Doctor Who: Six Issue Mini-Series (from IDW)

[Just Jeans]

Holy cow. My pull list just got a little bit bigger. :eek:

IDW Publishing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDW_Publishing) -- who brought us comics based on Transformers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Angel and Star Trek, among other genre franchises -- have announced this weekend at the San Diego Comic Con that they will be handling a new series of 10th Doctor-based comics.

From Outpost Gallifrey (http://www.gallifreyone.com/news.php#newsitemEElVVZkVZVZFOhGXFN):

Newsarama.com has announced that IDW will begin publishing a new title based on the tenth Doctor, with stories written by TV show script editor Gary Russell and art by Nick Roche.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/DrWho.jpg

IDW chief Chris Ryall told Newsarama that in addition to the new Tenth Doctor comic book, IDW would be reprinting classic Doctor Who comics drawn by Dave Gibbons, with all-new coloring.

Gary Russell told Newsarama's interviewer:

"Can't get enough Martha. As for Tennant, 'cos he's the current one, simple as that. It's about putting characters from one medium into a totally different, and utilizing the strengths (and weaknesses) the new medium has to offer. So I gain from a bigger budget, more extras and louder bangs, yet the storytelling has to be as concise, clever and charming as the TV show is, but in a wholly different way. I have now just scared myself beyond belief..."

"Old monsters are all very well, but using the big guns like Daleks, Cybermen, the Master - it's a bit gauche. If you're going to use recognizable elements from the show - and I think you should where the story allows it - [it should be] a story that enables you to go "oooh I could put MONSTER X in here, that'd be cool" over to "oooh I need to write a story about MONSTER X" now and again, because people like to spot elements they're familiar with, then they need to be fun. Our first issue does feature something from the current show, and a later issue or two features something from waaaaay back in the series history, but these things should be done sparingly or it's no longer an event, it's the norm. And normal is dull."

I can't believe they're going to reprint some of the classic Doctor Who comics as well. :shock:

God, I hope we get these state-side. :pray:

Here's the Newsrama (http://www.newsarama.com/Comic-Con_07/IDW/Who.html) article:

As any true Whovian knows, every time you think the Doctor is good and dead, he'll regenerate and come back at ya. Why shouldn't the comic based on everyone's #1 Time Lord be any different?

Much like the TV show in the U.S., the history of the Doctor in comics had him fading in and out of the public consciousness. His first appearance in the funny pages was actually in 1966, when Dell did a print adaptation of the two Who movies under the title of Dr. Who & The Daleks. In the meanwhile, a newspaper script of the Gallifreyan would appear in the UK, which Marvel then collected in a 1981 issue of Marvel Premiere #57 (with Tom Baker as the fourth Doctor). It also apparently included some sketches by Dave Cockrum and historic text by Jo Duffy.

Publishing in earnest would begin in 1984 under the title Doctor Who Magazine. This time it included some guest art by Walt Simonson and more historic text from Duffy. While the TV show would star Tom Baker, the TV series was starring the controversial sixth Doctor, Colin Baker. On the plus side, they included covers by Dave Gibbons. Oddly enough, the monthly title would continue to publish after the show was cancelled, and over time include the work of Alan Moore, and would also show the never-televised regeneration of the eight Doctor Paul McGann into the ninth, Chris Eccleston.

Now, later this year, IDW will begin publishing a new title based on the tenth Doctor, with stories by TV show script writer Gary Russell and art by Nick Roche. We sat down with Russell, Roche and IDW boss Chris Ryall to get the basics about their plans. Here's what they had to say:

Newsarama: When growing up, who was your favorite Doctor, and why?

Chris Ryall: Growing up in California, the only Doctor I was ever aware of--and this was only because of the Marvel Comic or the occasional airings on Public Television--was Tom Baker's 4th Doctor. I never saw any others until Sci Fi started airing the new show here, although I've seen been getting familiar with all the Doctors.

Nick Roche: Only a casual viewer as a nipper, never quite managing to win a battle for television supremacy against my soap-watching mother. So the only one I got see with any degree of consistency was Peter Davidson's Doctor, though I caught some Pertwee action a few years previous to Nu-Who and really liked it.

Gary Russell: As a child of the late 60s/70s, Jon Pertwee was the one for me. Dashing, sophisticated, heroic and clever. Pertwee I mean, not me. I've never been any of those things.

NRAMA: How did your affection for that Doctor effect what you're doing to this comic?

CR: I really loved the new show (with Chris Eccleston) when it started airing here, and I'll admit that David Tennant's 10th Doctor has quickly become my favorite of them all. So I'm ecstatic to be telling stories featuring he and Martha, as well as revisiting some of the great stories from years past, mostly due to the wonderful Dave Gibbons artwork.

NR: As I mentioned, not a great deal of direct exposure growing up, but the concept is pretty unbeatable. Hell, I even like the 96 Movie, though possibly more out of a fondness for Paul McGann than anything else. His was the first I took an interest in, though general pop-culture knowledge fills in a lot of Doctor Who blanks. I just wanted to be involved in a chapter of something that's been cool for forty-plus years.

GR: Not at all - this series is different from everything that went before, so you adapt to suit the current environment. That said, of course it is all the same show in spirit. But then again so's Claremont's X-Men, Liefield's X-Men, Morrison's X-Men and Whedon's X-Men. And yet all of those runs are 'of their time', so you borrow a bit here, a bit there but then remold it to suit what you need to tell the story today. If can totally slaughter my analogy quotient, it's one big sandbox - we're playing with the same toys, but each kid repaints them to suit their taste. With Doctor Who, I'm hoping I don't accidentally pick up the paint pot marked SHOCKING DAY-GLO GREEN and produce something unrecognizable.

NRAMA This version features David Tennant's tenth Doctor and…which companion?

CR: Right - We're starting with the 10th Doctor and Martha. He's the current Doctor, so this makes the most sense, especially for comics that will be distributed to the American market.

