Selfie (comic story)

Selfie
Doctor:	Twelfth Doctor
Companion(s):	Clara
Main enemy:	Lady of Neverness
Main setting:	San Diego Comic-Con, 2015
Key crew
Publisher:	Titan Comics
Writers:	George Mann, Cavan Scott
Cover by:	Alice Zhang
Artist:	Rachael Stott
Colourist:	Ivan Nunes
Release details
Release date:	11 July 2015
Traded in:	2015 Convention Special
Format:	Comic
Titan SDCC exclusive
← Previous	Convention Special
Next →	The Long Con

Selfie was a comic story released exclusively at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con. It has since then become digitally available on 28 October 2016 at comixology.

Summary

When the Twelfth Doctor and Clara turn up at San Diego Comic-Con, a quick selfie outside the TARDIS reveals an alien threat among the con-goers and cosplayers! The green-skinned Lady of Neverness can only be viewed through mirrors, photos and quantum snapshots, and has turned up in the background of photos all over the convention! But if enough people view her at the same time, she'll gain the power to breach into our dimension... to feed on the life-force of the whole planet! Can the Doctor and Clara defeat her and save the day?

Plot

The TARDIS shakes its way through space, flying through the treacherous Falmurian Conjunction (an alignment that occurs only once every 1021 years) landing at a place the Doctor dreads: San Diego Comic-Con.

With the Doctor annoyed by the typical human behaviour, Clara takes a selfie of the two only for someone to photobomb it. Quite confident that no one was standing behind them, the Doctor takes Clara's iPhone and snaps more selfies. Scrolling through them all, and even looking at the local Tumblr account, the two find the photobomber is present in them all, always getting closer and beginning to bar her teeth. Remembering that it's been 1021 years, the Doctor recognises the bomber as the Lady of Neverness, a primordial being from the Dark Times so chaotic that she distorts reality around her. If enough people see her, she escape back into the universe and bring her chaos to whole civilisations.

Realising that the Lady intends to use Robert Upney Jr.'s panel to escape, the Doctor and Clara rush into his convention hall but are too late to stop her coming, seen as but a special effect by the convention goers.

As reality begins to distort, the features of all changing into all manner of chaos, the Doctor, fighting off his own metamorphosis, streams Clara's iPhone onto the big screen, encouraging everyone to remember their own faces from their selfies and focus on themselves instead of the Lady. With no paying attention to her anymore and the Conjunction over, the Lady is pulled back into her prison.

Taking advantage of the confusion, the Doctor and Clara scuttle away. While Clara wants to commemorate the occasion with a selfie, the Doctor sonics her phone, insisting that they've had enough of that.

Characters

• Twelfth Doctor
• Clara Oswald
• Lady of Neverness
• Robert Upney Jr.

References

• The Doctor claims to have fought Dalek stealth ships off the arm of the Emphidian Reach, Shimmer-Screams in the sulfur caves of Palmorio, and the Sarkovian War Splinter.

Notes

• Coincidentally, the title of the story is the same as that of the short-lived 2014 sitcom Karen Gillan starred in after leaving Doctor Who.
• The Doctor takes selfies with Cavan Scott and George Mann, the writers of the comic.
• In real life, Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman made their first and only joint appearance at the same convention featured in the comic.
• San Diego Comic-Con with the story features several Easter-eggs referencing other examples of pop culture. (Some of these cameos are noticeably miscoloured.)
  • The Batmobile from the The Dark Knight trilogy.
  • The DeLorean from the Back to the Future trilogy.
  • No-Face from Spirited Away.
  • Shaun and Ed from Shaun of the Dead.
  • Apes from Planet of the Apes.
  • Starfleet officers from Star Trek.
  • Doc Brown and Marty McFly from Back to the Future.
  • Three of the Fantastic Four and the Silver Surfer from Marvel Comics.
  • The Scarecrow and Glinda the Good Witch of the North from The Wizard of Oz.
  • Sir Galahad the Pure and King Arthur from Monty Python and the Holy Grail.
  • Shotaro Kaneda from Akira.
  • The Inspector and Constable Reggie from Inspector Spacetime (a parody of Doctor Who featured within Community).
  • Boba Fett and two slave Leias from Star Wars.
  • Dr. Zoidberg from Futurama.
  • And four characters from Sailor Moon.
  • A panel is held featuring Robert Upney Jr., a parody of Robert Downey Jr.

Original print details

• Originally announced to be included in the omnibus Hyperion, but it was withdrawn before publication.

Continuity

• The Eleventh Doctor, Amy Pond and Rory Williams previously visited the San Diego Comic-Con. (COMIC: Convention Special)
• The Doctor fought Dalek stealth ships. (PROSE: Engines of War)