Talk:Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition

Doctor Who Magazine (special issues) also contains a gallery of Panini's Doctor Who Magazine Special Editions. Either this should be made a redirect or the Panini content should be removed from the other page, with content merged either way.--Nyktimos 01:44, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

Agree. The two should be separate articles. Panini content should be withdrawn from Doctor Who Magazine (special issues). They are actually different things, even though the articles don't say so (yet). The Marvel issues were subscriber bonuses. They came as a natural part of one's commitment to the Magazine. They varied wildly and widely in content, but most still felt like an issue of the parent magazine. They basically are the British nod to the US comic market's tradition of an "annual". If you look at the indicia pages on most of these, it's (usually) clear that they are in fact issues of Doctor Who Weekly/Monthly/Magazine, with the season and year being the issue number. So instead of DWM #134, it's DWM Summer 1986, for instance.

The Panini Special Editions have nothing much to do with the parent magazine's format. They are in fact a different magazine altogether, with their own indicia title (officially, they're Doctor Who Magazine Special Edition) and a distinct numbering system. Their format is wholly distinct from both Panini's DWM or Marvel's DWM special issues of old. They take one topic and explore it at depth. The closest thing Marvel ever did to a Special Edition was when they reprinted the Dalek Chronicles in their entirety. Mostly, though, there's no commonality between the two beyond the words "Doctor Who".

I've now added a lot of stuff to the article, it hopes of better distinguishing it from the Marvel seasonals. CzechOut ☎ | ✍ 03:52, 6 May 2009 (UTC)

just to add to the above re: the Marvel specials - they were never offered as bonus editions to subscribers. They were seasonal releases that were timed around school summer holidays and Christmas. It was a customerary practice for many (mainly) comic titles at the time to offer extra isssues of new or occasionally reprinted material. Because of their irregular release dates and prices it was not possible to add them to subscriptions. Subscribers were left having to hunt them down in newsagents. Later subscription offers included a higher rate to include specials once they became more regularly established. The Librarian ☎ 13:22, March 28, 2013 (UTC)