Villordsutch reviews Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #2…
When the Doctor last visited Rokhandi, it was a planet of such stunning natural beauty that an entire solar system had sworn to preserve it. What better place to take new companion Alice Obiefune on her first off-world adventure?
And it would have been a magical vacation… if the TARDIS hadn’t overshot by fifty years. Now the austerity-hit pleasure planet has become a ‘theme safari’ corporate hell, overrun by eerie, giant-headed mascots and a trillion tramping tourist feet!
But there’s something more sinister at play than rampant commercialism and ecological devastation… and the Doctor and Alice need to uncover all of Rokhandi’s long-buried secrets if they’re to escape with their lives!
In Issue #2 of the Eleventh Doctor’s Titan Comics outing we’ve landed on the once beautiful untouched planet of Rokhandi, now a ultra-clean amusement park where everybody appears to be extra happy, and no actions other than being docile and enjoying the rides are permitted otherwise the onsite staff arrive to offer you a personalised gift. The Doctor doesn’t instantly seem to pick up on these surrounding oddities as he isn’t overly happy as this excursion was to show Alice the wonders of the Universe, starting with this beautiful unspoilt planet, in an attempt to cheer her up.
Al Ewing has managed to bring the Eleventh Doctor rather splendidly alive on the pages with his voice echoing in amongst the panels and the delivery given with the Doctor’s lines. This tale to is a rather good one also, it brings in a NuWho style of story-arc where we are shown “X” within this isolated story and we’re given an epilogue letting us – the readers – know the wheels are turning; that and it appears we may be getting another assistant after a “spoiler” which a guard lets slip as he snarls at the Doctor. One thing I did pick up on was that there’s a faint aroma of “The Happiness Patrol” about this issue but it doesn’t mask it completely.
The artwork from Simon Fraser really isn’t my cup of tea, though it isn’t overly bad and on occasion it does look impressive e.g. The Doctor standing astride both the old Rokhandi and the new, but the rest of the art seems to be to hectic and rushed in my opinion. I’m aware that the Eleventh Doctor is like a firework and requires the art to suite, but for myself I’m not overly keen on the look of the comic. I prefer my characters to be stable and retain shape and form.
One small thing I did really appreciate within the comic and I’d like to see a lot in the Who comics is the pre-title sequence. This was an excellent addition; small and yet it really made the comic seem really rather cool.
Issue#2 of The Eleventh Doctor is definitely worth picking up. The art isn’t for me and others may disagree, but the story is certainly there and I’m looking forward to seeing where the arc will take us.
Villordsutch likes his sci-fi and looks like a tubby Viking according to his children. Visit his website and follow him on Twitter.
Originally published September 12, 2014. Updated April 13, 2018.
