Revolutions of Terror (comic story)

Revolutions of Terror
Doctor:	Tenth Doctor
Companion(s):	Gabby
Main enemy:	Cerebravores
Main setting:	New York City and Unnamed planet, 30-31 October, 21st century
Key crew
Publisher:	Titan Comics
Editor:	Andrew James
Writer:	Nick Abadzis
Cover by:	Alice Zhang (regular), Elena Casagrande (subscription incentive)
Artist:	Elena Casagrande
Colourist:	Arianna Florean
Letterer:	Richard Starkings & Jimmy Betancourt
Release details
Printed in:	10D 1-3
Release date:	23 July - 8 October 2014
Cover date:	August - October 2014
Reprinted in:	[[reprint::Doctor Who Comic #1-3|'Doctor Who Comic #1-3]]
Traded in:	Revolutions of Terror
Format:	Comic
Official trailer
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Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor
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Revolutions of Terror was the three-part premiere story of Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor comic book series published in 2014. It introduced the Tenth Doctor's new companion, Gabriella "Gabby" Gonzalez, as well as her friend Cindy Wu, who would become a companion later.

Summary

Gabriella Gonzalez is stuck in a dead-end job in her family's New York Laundromat, dreaming of college and bigger, better and brighter things.

So when a strange man with an even stranger big blue box barges into her life on the eve of the Day of the Dead celebrations - talking about an infestation of psychic aliens - she seizes her chance for adventure with both hands.

After Donna's tragic exit, the Doctor thought he was done with new companions. But Gabby Gonzalez is going to prove him wrong... if she survives the night!

Plot

Part one

The day before Halloween, and the eve of Day of the Dead celebration by Mexicans, Gabby is working at her father's laundromat together with her friend, Cindy, when the machines go haywire. Gabby sees a sort of monster-like shadow coming out of the machines, but it evaporates just as Hector walks in stunned by the sight of wet clothes and water everywhere.

Later that day, while Gabby is having an argument with her family and Hector, her sister's fiancé, in the kitchen of their restaurant, "The Castillo Mexicano". At the same time, the Doctor orders some food from her sister. Before he can eat it, he dashes out of the restaurant after receiving a signal on a device of his. Shortly afterwards, Gabby's grandmother claims to have seen her deceased husband's soul writhing in agony in a photograph of him. Hector also sees it for a moment and later, in the laundromat, is accosted by a monstrous figure he describes as "the Devil".

In the city, while following the signal, the Doctor sees people running away screaming in horror for no apparent reason. He sees a baby become suddenly disfigured in front of his mother and her friends, before abruptly reverting to normal when the Doctor's device registers a strong signal. The Doctor advises the mother to lock herself and the baby in their apartment for several days.

As the Gonzalez family watches an interview with the local councillor Ricardo Mendoza on NY1 news, the man himself walks into their restaurant and implores them to attend the celebration of the eve of Day of the Dead tomorrow at the Green-Wood Cemetery. He is worried of the low attendance of the first event celebrating Mexican culture, which he worked so hard to organise.

Having found Hector, back from the laundromat and cowering in the corner in horror, Gabby's father, Miguel Gonzalez goes to check if Hector locked the doors while Gabby takes the subway to her boring night accountancy class.

When taking the subway back from the class near midnight, she hears an ominous announcement. Other passengers run past her screaming, and a monstrous creature walks into the car. It sees Gabby and turns into a horror version of her. Now Gabby is running herself and shouts to attract attention of a seemingly oblivious passenger reading a newspaper. It is the Doctor, who takes her hand and pulls out his sonic screwdriver.

Part two

The sonic has no effect on the monster, and as the train approaches a station, the Doctor and Gabby run along the train until they reach its end. Another passenger is already standing there. As the monster approaches, the passenger jumps off the train to his death despite the Doctor's pleading. The Doctor locks the outer door of the 3 train with the sonic screwdriver right in front of the monster's face, asks Gabby's name and tells her to jump onto the platform not waiting for the train to stop completely. The monster follows them onto the platform when the regular doors open and chases them up the stairs to the turnstile exit from the station. The turnstile is jammed, and the emergency exit is nowhere to be seen. As the Doctor busies himself with his device and the sonic screwdriver, instructing Gabby not to look at the monster, she pulls out a mirror and shows the monster its own reflection. This shorts out the psychic field. The monster turns back into the guard of the train, who falls down unconscious but breathing. In addition, the turnstile is not jammed anymore and the emergency exist is clearly visible. The Doctor explains that a perceptual filter prevented them from seeing it before. They leave the 45th Street station before anyone can question them. Gabby is intrigued by who the Doctor is, however he leaves for his TARDIS parked in Sunset Park, telling her to lock herself at home for a couple of days and to forget about him.

