Comic strip adventures of the Doctor appeared almost from the beginning of the television series. The first phase has become known as the
‘Polystyle era’ (1964-1979) of
Doctor Who comic strips. Paul Scoones, a historian of the
Doctor Who comic strip, writes: Both the First and Second Doctors were, for a time, shown travelling with two youngsters named
John and Gillian who are identified as the Doctor's grandchildren. Their place within established continuity has challenged fans ever since, although attempts have been made to reconcile their existence in various spin-off fiction venues. The regular
Doctor Who Annuals from
World Distributors published comics most years from the first annual until they ceased publication in 1985. A comic strip also regularly appeared in the pages of
Doctor Who Magazine. This began as a
Marvel Comics publication under the name
Doctor Who Weekly in 1979 (soon changing to
Doctor Who Monthly), and the magazine continued to be published after the programme ceased production in 1989. The comic strip has usually featured the current Doctor in a series of adventures independent of the novels and the audios, and with another companion, though several crossovers with the worlds of the audio and literary
Doctor Who and the comics have occurred. Creators who have worked on the
Doctor Who Magazine strip include such notables as writer
Alan Moore and artists
Dave Gibbons,
Mike McMahon, and
John Ridgway. Selected stories were reprinted in North America by Marvel Comics, which was also the publisher of
Doctor Who Magazine at the time.
Marvel Premiere #57 (December 1980) was the first Doctor Who comic published in North America. When
Doctor Who Magazine was published by Marvel, some characters occasionally crossed over between the
Doctor Who comic and other titles published by Marvel UK; these include the froglike Venusian businessman Josiah Dogbolter and the robotic bounty hunter
Death's Head. In the "Flood Barriers" feature in the trade paperback
Doctor Who: The Flood, it is revealed the comic strip was given the opportunity to show the regeneration of the
Eighth Doctor into the
Ninth Doctor. The publishers of
Doctor Who Magazine have also produced a number of special issues, annuals, and other publications containing comics. Two short-lived spin-off series,
Miranda from Comeuppance Comics and
Faction Paradox from
Mad Norwegian Press, have also appeared, both featuring characters who had debuted in
Doctor Who novels.
Doctor Who Magazine, which is now owned by
Panini Comics, continues to produce new comic-strip adventures. Panini has also begun to reprint the early
Doctor Who Magazine strips in
trade paperback format. At the height of "Dalekmania" in the 1960s, a comic strip featuring the Daleks written by
David Whitaker but credited to Terry Nation appeared in the Gerry Anderson
TV Century 21 comic magazine. The BBC also published a number of Dalek annuals, written by Whitaker and Nation, that contained a mixture of comic strips and short stories. Although much of the material in these strips directly contradicted what would be shown on television, some concepts, such as the Daleks using humanoid duplicates and the design of the
Dalek Emperor, were later adapted into the television programme. The strip also featured the Mechonoids seen in
The Chase, and one annual featured
Sara Kingdom and the Space Security Service. In 2005 a
webcomic called
The Forge: Project Longinus, written by
Cavan Scott and
Mark Wright and illustrated by Bryan Coyle was produced as a spin-off from Scott and Wright's
Big Finish Productions Doctor Who audio dramas, and contained a number of unofficial references to the
Doctor Who universe.
Timeline ==Stories==