The acclaimed Doctor Who comics and artwork fanzine Vworp Vworp! returns with its fifth issue in January 2023. Pre-orders open today, New Year’s Day, with shipping scheduled for early February 2023.
The 148-page issue kicks off with an in-depth series of articles and script reviews focusing on the many Doctor Who animation projects that have, for a variety of reasons, been abandoned over the years. The Canadian company Nelvana might be the best known, but as researcher Richard Bignell has uncovered for Vworp Vworp!, through a wealth of interviews, documentation, scripts and design drawings, there’s so much more to learn, including the real reason it was aborted.
But what of Ruby-Spears, the company behind Scooby-Doo? Interest from a Japanese anime studio? Terry Nation’s Daleks? The BBC itself, in 2001? And who can forget Karen McCoy and her Doctor Who: The Animated Series?
Elsewhere in the issue:
• Interviews with artist John Ridgway and writer/artist Steve Parkhouse, as we go behind the scenes of their magnum opus, the Voyager saga
• Artist Phil Bevan remembered, with personal recollections of his brother Kit and those he worked with, offering a unique insight into this much-loved artist, who illuminated the vibrant fanzine scene in the 1980s and 1990s
• Packaging beauty! Graphic and packaging designer Andrew Prewett, who designed the beloved Doctor Who Sound Effects LP, reveals unused designs for a number of Doctor Who DVD boxsets.
• Absolute Daak: A Revenger’s Tragedy – The Dalek Killer deconstructed by Alan Stevens ahead of his return in a Vworp Vworp! comic strip, “Paper Tiger”
• New features on Terry Nation and David Whitaker’s work on the TV Century 21 “Daleks” strip and the stage play The Curse of the Daleks… and much more!
• Order Vworp Vworp! Issue 5, price £10.99, from vworpvworp.co.uk now
Also, issue 5 includes several brand new comic strips and fiction:
• The truly epic 22-page “The Iron Empire”, written by Lance Parkin and drawn by Steve Andrew. What happened to the Empire during the reign of Emperor Vesuvius? Find out in this much anticipated sequel to the Pat Mills & John Wagner great that launched Doctor Who Weekly, back in 1979
• Ever pondered the fate of the Thals in the TV Century 21 Dalek strips? Find out in “Year Zero”, a new instalment in the adventures of outer space robot people, imagined by Alan Stevens, Matthew Kilburn and artist Andy Walker
• Abslom Daak gets a bittersweet coda in “Paper Tiger”, written by Alan Stevens with crisp black and white art by the legendary John Ridgway
• We’re also treated to three thrilling pages of “Dalek Killers!” – an intriguing reboot (of sorts) pitched to Titan by Richard Starkings and Lee Sullivan
• Thrill to Sam Gingell‘s debut strip “Newton’s Sleep”, a thought-provoking examination of the Cybermen as a reaction to societal decay and decadence. Sam crashed onto the scene in 2022 and we’re sure this won’t be the last we see of him
• 1960s script editor Donald Tosh’s final piece of fiction, “Journey to Nowhen”, a whimsical tale of competing realities and the power of nostalgia
• Finally, we take a visit back to the scene of one of the Doctor’s lesser discussed small screen adventures in Graham Kibble-White’s “Encounter at Crinkley Bottom”
Plus, there’s an exciting free gift this issue, “Doctor Who: Rowen”, a full-cast audio adaptation of the 1992 initial script for the cancelled Nelvana series. Presented on CD, directed and adapted by Sean Mason and introducing Arthur Bostrom as the Nelvana Doctor, this brand new drama is intended to give an authentic taste of what this new era might have been like.
• Order Vworp Vworp! Issue 5, price £10.99, from vworpvworp.co.uk now
Vworp Vworp! Issue 5 · January 2023 · Edited by Colin Brockhurst · Published by Gareth Kavanagh
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.
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