Sunday, July 5, 2015

Doctor Who - The Twelfth Doctor #9 - A Review

After Clara finds a pair of unused concert tickets while cleaning out The TARDIS, The Doctor reluctantly agrees to a trip to 1960s Las Vegas. Separated after The Doctor's attempts to "beat the house" go from a beating into an assassination attempt, Clara winds up in the middle of a celebrity-filled party as The Doctor contends with the casino's boss. And then the alien invaders show up...


Robbie Morrison's script for this issue proves to be a brilliant one. His take on The Twelfth Doctor is spot on, with the rude Scotsman turning his nose up at the Vegas mystique... right up until he gets on a roll whilst proving to Clara that anyone with a grasp of simple mathematics can break the bank.

The one oddity in this issue is that the band Clara is so eager to see - The Wolf Pack - are clearly inspired by another famous band that is forever attached to the myth and legend of Vegas. One wonders if the estates of those involved are so litigious as to threaten a suit over the use of proper names, when the artwork clearly caricatures them!

The artwork is something of a mixed bag.  The art styles of the issue's two artists - Brian Williamson and Mariano Laclustra - couldn't be more different.  Williamson is all about vivid details and heavy inks highlighting everything.  Laclustra, by contrast, only shows an eye for detail in close-ups and is content to leave everything looking like a simple sketch in the mid-range and backgrounds. This difference in styles proves distracting and I must say I find Williamson's heavy style preferable, though none of the artwork in this issue really looks bad.

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