GR: Can't get enough Martha. As for Tennant, 'cos he's the current one, simple as that. It's about putting characters from one medium into a totally different, and utilizing the strengths (and weaknesses) the new medium has to offer. So I gain from a bigger budget, more extras and louder bangs, yet the storytelling has to be as concise, clever and charming as the TV show is, but in a wholly different way. I have now just scared myself beyond belief...

NRAMA: Should this comic be considered canon to the entire Who universe?

CR: Canon is a funny thin, and means different things to different people--I say, if you like the stories, they're canon. But beyond that, everything Gary writes is blessed by Russell T. Davies personally, which I would think "canonizes" them even more.

NR: This comic overwrites both the current BBC series and all previous iterations. Maybe.

GR: Canon is down to individual taste. I like to believe it is the readers' job to decide on canon-icity - this, by the way, is me ducking this thorny issue!

NRAMA: Chris, what's the publishing plan here - monthly? Ongoing? Miniseries?

CR: We'll start with a miniseries that leads off with standalone stories... "episodes," if you will. And we'll also be reissuing the Dave Gibbons-drawn comics from the past, each featuring all-new coloring.

NRAMA: What was the most fun element about doing this?

GR: Doctor Who is just so perfect for comic books, and it's exciting to be doing new Who comics for the American market for the first time in decades.

NR: I'm having fun stripping down reference photos and turning Mr Tennant and Ms Agyeman into fully-fledged comic characters while still retaining their likeness. It's a challenge, but coming up with interesting results.

GR: Writing comics. Seriously. I had a brief paddle in the pool when I worked for Marvel UK back in their '92 explosion until the '94 implosion, but this is my two lifelong passions colliding magnificently. And Nick Roche - without turning this into an Oscar speech, working with Nick is great 'cos he's collaborative and not precious. Yet...

NRAMA: What was the most difficult part about doing this?

GR: We'll see... we're just getting rolling, so right now, it's all "honeymoon period."

NR: The likenesses again, weirdly. Optimus Prime 's cheekbones aren't quite as tricky to get right as Tennant's.

GR: Difficult? No one told me there'd be difficult moments...

NRAMA: Finally, what can you tell us about the plot? Does it involve the Master, Daleks, another good old nemesis or someone/thing new?

CR: I know we'd like to do some new things and not just fall right back on old tropes, but beyond that, I'll let Gary comment on things to whatever degree he'd like to tease things.

GR: Old monsters are all very well, but using the big guns like Daleks, Cybermen, the Master - it's a bit gauche. If you're going to use recognizable elements from the show - and I think you should where the story allows it - [it should be] a story that enables you to go "oooh I could put MONSTER X in here, that'd be cool" over to "oooh I need to write a story about MONSTER X") now and again, because people like to spot elements they're familiar with, then they need to be fun. Our first issue does feature something from the current show, and a later issue or two features something from waaaaay back in the series history, but these things should be done sparingly or it's no longer an event, it's the norm. And normal is dull. This will all come back to bite me, won't it...

A mainstream Doctor Who comic. In American shops?

http://www.esplatter.com/images/am/explode.gif

[Alex DeLarge]

:eek:

To quote the GORGEOUS Julie Gardner... HOORAY!

I've been saying "Doctor Who ongoing" for MONTHS! People thought I was crazy and they would never make it! Now they are! I'm about to start the Scales of Injustice by Gary Russell, so I'll tell you how it is and how he is. But man this is so great! Comic medium is PERFECT for DW!

Also, noticed a mistake. They were GOING to have the Eighth/Ninth regeneration but they couldn't come to an agreement with RTD so they didn't...

[Just Jeans]

They also called Paul McGann "Eric McGann". I fixed that error because I was so shamed for them. :X

I wondered about the regeneration. I'd heard they were going to do it in the comics, but then I never heard anything else about it. I wonder why the idea fell through? The last comments I read by RTD was, "I'll let them handle it in some other medium." I wonder why they couldn't come to terms on it?

I've not read much that IDW has published. I have the first issue of Angel: Aud Lang Syne, and I thought it was pretty good, but that's the end of my exposure. Have you read any more of IDW's catalog, Alex? Are they a trustworthy publisher? Are they anywhere near as bad as Marvel about massive delays between issues/arcs?

I've never read any of Garry Russell's work, but I've listened to a few of the Big Finish Audios that he worked on, and they were pretty good.

[Alex DeLarge]

I read their adaptation of Metal Gear Solid and I thought it was pretty good and accurate for turning a game like that into a comic. Their adaptation of the book, the Great and Secret Show was fantastic from the issues I read (and I've corresponded with Rydall over e-mails about TGASS and about future D'Amour stories). I skimmed through the Transformers prequel and thought it was pretty good. They're also doing an Angel story about Spike puppet, so I think we're in good hands...

Also, about the RTD thing. I read somewhere, it boiled down to the story would have ended with the Ninth and the comic companion going off together, but RTD veoted it, saying he wanted the Ninth to be alone (why...? I dunno, ESPECIALLY as Rose implied he had travelled on his own sometime) and they couldn't think of anyway to give the companion a good send-off. Still, how it would have happened is how I believe Eighth to Ninth happened ANYWAY (personally). The same thing that caused Ninth to Ten. Time vortex.

[Just Jeans]

I'm hoping that in the IDW comics we might get a flashback to the Time War. :eek: No budget constraints means they can do about anything.

I wouldn't mind a one-off issue between arcs that depicts the Eighth Doctor's regeneration into the Ninth.

I've been tinkering, 'coz I'm bored:

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/DrWho2.jpg
ADDED:
Good lord, I hope this isn’t just concept art:

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/Girlfight.jpg

Rose. Vs. Martha. :eek: I have a feeling it might just be a bit of concept art, but it’d be neat to see. These are just sketches, apparently, and not 100% what the final product is going to look like, but still. I like.

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/Nu-WhoSketches3.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/Nu-WhoSketches1.jpg

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/Nu-WhoSketches2.jpg


Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to color the latest bits of black and white sketch art.

