Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor: Year Two #11 - A Review

It's the height of The Jazz Age in New Orleans. Visiting this era has been a wonderful two-week vacation for Gabby Gonzales and her best friend Cindy Wu, who has found romance with a young trumpet player named Roscoe Ruskin. But The Doctor is distracted by something and practically has to be dragged out of the TARDIS for dinner every night.

It is on one of these nights that something strange happens which robs Roscoe of his ability to play. When it is revealed that Roscoe is the latest musician to be struck down by this "plague", The Doctor springs into action,. Could this be another attack by the living songs known as The Nocturnes? Or is something similarly sinister at play?


If this issue of Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor has a weakness, it is that isn't easily accessible to new readers. This is the risk you run when a skilled writer is on a series long enough to develop their own complex mythology. I've loved Nick Abadzis' work on this book and the way he's utilized the long history of Doctor Who while adding his own unique elements to the series. That being said, this particular issue is a little too self-referential and the summary page at the start doesn't explain several aspects of the story so far that might confuse new readers.

I have no quibbles about the artwork, which remains as excellent as ever. Guest artist Giorgia Sposito proves a capable replacement for Elena Casagrande, easily capturing the look of the established cast and The Doctor in particular. The action sequences of the issue are well blocked. And the color art by Arianna Florean and Azzurra Florean captures the wild spirit of the time period, adopting a muted tone during the moments in which it seems the magic of the music is being drained away.