When Missy Met The Master: ‘Missy’ #1 Reviewed

Since ‘The Three Doctors,’ the Doctor has been having run-ins with his past selves. In Missy #1, The Master gets to have a similar experience with his future incarnation, Missy.

One terrible reason this never got to happen on TV is because Roger Delgado, who played the original Master on Doctor Who, died in a car accident in 1973. He was still playing the Master at the time and the character wouldn’t appear on the show again until 1976 (and never as regularly as Delgado, with Anthony Ainley and Michelle Gomez coming closest).

The issue begins with the Master in jail, the Third Doctor complaining about the prison’s lack of security, and Missy showing up to free “herself.” No Twelfth Doctor in this issue (though he is slated to appear) but the whole idea behind this series is to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary of the Master. It’s only fitting, then, that Missy and Delgado’s Master should get the most attention.

So far writer, Jody Houser, is keeping Missy’s plan under wraps, but the conditions by which she meets the Master are quite unusual.

Roberta Ingranata’s art isn’t always the most animated. When the Third Doctor appears it’s via video screen, which adds to the sense that he’s frozen. With Missy, Ingranata’s facial expressions are much more specific, and it makes all the difference. It helps that Missy has a big personality, too, but the Third Doctor’s far from wooden and, as the character younger fans might be the least familiar with, these scenes don’t get across what made Jon Pertwee’s Doctor so special (not stuffy).

Enrica Eren Angilolini is the colorist (Shari Chankhamma did the flats) and sometimes the lighting makes Missy’s face look washed out. Missy’s outfit, though, is a work of art on both Ingranata and Angiolini’s part, especially when you realize why Missy has chosen this particular get-up.

Comicraft‘s Richard Starkings did the letters and there’s a lot of playing around with volume in Missy’s scenes, as she’ll make comments under her breath that come out extra funny because she says them in a whisper.

Missy #1 is available now from Titan Comics and you can catch our extended preview here.