Doctor Who event Time Lord Victorious and that’s why the creators wanted to have a central character that wasn’t the Doctor – but that puts a lot of pressure on Doom as a character, pressure I don’t think she can withstand on this evidence.

As a Missy story, though, this is great fun; if you have enjoyed Missy’s other appearances, you’ll also enjoy this. The artwork’s great, and it’s clear that author Jody Hauser loves Missy. It’s also lovely that it’s an all-female creative team, still rare in Doctor Who comics and this is something worth celebrating.

/5

Available from Amazon.