DWM comic stories

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Comic stories have appeared in all issues of Doctor Who Magazine in some form. 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. Similarly, in 2020 reprints of the Polystyle comic strips The Glen of Sleeping and Fogbound were included free as two of the reprinted strips in the Past Masters supplement which came with issue 547, but again this was in 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; the Thirteenth Doctor from 2018-22; and the Fourteenth Doctor from 2022. Unusually, the Fourteenth Doctor's comic debut in Liberation of the Daleks part one in DWM 584 was released weeks after his television debut at the end of the Thirteenth Doctor's departure in The Power of the Doctor and set immediately after that story. 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; Graham O'Brien and Ryan Sinclair from 2018-21; Yasmin Khan from 2018-22; and Dan Lewis in 2022.

In issue 311 in 2001, an issue focused on the Master, the sole comic strip other than a reprint of Part Four of TV Comic strip The Witches was a Doctor-less story called Character Assassin, featuring the Master in the Land of Fiction.

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.

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.

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.

In 2020, a three-part comic strip, Monstrous Beauty, starring the Ninth Doctor, was published as a part of the Time Lord Victorious multi-medium event, being the first main strip in nearly a decade not to star the Doctor's concurrent incarnation. The first part was published in a supplementary booklet released alongside DWM 556, with the other two seeing print within DWM 557 and DWM 558.

The main strip was forced to take a three-issue break in 2020 due to the difficulty of producing issues remotely during the COVID-19 pandemic, with issues 553 through 555 lacking a main comic story beyond the usual The Daft Dimension gag strip. (Previous breaks with no non-gag comic were DWM 151, 163, 261, and 354.) The strip initially returned with the aforementioned Time Lord Victorious tie-in: after the strip returned once again to the adventures of the concurrent Thirteenth Doctor with The White Dragon (published in DWM 559-DWM 562), the strip went on a second hiatus for the same reason. This second hiatus, the longest streak of issues without a main, non-gag strips, lasted from DWM 563 up to DWM 569. After the comic strip debut of Dan Lewis in DWM 572, the following issue ended up lacking a main strip for unexplained reasons.

Interestingly, unlike with Polystyle, one rarely — if ever — sees in DWM's comic strip stories thought balloons for the Doctor, who is normally always shown to speak aloud, even when alone. In other words, the Doctor's thoughts remain strictly their own.

Reprints

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

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.

Doctor Who and the Iron Legion (DWM 3 / MP 57)

Comics printed in Doctor Who Weekly included a recap segment that covered up part of the original artwork. The recap was not included in the Marvel Premiere and Doctor Who (1984) reprints, restoring the original artwork.[1]

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.

