First Doctor comic stories

From Infogalactic: the planetary knowledge core
Jump to: navigation, search

Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

The First Doctor comic stories is a range of offscreen adventures featuring the first incarnation of the Doctor, the protagonist of the hit sc-fi BBC One series, Doctor Who. These ranges are notable for beginning a big history of Doctor Who in comics.

History

As with the television series, the William Hartnell version of the Doctor was the original comic strip Doctor. However, the actor's portrayal of the character was often lost in TV Comic, the dominant publication to feature First Doctor stories. At a superficial level, the character wasn't called "the Doctor", but "Dr. Who". Yet at a basic level, the comics were hampered by the inclusion of two children as his companions. Though they may well have made it easier for kids — the primary target audience for the comic strips — to relate to the Doctor, they made it almost impossible for a well-rounded portrayal of the First Doctor's many qualities. Especially profound was the loss of the Doctor's inherent "grumpiness"; with no adults around, the Doctor had no target for his anger. Thus, the comic First Doctor was reduced to being just a grandfather with a time-space ship. However, even these two points were somewhat in doubt.

The comic TARDIS wasn't actually much of a time-travel device. As almost every story was set in the far future, it was little more than a simple spaceship. That threw the First Doctor's inclination towards historical adventures out the window. In addition, his status as "grandfather" was a point of incredulity, as well. How could he be the grandfather to John and Gillian? What was their relationship to the never-referenced Susan? How did the stories told in the comic strips relate to the television series? These were all questions left completely unanswered.

Worse still, the comic First Doctor was deprived even of the Daleks. Since Terry Nation had licensed the comic Daleks to appear only by themselves from 1965 to 1967, the comic First Doctor never encountered them. He was forced instead to repeatedly face the TV Comic "substitute", the Trods.

The best the TV Comic First Doctor could muster by way of resembling himself was a lone story that tied in with an atypical television adventure: Dr. Who and the Zarbi on the Web Planet.

It really wasn't until Doctor Who Magazine began publishing a handful of original First Doctor stories that the William Hartnell portrayal was really seen in comics. Consequently, most of the First Doctor's companions didn't have their comic debuts until the early 1990s. By then, thirty years after the fact, it was really a case of "too little, too late". Comic readers are still waiting for the First Doctor to encounter the Daleks.

Given these facts, it is perhaps not surprising that, as a matter of Doctor Who Magazine continuity, the entirety of the First Doctor's TV Comic run was retconned out of existence as a dream of the Eighth Doctor.

Comics

TV Comic

# Title Featuring Writer Release Date
1 "The Klepton Parasites" John and Gillian, and the Kleptons TBA November 1964 - January 1965
During a visit to 1960s London, the Doctor accidentally allows schoolchildren, John and Gillian, aboard the TARDIS, and the ship is whisked off to the alien Thain city. The city is under attack from the Kleptons, who plan to turn the whole planet into a underwater city and turn the Thain species into mindless slaves. As the Doctor joins forces with Thain leader Valda to use the Klepton's technology against them, John and Gillian join an army to fight off the invasion force. But John is soon taken hostage by Klepton One, a crazed and power-mad god...
2 "The Therovian Quest" John and Gillian TBA January - February 1965
Landing on Theros, the Doctor, John and Gillian befriend the dying President of the Therovian - and discover the entire Therovian race is at risk. Alongside an aggressive soldier called Grig, the Doctor and his companions set off on a mission to find Woodan, the oldest Therovian in existence and the species only hope of survival. But they must trek through the Ixon city, ruled over by the Great Ixa.
3 "The Hijackers of Thrax" John and Gillian TBA March 1965
4 "On the Web Planet" John and Gillian, and the Zarbi TBA March - May 1965
5 "The Gyros" John and Gillian David Motton May - June 1965
6 "Home to Hamelin" John and Gillian, and the Pied Piper David Motton June - July 1965
7 "Moon Landing" John and Gillian TBA July - August 1965
8 "In Reverse" John and Gillian David Motton August 1965
9 "Lizardworld" John and Gillian TBA September 1965
10 "The Ordeals of Demeter" John and Gillian TBA October 1965
11 "Enter: The Go-Ray" John and Gillian TBA October - November 1965
12 "Dr. Who Meets the Frog People" John and Gillian TBA November - December 1965
13 "A Christmas Story" John and Gillian, and Santa Claus TBA December - January 1965
14 "In Search of the Didus" John and Gillian TBA January - February 1966
15 "Space Station Z-7" John and Gillian TBA February - March 1966
16 "Plague of the Black Scorpi" John and Gillian Roger Cook March - April 1966
17 "The Trodos Tyranny" John and Gillian, and the Trods Roger Cook April - May 1966
18 "The Secrets of Gemino" John and Gillian Roger Cook May - June 1966
19 "The Haunted Planet" John and Gillian Roger Cook June - July 1966
20 "The Hunters of Zerox" John and Gillian Roger Cook July - August 1966
21 "The Underwater Robot" John and Gillian Roger Cook September 1966
22 "Return of the Trods" John and Gillian, and the Trods Roger Cook October 1966
23 "The Galaxy Games" John and Gillian Roger Cook October - November 1966
24 "The Experimenters" John and Gillian Roger Cook November - December 1966

TV Comic Holiday Special

# Title Featuring Writer Release Date
1 "Prisoners of Gritog" TBA TBA June 1965
2 "Guests of King Neptune" John and Gillian Roger Cook June 1966
3 "The Gaze of the Gorgon" John and Gillian Roger Cook June 1966

TV Comic Annuals

Annuals

See also

External links

Retrieved from "https://infogalactic.com/w/index.php?title=First_Doctor_comic_stories&oldid=689283217"