WARNING: The following contains spoilers for Doctor Who: Missy #2 by Jody Houser, Roberta Ingranata, Enrica Eren Angiolini, Shari Chankhamma and Comicraft's Richard Starkings, on sale now.
The popular female version of the Master, Missy, has taken over Titan Comics' Doctor Who series. While Missy died at the end of the television series' Season 10, the character is back in the comics, where more of her adventures are revealed. In Doctor Who: Missy #1, the fan-favorite villain broke into the Stormcage Containment Facility by posing as the Doctor (complete with her very own colorful costume), with the goal to break out one of her counterparts: the original Master, who first tangled with the Third Doctor in 1971.
Now, in Doctor Who: Missy #2, Missy and the Master attempt to escape the prison's security guards. But before that can happen, the issue starts off with a flashback series that brings back a Doctor we haven't seen in some time: Peter Capaldi's Twelfth Doctor.
Peter Capaldi began his tenure as the Twelfth Doctor in the television series' eighth season, alongside faithful companion Clara Oswald. As the two embarked on new adventures together, they soon clashed with Missy, who was revealed to be a new, female version of the Master. Missy quickly proved a fun and enigmatic addition to the series, and she and the Twelfth Doctor developed a push-and-pull bond that became one of the pillars of Doctor Who during the Capaldi era. While she started out as a villain, Missy's continued run-ins with the Twelfth Doctor helped change her character: of course, she remained her usual deceptive self at every turn, but she also embarked on a path to redemption.
Throughout Seasons 8, 9 and 10, the Twelfth Doctor and Missy's relationship would evolve, and they would, eventually, no longer be qualified as mortal enemies: instead, Missy would turn into a sort of frenemy, a self-serving ally who would, every now and then, do the right thing. More or less. This made this particular Doctor and Master pairing standout from the rest, and the duo quickly became iconic amid the BBC series' 58-year history.
Peter Capaldi's tenure as the Twelfth Doctor ended in 2017 and since then, we've seen very little of the character. Indeed, while the Tenth and Thirteenth Doctors have taken the lead in recent comic book adventures, the Twelfth Doctor hasn't appeared in several years. He didn't even take part in the Time Lord Victorious event. But here, Capaldi's Doctor makes a brief but incredibly welcome return in Doctor Who: Missy #2, four years after his last adventure on television.
The issue begins a flashback scene where the Doctor finds Missy in the TARDIS. At this point in time, the two share an uneasy alliance. The Doctor is ready to give Missy a chance to redeem herself, but the female version of the Master is not yet where she was in Season 10. Indeed, given the Doctor's outfit and hairstyle, this flashback would appear to take place around the time of Season 9. Missy is clearly using her proximity to the Doctor and the TARDIS to get what she wants and the Doctor is, rightfully, continuously suspicious of her. But he also believes in her, and he knows that she can change for the better.
This reunion between the Twelfth Doctor and Missy feels like a return to a previous era, at a time when Peter Capaldi's Doctor guided the TARDIS through space and time. It shows how intertwined this pair is, and how important they are the Doctor Who mythology. Hopefully, this means we may see further adventures of the Twelfth Doctor in comic book form.