DWM comic stories Comic stories have appeared in all but two issues of " Doctor Who Magazine " . Since its earliest days as " Doctor Who Weekly " , the publication has been home to many types of strips , but the most durable has been the one featuring the then - current televised Doctor . This " main strip " has usually been told in a multi - part format . Beyond these continuing adventures of the Doctor , the magazine has at different times printed comic adaptations of classic science fiction stories , reprints of original science - fiction stories from American comic book anthologies , reprints of strips originally printed in Polystyle or City Magazines publications , and original strips " not " featuring the Doctor which were nevertheless set in the " Doctor Who " universe . Overview . In 1979 , Marvel UK wrested control of the license to produce " Doctor Who " comics from Polystyle . Editor Dez Skinn immediately changed the style of the comic strip by hiring youngsters who were principally comic book artists , rather than the cartoonists and illustrators who had been in charge of Polystyle ' s output . With soon - to - be - luminaries like Dave Gibbons , Pat Mills and John Wagner working on the main strip and Alan Moore , Steve Moore , Steve Dillon and Steve Parkhouse initially handling the back - ups , Skinn instantly brought modern — and more American — sensibilities to the comic " Doctor Who " world . At the same time , those early issues of " Doctor Who Weekly " brought American comic strips in front of British eyes by having a long series of reprints taken straight from Marvel ' s long line of American science fiction anthologies . Called variously " Tales from the TARDIS " and " Dr Who ' s Time Tales " , the non - Whoniverse backup strips of those early issues involved a few panels of the Fourth Doctor framing a Marvel US adaptation of a classic science fiction story or an original strip taken from a Marvel US science fiction anthology of the 1950s or 1960s . Borrowed as they were from Marvel US , they featured the talents of Marvel legends Steve Ditko , Jack Kirby , Chris Claremont , and even Stan Lee himself . Skinn also resurrected the long - out - of - print " Dalek Tapes " stories that had originally appeared in " TV Century 21 " . For a time , " Doctor Who Weekly " regularly had three or four different strips in each issue . Skinn ' s successors rather quickly ended the non - Whoniverse material , and made reprints of 1960s material increasingly sporadic . But the non - Doctor original back - ups remained well past the time the magazine became " Doctor Who Monthly " . These backups , however , dried up at about the time the Sixth Doctor debuted . By the end of the 1980s , the magazine generally ran only the main " Doctor Who " strip . However , there were rare instances when a Polystyle comic made its way into print during the 1990s . These occasional reprints ended entirely by the dawn of the 21st century . In 2017 a reprinted collection of the Polystyle comic strip " * Sub Zero " was included free inside the polybag of the 1970s themed issue 508 , but this was an additional entity to the magazine issue itself . In the 1990s " DWM " temporarily ran a series of comic strips featuring past Doctors in lieu of the then - current Seventh Doctor , but from 1996 it once again nearly exclusively featured the current Doctor ; the Eighth Doctor was current in " DWM " s comic strip from 1996 - 2005 , followed by the Ninth Doctor in 2005 ; the Tenth Doctor from 2006 - 10 ; the Eleventh Doctor from 2010 - 14 ; and the Twelfth Doctor beginning in 2014 . From 2005 , the magazine also more regularly featured the Doctor travelling with their contemporary companions on TV with the likenesses of their respective actors . The comic adventures of Rose Tyler in the pages of " DWM " were published from 2005 - 06 ; Martha Jones from 2007 - 08 ; Donna Noble in 2008 ; Amy Pond from 2010 - 12 ; Rory Williams from 2011 - 12 ; Clara Oswald from 2013 - 16 ; and Bill Potts from 2017 - 18 . Since 2017 , " Doctor Who Magazine " has published the main eight - page comic strip , along with a three - panel parody called " The Daft Dimension " , the latter of which since 2014 was usually printed in the pages of the magazine ' s Galaxy Forum feature . The main comic had previously run to as many as 12 pages , with the 500th issue story " The Stockbridge Showdown " being 20 pages long . In issue 455 in 2012 , the sole comic strip other than the three - panel " Doctor Whoah ! " was a Doctor - less story ( apart from a doll with the Eleventh Doctor ' s likeness ) called " Imaginary Enemies " . This story featured a pre - TARDIS travel Amy and Rory , along with their time - travelling daughter Mels , and was set during a twelve - year narrative gap in the 2010 episode " The Eleventh Hour " . It was published after the final comic story in the magazine where Amy and Rory were travelling with the Eleventh Doctor . Over issues 475 and 476 in 2014 , the sole comic strip other than " Doctor Whoah ! " in issue 475 was a Doctor - less story called " The Crystal Throne " . This comic story was published after the Eleventh Doctor ' s final comic strip in the magazine and before the Twelfth Doctor ' s " DWM " debut , and instead featured Vastra , Jenny Flint and Strax , who appeared in several episodes of the " Doctor Who " TV series between 2011 and 2014 . As has been the case since 1979 , most stories in the main strip are serialised and told over the course of several issues , with the occasional single - chapter standalone . Originally published in black and white , the comic strip has been published in colour since the early 2000s . Reprints . Many of the comic strips have been reprinted a number of times in , or as , various publications , including as a series of mini - comics given away free in multi - packs of crisp snacks . " Doctor Who Magazine " material was first reprinted in America via the " Marvel Premiere " anthology series in the early 1980s . When sales proved favourable , a new title , " Doctor Who " ( 1984 ) , was launched . Though cancelled just shy of its two - year anniversary , the title managed to reprint almost all of the Fourth and Fifth Doctor s ' " DWM " runs . It also offered some prominent American artists , such as Dave Cockrum and George Roussos , an opportunity to offer pinup and cover artwork of " Doctor Who " subjects . Like many " DWM " reprints , " Doctor Who " ( 1984 ) presented its reprints in colour . Towards the end of 2007 , IDW Publishing picked up the option to again reprint colourised versions of " DWM " comic strips in a monthly American series entitled " Doctor Who Classics " , reprinting stories up to the early Seventh Doctor era , plus a two - volume standalone , " Grant Morrison ' s Doctor Who " , reprinting Morrison ' s output from DWM . IDW also published several omnibus trade paperbacks featuring DWM strip reprints . The reprints ended with IDW ' s loss of their license to publish " Doctor Who " comics . In the UK , Panini undertook a long project to digitally restore all " Doctor Who Magazine " comics , and faithfully reprint the comics from their original masters . In most cases , this has meant the first monochromatic reprinting of most " DWM " strips . It has also offered the creative teams an opportunity to add explanatory notes and original concept artwork . These large - format volumes have to date covered most of the history of " DWM " from 1979 onwards . " Doctor Who Magazine " s comic strips have also been a key feature of hardback publications like the series of Doctor Who Yearbook s , " Doctor Who " annuals and Doctor Who Storybook s , as well as numerous special , seasonal issues of " DWM " itself .