The next day, on Halloween, Gabby is sent to the laundromat to cover the shift of Hector, who is still reeling from his encounter with the Devil. The streets are eerily empty. On her way to the laundromat, she passes by the TARDIS, tries to knock on the door but gets no answer. She finds the laundromat unlocked, picks up a baseball bat, and tries to find the intruders. The Doctor emerges from the backroom wearing a headset. Not recognising him, Gabby whacks him on the head, damaging the headset. Apologetic, she still confronts him for breaking in thinking he is a policeman because of the signs on the TARDIS. Gabby asks more questions, and he says that he is the Doctor. In the park, he passes Gabby the headset to see the Pranavores, non-corporeal aliens that exists in a interdimensional psychosphere surrounding the earth at various faults^{[statement unclear]} and feed off human empathy. The Cerebravores attack the Pranavores, and the Doctor takes back the headset and grabs a microphone to confront the Cerebravores, telling them the planet is protected under the Shadow Proclamation.

The Cerebravores manifest themselves within a group of city workers, turning them into their worst fears. Gabby theorises that they came through the washing machines, so they head to the laundromat. Suddenly, a Cerebravore attacks Gabby's mind, and she and the Doctor flee from monsters into the laudromat. The Doctor realises that the kinetic movement of the washing machine creates a bridge into their world, and if they increased their power, they would be able to invade the earth from multiple points. The Doctor travels through the portal, only to find murdered Fleshkind hosts of the Cerebravores. Whilst Gabby barricades herself from a possessed version of her friend Cindy, a Cerebravore wraps its tongue around the Doctor.

Part three

The Cerebravore searches through the Doctor's memories, however he is able to defeat the Cerebravore using his sonic screwdriver, freeing a Fleshkind. She was forced to weaponise the Pranavores, removing their benignity and hive mind and turning them into telepathic hunters - who in turn destroyed her own world.

On Earth, Gabby's family is wondering where she is; she is faced with telepathic projections in the laundromat. Singing, she drops more coins into the washing machine to extend the portal. The Doctor talks with the Fleshkind scientist, who gets possessed by a Cerebravore. The Doctor falls through the portal, narrowly avoiding the Cerebravore. Gabby passes the headset to the Doctor, and they run from the laundromat roof back to the TARDIS. In the TARDIS, Gabby asks the Doctor if he is an alien, which he confirms. She asks him what planet he's from, but he avoids the question. He makes adjustments to the headset to use it as an empathetic field amplifier. Trinity Wells warns New York residents to avoid the Brooklyn area, particularly Sunset Park, with public transport and communications shut-off. The Doctor tells Gabby she needs to keep singing.

Evading Cerebravores, they are able to locate her family celebrating the Day of the Dead ceremony in Green-Wood Cemetery. She introduces the Doctor to her family, but the festivities are soon interrupted by the approaching Cerebravores. Creating an orchestra of song, the Cerebravores are contained within the cemetery and by punching the button on the Empathetic Field Amplifier, it amplifies the song, destroying the laundromat and removing the spirits of the Cerebravores across the city. Gabby is scared to face up to her father, however he is proud of her and tells her to follow her dreams. The Doctor speculates that the Pranavores may have made him kinder. Having accepted a meal with the family, Gabby has worked out that the TARDIS can travel through space and wants to travel with him, seeing him as a better teacher than any college. However, the Doctor is wary as "friends of mine have been hurt" recently and they agree to part ways, telling her to have a "brilliant life" and to "keep singing". However, when she says a saying of her grandmother's, "no song should end too soon", resembling Carmen's prophecy, he agrees to one trip.

