DOCTOR WHO: MISSY #1/ Script by JODY HOUSER/ Art by ROBERTA INGRANATA/ Color Art by ENRICA EREN ANGIOLINI/ Flattening by SHARI CHANKHAMMA/ Letters by COMICRAFT’S RICHARD STARKINGS/ Published by TITAN COMICS

The Doctor has faced many renegade Time Lords in their travels, but there is only one they would consider their equal and opposite: The Master. Or Missy, as she prefers to be known in her current manic regeneration. And she’s a Time Lady, thank you very much for asking!

The only thing more dangerous than a single Master is two of them working together. Thankfully, they’re as much a danger to themselves as they are to others, offering perhaps the most literal example ever of not being able to trust yourself. Despite this, Missy’s latest Master plan requires that she break one of her past selves out of the allegedly inescapable Stormcage Containment Facility; a prison that would never allow her inside except as a prisoner, but might allow “The Doctor” to check-in on an old frienemy…

While I’ve come to appreciate all of the incarnations of The Doctor and The Master, I have a soft spot for Jon Pertwee’s Third Doctor and Roger Delgado’s Master. Their Holmes and Moriarty act set a tone for the characters I don’t think was ever equaled until the era of Peter Capaldi’s Doctor and Michelle Gomez’s Missy. Naturally I was delighted to hear that Titan Comics’ was releasing a mini-series centered around these particular duos in honor of the 50th anniversary of The Master’s first appearance on Doctor Who and that it was being produced by the same creative team as the monthly Doctor Who comic.

The whole creative team is in fine form and those who like the current Doctor Who series will find more to enjoy in Missy #1. Jody Houser truly understands Missy as a character and you can’t help but hear Michelle Gomez’s wicked purr as you read the dialogue. Roberta Ingranata’s artwork goes beyond merely caricaturing the actors from the show, producing characters who are recognizable but don’t appear to have been traced over from a photo like in many comic book adaptations. I also love her design for Missy’s “Doctor” disguise, with the little rubber ducks on the hat! The colors of Enrica Eren Angiolini and letters of Richard Starkings are also worthy of praise. Titan Comics has done it again!

Doctor Who: Missy #1 releases on April 14, 2021.