Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor – Operation Volcano #1 – Cover by Christopher Jones
Hot on the heels of revealing the Thirteenth Doctor’s first adventures will be created by an all-female creative team, Titan Comics have announced a Seventh Doctor mini series written by former TV series script editor Andrew Cartmel and Ben Aaronovitch, drawn by Christopher Jones, artist on the stunning Heralds of Destruction Third Doctor mini series.
Earlier this week, Titan revealed Jody Houser, the writer behind DC Comics’ Mother Panic and several Marvel Star Wars adaptations, will be joined by recurring Who artist Rachael Stott and colorist Enrica Angiolini on the Thirteenth Doctor series. This will launch this autumn. No art has been revealed for the series yet, but we’re sure it won’t be too long coming.
This exciting news was followed up with news of a Seventh Doctor mini series, complementing other Who projects featuring the Tenth, Eleventh and Twelfth Doctors.
Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor – Operation Volcano #1 – Cover by Simon Myers
In Operation Volcano, the Seventh Doctor and Ace (played on screen by Sylvester McCoy and Sophie Aldred) join the Intrusion Counter Measures Group, a predecessor to U.N.I.T,, to tackle aliens in the Australian outback with a deadly scheme that threatens the whole world. With a mysterious alien spaceship in orbit around the Earth, astronauts in trouble and millennia-old secrets to be revealed, the series offers the kind of mystery and adventure you’d expect from writers Andrew Cartmel and Ben Aaronovitch.
The mini series comes as fans get set to celebrate the 30th anniversary of fan-favourite story Remembrance of the Daleks which first introduced the (then unnamed) Intrusion Counter Measures Group, a mix of military and civilian operatives with more of a Quatermass feel to the audio adventures they’ve since enjoyed thanks to Big Finish.
Group Captain Ian Gilmore, Professor Rachel Jensen and Allison Williams, three characters introduced in Remembrance, all feature in Operation Volcano, drawn by Christopher Jones (The Third Doctor) and colourist Marco Lesko (Robotech, The Ninth Doctor), bringing astonishing twists and turns to the lives of the Seventh Doctor and Ace.
The Seventh Doctor and Ace by Christopher Jones
To say I’m excited would be an understatement, as – declaration of interest time – I’m editing this series. It means I get to work with Andrew Cartmel again on Doctor Who almost thirty years after I commissioned “Fellow Travellers”, a three part story for Doctor Who Magazine drawn by Arthur Ranson; and it’s a real pleasure to have the opportunity to work with Christopher Jones, whose work on Heralds of Destruction, which I also edited, was just a delight.
As TV series script editor Andrew was of course instrumental in shaping the Seventh Doctor”s adventures as well as being the writer of several novels and audio dramas featuring the character. Ben Aaronovitch’s TV writing career began with the Seventh Doctor’s era of Who, penning both Remembrance of the Daleks and Battlefield for McCoy’s Time Lord.
While the Seventh Doctor’s time on TV was brutally cut short, his incarnation enjoyed a long and varied life in comics, and Andrew and I worked hard to continue the character’s development along the lines he shaped, perhaps most in evidence in “Evening’s Empire”, drawn by Richard Piers Rayner.
The debut issue of Operation Volcano comes with four variant covers to collect: three art covers by artists Alice X. Zhang, Simon Myers and Christopher Jones, and a photo cover by Will Brooks.
Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor – Operation Volcano #1 – Cover by Will Brooks
The Seventh Doctor will also materialise with a back-up strip written by Twelfth Doctor scribe Richard Dinnick with art by Jessica Martin, creator of the much-praised comics It Girl and Vivacity and the graphic novel Elsie Harris Picture Palace. She is perhaps better known for her incredible stage career – and, to Doctor Who fans, for her guest star appearance as Mags in The Greatest Show in the Galaxy.
She also provided the voice of Queen Elizabeth II in Voyage of the Damned and voiced Janet Green in the Big Finish Doctor Who audio story Signs and Wonders and Deputy Surveyor Sutton in Last of the Colophon.
• Retailers can order issue #1 of Doctor Who: The Seventh Doctor – Operation Volcano from the April edition of Diamond PREVIEWS. To find your nearest comic store at ComicShopLocator.com
The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: British Comics, Doctor Who, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Television
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