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.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor: Year Two #10 - Advance Review

Seeking relief from a harrowing experience, The Doctor seeks a distraction for himself and his companions, Gabby Gonzales and Cindy Wu. Unfortunately, the recent events have also taken a toll on The TARDIS, leaving the old girl vulnerable to psychic attack. And unless The Doctor works quickly, Cindy may become lost in a dimension formed by her own nightmares forever!





The regular art team of Elena Casagrande, Arianna Florean, Azzurra Florean are back in this issue and I couldn't be more pleased about it. Casagrande's style perfectly matches the spirit of Doctor Who, being slightly stylized and cartoonish while still holding a basic grounding in reality. And the color art by The Floreans is as bright and exciting as Nick Abadzis' script. While this story will doubtlessly invite comparisons to the episode Journey To The Center Of The TARDIS, Abadzis makes this story all his own.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor: Year Two #10  is due out May 25th, 2016.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor: Year Two #5 - A Review

Abducted by the odd "flying disks" that are snatching up whole prehistoric tribes, The Doctor and his new friend, the Neanderthal medicine man Munmeth find themselves somewhere else. Someplace where the people Munmeth protects have been taken and are forced to fight one another! Meanwhile, Gabby finds herself surrounded by a variety of aliens who seem to wish her dead!


The tale Nick Abadzis spins here is a riveting one. While the alien abductors menace is a common theme to Doctor Who stories, he puts a unique spin on this one by telling the tale from the perspective of Munmeth - a Neanderthal shaman who is something of a Doctor in his own way, in that he helps many tribes with a variety of skills some think magic. And the tone of the Tenth Doctor is perfectly captured as he investigates just what's going on and grows angry at the answers. You can hear David Tenant's voice in your head in these moments.


Elena Casagrande does her usual excellent job on the artwork. She skilfully show off her talent as a designer with the various alien races populating these pages. The color art by Arianna and Azzurra Florean vividly completes the pictures, with the final art looking particularly bright and vibrant as befits the primal setting.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor: Year Two #4 - A Review

Munmeth of The Wolf Tree Clan is a sign-maker, a story-teller and a healer. He works not only for his own people, but all good of all the clans he knows, offering what help he can and what wisdom he has to share.Yet despite his good works, no one believes Munmeth's tales of sky disks and whole tribes disappearing and the need to form a war council to fight ... until he encounters a strangely dressed woman with stranger clothing and a wounded man, whom is a medicine man like Munmeth...
Nick Abadzis has an amazing gift for creating interesting supporting characters and that gift is in full evidence in this issue. Munmeth is an instantly likable protagonist and a suitable proxy for The Doctor himself while he is out of the action. And the mystery of the "sky-hunters" is an engaging one, born of the same spirit as the classic Doctor Who series.

The artwork proves equally engaging.  Leonardo Romero takes over the penciling and inking duties this month, doing a fantastic job. And Arianna and Azzurra Florean do their usual stellar job on the color art.

This is not just a great Doctor Who comic. It is a great Doctor Who story and a great comic. It is equally accessible and enjoyable to fans of the TV series who have never read a comic and comic readers who have never watched an episode of Doctor Who.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor: Year Two #2 - A Review

The world of Wupatki is in peril! A musical virus has infected the sentient songs known as The Shan'Tee and now the first human has been infected by the deadly plague. As The Doctor ventures into space to track the source of the disease, his companion Gabby Gonzales must help to find a cure... even as the city around her begins to crumble!


What Nick Abadzis has done with this series is nothing short of a miracle. This is the essence of The David Tennant era of Doctor Who made manifest. This story is one of the most imaginative and creative I've ever seen told with The Doctor, perfectly capturing the spirit of the show and taking full advantage of the comics medium.


Abadzis' scripts are aided in this miracle by some amazing artwork. Eleonora Carlini captures David Tennant's likeness. More importantly, she perfectly portrays such amazing concepts as sentient synthensia sensations. Try saying that three times fast!