Music of the Spherions [COMIC/2015.12.9]

★★★☆☆

  Josie's first adventure onboard the TARDIS is another fun story with lots of colour, but this time there are more personal stakes (i.e. Josie's infected by something that'll turn her into crystal) for both her and the Doctor to face. So focused is the story on giving Josie her character-defining moment that by the climax, she's barely standing on her own two feet as she saves the day, resolving the conflict between two alien races. It reminds me of Clara's moment in The Rings of Akhaten, the way a companion's first sophomore adventure immediately gives us a reason to care. Here's the thing: while it certainly tells me that Josie's a wonderful person who always puts priority on others' safety over her own, it's a very frequently used trope that I find less engaging as the days go by. I think I prefer to mull over my new companions for a time, and warming up to them that way.

  Still, this doesn't mean that Josie isn't a charming character from the off. She's an artist with a soul, and her barely-contained happiness at the Doctor gifting her with an art room inside the TARDIS is a new favourite comic moment of mine. The Eighth Doctor shares an immediately chemistry with her, and it's a darn shame that the duo isn't used more these days. Music of the Spherions continues the story of Eight and Josie with a heightened sense of energy and connection between the two, and once again tells a giant-scale story that the comic medium can fully expand upon.