Exhausted from their experience with the Wishing Well Witch and from the recent attack in the Vortex, in which Cindy was almost lost to another dimension, the TARDIS crew are taking a well-earned break. They have landed in New Orleans at the dawn of the Jazz Age… but while Gabby and Cindy are enjoying themselves, it’s not long before the Doctor is tracking down the source of the Nocturnes – twisted memetic creatures who ride music and use it as a weapon. Can the TARDIS team change the Nocturnes’ tune before they infect all life on Earth…?!

I’ve been reading a jazz mag… er, perhaps I should rephrase that! I’ve been reading The Jazz Monster, the latest issue of Titan Comics’ Tenth Doctor mag.

This is the first part of a rematch with the Nocturnes, sound-based monsters originally encountered by the Doctor and Gabby on the planet Wupatki ten issues ago – though Titan’s publicity machine would have us believe that we were on to the second episode already, as the online synopses remain out of sync. This time the synopsis promises us a trip to New York City in 1978, which I suspect is actually where we will be taken next issue.

For now, the TARDIS team is in 1920s New Orleans, where Gabby is enjoying the music of the era and Cindy is experiencing the highs and lows of a holiday romance, but the Doctor has hardly left the TARDIS since they landed. Gabby worries that he is depressed following their encounter with the Wishing Well Witch, which poignantly reminded him of his own lost people. He is indeed unusually still and quiet compared to the Tenth Doctor’s usual hyperactive, motormouth nature. He soon finds something to get animated about, though unfortunately for him and the planet Earth, it’s of the old enemy variety rather than something fun…

Artist Giorgia Sposito is new to this title, but proves to be a good fit, providing clean lines and highly expressive faces, just as we are used to from series regulars Elena Casagrande and Eleonora Carlini. Let’s hope she comes back for an encore.

7

Richard McGinlay