User:Cookieboy 2005/Covering cover art

Titled illustrations are valid on this wiki, but there's one set of illustrations I feel warrant coverage despite usually not having their own titles: cover art.

Various pieces of cover art have depicted unique scenes featuring DWU elements, whether they be solely focused on the DW-related parts, or if they're a crossover with other series. I feel these generally both warrant coverage.

TV Comic

Cover of the TVC Holiday Special 1966, clearly depicting a crossover between the various series featured within, including Doctor Who.

Several TV Comic annuals and holiday specials have depicted unique scenes featuring the various characters featured within the books. I feel that those of these that feature Doctor Who elements should surely be covered on this wiki, both for use on the pages for the DWU elements, and on pages for the elements that cross over.

Paul Hanley cover art

The cover art of Wild Thymes on the 22, featuring an original scene not featured anywhere else in the anthology.

A notable instance of cover art which is effectively its own instalment in an anthology of works is the various works by Paul Hanley. For example, the art of Iris Wildthyme of Mars features appearances by various Martian species from popular culture (such as Marvin the Martian), while Wild Thymes on the 22 features Jodie Whittaker, the book's in-universe counterpart, the debut of Janice Hoffman, and a crossover with The Unthinkables through an appearance by Bloody Mary. The latter case has been somewhat controversial, largely because cover art isn't currently considered coverable, but also because it was used as an excuse to cover Warp Hustler as a "spinoff" (Janice went on to star in said series) - I do think we should consider whether such coverage would really be accurate to the series. Nevertheless, I do think these covers warrant coverage on the wiki as sources.

Other cover art

The cover art of TMBC 8, featuring a crossover between Doctor Who, Scooby-Doo, ALF, etc.

Various other comic books have featured cover art that I feel should be covered. For example, TMBC 8 features cover art depicting the Doctor's TARDIS in outer space, alongside Scooby-Doo and ALF, among others. As with the previous examples, I do feel that this should be covered here, although I'm not certain on if it'd be valid. A more DW-oriented example that comes to mind is two variant covers for 15D 1, those being the SDCC and Strange Adventures variants. Both of these seem to depict wholly original scenes not featured in the comic books (although I've admittedly not read them yet). Notably, the SDCC variant seems to me like it'd be invalid, as it appears to break the fourth wall to a degree; I do however think it's something that ought to be covered on pages such as Fifteenth Doctor/Non-valid sources. The Strange Adventures variant, on the other hand, simply seems to be an original scene of Dr Who and his companion, which could easily be valid.

How would they be covered?

I'm not certain of what naming scheme should be used for these, although I feel that titles such as "Wild Thymes on the 22 cover art (illustration)" would work - I'm unsure how I feel about titles like "TMBC 8 cover art (illustration)", but I suppose they get the point across. Naturally, these would be covered as illustrations, cited with the "GRAPHIC" prefix.

I don't feel that all cover art should be covered - some cover art, such as the surprisingly popular "heads floating in space" style, are generally not their own "thing". I feel this should be handled case-by-case, based on whether the art is really meant to be "its own thing" or not. Obviously, art created to illustrate a specific story (e.g. a Big Finish cover) should be covered as part of said story - this forum only aims to allow coverage of cover art not directly attaches to a specific story. ~~~~