A new
Doctor Who fanzine,
Vworp Vworp! goes on sale later this month. It takes a loving, affectionate look at Marvel/Panini’s
Doctor Who comic strips and the magazine that spawned them – Doctor Who Magazine and is o-edited by Gareth Kavanagh and Colin Brockhurst, and designed by the latter
A non-profit-making, full-colour glossy 80-page perfect-bound fanzine that, in the words of Paul Scoones (author of the forthcoming
Doctor Who Comics Companion), "sets a high benchmark for fanzine production standards", the magazine is simply packed with plenty of interesting Doctor Who comics background and other material.
It includes an interview with founding editor
Dez Skinn, discussing the birth of
Doctor Who Weekly; and a guide to the creation of the first Marvel
Doctor Who strip, "The Iron Legion", with input from
Dave Gibbons and
Pat Mills and contributions from Dez Skinn,
David Lloyd and Leon Hewitt, including the never-before-seen original pitch document, fully annotated and dissected.
Also included are
Doctor Who Weekly feature writer Jeremy Bentham's perspective on the Weekly’s early days from conception, to publication and beyond; a wide range of writers celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the launch of
Doctor Who Weekly, in the form of imaginary love letters to DWM (complete with pics of many of us as little ‘uns as a homage to the wonderful letters page of the Weekly);
The zine also features several new comic strips: "Time Leech", written by Kasterborous‘ own Christian Cawley, art by Justin Abbot; and "The Master’s Life on Mars" by Gareth Kavanagh and John Daiker, with art by John Daiker; "Clash of Empires" (Silurians vs Ice Warriors), written and drawn by Daryl Joyce.
In addition, David J. Howe revives Collectors’ Corner, a DWM regular feature for one final outing, while Dave Gibbons, Pat Mills, Steve Lyons and Gareth Kavanagh are "Nailing The Star Beast", going on the trail of our own favourite furry supervillain, Beep the Meep; and there's also a feature on "The Cybermen", exploring possibly the most esoteric of the
Who strips, the Cybermen strips from the mid-1990s.
This features interviews with writer Alan Barnes, artist Adrian Salmon and editor Gary Russell, plus an appreciation from Matt Badham and a lost instalment completed for the first time.
For a full list of features and the many, many contributors - including Mike Collins, Andrew Pixley, John Freeman, Scott Gray, Martin Geraghty, Clayton Hickman, Tim Quinn & Dicky Howett, Roger Langridge, Dan McDaid, Nick Miller, Leighton Noyes, Alister Pearson, John Ridgway, Rob Shearman, Baxter Sullivan, Kev F Sutherland & Steve Noble, Ben Templesmith and Ben Willsher (trust us, almost everyone who has ever been involved in DWM comics has had some input into this one),- head over to the official web site at:
www.vworpvworp.co.uk
Only 1000 copies are being printed. 900 copies will have a wonderful wrap-round artist mash-up cover, pulled together by Colin Brockhurst and Ben Wilsher from an original concept by Ben and Roger Langridge. Essentially, it’s a jam session between fourteen of the finest artists in Who comic history: Baxter Sullivan (1st Doctor), Roger Langridge (2nd Doctor), Ben Willsher (3rd Doctor), Adrian Salmon (4th Doctor), Dan McDaid (5th Doctor), Sean Longcroft (6th Doctor), Lee Sulivan (7th Doctor), Martin Geraghty (8th Doctor), Mike Collins (9th Doctor), Rob Davis (10th Doctor) and Leighton Noyes (11th Doctor), with cameos from Dave Gibbons, Dicky Howett and John Ridgway.
However, being nostalgic the production team have also prepared a single variant cover to be featured on 100 copies (not 100 different ones – that would be a logistical nightmare!) and is intended as a loving homage to the original
Doctor Who Weekly covers (se above). Featuring a marvellous CG Malevilus by Gavin Rymill, it depicts a 1978 ‘publicity photo’ from an imaginary TV version of "The Iron Legion". The first cut was pulled together by Dez Skinn (
Doctor Who Weekly’s inaugural editor who, of course designed the original DWW covers in 1979) and then polished by Colin Brockhurst to create something that is guaranteed to send a shiver up the spine of any Who fan of a certain age. The back cover’s is by
30 Days of Night,
Fell and
Wormwood artist Ben Templesmith!
As if all that wasn't enough, both covers also feature a set of transfers (yes, real rub-down transfers just like the ones on Issue 1 of
Doctor Who Weekly 30 years ago) specially drawn by Paul Grist (with colours by the sublime James Offredi), complete with a matching scene of the Daleks on Skaro to apply them to!
This is surely going to be one of the most sought after Doctor Who fanzines ever - so pre-order a copy as soon as you can!
• Vworp! Vworp! costs £5.99 (P&P not included) and the zine will be available from late January: pre-order it now from the Colin Brockhurst's web site. It will also be on sale from specialist retailers.
Tonight (Thursday 14th January) sees the opening of an exhibition of art by 2000AD contributor 
Arthur recently launched 
Ro-Jaws returns to 
• Sgt Mike Battle #14 is out now and sees the whirlwind romance between Roger Knightly and Shapely Charms reaches its thrilling finale. Can you really afford to miss the most shocking and heart-wrenching story in the history of comics? Do not worry about crying your eyes out as you read the comic because for a limited period you will get a free tissue with every issue!
Glister and the Faerie Host
