New Publisher for Doctor Who-Related Comics

Cutaway Comics launched this year as a British comic publisher putting out Doctor Who-related titles. They’re focusing on creator-owned characters, which is apparently allowed under British law. (I am always curious about this, but I’m digressing. And it’s great that it allows for various spin-offs.)

Cutaway Comics is inspired by the so-called ‘backup’ strips of Doctor Who Weekly, which delved deeper into the characters and cultures of the Doctor Who universe away from the Doctor.

The publisher is Gareth Kavanagh, who is known for the fanzine Vworp Vworp!, about Doctor Who Magazine.

The first release is Lytton. I wasn’t familiar with the character, but he was a mercenary who appeared in the 5th Doctor story “Resurrection of the Daleks” (Tegan’s last episode) and the 6th Doctor story “Attack of the Cybermen”. The comic is a four-issue miniseries written by the character’s creator, Eric Saward, with art by Barry Renshaw. It’s set in “a jazz club in 1970s Soho [with] strange noises in the sewers, rumours of vicious aliens in the dark alleyways, and a terrible sense of murder in the air”.

So far issue #1 is available to buy directly from the publisher with three cover variants. Print editions are 5 pounds (plus expensive shipping to the US, darn post office!), or digital for half that price. What interests me is that the print issues ship with bonus DVDs containing interviews and commentaries on the comics and TV episodes. That’s attractive to me, particularly when it comes to their followup project.

Omega: Vengeance is about the mad wannabe god from “The Three Doctors”, written by Mark Griffiths and illustrated by John Ridgway. The publisher promises “we have worked closely with Bob to ensure our exploration of the character is true to Bob [Baker] and Dave [Martin]’s iconic villain.” It’s planned to start in January with quarterly issue releases; it had a successful Kickstarter in November.

They’ve also announced Paradise Towers: Paradise Found, for which they’re looking for an artist.

I hope they’ll be able to bring this, and more, to fruition. It’s impressive that they were able to get things started in a year like this one. If I ever make it to a British comic con, as I hope, I’ll be looking for their publications.



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