Characters

• Tenth Doctor
• Gabby Gonzalez
• Cerebravores
• Pranavores
• Scientist
• Cindy
• Miguel Gonzalez
• Maria Gonzalez
• Blanca Gonzalez
• Hector
• Fernanda
• Ricardo Mendoza
• Trinity Wells
• Carlos
• Carlos' mother
• NY1 journalist
• Accountancy lecturer
• Guard of the train
• MTA employee
• Ruschell
• Cheryl
• Orr
• Misckiewicz
• Trick-or-treating children
• Friends of Carlos' mother
• Subway passengers

Visions

• The Devil
• The Saxon Master
• The Beast
• Sutekh
• Cyberman
• Rassilon

References

• Sunset Park is a neighborhood in Brooklyn. Green-Wood Cemetery is located next to it.
• The Doctor orders heuvos rancheros at "The Castillo Mexicano".
• The Doctor pretends to get a phone call from the president of Algeria, who he believes he might have met once.
• The Doctor's device has a trioctic oscillator and a thigh bone.
• Gabby Gonzalez uses 45th Street and Court Street subway stations.
• The Doctor reads a newspaper with an article about the sinking of Titanic, mentioning Carpathia taking part in the rescue and Mrs Astor among the passengers.
• A subway worker has an MTA badge on the sleeve.
• The Doctor refers to the Aztec god Tezcatlipoca.
• Gabby says she was teased about "cartoon mice with the same surname as me" in school.
• Sutekh and The Beast appear in the Doctor's visions.

Notes

• Gabby Gonzalez is the Doctor's first companion of Mexican descent. Given the Hispanic origins of her family, a number of Spanish words are used by them, including:
  • Culo - ass
  • ¿Neta? - Oh, really?
  • Mija - daughter, dear
  • Abuelita - granny
  • Madre de dios - Mother of God
  • Tata - nanny
  • La dia de los meurtos - Day of the Dead (misspelled)
  • Mi albondiguita - my little friend
• This series takes place in the period between Planet of the Dead and The End of Time.

Original print details

to be added

Continuity

• The Doctor is reflective on Donna Noble, whose memories he was forced to wipe. (TV: Journey's End).
• The Doctor mentions he wants a device that goes "ding". (TV: Blink, TV: The Day of the Doctor)
• The Doctor told Gabby that his "dear friend" Cameca was from Mexico and that he went back to visit her now and then. (TV: The Aztecs)
• The Doctor said he visited Frida and Diego after the incident on the Day of the Dead in 1941. (COMIC: The Way of All Flesh)
• The Doctor compares the Cerebravore on the subway to Zuul and himself to Peter Venkman. (Though not stated in the story, both characters are from Ghostbusters. He previously expressed interest in the film to Rose Tyler. (TV: Army of Ghosts))
• The Doctor cites convention fifteen of the Shadow Proclamation. (TV: The Stolen Earth)
• In his mind battle with the Cerebravore, the Doctor experiences visions of the Master (TV: The End of Time), a Time Lord, The Beast (TV: The Satan Pit), Sutekh (TV: Pyramids of Mars), a Cyberman (TV: Rise of the Cybermen, et al), and Rassilon pointing his gauntlet. (TV: The End of Time).
• The Doctor gives a worried glance at an angelic statue covering its eyes while running through a park. (TV: Blink)
• The Doctor tells Gabby to "go home" and "pretend you never met me" and when he finally invites Gabby onboard the TARDIS for her "Thank you" trip, he also says "Did I mention it also travels in time?", as he did to Rose Tyler. (TV: Rose)
• Gabby's friend Cindy suspects her and the Doctor are dating. Similarly, Jackie Tyler suspected Rose and the Ninth Doctor had a physical relationship. (TV: Aliens of London)
• The Doctor says there is an "oncoming storm", alluding to the epithet to describe the Doctor used by the Draconians and the Daleks. (PROSE: Love and War, TV: The Parting of the Ways)
• Gabby says to the Doctor a phrase her grandmother taught her: "No song should end too soon." Carmen gave a similar prophecy. (TV: Planet of the Dead, TV: The Waters of Mars)
• The Doctor calls the Earth a "second home". Gabby asks him what his first home is, but he avoids the question, alluding to the Time War. (TV: Rose, The End of the World et al.)
• The Doctor accepts a meal with Gabby's family in return for saving the Earth. (TV: The Christmas Invasion)