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Comic Book Review


Book Cover

Doctor Who
The Ninth Doctor Ongoing #2

 

Writer: Cavan Scott
Artist: Adriana Melo
Colourist: Matheus Lopes
Publisher: Titan Comics
RRP: UK £2.65, US $3.99, Cdn $4.99
Age: 12+
32 pages
Publication Date: 25 May 2016


You’re a Slitheen?” “Surprise! Stand still while I eviscerate you!” The ongoing adventures of the Ninth Doctor, Rose and Captain Jack continue, as they are confronted with a solar system wide conspiracy, an intergalactic crime family, and, more importantly, the return of an unexpected old foe in a hideous new guise! Those wily Raxacoricofallapatorians – always popping up when you least expect them, ready to tear your face off! But this time the shapeshifting ruse goes deeper than mere revenge – and Rose, Jack and the Doctor will be tested to their limits as they face an impossible planetary crisis…!

Amid nods to Galaxy 4, Genesis of the Daleks and the Whomobile, there’s one blast from the past that I didn’t mention in my review of the previous issue, and that’s the dramatic reappearance of the Slitheen! I didn’t mention them because their presence was not revealed until the very end of the episode. Now the cat is out of the bag, or rather the Raxacoricofallapatorian is out of the skin suit, so…

As the story resumes with Part 2 of Doctormania, Rose wonders how a Slitheen can conceal itself inside a Doctor-sized suit, when in Aliens of London / World War Three they were only able to masquerade as fat people. Clearly she has forgotten about the future Raxacoricofallapatorians she encountered in the novel The Monsters Inside, who had perfected more compact disguises. In this issue, the Doctor similarly observes that the creatures have made improvements to their compression field technology.

Just as The Monsters Inside introduced the Blathereen, Doctormania also gives us another family of Raxacoricofallapatorians, in the form of the Jinglatheen, who are out to bring the Slitheen to justice and restore peace to the troubled Raxas Alliance.

With the Raxacoricofallapatorians hogging the limelight and moving the action to another planet, we don’t get to see any more of the delightful alien fangirl Yani from last issue, though there’s a beautiful moment in which the Doctor pays tribute to her bravery.

This instalment is not quite as fantastic as the series opener, but I’m still a fan.

8

Richard McGinlay

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