The vast majority of Sixth Doctor comic stories were published in Doctor Who Magazine in the mid-1980s and began on the heels of the transmission of The Twin Dilemma.
The Sixth Doctor's comic book history has unique aspects. He is the only Doctor to star in a series of Doctor Who but not to appear in a comic strip in a Doctor Who annual. He is also the only Doctor to be featured in "incentive comic books" given away with the purchase of food, the first Doctor to be the subject of an original graphic novel and the only Doctor to have comics written by the actor who portrayed him.
DWM launched the Sixth Doctor's comic strip adventures with the Doctor travelling on his own. His first story introduced a new companion, Frobisher — the shape-changing Whifferdill who often assumed the form of a penguin. Image rights were later obtained for Nicola Bryant, which allowed Peri to become the first humanoid televised companion regularly used in the pages of DWM. The writers even went to the trouble of trying to explain her earlier absence. Apparently, she took time away from the TARDIS to explore New York City. Since she remained the companion up to the final story of the regular run, the 1980s Sixth Doctor comics all happened somewhere between The Twin Dilemma and Mindwarp.
Because the Sixth Doctor's era began at the end of season 21, and the Seventh Doctor's DWM start was delayed by Grant Morrison's epic death-of-Jamie McCrimmon story line, the Sixth Doctor's regular era in DWM comics contains significantly more stories than his televised run. Moreover, he has a few additional stories which were published after Colin Baker was no longer incumbent in the role.
Nevertheless, the Sixth Doctor has one of the briefer comic canons of all the Doctors, with only the Fifth Doctor and Ninth Doctor appearing in fewer total comic stories.
Comic strip companions of the Sixth Doctor
Regular
One-off
List
Doctor Who Magazine
- Travelling with Frobisher
- The Shape Shifter (DWM 88-89)
- Voyager (DWM 90-DWM 94)
- Polly the Glot (DWM 95-DWM 97)
- Once Upon a Time Lord (DWM 98-DWM 99)
- War-Game (DWM 100-DWM 101)
- Funhouse (DWM 102-DWM 103)
- Travelling with Peri Brown and Frobisher
- Kane's Story (DWM 104)
- Abel's Story (DWM 105)
- The Warrior's Story (DWM 106)
- Frobisher's Story (DWM 107)
- Exodus (DWM 108)
- Revelation! (DWM 109)
- Genesis! (DWM 110)
- Nature of the Beast! (DWM 111-DWM 113)
- Time Bomb (DWM 114-DWM 116)
- Salad Daze (DWM 117)
- Changes (DWM 118-DWM 119)
- Profits of Doom! (DWM 120-DWM 122)
- The Gift (DWM 123-DWM 126)
- The World Shapers (DWM 127-DWM 129 featuring Jamie McCrimmon)
- Guest appearances of the Sixth Doctor
- Emperor of the Daleks! (DWM 197-DWM 202 featuring Peri Brown and Davros)
- Time & Time Again (DWM 207 featuring Frobisher, the first seven Doctors, and numerous other companions)
- Up Above the Gods (DWM 227 featuring Davros)
Doctor Who Magazine Specials
- The Age of Chaos (Doctor Who Magazine original graphic novel)
Doctor Who Marvel Adventure Comic
- The Doctor Who Marvel Adventure Comic was a series of six mini-issues given away with the purchase of Golden Wonder bread. The monochromatic pamphlet contained somewhat edited versions of a few stories that had already appeared in the pages of Doctor Who Magazine. They cause some complications for people truly obsessed about canon, as there are some significant changes to some of the stories. For instance, Peri is completely removed from the DWMAC version of one of the stories.
IDW Publishing
Miniseries
- The Forgotten (TF 4 featuring Peri Brown, the first ten Doctors (save the War Doctor), and numerous other companions)
Doctor Who (2012)
- Dead Man's Hand (DW12 15 featuring Matrix projections of the first eleven Doctors and the War Doctor)
Prisoners of Time
- Façades (POT 6 featuring Peri Brown and Frobisher)
- Endgame (POT 12 featuring Peri Brown, Frobisher and Melanie Bush, the first eleven Doctors (save the War Doctor), and numerous other companions)
Titan Comics
Miniseries
- The Lost Dimension (TLD 2 and 8)
Back-up strips
- Prologue: The Sixth Doctor (11DY2 11 featuring Melanie Bush)
External links
- Altered Vistas - In the Comics - The Sixth Doctor
- Doctor Who Magazine - Sixth Doctor Strips at the Doctor Who Reference Guide