Comic mini-series highlights “lost” Doctor Who adventures

Doctor Who hit American comic-book shelves earlier this year with a five-issue mini-series from IDW.  Critical reviews and sales were enough that IDW has commissioned a new mini-series featuring the Doctor that will begin publication in August, according to Comic Book Resources.

The twist is that this time the series won’t just focus on adventures by the current Doctor, but will offer a window into some “lost” adventures of each incarnation of everyone’s favorite Time Lord. 

Called “Doctor Who: The Forgotten,” the series comes from the creative team of by Tony Lee and Pia Guerra.

“Although it’s always nice to revisit old friends,” Lee said, “I think we can give more ‘forgotten tales’ in these short flashbacks. We have the First Doctor, Ian, Barbara and Susan meeting Egyptians; we have the Second, Jamie and Zoe meeting space lizards; the Third, Jo and The Brigadier (and pretty much most of the UNIT regulars) defeating aliens on Dartmoor; the Fourth and Romana (two) in millennium Paris; the Fifth, Tegan and Turlough facing a more recent addition in a Village cricket match; the Sixth and Peri in a courtroom; the Seventh and Ace in an alien war torn city; the Eighth alone in a Count of Monte Cristo setting; and the Ninth and Rose in the trenches of World War I. And every single one of them has been an utter joy to write.

“Oh and of course we have the Tenth and Martha,” Lee added, “in a strange museum being hassled by gun happy waxworks, giant familiar spiders, robots and a mysterious and familiar bearded man.”

Lee stopped short of offering too many details on the adventures, including whether or not any of the Doctors who meet-up during the course of the story.

“Let’s just say that there is a two-page double-spread panel in one of the later issues that will make all the fans excited. And by this point you’ll also know exactly what’s going on. I told the ending to a longtime friend and massive Doctor Who fan and he spent the next hour a gibbering wreck,” Lee said.

With IDW’s miniseries taking place in a museum, the opportunities for easter eggs are abundant. “I can say in the first issue we see a Voord’s helmet (from ‘The Keys of Marinus’),” he said. “So you can see right there that we’re going right back in the fan trivia stakes. And of course there will be rucksacks of Nitro-9, and time traveling wrist bands and Wax figures and costumes and masks and a whole plethora of items that could help or hinder the Doctor in his escape.”

“Doctor Who: The Forgotten” hits comic-stores later this year.