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 #15 - A Review

Anubis, last of the Osirans, stayed behind to maintain the gateway that allowed his people to pass on into a higher state of consciousness - his punishment for the sins of his father, Sutekh, who wished to destroy all reality as they departed this plane. But now he is ready to follow his people, though the way is broken. And it will take all of The Doctor's cunning and persuasion to stop Anubis from destroying all of reality in his attempts to reunite with his people!


Nick Abadzis' story emulates the Tom Baker era of Doctor Who, for good and for ill. His story has captured the richness of the Whovian universe but this chapter piles on the technobabble to a degree some fans may find off-putting.  Additionally, most of the many subplots this series possessed come to a screeching halt, with most of the supporting players standing around and doing nothing as The Doctor talks the antagonist off the ledge.  The conclusion is competently told but somewhat unsatisfying.


The artwork seems similarly rushed at times. I've enjoyed Elena Casagrande's work on this series but there are several points where the artwork seems unfinished and the background details are lost.  The book does not look bad but it's not up to the usual level of quality I've come to expect from this team.

Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #13 - A Review

Things are, in a word, complicated.

The good news is that Gabby Gonzales has finally convinced her best friend, Cindy Wu, that she wasn't lying about her adventures traveling time and space with the mysterious man known as The Doctor. The bad news is that Cindy wants to help, as the two young women are dragged into the latest crisis to threaten the Earth. Or, to be more accurate, crises.

It all started with an aging movie star named Dorothy Bell, who was seeking a means of restoring her youth and extending her life.  She was rejuvenated by a strange device which has also forcibly bonded her to some alien intelligence, given her the power to manipulate reality at will and summoned some hostile force from deep space. And as if that weren't all bad enough, there's a group of heavily-armed cultists standing between The Doctor and Dorothy, who are convinced she is the messiah of their prophecy...


One can't accuse writer Nick Abadzis of thinking small.  The various plots of this issue are intricate and incredibly complex.  Thankfully, the action is easy enough to follow, though what precisely is occurring may require multiple readings to fully comprehend.


The artwork does a good job of helping restore that sense of clarity. Elena Casagrande is an amazing artist, who manages to keep the action flowing smoothly despite many scenes involving crowds of talking heads. And the inks and colors by Simone Di Meo and Hi-Fi respectively enhance Casagrande's original pencils perfectly.