Welcome to Tickle Town

"I had to keep loving, you see. I had a duty... to protect my children... and my legacy."

Writer: Scott Gray 

Format: Comic Strip

Released: September - October 2013

Printed in: DWM 465-466

Featuring: Eleventh Doctor, Clara

Synopsis 

The Eleventh Doctor and Clara arrive in a 24th century theme park. Tickle Town. Despite the happy and ebullient appearance, all is not as it seems. What really is going on at what's supposed to be one of the happiest places on the planet?

Verdict 

Welcome to Tickle Town was an intriguing comic strip adventure to say the least! It was quite a barmy adventure and immediately when I saw the name of the story I was skeptical about whether it would work or not. However, we were in the more than safe hands of Scott Gray who hasn't really failed me yet in the comic strip adventures. Jonathan Morris gets that honour for graphic novels and Doctor Who Magazine continuous reading that I've entailed. One off comic strips that I'm lucky to come across, such as The Time of My Life, I can't say I remember the writer but when I read in a bulk I know and The Child of Time could have been such a better first collection of adventures for the Eleventh Doctor. Anyway, back to the story at hand. Reading this novel actually was a little milestone personally as it meant the Eleventh Doctor became the second incarnation of which I've read all the comic strips from the pages of DWM. The Ninth Doctor wasn't all that difficult really. And the Twelfth Doctor's run is incomplete so that doesn't count. Again I thought the characterisation of the Doctor was excellent and although Clara's wasn't quite up to the standard of A Wing and a Prayer, it was still good which was nice to see. I'm not sure what went wrong from when I started collecting DWM (about 10 years too late) from John Smith and the Common Men but from Pay the Piper onwards and into the Twelfth Doctor era, they just don't seem to have nailed her. The amusement park setting was good and I loved the reference to Silver Nemesis. I'm guessing this story takes place between The Name of the Doctor and The Day of the Doctor based on that reference. Having actual characters of Hopalong Harry and Constable Claws really was something. I can't say I watched the original TV shows of which they were from but I enjoyed how they were from Clara's childhood and she poked fun at Claws for his show being rubbish. It was perhaps hard to take a character who looked like Constable Claws seriously but I guess it did provide some good humour. Meera and Rupundi were great characters and I loved their reaction to discovering that the Doctor was new to the amusement park. The fact that the residents were trapped, and had been for some twenty years, was quite a shock even if it was obvious something was going on that wasn't quite normal. The reveal of Tobias Tickle still being alive wasn't exactly expected though I was intrigued by him appearing on the founder statue. I can't say the idea didn't pop into my head but I didn't anticipate him being as completely mad as he was. He trapped the five thousand people who showed up for opening day to save them from what he thought was a looming war in which humanity would be no more. Of course he was deluded as he even created a ride to show what was supposedly on the outside world. Hopalong Harry coming to Clara's aid and then helping the Doctor was a nice touch to finish on. The climax was eventful and I loved how the Doctor opened the gates giving everybody their freedom. The cartoon characters were gone and Tobias Tickle's horror vision was eradicated. Overall, a decent adventure! I've now completed The Blood of Azrael graphic novel, though in completely the wrong order! 

Rating: 8/10