New article (http://www.comicbookresources.com/news/newsitem.cgi?id=11338). According to it, the comic series is canon.

The Doctor is in.

IDW Publishing is bringing "Doctor Who," the longest-running science fiction television series in history, back to comic book shelves in early 2008.

The announcement was made today at Comic-Con International in San Diego that current TV series script editor Gary Russell will pen the series with Nick Roche ("Transformers: Devastation" and "Transformers: Beast Wars") providing artwork. "Doctor Who" showrunner Russell T Davies will oversee the book.

IDW will also begin reprinting Dave Gibbons' run on "Doctor Who Monthly" from the 1980s. Originally presented in black and white, the books will now be colored using new techniques.

Russell, who has worked in virtually every medium on Doctor Who-related projects, told CBR News the series is considered canon and will feature the Tenth Doctor, David Tennant.

"The stories involve the Doctor and Martha Jones, so it's all somewhere within the latter half of Series 3," confirmed Russell, who edited "Doctor Who Magazine" for four years before becoming the producer for the "Doctor Who" licensed audio drama tie-ins at Big Finish Productions in 1998. He stayed at Big Finish until 2006 when he left to join the staff at BBC Wales to work on both "Doctor Who" and its spin-off, "Torchwood."

The 43-year old Englishman has been following the adventures of The Doctor for nearly his entire life and actually remembers watching the episode when the First Doctor, William Hartnell, regenerated into the Second Doctor, Patrick Troughton.

"I have two elder brothers, so I guess "Doctor Who" was something they watched and I fell into it by default. My earliest memory is the Hartnell regeneration into Troughton, but I know I didn't understand it at all," explained Russell. "Then from the repeat in 1968 of "Evil of the Daleks" onwards, I was hooked. Memory is funny though, with the advent of video in the 1980s, I was able to see things I thought I had 100 per cent, spot on memories of, only to discover how way-off base I was. Kids today are so much luckier. TV and movies are instant and always available, memory and nostalgia won't be necessary for them."

The Irish-born Roche was also inundated with the Doctor from a very young age.

"It's something that's embedded into your pop culture sub-consciousness when you live in Ireland or the U.K.," said Roche. "I can't remember specific stories, but I can't remember not knowing what a Timelord, or a TARDIS, or a Dalek was. But I would watch anything that was vaguely fantastical or had a sci-fi bent to it then, as I do now. Most of my exposure to Doctor Who would have come through the Marvel U.K. comic, which crossed over with Death's Head, a character I followed from Transformers. My mate Wayne was enough of a fan for both of us; I'm knowledgeable by osmosis."

Russell, who counts the Jon Pertwee and Peter Davison incarnations of the Doctor as his favorites, said when the book was offered to him by Davies, it took all of about 10 seconds to accept.

"I've been reading comics since I was young. I started off flicking trough DC and Marvel '70s anthology titles like "Where Monsters Dwell" and "Chamber of Chills" but then discovered "Fantastic Four" #131 and have been a lifelong Marvel Zombie ever since," said Russell. "I adore Marvel team-books and indeed my only non-Marvel stuff, bar "Nexus" and "Dreadstar" and more recently "Astro City," was TV tie-ins like DC's fabulous "Star Trek" comics and Dark Horse's "Star Wars." So I'm a tie-in freak too. Anyway, to answer your question, it took no time to decide to get involved as I love writing comics because I adore the medium so much. I wrote and edited at Marvel U.K. during their big launch of stuff in 1991-92. We put out a brief but bright collection of titles and I was honored to be involved in a small way with that."

Roche also jumped about the Tardis with little prodding.

"I like being told I'm considered good enough to do something," quipped Roche. "I was a fan, it was something I could come in at ground level and establish myself on, and it was a chance to draw people, something that working on Transformers doesn't always offer."

Roche became a fan of series as a teen, watching some reruns of Pertwee's turn as the Third Doctor.

"In my teens, I caught some Jon Pertwee-era stuff and was hooked," said Roche. "I was apprehensive about watching it, having been fed a diet of visually slick '90s sci-fi like the "Star Trek" series, but it grabbed me from go. Maybe because much of those Doctor's adventures were earth-bound, the infamous creakiness of the settings weren't apparent. It was just solid, entertaining stuff. My favourite run is definitely the current version though, no doubt there."

Russell is also a big fan of his book's star – Tennant the Time Lord.

"I adore the current Doctor, David Tennant," said Russell. "I knew David for a few years before he got the role, so my admiration for him is genuine and not just P.R.!"

In fact, knowing Tennant so well helps Russell script him in the comic.

"As I said earlier, I've known David a few years now, so it's tricky, separating one of the most genuinely loveliest people in the world from my TV hero, the loveliest of those," said Russell. "But yes, hearing his voice in my head is easy. However, translating it to the page is less so. But then, what'd be the point of doing this if it wasn't a challenge. And I know very well that if I don't nail it straight away, there are several thousand people out there who'll delight in pointing this out and steering me in another direction."

Speaking of direction, Russell, who will remain on as a script editor for the series while writing the book, added jokingly that the most vocal of those several thousand will likely be his boss – Russell T Davies.

"He approves everything I do," said Russell of Davies. "This version of Doctor Who is his baby, his creativity and drive is involved all down the line on everything connected with the show. He is a comic fan too, so we both want this to work really well. I fear he may kill me personally if I get it wrong. Eek!"

Roche was also joking about a case of the jitters.

"I'm really stoked to be asked. I'm going to come under a lot of scrutiny for this," admitted Roche. "I was kind of hoping there would be no announcements but just that someone would notice one day that I'd drawn Doctor Who. Now I'm nervous!"

But as the accompanying sketches can attest, Roche should have nothing to be nervous about. He says countless hours spent with the Doctor leaves him inspired.

"I've spent tons of time with him. He gets his suits off me," joked Roche." Lots of fashion tips for ol' Dave, I have. In reality, the only time I've spent with Mr. Tennant is through screen-grabbing and freeze-framing his DVD self. He's got such a recognizable face that contorts into very specific shapes and expressions that it's important to get it as right as I can."

Russell, who has two years worth of stories mapped out for what is expected to be ongoing series, is also happy with the Doctor's current companion, Martha Jones, played on television by Freema Agyeman.

"I adore Martha Jones and find writing for her great fun," said Russell, adding readers may have to wait a while to see the Doctor's archenemy in action.

"Bringing in Daleks would be a bit predictable at this stage. Let's wait and see what other old foes we can find to play with first," teased Russell.

Sharing a similar sense of humor, Russell and Roche have become quick companions working on the project even though the writer has some Dalek-inspired plans for his trusted artist.

"Nick has patience, experience, a weary 'Oh, okay Gary, if you're sure' and a huge sense of fun to the book," said Russell. "God, that man is so talented it makes me sick. And he's cheerful all the time. I hate cheerful people, so I'm making it my mission to destroy his happy exterior and make him hate me!"

Roche, however, can not be deterred.

"Gary is a lovely change of pace. The guy is incredibly generous. I tend to feel my place as an artist is to serve the story and I'm happy to do that, but Gary's keen on back-and-forth emails about direction and what not," countered Roche. "He's even been as sweet to ask what I want or don't want to draw and how many panels a page I'm comfortable drawing. The answer: One very small panel in the bottom corner. He claims he wants my input, but possibly only to indicate what direction to ignore."

"As a concept, the Doctor never gets dull. And if it falls into a rut you don't particularly like, in two or three years, a new producer or Doctor or companion will come along and reboot it," said Russell.
ADDED:
I've just spent two hours (!) colorizing the Rose vs. Martha sketch:

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/GirlfightColor.jpg

[sickboy]

Ok, I had a spare hour so I coloured it too. I'm such a geek :D The first one is just colours I blocked in using a cuple of photos for reference, the second was the start of some shading before I got bored and abandoned it:

http://www.f13-community.co.uk/filedump/drwho-shade.jpg

http://www.f13-community.co.uk/filedump/drwho.jpg

[Scarecrow]

I just hope this doesn't effect DWM's long-running comic strip.


- Scarecrow

[Just Jeans]

It probably won't. The IDW comics are being published by a State-side distributor for one thing, and Doctor Who Magazine has never been mainstream over here. I reckon Panini will continue to publish the monthly strip with the Tenth Doctor and Martha, then probably the Tenth Doctor and Donna Noble closer to the start of series 4.

It's nice that we in the states will finally get a monthly Doctor Who series that doesn't have to be imported. I can't stomach the idea of paying $142.76 USD for an imported subscription to DWM. But I'm sure the UK members won't have to import IDW's series. It'll almost certainly be released domestically.

At least this lessens the sting of Ian Levine's insistent cries that Doctor Who will be going away after series 4. Even if the show is rested, Gary Russell has two years worth of stories pre-planned for the comics, so everything looks bright for the foreseeable future (even if Ian is right).
ADDED:
Ok, I had a spare hour so I coloured it too. I'm such a geek :D The first one is just colours I blocked in using a cuple of photos for reference, the second was the start of some shading before I got bored and abandoned it...

I've been thinking about shading it, but I just couldn't be fussed. I've never been good at shading. Maybe you can give me some tips, Richard?

I like how you went for more muted colors. I used a couple of pictures of Rose for reference, but for Martha and the Doctor I used some images from The Infinite Quest (and I always liked it when the Doctor wore a burgundy shirt, I just couldn't get it to look right, so I went for the color you see there). I sort of went for a more lively, 1980s-style color scheme. I always liked my comics bright.

[sickboy]

I'm not a big fan of 80's colours... as for the colours you see in the ones I did, there's a real big cheat. I loaded the inks in photoshop, and then loaded up some reference photos...

I sampled the colours I wanted so they would be exact :D And for those who are interested, I just painted with a hard brush on a seperate kayer for each colour, set to multiply blend.

For shading, just grab a large, soft-edged brush and select the Dodge tool, set it to 4% and go nuts.
ADDED:
It's nice that we in the states will finally get a monthly Doctor Who series that doesn't have to be imported. I can't stomach the idea of paying $142.76 USD for an imported subscription to DWM. But I'm sure the UK members won't have to import IDW's series. It'll almost certainly be released domestically.

Fortunately our comic shops stock all the latest american comics so we won;t have to wait :D In fact, now it;s been announced I'll be adding it to my pull list, as well as any alternate covers they do. It's about time we got some decent Doctor Who stuff... I've not been impressed by the figures, and my money box is just cheap plastic... and don't get me started on those shitty Battles in Time cards

[Alex DeLarge]

At least this lessens the sting of Ian Levine's insistent cries that Doctor Who will be going away after series 4.

He's saying WHAT now?! All I know about Ian Levine is that he's a bit of a smeghead, composed the AWFUL theme song to K9 and Company and is a possible inspiration for the Abzorbaloff.
ADDED:
Holy cow. My pull list just got a little bit bigger. :eek:

IDW Publishing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IDW_Publishing) -- who brought us comics based on Transformers, Buffy the Vampire Slayer

BTW this is also incorrect. Dark Horse does Buffy. IDW only does Angel.

[sickboy]

ADDED:


BTW this is also incorrect. Dark Horse does Buffy. IDW only does Angel.

I thought IDW did Buffy for a while.
ADDED:
Nevermind, it was just spike and Angel they did.

I'm not a fan of anything IDW have ever done, but this does look promising.

[Alex DeLarge]

Given the title change to accommodate CBR, let me go on a little tangent about a word called "canon." Canon is a word used a lot in fan communities, and has validity in a lot of places. Star Trek for example, has Paramount Pictures who says "The 5 TV series and films are canon with the animated one as psuedo-canon." George Lucas dictates that the 6 Star Wars films are canon with the rest of the media in different "layers" of canon.

Doctor Who has no such thing. RTD has talked about this in a round-about way and Paul Cornell and Lance Parkin have discussed this in GREAT, GREAT detail. The BBC doesn't care. They don't say "The television series and Torchwood and SJA and K9 and Company are canon, the rest aren't." They don't care enough and the only person who COULD say that is RTD. And what does RTD say? Canon is what the fans want. If the fans think the classic series is canon and nothing else is, that's fine! If they think DW started with the NAs and the new series is a spin-off of that, it's fine! The TV show isn't canon, the spin-off shows are canon, the books aren't canon and the comic isn't canon unless the INDIVIDUAL wants them to be.

And in the end, I'm going to believe Russell T. Davies, Paul Cornell, Lance Parkin and Gary Russell himself (look at the interview in your first post) on the subject of DW canon than Comic Book Resources...

[Just Jeans]

Thanks for the tips on shading, Richard. We actually color the images the exact same way (painting on a new layer set to multiply blend) but I've just never been good at shading. I'm going to go give it a try. :D

I also sampled the colors from source images, but I was nabbing the colors from The Infinite Quest, then I made them all a tiny bit brighter.

He's saying WHAT now?!

Ian has been going on for some time over on Outpost Gallifrey that the show is set to be rested after series 4. According to "his sources", Jane Tranter refuses to continue the series without David Tennant or Russell T Davies. His sources are telling him that rather than replace Davies or Tennant, she hopes to keep them on by resting the series and doing one or two specials per year, this way Davies can go work on the new "untitled gay men" show he's developing for BBC 1 and David can pursue other ventures. Of course she's denied this in an e-mail to Levine, and has said that the BBC has a long term commitment to Doctor Who, yet Ian continues to be the doom monger. Never mind that Jane has at least two people over her (Julie Gardner and the bloke who runs BBC 1) that keep saying that while they only commission one series at a time, there are no plans to rest Doctor Who at the moment.

Ian is fandom's number one pessimist. At least he's only sending angry e-mails that attack Steven Moffat's character this time around. He could be out smashing televisions with hammers. :rolleyes:

BTW this is also incorrect. Dark Horse does Buffy. IDW only does Angel.

I thought they did a couple of Buffy one-shots. My mistake. :X

PS: I skipped your rant about canon, because it's boring (not your rant, canon in general). I'm sick and tired of canon and its relationship to Doctor Who spin-off media. The only thing I consider untouchable is the TV series -- if the comics, books or Big Finish Audios contradict the TV series, I ignore it (the contradiction, not the story). Doctor Who and canon is too much of a headache to be fussed about, and the arguments that it causes on OG is unreal. The BBC's refusal to take a stand on the canon issue (which is partly to do with the charter, I'm led to believe) makes it too tedious to concern myself with.

[Alex DeLarge]

I agree DW canon is a boring conversation, I just don't believe the title of the thread should have been changed to "canon comic series" because the series writer, artist and IDW boss said it wasn't, despite what CBR said.

Ian Levene sounds like a bit of an ass. Just annoying and rude and attacking everything. Like Lawrence Miles without the well-received novels...

And both of you guys colorized pics are GORGEOUS. Great work!

[Just Jeans]

I only changed the name because CBR insinuated that Russell confirmed it, and him going on about the placement of the series within the 3rd series sounded pretty canon-like to me. :scared:

[Alex DeLarge]

Eh, from what some of my comic friends tell me, CBR insinuates a lot of things. ;) They were the first to talk about Final Crisis, reporting it would be written by Kurt Busiek (I think they did) when actually, Grant Morrison is. I just thought since Russell himself said "No" and CBR said it in article, not from any of the horses' mouths, it's not yet (or will be).

[sickboy]

And both of you guys colorized pics are GORGEOUS. Great work!

Thank you :)

I did Tenannt too:

http://www.f13-community.co.uk/filedump/tennant.jpg


I did myself some new wallpaper while I was at it too:

http://www.f13-community.co.uk/filedump/dwdktp.jpg

[Alex DeLarge]

Good job on that too, but I should note, Tennant's shoes usually have some red in 'em! Still, looks awesome. Love that wallpaper.

[Just Jeans]

Damn it, I was hoping to color that full body Tennant image before you. :cry:

Alex, Tennant also wears solid white trainers. He tends to wear them with the brown suit, but he does wear them. It seems he wears brown suit with white trainers, blue suit with red and white trainers.

Anyhoo, after an hour and a half toying around with shading, this is the shameful result:

http://i185.photobucket.com/albums/x124/f13thtribute/Girlfightshading1.jpg

[sickboy]

I really like it Jans. You have more patience than me.

[Just Jeans]

Thanks. :)

I find playing in Photoshop relaxes me. It's a good cure for the blues, and I've got nothing but time these days, so it gives me something to do. I've got a ton of Photoshoped junk on my computer.

I like your full length Tenth Doctor wall paper, by the way. I'm going to do the same, only I'm going to put the Doctor against a MS Paint TARDIS. I draw the TARDIS in MS Paint quite a lot, so I can do one in about 20 minutes these days.

[sickboy]

As you mayhave noticed by my last few avatars, I like playing with photoshop too. I get what you mean about it being relaxing, I do the same. Speaking of which, my last offering for today, and probably my favourite. I was messing with light and set myself a 20 minute time limit:

http://www.f13-community.co.uk/filedump/tennant2.jpg

[Just Jeans]

You did that in 20 minutes? Christ, you're fast. :eek: I'm so slow it's ridiculous.

[sickboy]

It's all about the way you go about it- I'll take a new layer with each colour I'm going to use (in this case face, coat, tie, shirt, suit, hair, lips) and roughly block over that part. I set each layer to Multiply so the black shows through then it;s a case of using the eraser and quickly running round the lines while zoomed in. When I first started colouring in photoshop I used to try to paint inside the lines, whih was a bloody annoying thing to do.

The light and shadows was doen with a low opacity grey gradient for the light and a layer of grey, again set to multiply where I just painted loosely where I felt they should go.

[Just Jeans]

I do it the same way as you described... right up till the way by which you handle the light and shadow. That went over my head. I need to work it out, though. It'll bring my game up a notch or two.

[Alex DeLarge]

I have no idea the specifics about any of this. I understand "Reverse the polarity!" more than this stuff. Regardless, all of it looks absolutely fantastic. Give yourselves both pats on the backs!

[Linderman]

Holy Crap, JJ and Sick you guys are amazing. Nice work.

[Just Jeans]

The first issue will be Doctor Who Classics #1, and will be one of the old arc. It starts in December, with new series issues starting in January:

DOCTOR WHO CLASSICS #1

Written by Pat Mills and John Wagner, art by Dave Gibbons, cover by Joe Corroney.

IDW Publishing kicks off its Doctor Who line with monthly re-presentations of classic Doctor Who comics, featuring some of the best talents in the business! Up first, adventures featuring the fourth doctor courtesy. Each issue will feature all-new state-of-the-art coloring by color artist Charlie Kirchoff, as well as a new cover by Joe Corroney. And coming next month, all-new Doctor Who adventures!

32 pages, $3.99.

And the cover for issue one:

http://imgbolt.com/public/26451/doctorwho1.jpg

Cor, it's beautiful...

By the sounds of it, January will see "Doctor Who Classics #2" and "Doctor Who #1". I think they're running two different series alongside one another.

[sickboy]

Good news indeed... shame it's IDW, not a fan of much they do, but any DW comic is better than none at all. Let's hope they can keep a decent schedule going, I'm going crazy waiting for Dark Tower :(


On an unrelated note: I don't know why, but that cover recalls a recent Marvel cover:
http://image.comicvine.com/uploads/news/2007-06-25/96073_1000.jpg

[Just Jeans]

The Doctor Who Classic issues are reprints of the old Marvel Doctor Who comics, so IDW has nothing to do with them beyond recoloring and republishing them. But with Gary Russell working on the 10th Doctor comics, I'm willing to bet they'll be pretty good.

[Just Jeans]

I'm assuming this is the cover for Issue #01:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/DanielW/drwho1.jpg

[Just Jeans]

Issue 2:
http://www.newsarama.com/IDWnew/DrWho/DrWhoCvr2.jpg

Issue 3:
http://www.newsarama.com/IDWnew/DrWho/DW3Cover.jpg

It looks like, to begin with, the IDW book is only going to be a six issues mini (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=138970).

He’s a pretty familiar “face” on U.S. and British television, even though that face changes regularly as new actors take on the role. It’s been over 20 years since Dr. Who has shown his face, any face, in American comics on any regular basis.

In January, that changes with a six-issue mini-series from IDW.

The Doctor is in.

The series will be written by Gary Russell, the story editor of the very cool Doctor Who television show that appears in the states on the SciFi Channel. The artist is another Brit, Nick Roche, known for his work on Transformers and the Transformers Showcase series.

Russell said this is not his first comic work. “I wrote some stuff for Marvel UK back in ‘92 when they did their big push into the US market after the success of Death’s Head,” he said. “I wrote a thing called Cyberspace 3000 - there’s some pretty damning reviews of that on the net! - and a couple of issues of Dark Angel which I really liked. I edited a few comics too. I’ve done a couple of Dr. Who strips for Marvel UK too. I’ve been a Marvel junkie since buying issue #158 of Fantastic Four. And still am.”

Roche, meanwhile, has been working for IDW for about two years on various Transformers projects, or, as he puts it somewhat indelicately, “I'm Chris Ryall's bitch.”

Ryall, the publisher and editor-in-chief of IDW, noted that these are the first Dr. Who comics made exclusively for the American audience. He was not available to comment on whether, in fact, Roche was his bitch.

So, pretend that none of us know who Doctor Who is, how would you describe him?

“He’s a lonely traveler in space and time, the last survivor of his people, the Time Lords, who fought a massive Time War with a race called the Daleks,” said Russell. “No one won, everyone lost. He has a series of human companions, currently the rather fabulous Martha Jones, a young trainee doctor from contemporary London. Together they travel the galaxies, righting wrongs, unopressing the oppressed and generally having a ball being the best heroes on TV today. Its fun fantasy TV, with a real emotional heart and soul. By not being constrained to one time or place, the universe, past and present, is their oyster.”

Roche adds that extensive knowledge of the show is not a prerequisite to enjoying the comic. “You'll be happy to hear to don't have to be knee-deep in the show's 44-year history, the thought of which could possibly be a huge turn-off the uninitiated,” he said. “In fact, I would go as far as to say you don't really need to have seen any of the current Nu-Who at all, as Gary provides fresh-faced newcomers with a concise (ie: one page!) 'Who The Doctor Is and How He Came To Be' top-up as the series' very first page.

“In fact, of all Issue #1 serves as a primer, featuring a 'Greatest Hits' of the Doctor; Whimsy, Sonic Screwdriver, Cute Assistant, Hint of Underlying Darkness...all present and correct,” Roche said. “And it'd be great if the comic opened up the show for new viewers. It really is a treat.”

One of the common problems artists face when trying to turn a television show into a comic is how faithful they need to be to the actor’s likeness. Sometimes the comics look odd because the artist is trying too hard. One of the best examples of getting it right is IDW’s 24 comics, where the artist, Jean Diaz, captures the looks of Jack Bauer and friends without making them look stiff.

“As an artist, I've never really been drawn to licensed titles based on TV shows or movie properties when the characters are so laboriously photo-reffed, that they have no character,” Roche said. “Obviously, your lead characters need to be recognizable, but I think it'd be a disservice to the medium of comics to have your panels resemble the publicity shots and reference material you were supplied with. I just wouldn't be able to do that anyway!

