Slimmer! (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.
Unlike most Doctor Who comic stories published by Marvel UK, Slimmer had a light, comedic tone that bordered on parody.
Summary
When the Seventh Doctor goes to a health club in space, he encounters the universe's biggest glutton, who threatens to eat him alive!
Plot
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 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, 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 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.
Characters
References
to be added
Notes
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 Mr Creosote from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life.
Continuity
- The Doctor mentions to the receptionist that he's come to Weight-A-Way for his "950 year checkup" — a figure that roughly tallies with 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.
