9th Doctor gets ongoing monthly series at Titan Comics!

[Kai "the spy"]

Evidently the miniseries was well-received. I liked it, too, though I'm gonna have to re-read it without the monthly break waiting for the next issue to actually judge it.

Anyway, starting in April the 9th Doctor will have his own ongoing comic, written and illustrated by the same team responsible for the miniseries.

http://www.comicbookresources.com/a...nce-doctor-who-the-ninth-doctor-ongoing-comic

Of course, I'm delighted. There is potential there. Set between "The Doctor Dances" and "Boomtown", this book co-stars companions Rose and Captain Jack, which is already a winning team. There's also the potential of finally following up on that throw-away line about Jack's memory loss. Plus, I love the 9th Doctor.

On the other hand, this will be Titan's fourth ongoing monthly DW title. And even I find that stretching. Also, does that mean every miniseries of a previous Doctor is a potential pilot for an ongoing series? Does Titan actually think it can sustain interest in that much output? Can it even keep the quality up with that kind of output? Or maybe they plan to end one of the other DW books, 10th or 11th, to make room for those potential new ongoings?

Let's remember, there's an 8th Doctor mini going on right now, and a 4th Doctor mini already announced. Maybe the endgame is 12 ongoing monthly titles?! Or rather 13, since by that time there's sure to be a new Doctor on the telly demanding his own title.

Well, much to speculate, but I guess we can only wait and see.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

On the other hand, this will be Titan's fourth ongoing monthly DW title. And even I find that stretching. Also, does that mean every miniseries of a previous Doctor is a potential pilot for an ongoing series? Does Titan actually think it can sustain interest in that much output? Can it even keep the quality up with that kind of output? Or maybe they plan to end one of the other DW books, 10th or 11th, to make room for those potential new ongoings?

Titan's Doctor Who comics have been very stable sellers. They all (the ongoings and the Eight and Nine mini-series) have all sold around the same level; they're all within a thousand copies of one another. Adding a mini-series hasn't appeared to cannibalize the sales out of another series.

(Four Doctors was different. It replaced the other series in the schedule, and it outsold them all, probably because it was an "event," though I'm sure there were people buying it who weren't following one or two of the series.)

I do worry that Titan may have bitten off more than they can chew. They have been inconsistent in their ability to hit shipdates and maintain a schedule on their Doctor Who comics. I applaud their aggressiveness, but I admit to some skepticism as to whether or not they will be able to produce their Who comics on a timely basis.

 

[The Wormhole]

My main concern is, having this set during the period when Captain Jack is travelling with them really limits how much time this "ongoing" series can go on for. At least the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor series have potentially years they can play with (several, in the Eleventh's case) but just how long did Jack spend with the Doctor and Rose? Certainly not more than a handful of months, maybe six at the most.

does that mean every miniseries of a previous Doctor is a potential pilot for an ongoing series?

As long as the sales are there, why not? Although, realistically, while I'm sure every Doctor will eventually get a mini series, I don't see all of them having an ongoing series. But maybe that's just me.

They have been inconsistent in their ability to hit shipdates and maintain a schedule on their Doctor Who comics.

Although, didn't IDW also have the same problem? Not just with their Doctor Who comics, but their Star Trek ones as well.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

They have been inconsistent in their ability to hit shipdates and maintain a schedule on their Doctor Who comics.

Although, didn't IDW also have the same problem? Not just with their Doctor Who comics, but their Star Trek ones as well.

IDW stumbled badly out of the gate with their Doctor Who comics; the first two mini-series (Agent Provocateur and The Forgotten) were marred by huge delays and substitute artists. (Meanwhile, Doctor Who Classics came out like clockwork.) Once they got to their ongoing series, their schedule was much more consistent.

I don't know about shipping delays on the Star Trek comics. I bought them, and didn't really pay attention.

 

[The Wormhole]

I just noticed often IDW's comics weren't released the date originally established for the release. Most of the time it was a matter of a week or two late, which according to the manager of the comic shop I went to at the time is common among all publishers. Although, I remember with IDW's Prisoner of Time series, the Ninth Doctor issue was delayed a whole month, resulting in it being released in October. The Tenth Doctor issue was also delayed until November but then the Eleventh Doctor issue came out on time, a week later.

 

[NightJim]

Comics are notorious for delays. Name a big name story arc and it's likely it suffered on the monthly schedule. