DWM comic stories

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Comic stories have appeared in all but two issues of Doctor Who Magazine. Since its earliest days as Doctor Who Weekly, the publication has been home to many types of strips, but the most durable has been the one featuring the then-current televised Doctor. This "main strip" has usually been told in a multi-part format. Beyond these continuing adventures of the Doctor, the magazine has at different times printed comic adaptations of classic science fiction stories, reprints of original science-fiction stories from American comic book anthologies, reprints of strips originally printed in Polystyle or City Magazines publications, and original strips not featuring the Doctor which were nevertheless set in the Doctor Who universe.

Overview

In 1979, Marvel UK wrested control of the license to produce Doctor Who comics from Polystyle. Editor Dez Skinn immediately changed the style of the comic strip by hiring youngsters who were principally comic book artists, rather than the cartoonists and illustrators who had been in charge of Polystyle's output. With soon-to-be-luminaries like Dave Gibbons, Pat Mills and John Wagner working on the main strip and Alan Moore, Steve Moore, Steve Dillon and Steve Parkhouse initially handling the back-ups, Skinn instantly brought modern — and more American — sensibilities to the comic Doctor Who world.

At the same time, those early issues of Doctor Who Weekly brought American comic strips in front of British eyes by having a long series of reprints taken straight from Marvel's long line of American science fiction anthologies. Called variously Tales from the TARDIS and Dr Who's Time Tales, the non-Whoniverse backup strips of those early issues involved a few panels of the Fourth Doctor framing a Marvel US adaptation of a classic science fiction story or an original strip taken from a Marvel US science fiction anthology of the 1950s or 1960s. Borrowed as they were from Marvel US, they featured the talents of Marvel legends Steve Ditko, Jack Kirby, Chris Claremont, and even Stan Lee himself. Skinn also resurrected the long-out-of-print Dalek Tapes stories that had originally appeared in TV Century 21. For a time, Doctor Who Weekly regularly had three or four different strips in each issue.

Skinn's successors rather quickly ended the non-Whoniverse material, and made reprints of 1960s material increasingly sporadic. But the non-Doctor original back-ups remained well past the time the magazine became Doctor Who Monthly. These backups, however, dried up at about the time the Sixth Doctor debuted. By the end of the 1980s, the magazine generally ran only the main Doctor Who strip. However, there were rare instances when a Polystyle comic made its way into print during the 1990s. These occasional reprints ended entirely by the dawn of the 21st century. In 2017 a reprinted collection of the Polystyle comic strip *Sub Zero was included free inside the polybag of the 1970s themed issue 508, but this was an additional entity to the magazine issue itself.

In the 1990s DWM temporarily ran a series of comic strips featuring past Doctors in lieu of the then-current Seventh Doctor, but from 1996 it once again nearly exclusively featured the current Doctor; the Eighth Doctor was current in DWM's comic strip from 1996-2005, followed by the Ninth Doctor in 2005; the Tenth Doctor from 2006-10; the Eleventh Doctor from 2010-14 the Twelfth Doctor from 2014-18; and the Thirteenth Doctor in 2018. From 2005, the magazine also more regularly featured the Doctor travelling with their contemporary companions on TV with the likenesses of their respective actors. The comic adventures of Rose Tyler in the pages of DWM were published from 2005-06; Martha Jones from 2007-08; Donna Noble in 2008; Amy Pond from 2010-12; Rory Williams from 2011-12; Clara Oswald from 2013-16; Bill Potts from 2017-18; and Graham O'Brien, Ryan Sinclair, and Yasmin Khan in 2018.

Since 2017, Doctor Who Magazine has published the main eight-page comic strip, along with a three-panel parody called The Daft Dimension, the latter of which since 2014 was usually printed in the pages of the magazine's Galaxy Forum feature. The main comic had previously run to as many as 12 pages, with the 500th issue story The Stockbridge Showdown being 20 pages long.

In issue 455 in 2012, the sole comic strip other than the three-panel Doctor Whoah! was a Doctor-less story (apart from a doll with the Eleventh Doctor's likeness) called Imaginary Enemies. This story featured a pre-TARDIS travel Amy and Rory, along with their time-travelling daughter Mels, and was set during a twelve-year narrative gap in the 2010 episode The Eleventh Hour. It was published after the final comic story in the magazine where Amy and Rory were travelling with the Eleventh Doctor.

Over issues 475 and 476 in 2014, the sole comic strip other than Doctor Whoah! in issue 475 was a Doctor-less story called The Crystal Throne. This comic story was published after the Eleventh Doctor's final comic strip in the magazine and before the Twelfth Doctor's DWM debut, and instead featured Vastra, Jenny Flint and Strax, who appeared in several episodes of the Doctor Who TV series between 2011 and 2014.

As has been the case since 1979, most stories in the main strip are serialised and told over the course of several issues, with the occasional single-chapter standalone. Originally published in black and white, the comic strip has been published in colour since DWM 300 in 2001.

Reprints

Many of the comic strips have been reprinted a number of times in, or as, various publications, including as colourised and edited-down versions given away free in multi-packs of crisp snacks.

Doctor Who Magazine material was first reprinted in America via the Marvel Premiere anthology series in the early 1980s. When sales proved favourable, a new title, Doctor Who (1984), was launched. Though cancelled just shy of its two-year anniversary, the title managed to reprint almost all of the Fourth and Fifth Doctors' DWM runs. It also offered some prominent American artists, such as Dave Cockrum and George Roussos, an opportunity to offer pinup and cover artwork of Doctor Who subjects. Like many DWM reprints, Doctor Who (1984) presented its reprints in colour.

From 1992 to 1994, Marvel UK began reprinting colourised reprints of DWM comics in Doctor Who Classic Comics alongside earlier strips by Polystyle Publications, Ltd.

Towards the end of 2007, IDW Publishing picked up the option to again reprint colourised versions of DWM comic strips in a monthly American series entitled Doctor Who Classics, reprinting stories up to the early Seventh Doctor era, plus a two-volume standalone, Grant Morrison's Doctor Who, reprinting Morrison's output from DWM. IDW also published several omnibus trade paperbacks featuring DWM strip reprints. The reprints ended with IDW's loss of their license to publish Doctor Who comics.

As a result of being colourised by separate reprint publications, a handful of stories have been colourised differently up to three times, namely: Doctor Who and the Star Beast, Timeslip, Spider-God, The Neutron Knights, The Tides of Time, Stars Fell on Stockbridge, The Stockbridge Horror, The Shape Shifter, Voyager (parts 4-5), Once Upon a Time Lord, and Revelation! / Genesis!.

In the UK, Panini undertook a long project to digitally restore all Doctor Who Magazine comics, and faithfully reprint the comics from their original masters. In most cases, this has meant the first monochromatic reprinting of most DWM strips. It has also offered the creative teams an opportunity to add explanatory notes and original concept artwork. These large-format volumes have to date covered most of the history of DWM from 1979 onwards.

Doctor Who Magazine's comic strips have also been a key feature of hardback publications like the series of Doctor Who Yearbooks, Doctor Who annuals and Doctor Who Storybooks, as well as numerous special, seasonal issues of DWM itself.

Main strips by issue

DWM Title Doctor Featuring Collected In
1-8 Doctor Who and the Iron Legion 4th The Iron Legion
9-16 City of the Damned 4th
17-18 Timeslip 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th K9 The Tides of Time
19-26 Doctor Who and the Star Beast 4th K9, Sharon The Iron Legion
27-34 Doctor Who and the Dogs of Doom 4th K9, Sharon, Daleks
35-38 Doctor Who and the Time Witch 4th K9, Sharon
39-45 Dragon's Claw 4th K9, Sharon, Sontaran Dragon's Claw
46 The Collector 4th K9, Sharon
47-48 Dreamers of Death 4th K9, Sharon
49-50 The Life Bringer! 4th K9
51 War of the Words 4th K9
52 Spider-God 4th
53 The Deal 4th
54-55 End of the Line 4th
56-57 Doctor Who and the Free-Fall Warriors 4th
58-59 Junkyard Demon 4th Cybermen
60 The Neutron Knights 4th
61-67 The Tides of Time 5th Sir Justin of Wells, Shayde The Tides of Time
68-69 Stars Fell on Stockbridge 5th Max
70-75 The Stockbridge Horror 5th Shayde
76-77 Lunar Lagoon 5th Gus
78-83 4-Dimensional Vistas 5th Gus, the Monk, Ice Warriors
84,
86-87
The Moderator 5th Gus
88-89 The Shape Shifter 6th Frobisher Voyager
90-94 Voyager 6th Frobisher
95-97 Polly the Glot 6th Frobisher
98-99 Once Upon a Time Lord 6th Frobisher
100-101 War-Game 6th Frobisher
102-103 Funhouse 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th Frobisher
104 Kane's Story 6th Peri, Frobisher
105 Abel's Story 6th Peri, Frobisher
106 The Warrior's Story 6th Peri, Frobisher
107 Frobisher's Story 6th Peri, Frobisher
108 Exodus 6th Peri, Frobisher The World Shapers
109 Revelation! 6th Peri, Frobisher, Cybermen
110 Genesis! 6th Peri, Frobisher, Cybermen
111-113 Nature of the Beast! 6th Peri, Frobisher
114-116 Time Bomb 6th Frobisher
117 Salad Daze 6th Peri
118-119 Changes 6th Peri, Frobisher
120-122 Profits of Doom! 6th Peri, Frobisher
123-126 The Gift 6th Peri, Frobisher
127-129 The World Shapers 6th Peri, Frobisher, Jamie, Voord, Cybermen
130-133 A Cold Day in Hell! 7th Frobisher, Olla, Ice Warriors A Cold Day in Hell!
134 Redemption! 7th Olla
135 The Crossroads of Time 7th
136-138 Claws of the Klathi! 7th
139 Culture Shock! 7th
140 Keepsake 7th
141-142 Planet of the Dead 7th
143-144 Echoes of the Mogor! 7th
145-146 Time and Tide 7th
147 Follow That TARDIS! 7th The Monk
148-150 Invaders from Gantac! 7th
152-155 Nemesis of the Daleks 7th Abslom Daak, Daleks Nemesis of the Daleks
156 Stairway to Heaven 7th
157-158 Hunger from the Ends of Time! (The Incredible Hulk Presents reprint) 7th
159-161 Train-Flight 7th Sarah Jane
162 Doctor Conkerer! 7th
164-166 Fellow Travellers 7th Ace The Good Soldier
167 Darkness, Falling --- The Brigadier
168 Distractions 7th Ace
169-172 The Mark of Mandragora 7th Ace, the Brigadier
173 Party Animals 7th Ace
174 The Chameleon Factor 7th Ace
175-178 The Good Soldier 7th Ace, Cybermen
179 A Glitch in Time 7th Ace
180 Evening's Empire (Part One only) 7th Ace Evening's Empire
181 The Fires Down Below (backup strip reprint) --- ---
182 Spider-God (reprint) 4th Dragon's Claw
183 Conflict of Interests --- Sontarans Evening's Empire
184 Business as Usual (backup strip reprint) --- Nestene Consciousness, Autons ---
185-187 The Grief 7th Ace Evening's Empire
188-190 Ravens 7th
191 Memorial 7th Ace
192 Cat Litter 7th Ace
193-196 Pureblood 7th Benny, Sontarans, Rutan Emperor of the Daleks
197-202 Emperor of the Daleks! 6th, 7th Benny, Peri, Abslom Daak, Daleks
203-206 Final Genesis 7th Ace, Benny
207 Time & Time Again 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th Susan, Jamie, Zoe, Adric, Frobisher, Ace, Benny
208-210 Cuckoo 7th Ace, Benny
211 Uninvited Guest 7th Eternals
212-214 Victims 4th Romana II Land of the Blind
215-217 The Lunar Strangers 5th Tegan, Turlough
218-220 Food for Thought 1st Ben, Polly
221-223 Change of Mind 3rd Liz, the Brigadier
224-226 Land of the Blind 2nd Jamie, Zoe
227 Up Above the Gods 6th Davros Emperor of the Daleks
228-230 The Curse of the Scarab 5th Peri ---
231-233 Operation Proteus 1st Susan ---
234 Target Practice 3rd Jo, the Brigadier, Benton ---
235-237 Black Destiny 4th Sarah Jane, Harry ---
238-242 Ground Zero 7th Susan, Sarah Jane, Peri, Ace ---
243 Doctor Who and the Fangs of Time 4th ---
244-247 Endgame 8th Izzy, Max, The Celestial Toymaker Endgame
248-249 The Keep 8th Izzy
250 A Life of Matter and Death 8th Izzy
251-255 Fire and Brimstone 8th Izzy, Daleks
256 By Hook or By Crook 8th Izzy
257-260 Tooth and Claw 8th Izzy, Fey
262-265 The Final Chapter 8th Izzy, Fey, Shayde, Rassilon
266-271 Wormwood 8th Izzy, Fey, Shayde
272 Happy Deathday 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th Izzy The Glorious Dead
273-276 The Fallen 8th Izzy, Grace, the Bruce Master
277 Unnatural Born Killers --- Kroton, Sontarans
278-282 The Road to Hell 8th Izzy
283 TV Action! 8th Izzy
284-286 The Company of Thieves 8th Izzy, Kroton
287-296 The Glorious Dead 8th Izzy, Kroton, the Bruce Master
297-299 The Autonomy Bug 8th Izzy
300-303 Ophidius 8th Izzy, Destrii Oblivion
304 Beautiful Freak 8th Izzy
305 The Last Word 7th Ace, Benny ---
306, 308-310 The Way of All Flesh 8th Izzy Oblivion
307 Flower Power (TV Comic reprint) 2nd John and Gillian, Cybermen ---
311 Character Assassin --- The Master Oblivion
312-317 Children of the Revolution 8th Izzy, Daleks
318 Me and My Shadow --- Feyde
319-322 Uroboros 8th Feyde, Destrii
323-328 Oblivion 8th Izzy, Feyde, Destrii
329 Where Nobody Knows Your Name 8th Frobisher The Flood
330-332 Doctor Who and the Nightmare Game 8th
333 The Power of Thoueris! 8th
334-336 The Curious Tale of Spring-Heeled Jack 8th
337 The Land of Happy Endings 8th John and Gillian
338-342 Bad Blood 8th Destrii
343-345 Sins of the Fathers 8th Destrii
346-353 The Flood 8th Destrii, Cybermen
355-357 The Love Invasion 9th Rose The Cruel Sea
358 Art Attack 9th Rose
359-362 The Cruel Sea 9th Rose
363-364 A Groatsworth of Wit 9th Rose
365-367 The Betrothal of Sontar 10th Rose, Sontarans The Betrothal of Sontar
368 The Lodger 10th Rose, Mickey, Jackie
369-371 F.A.Q. 10th Rose
372-374 The Futurists 10th Rose
375-376 Interstellar Overdrive 10th Rose
377 The Green-Eyed Monster 10th Rose, Mickey, Jackie
378-380 The Warkeeper's Crown 10th The Brigadier
381-384 The Woman Who Sold the World 10th Martha The Widow's Curse
385 Bus Stop! 10th Martha
386-389 The First 10th Martha
390 Death to the Doctor! 10th Martha
391-393 Universal Monsters 10th Martha
394 Hotel Historia 10th Majenta The Crimson Hand
395-398 The Widow's Curse 10th Donna, Sycorax The Widow's Curse
399 The Time of My Life 10th Donna
400-402 Thinktwice 10th Majenta The Crimson Hand
403-405 The Stockbridge Child 10th Majenta, Max
406-407 Mortal Beloved 10th Majenta
408-411 The Age of Ice 10th Majenta
412 The Deep Hereafter 10th Majenta
413 Onomatopoeia 10th Majenta
414-415 Ghosts of the Northern Line 10th Majenta
416-420 The Crimson Hand 10th Majenta
421-423 Supernature 11th Amy The Child of Time
424 Planet Bollywood 11th Amy
425-428 The Golden Ones 11th Amy, Axos
429 The Professor, the Queen and the Bookshop 11th Amy
430-431 The Screams of Death 11th Amy
432 Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night 11th Amy
433-434 Forever Dreaming 11th Amy
435-437 Apotheosis 11th Amy
438-441 The Child of Time 11th Amy
442-445 The Chains of Olympus 11th Amy, Rory The Chains of Olympus
446-447 Sticks & Stones 11th Amy, Rory
448-450 The Cornucopia Caper 11th Amy, Rory
451-454 The Broken Man 11th Amy, Rory Hunters of the Burning Stone
455 Imaginary Enemies --- Amy, Rory, Mels
456-461 Hunters of the Burning Stone 11th Ian, Barbara
462-464 A Wing and a Prayer 11th Clara The Blood of Azrael
465-466 Welcome to Tickle Town 11th Clara
467 John Smith and the Common Men 11th Clara
468-469 Pay the Piper 11th Clara
470-474 The Blood of Azrael 11th Clara
475-476 The Crystal Throne --- Vastra, Jenny, Strax The Eye of Torment
477-480 The Eye of Torment 12th Clara
481-483 The Instruments of War 12th Clara, Sontarans
484 Space Invaders! 12th Clara The Highgate Horror
485-488 Blood and Ice 12th Clara The Eye of Torment
489-491 Spirits of the Jungle 12th Clara The Highgate Horror
492-493 The Highgate Horror 12th Clara, Jess
494-495 The Dragon Lord 12th Clara
496 Theatre of the Mind 12th Clara
497-499 Witch Hunt 12th Clara
500 The Stockbridge Showdown 12th Max, Sharon, Frobisher, Izzy, Destrii, Majenta
501-503 The Pestilent Heart 12th Jess Doorway to Hell
504 Moving In 12th Jess
505-506 Bloodsport 12th Jess
507 Be Forgot 12th Jess
508-511 Doorway to Hell 12th Jess, the Master
512-514 The Soul Garden 12th Bill The Phantom Piper
515-517 The Parliament of Fear 12th Bill
518 Matildus 12th Bill
519-523 The Phantom Piper 12th Bill, Fey
524-530 The Clockwise War 12th Bill, Fey, Shayde The Clockwise War
531-534 The Warmonger 13th Graham, Ryan, Yaz ---