In the UK, Panini Comics 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

Original stories

DWM Title Writer Doctor Featuring Collected In
1-8 Doctor Who and the Iron Legion Pat Mills & John Wagner 4th
9-16 City of the Damned
17-18 Timeslip Dez Skinn & Paul Neary K9 Mark II, First Doctor, Second Doctor, Third Doctor
19-26 Doctor Who and the Star Beast Pat Mills & John Wagner K9 Mark II, Sharon
27-34 Doctor Who and the Dogs of Doom K9 Mark II, Sharon, Daleks
35-38 Doctor Who and the Time Witch Steve Moore K9 Mark II, Sharon
39-45 Dragon's Claw K9 Mark II, Sharon, Sontarans
46 The Collector K9 Mark II, Sharon
47-48 Dreamers of Death
49-50 The Life Bringer! K9 Mark II
51 War of the Words
52 Spider-God
53 The Deal Steve Parkhouse
54-55 End of the Line
56-57 Doctor Who and the Free-Fall Warriors
58-59 Junkyard Demon Cybermen
60 The Neutron Knights
61-67 The Tides of Time 5th Sir Justin of Wells, Shayde, Rassilon The Tides of Time
68-69 Stars Fell on Stockbridge Max
70-75 The Stockbridge Horror Shayde
76-77 Lunar Lagoon Gus
78-83 4-Dimensional Vistas Gus, The Monk, Ice Warriors
84,
86-87
The Moderator Gus, Josiah W. Dogbolter
88-89 The Shape Shifter 6th Frobisher, Josiah W. Dogbolter Voyager
90-94 Voyager
95-97 Polly the Glot
98-99 Once Upon a Time Lord
100-101 War-Game Alan McKenzie
102-103 Funhouse Frobisher, First Doctor, Second Doctor, Third Doctor, Fourth Doctor, Fifth Doctor
104 Kane's Story Peri, Frobisher
105 Abel's Story
106 The Warrior's Story
107 Frobisher's Story
108 Exodus
109 Revelation! Peri, Frobisher, Cybermen
110 Genesis! Alan McKenzie & John Ridgway
111-113 Nature of the Beast! Simon Furman Peri, Frobisher The World Shapers
114-116 Time Bomb Jamie Delano Frobisher
117 Salad Daze Simon Furman Peri
118-119 Changes Grant Morrison Peri, Frobisher
120-122 Profits of Doom! Mike Collins
123-126 The Gift Jamie Delano
127-129 The World Shapers Grant Morrison Peri, Frobisher, Jamie, Voord, Cybermen
130-133 A Cold Day in Hell! Simon Furman 7th Frobisher, Olla, Ice Warriors A Cold Day in Hell!
134 Redemption! Olla
135 The Crossroads of Time
136-138 Claws of the Klathi! Mike Collins
139 Culture Shock! Grant Morrison
140 Keepsake Simon Furman
141-142 Planet of the Dead John Freeman
143-144 Echoes of the Mogor! Dan Abnett
145-146 Time and Tide Richard Starkings & John Carnell
147 Follow That TARDIS! John Carnell The Monk
148-150 Invaders from Gantac! Alan Grant
152-155 Nemesis of the Daleks Richard Starkings & John Tomlinson Abslom Daak, Daleks
156 Stairway to Heaven Paul Cornell & John Freeman Nemesis of the Daleks
159-161 Train-Flight Andrew Donkin & Graham S. Brand Sarah
162 Doctor Conkerer! Ian Rimmer
164-166 Fellow Travellers Andrew Cartmel Ace The Good Soldier
167 Darkness, Falling Dan Abnett The Brigadier
168 Distractions 7th Ace
169-172 The Mark of Mandragora Ace, The Brigadier
173 Party Animals Gary Russell Ace
174 The Chameleon Factor Paul Cornell
175-178 The Good Soldier Andrew Cartmel Ace, Cybermen
179 A Glitch in Time John Freeman Ace The Good Soldier
180 Evening's Empire (Part One only) Andrew Cartmel Evening's Empire
183 Conflict of Interests Dan Abnett Sontarans
185-187 The Grief 7th Ace
188-190 Ravens Andrew Cartmel
191 Memorial Scott Gray Ace
192 Cat Litter Marc Platt
193-196 Pureblood Dan Abnett Benny, Sontarans, Rutan Emperor of the Daleks
197-202 Emperor of the Daleks Paul Cornell 6th, 7th Benny, Peri, Abslom Daak, Davros, Daleks
203-206 Final Genesis Scott Gray 7th Ace, Benny Emperor of the Daleks
207 Time & Time Again Paul Cornell
1st, 2nd,
3rd, 4th,
5th, 6th,
7th
Susan, Jamie, Zoe, Adric, Frobisher, Ace, Benny
208-210 Cuckoo Dan Abnett 7th Ace, Benny
211 Uninvited Guest Scott Gray Eternals
212-214 Victims Dan Abnett 4th Romana II Land of the Blind
215-217 The Lunar Strangers Gareth Roberts 5th Tegan, Turlough
218-220 Food for Thought Nicholas Briggs 1st Ben, Polly
221-223 Change of Mind Kate Orman 3rd Liz, The Brigadier
224-226 Land of the Blind Scott Gray 2nd Jamie, Zoe
227 Up Above the Gods Richard Starkings 6th Davros
228-230 The Curse of the Scarab Alan Barnes 5th Peri Ground Zero
231-233 Operation Proteus Gareth Roberts 1st Susan
234 Target Practice 3rd Jo, The Brigadier, Benton
235-237 Black Destiny Gary Russell 4th Sarah, Harry
238-242 Ground Zero Scott Gray 7th Susan, Sarah, Peri, Ace
243 Doctor Who and the Fangs of Time Sean Longcroft 4th
244-247 Endgame Alan Barnes 8th Izzy, Max, The Celestial Toymaker Endgame
248-249 The Keep Izzy
250 A Life of Matter and Death
251-255 Fire and Brimstone Izzy, Daleks
256 By Hook or By Crook Scott Gray Izzy Endgame
257-260 Tooth and Claw Alan Barnes Izzy, Fey
262-265 The Final Chapter Izzy, Fey, Shayde, Rassilon
266-271 Wormwood Scott Gray 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 Adrian Salmon Kroton, Sontarans
