Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor, Volume 5: Arena of Fear by Nick Abadzis

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


This book collects Issues 6-10 of Year 2 of the Tenth Doctor.

Issues 6 and 7 is the titular Arena of Fear story with our characters all separated and without their memories, divided into two groups and some even are being used by the villains who took away everyone's memory. The story is okay, but it doesn't really going anywhere interesting, particularly with the build up in the last volume, you'd really expect something more epic. It felt like Jack Harkness was inserted to have a Captain Jack guest star and that the writer missed a key distinction with Jack's character.

The Free Comic book day special has Cindy joining the Doctor and Gabby in the TARDIS. It's fun, if a bit frantic and hard to follow.

Issues 8 and 9 has the Doctor visiting a paranormal book fair because of course you go to a book fair when you could anywhere in time and space. Gabby is doubting Cindy's place as the newbie in the TARDIS. There's possession, weirdness, and a bit of mystery. It's a fairly good story with a bit of pathos for the Doctor.

Issue 10 is another trapped in the TARDIS story with Cindy lost and the TARDIS possessed. It's very pacy and it sets thing up for another confrontation with the Osirans who dominated Volume 3.

Overall, the volume is okay. It's hurt by the art is not being quite as pretty as previous volumes but also, it feels like some things are done just because they can. The addition of Cindy to the TARDIS crew doesn't seem to add much. It's true that in the previous series of 11th Doctor stories, Rob Williams had two additional companions and it worked, but they had reasons to be there, Cindy just doesn't seem to, but we'll find out how it works out in the next volume.



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