Backup strips

Main article: DWM backup comic stories

Main strips in Special issues

Doctor Who Magazine Specials

DWM Title Doctor Featuring Collected In
Summer 1991 Seaside Rendezvous 7th Ace The Good Soldier
Winter 1991 The Man in the Ion Mask 3rd The Brigadier, Benton, The Master ---
Winter 1992 Flashback 7th Benny Emperor of the Daleks
Summer 1993 Bringer of Darkness 2nd Jamie, Victoria, Daleks Land of the Blind
Summer 1994 Are You Listening? 1st Vicki, Steven ---
Younger and Wiser 7th Benny ---
Winter 1994 Plastic Millenium Mel, Nestene Consciousness, Autons ---
Summer 1995 The Seventh Segment 4th Romana, K9 ---
Spring 1996 Daleks Versus the Martians Dr. Who Louise, Susan, Daleks ---

Main strips in Yearbooks

Doctor Who Yearbooks

Year Title Doctor Featuring Collected In
1992 Under Pressure 3rd, 4th, 7th Jo, Ace, Sea Devils ---
1993 Metamorphosis 7th Ace, Daleks ---
1994 A Religious Experience 1st, 7th Ian, Barbara ---
Rest and Re-Creation 4th Leela, Zygons ---
1995 The Naked Flame Sarah ---
Blood Invocation 5th Nyssa, Tegan ---
1996 Star Beast II 4th ---
Junkyard Demon II Cybermen ---

Main strips in Storybooks

Doctor Who Storybooks

Year Title Doctor Featuring Collected In
2007 Opera of Doom! 10th Rose The Betrothal of Sontar
2008 Sunscreen Martha The Widow's Curse
2009 The Immortal Emperor Donna
2010 Space Vikings! The Crimson Hand