278-282 The Road to Hell Scott Gray 8th Izzy, Sato Katsura The Glorious Dead
283 TV Action! Alan Barnes Izzy, Beep
284-286 The Company of Thieves Scott Gray Izzy, Kroton
287-296 The Glorious Dead Izzy, Kroton, the Bruce Master, Sato Katsura
297-299 The Autonomy Bug Izzy The Glorious Dead
300-303 Ophidius Izzy, Destrii, Mobox Oblivion
304 Beautiful Freak Izzy
305 The Last Word Gareth Roberts 7th Ace, Benny, Timewyrm The Age of Chaos
306, 308-310 The Way of All Flesh Scott Gray 8th Izzy Oblivion
311 Character Assassin the Master
312-317 Children of the Revolution 8th Izzy, Daleks
318 Me and My Shadow Feyde Oblivion
319-322 Uroboros 8th Feyde, Destrii, Mobox
323-328 Oblivion Izzy, Feyde, Destrii
329 Where Nobody Knows Your Name Frobisher The Flood
330-332 Doctor Who and the Nightmare Game Gareth Roberts
333 The Power of Thoueris! Scott Gray
334-336 The Curious Tale of Spring-Heeled Jack
337 The Land of Happy Endings John and Gillian
338-342 Bad Blood Destrii
343-345 Sins of the Fathers
346-353 The Flood Destrii, Cybermen
355-357 The Love Invasion Gareth Roberts & Clayton Hickman 9th Rose The Cruel Sea
358 Art Attack Mike Collins
359-362 The Cruel Sea Robert Shearman
363-364 A Groatsworth of Wit Gareth Roberts Rose, William Shakespeare
365-367 The Betrothal of Sontar John Tomlinson & Nick Abadzis 10th Rose, Sontarans The Betrothal of Sontar
368 The Lodger Gareth Roberts Rose, Mickey, Jackie
369-371 F.A.Q. Tony Lee Rose
372-374 The Futurists Mike Collins
375-376 Interstellar Overdrive Jonathan Morris
377 The Green-Eyed Monster Nev Fountain Rose, Mickey, Jackie
378-380 The Warkeeper's Crown Alan Barnes The Brigadier
381-384 The Woman Who Sold the World Rob Davis Martha The Widow's Curse
385 Bus Stop!
386-389 The First Dan McDaid Martha, Skith
390 Death to the Doctor! Jonathan Morris Martha
391-393 Universal Monsters Ian Edginton
394 Hotel Historia Dan McDaid Majenta The Crimson Hand
395-398 The Widow's Curse Rob Davis Donna, Sycorax The Widow's Curse
399 The Time of My Life Jonathan Morris Donna
400-402 Thinktwice Dan McDaid Majenta The Crimson Hand
403-405 The Stockbridge Child Majenta, Max
406-407 Mortal Beloved Majenta
408-411 The Age of Ice Majenta, Skith
412 The Deep Hereafter Majenta
413 Onomatopoeia
414-415 Ghosts of the Northern Line
416-420 The Crimson Hand
421-423 Supernature Jonathan Morris 11th Amy The Child of Time
424 Planet Bollywood
425-428 The Golden Ones Amy, Chiyoko, Axos
429 The Professor, the Queen and the Bookshop Amy
430-431 The Screams of Death Amy, Chiyoko
432 Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night Amy
433-434 Forever Dreaming
435-437 Apotheosis Amy, Chiyoko
438-441 The Child of Time
442-445 The Chains of Olympus Scott Gray Amy, Rory The Chains of Olympus
446-447 Sticks & Stones
448-450 The Cornucopia Caper Amy, Rory, Horatio Lynk, Miss Ghost
451-454 The Broken Man Amy, Rory, Annabel Lake, Patrick Lake, Hugo Wilding Hunters of the Burning Stone
455 Imaginary Enemies Amy, Rory, Mels
456-461 Hunters of the Burning Stone 11th Ian, Barbara, Horatio Lynk
462-464 A Wing and a Prayer Clara The Blood of Azrael
465-466 Welcome to Tickle Town
467 John Smith and the Common Men
468-469 Pay the Piper Clara, Annabel Lake
470-474 The Blood of Azrael Clara, Horatio Lynk, Annabel Lake, Hugo Wilding
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 Mike Collins Clara, Sontarans
484 Space Invaders! Mark Wright Clara The Highgate Horror
485-488 Blood and Ice Jacqueline Rayner The Eye of Torment
489-491 Spirits of the Jungle Jonathan Morris The Highgate Horror
492-493 The Highgate Horror Mark Wright Clara, Jess
494-495 The Dragon Lord Steve Lyons Clara
496 Theatre of the Mind Roger Langridge
497-499 Witch Hunt Jacqueline Rayner
500 The Stockbridge Showdown Scott Gray Max, Sharon, Frobisher, Izzy, Destrii, Majenta, Josiah W. Dogbolter
501-503 The Pestilent Heart Mark Wright Jess Doorway to Hell
504 Moving In
505-506 Bloodsport
507 Be Forgot
508-511 Doorway to Hell Jess, The Master
512-514 The Soul Garden Scott Gray Bill The Phantom Piper
515-517 The Parliament of Fear
518 Matildus
519-523 The Phantom Piper Bill, Fey
524-530 The Clockwise War Bill, War Doctor, Fey, Shayde, Annabel Lake, Patrick Lake, Hugo Wilding The Clockwise War
531-534 The Warmonger 13th Yaz, Ryan, Graham Mistress of Chaos
535-539 Herald of Madness
540-542 The Power of the Mobox
543-548 Mistress of Chaos
549-552 The Piggybackers
556-558 Monstrous Beauty 9th Rose
559-562 The White Dragon 13th Yaz, Ryan, Graham
570-571 The Forest Bride Jacqueline Rayner Yaz
572 It's Behind You! Yaz, Dan
574-577 Hydra's Gate
578 Dr. Who & the Mechonoids Dr. Who Susan, Vince Booth, Mechonoids
579 Fear of the Future 13th Yaz, Dan
580-583 The Everlasting Summer
584-597 Liberation of the Daleks Alan Barnes 14th Daleks Liberation of the Daleks
598 Untitled Donna, Wilf, Sylvia