“I've got quite an exaggerated cartoony style, but I think Doctor Who plays to my strengths,” Roche continued. “My style wouldn't work on CSI or 24, but Doctor Who is a fantastical, mind-bending fantasy romp. And its lead actor, David Tennant, has got quite a bouncy, animated look to him. I don't mean any disrespect when I say the bloke's a living cartoon, and a joy to draw. As is Freema Agyeman, the actress who plays the irresponsibly cute Doctor's assistant, Martha. The girl's got a very drawable face! I think capturing the essence of the character, rather than chronicling accurately the actors' moles and dimples, serves the comic better.”

Russell agrees that “the essence is more essential than realistic likenesses.”

Russell said even though the series is slated for six issues, he has at least 18 plotted out in his head. He hopes to get the chance to write them.

The stories taken place within the third season, “somewhere in between episodes 7 and 8 or 9 and 10 or 10 and 11.”

That said, Russell added that the stories that appear in the comic were created exclusively for the comic, not for the television show. “What’s the point in that?” he said. “The comic medium is unique, it’s brilliant and free and expansive and unfettered by budget. Why take a TV idea with all the things that go with that medium and shoehorn it into a wholly different medium? No, each issue is wholly 100% created for IDW. Besides which, I don’t think there are any unused/spare TV stories lying around for me to steal!”

Roche notes that time travel frees up the writers.

“It's the beauty of a time-travel concept: five seconds off-screen in a TV show can translate into 12 issues of adventures,” he said. “I think this series can give you the 'whole experience' of series 3 though. Gary, as script editor of the telly show, has unprecedented access to the showrunners.”

Russell was asked if writing comics allow your imagination to go wild, since you were unconstrained by special effects budgets?

“A huge space station with a bar full of aliens; a massive skyscraper exploding; a thirty foot tall cat rampaging through 1970s London, knocking buses flying’ entire races of planets disappearing in a flash; People made of sand,” he replied, a yes implied. “I don’t think you could achieve all that on a TV budget very convincingly. The idea is to use the comics to tell stories that TV can’t do. And also to build, to seed themes, concepts and characters that again episodic TV doesn’t always allow for.”

More specifically, Roche is excited about the first page of the first issue.

“Gotta say, page one of this comic has done something you will never see in the series, (probably),” he said. “Seriously, Who-fans need to check this comic out for an important piece of in-canon lore realized for the first time. There's a danger of having the freedom of no-budget in some respects. There's a temptation to let your imagination wreak nonsense when it comes to designing aliens and creatures. They have to be, I dunno, almost designed with a TV budget in mind, to make sure that they feel like ‘Who.‘ That's not to say I got lazy and gave everyone ridges. Oh...you'll see!”

Don’t look for any crossovers into Torchwood in the series though, although Russell said if there ever was to be such a crossover in the comics, “I’d climb over the people I’d just slaughtered to get to write it!!”

But crossovers? No.

“Although the Doctor Who/Torchwood universe is one, and the dividing line blurs once in a blue moon, thematically, doing a crossover would be a nightmare, and just a bit pointless,” he said. “Torchwood is darker in tone than Doctor Who – they both have humor and scariness at their cores, but play it out very differently.”

So, who are the bad guys in the comics?

“There’s a businessman called Wain you’ll see occasionally,” Russell said. “He’s from the far, far future but seems to nip around other times and places via a strange limbo dimension he seems comfortable in. There’s a Pantheon of alien - not gods as such - but big scary guys. There’s a weird scientist whose bitten off more than he can chew. And a couple of aliens from the TV show, including a Sycorax warrior and some Catkind. I like the Catkind. They may crop up more than once.”

Roche said he had fun with the bad guys.

“Visually, the villain is based on one of my best friends,” he said. “So I'm going to have Wain eating Pringles on my couch at Christmas. I'm hoping Martha will pop round too.”

Based on this interview, I think the first page of the first issue is a depiction of the Time War.

[Alex DeLarge]

Issue 2:
http://www.newsarama.com/IDWnew/DrWho/DrWhoCvr2.jpg

Issue 3:
http://www.newsarama.com/IDWnew/DrWho/DW3Cover.jpg

It looks like, to begin with, the IDW book is only going to be a six issues mini (http://forum.newsarama.com/showthread.php?t=138970).



Based on this interview, I think the first page of the first issue is a depiction of the Time War.

We've already seen the first page according to the DWF folks.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v609/DanielW/who1_6.jpg

I like the idea of a semi-recurring new villain. The new series itself IMO needs to do that. Create a new recurring nemesis for the Doctor, one who he can battle wits with.

[Just Jeans]

We've already seen the first page according to the DWF folks.

If that's the first page, then what is Roche on about?

“Gotta say, page one of this comic has done something you will never see in the series, (probably),” he said. “Seriously, Who-fans need to check this comic out for an important piece of in-canon lore realized for the first time."

His comments about the first page being an "important piece of in-canon lore realized for the first time" don't quite mesh with what you've posted, Alex. :confused:

[Scarecrow]

Well a huge canteen full of alien races probably won't be seen any time soon but who knows...


- Scarecrow

[Alex DeLarge]

http://www.idwpublishing.com/previews.shtml

*sighs*

That's EXACTLY why I didn't want to see Gallifrey's destruction. God, it's so cliche! Ever since the Dark Phoenix saga, the oldest way to show a planet's destruction in comics is to show panel one with the citizens having a nice time, looking up in the next panel to scary destruction in the sky before seeing the planet explode. Ergh, makes me sick. So long all my theories and internal beliefs on Gallifrey "burning," and hello, generic comic-planet-explosion.

In general, the art's terrible. Who are these people in the TARDIS? Not the Doctor and Martha surely? The Doctor's regenerated and Martha... blech. I'm still going to get it, but I'm nowhere near as excited as I once was.

[FinalBeyond]

Goodbye, mystery. Hello, Krypton ripoff.

[Just Jeans]

Hooray, I was right! And best of all, I'm really pleased to be right, because not showing the Time War is a cop out. Talking it up to be this massive, cataclysmic event... and then not showing it? Boo to that, I say. It's obvious the only reason they've never expanded on the idea in the television show is lack of budget. In the comics, budget isn't an issue.

So again, to reiterate -- hooray!

