Slimmer! (comic story): Difference between revisions

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{{Infobox Story

|writer= [[Mike Collins]] and [[Tim Robins]]

|letterer=[[Stuart Bartlett]]

|release date= [[16 December (releases)|16 December]] [[1989 (releases)|1989]]

|format= Comic - 1 part

|next= Nineveh (comic story)

'''''Slimmer''''' was the ''[[Doctor Who]]'' back-up strip which appeared in the pages of ''[[The Incredible Hulk Presents]]'' #11. Like all in the series, it was monochromatic and featured the [[Seventh Doctor]] travelling alone at the beginning and ending of the story.

The Doctor goes to [[Weight-A-Way]], a place he describes as "the health club at the edge of the galaxy". Something about it fills the [[Time Lord]] with dread, but he nevertheless checks in with the [[receptionist (Slimmer)|receptionist]] for his "Nine hundred Fifty year checkup".

After some preliminary fitness exams, the Doctor goes exploring. He discovers that other "guests" are being killed. Before he can protest, the receptionist brings him in front of the [[Gromungus]], the universe's biggest glutton. The great blob has been eating all the club's clients, including the unfortunate Mr [[Bouillabaise (Slimmer)|Bouillabaise]], whose death the Doctor has just witnessed.

Seeing the Doctor, the Gromungus' appetite soars. At last he will have a meal free of fat, unlike his usual Weight-A-Way fare. Thinking quickly, the Doctor makes him a counter-proposal. By linking the Gromongus' room to [[The Doctor's TARDIS|the TARDIS]], the Time Lord can provide his captor with entrées from across [[space]] and [[time]]. The Gromongus greedily agrees, and is swiftly supplied with an endless supply of food.

Soon, however, it becomes apparent the beast hasn't thought this deal through. He's eaten so much that his mass has increased to the point of gravitational collapse. The Gromongus literally becomes a [[black hole]].

== References ==

Due to the parodic nature of the narrative:

* the description of [[Weight-A-Way]] as the "health club at the edge of the galaxy" is likely a pun on [[Douglas Adams]]' ''Restaurant at the End of the Universe''.  

* the destruction of the [[Gromongus]] is immediately evocative of the demise of {{w|Mr Creosote}} from {{wi|Monty Python's The Meaning of Life}}.

* The Doctor mentions to the [[receptionist (Slimmer)|receptionist]] that he's come to [[Weight-A-Way]] for his "950 year checkup" — a figure that roughly tallies with [[the Doctor's age|his stated age]] in [[TV]]: ''[[Time and the Rani]]''.

* The receptionist also notes that he has a [[binary vascular system]] and that he has a slow pulse, a condition the Doctor is first said to exhibit in [[TV]]: ''[[Spearhead from Space]]''.