Reprints

DWM Title Doctor Featuring Originally Printed In
85 Skywatch-7 Zygon DWM 58, DWMS Winter 1981 (backup strip)
157-158 Hunger from the Ends of Time! 7th The Incredible Hulk Presents 2-3
181 The Fires Down Below DWM 64 (backup strip)
182 Spider-God 4th DWM 52
184 Business as Usual Autons DWM 40-DWM 43 (backup strip)
307 Flower Power 2nd John and Gillian, Cybermen TV Comic 832-836
308-312 The Witches 2nd John and Gillian TV Comic 837-841

Backup strips

Main article: DWM backup comic stories

Main strips in other publications

Doctor Who Magazine Specials

DWM Title Writer Doctor Featuring Collected In
Summer 1991 Seaside Rendezvous Paul Cornell 7th Ace, Ogri The Good Soldier
Winter 1991 The Man in the Ion Mask Dan Abnett 3rd The Brigadier, Benton, The Master
Holiday 1992 City of Devils Gary Russell Sarah, K9 Mark III, Lavinia
Winter 1992 Flashback Scott Gray 7th Benny Emperor of the Daleks
Summer 1993 Bringer of Darkness 2nd Jamie, Victoria, Daleks
Summer 1994 Are You Listening? 1st Vicki, Steven
Younger and Wiser 7th Benny
Winter 1994 Plastic Millenium Gary Russell Mel, Nestene Consciousness, Autons
Summer 1995 The Seventh Segment Gareth Roberts 4th Romana I, K9 Mark II
Spring 1996 Daleks Versus the Martians Alan Barnes Dr. Who Louise, Susan, Daleks Daleks: The Ultimate Comic Strip Collection

Doctor Who Yearbooks

Year Title Writer Doctor Featuring Collected In
1992 Under Pressure Dan Abnett 3rd, 4th, 7th Jo, Ace, Sea Devils The Age of Chaos
1993 Metamorphosis Paul Cornell 7th Ace, Daleks
1994 A Religious Experience Tim Quinn 1st, 7th Ian, Barbara The Clockwise War
Rest and Re-Creation Scott Gray 4th Leela, Zygons
1995 The Naked Flame Sarah, Menoptera
Blood Invocation Paul Cornell 5th Nyssa, Tegan
1996 Star Beast II Gary Gillatt 4th Fudge Higgins, Beep
Junkyard Demon II Alan Barnes Cybermen

Doctor Who Storybooks

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

Humour strips

See: Doctor Who?
See: Nix View
See: Doctor Whoah!
See: Moments in Time
See: The Daft Dimension

Footnotes