As far as the art style is concerned, I've seen enough of IDW's adaptations to know the character designs weren't going to be photo real, and I think it looks quite good. Not as detailed or complex as I imagined, but not awful, either.

Now I just hope our local hack shop can be bothered to carry them. :mad:

And here's something odd: Doctor Who Classics Vol. 1 (http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Classics-Pat-Mills/dp/1600101895/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197914812&sr=8-1) and Doctor Who (http://www.amazon.com/Doctor-Who-Gary-Russell/dp/1600101968/ref=pd_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1197914960&sr=8-2) are already up for pre-order on Amazon.com in TPB format.

[sickboy]

http://www.idwpublishing.com/previews.shtml

*sighs*

That's EXACTLY why I didn't want to see Gallifrey's destruction. God, it's so cliche! Ever since the Dark Phoenix saga, the oldest way to show a planet's destruction in comics is to show panel one with the citizens having a nice time, looking up in the next panel to scary destruction in the sky before seeing the planet explode. Ergh, makes me sick. So long all my theories and internal beliefs on Gallifrey "burning," and hello, generic comic-planet-explosion.]

Got it in one. This is why I preferred it when it wasn't shown, just mentioned. This reeks of "what can we do to guarantee the not-so-hardcore fanboys who wouldn't normally buy a comic book will buy this one". Yes the fans want it, but they've got three specials in 2009... would have been a really good opportunity to cover it then.


In general, the art's terrible. Who are these people in the TARDIS? Not the Doctor and Martha surely? The Doctor's regenerated and Martha... blech. I'm still going to get it, but I'm nowhere near as excited as I once was.

Art to me is acceptable, but then I read a butt-load of comics so have seen a lot worse. DW isn't that big a franchise in the great scheme of things, not in the comics world anyway so it was never going to attract anyone brilliant. Oh to have Stjepan Sejic paint them...

[Scarecrow]

i look forward to it but I giuess I could have done without the first page. That said glad to actually se eit detsroyed. Removed form tiem, my arse!


- Scarecrow

[Just Jeans]

Doctor Who Classics #01 is out now. My best friend picked it up for me in Longview two days ago. Still no sign of Doctor Who #01, though.

DW isn't that big a franchise in the great scheme of things, not in the comics world anyway...

You could say the same thing about The Dark Tower, but they ended up being made of awesome.

[sickboy]

That's true Mr Jeans, but then the Dark Tower was a very special project and published by Marvel.


Just got news today that the distributor my comic shop uses won't import any copies.

Something to do with the license to print DW publications in this country. Ebay it is then. Shit like this pisses me off.

[Just Jeans]

Well, I guess that's suitable revenge for the same basic issues keeping Spaced off DVD in the US. :X

You should be able to order a subscription on IDW's website, Rich. They had a foreign subscription option for both the classic and new comics when I was last on their site. Just because some licensing hang up is keeping it from being published in the UK doesn't mean UK members can't order it direct from IDW's American site, apparently.

[sickboy]

Well, I guess that's suitable revenge for the same basic issues keeping Spaced off DVD in the US. :X

You should be able to order a subscription on IDW's website, Rich. They had a foreign subscription option for both the classic and new comics when I was last on their site. Just because some licensing hang up is keeping it from being published in the UK doesn't mean UK members can't order it direct from IDW's American site, apparently.

Nope, red text at the bottom of the subscription page says USA only. They aren't licensed to sell it into any other country :(

Looks like I'll have to find another method.

[Just Jeans]

That sucks, man. :(

On the plus side, at least with comic books you don't have to struggle against region coding and PAL/NTSC inconsistencies once you have them. :shifty:

*grumbles about Mine All Mine, Spaced and Primeval still not having Region 1 DVD releases and shuffles off*

You could try ordering them on the American Amazon. The TPBs of both series are up for pre-order. Amazon may well ship them internationally. There's also WHO NA. I don't see why they wouldn't ship them to the UK (they have done with other items).

[Darth Sinister]

IDW panel from New York Comic Con.

In July, IDW launches a monthly Doctor Who series. Writer Tony Lee said that he had “already spoken to the BBC” and presented them with “a massive six thousand word pitch.” The monthly will be like a season of the television series, he said. There will be new companions, because “if you do a new Martha story everybody knows how it ends. With new companions, you can do things people don’t know.” Although there will be “a lot of new stuff,” readers will also be treated to many old races and characters. “Al Davidson, a great artist, is doing the first two issues,” involving 1927 Hollywood and Charlie Chaplin. “Best fun I’ve ever had,” said Lee, who joked that he broke in with IDW by renting “a house opposite their office and watching them with night-vision goggles.”

[Just Jeans]

New arc, new companion, eh? Sounds interesting. Pity no one around here carries them on the shelf, and I can't seem to find a website that sells them in order or carries the whole line up to now.

[Alex DeLarge]

I've read the first six issues by Gary Russell but not the Forgotten yet. I'm excited about this though! I love how Ten's getting some spin-off companions in the comics, first Majenta Pryce (and I hear DWA have their own too) and now this person.

[FinalBeyond]

I managed to read The Forgotten the other day, via torrented files sent to me by a friend, and loved it. Although I almost get the feeling it was written to tell the non-diehard fans something like "Go away. This isn't FOR you", much in the same way that Lucky Star attempts to alienate the casual anime viewer from its first episode, leaving the delicious references to be enjoyed by the rest of us.

Even beyond the obvious cameos and such, and references to obscure aspects of the show that non fans would be baffled by (Including one reference to the Valeyard that made me squee) the 'memories' of the Doctor are stories that would fit perfectly into their respective eras, from the straight historical of Hartnell to a violent, courtroom drama with Baker. Add some Time War stuff with McGann (with very cheeky explanations of the TV Movie), and Davison facing down the Judoon, and it's just pure fanwank. But that's not insulting it, as it carries off that aspect perfectly.

As for the ending (P19-20), it's perfect. It'd be so easy to get wrong, but it's spectacular.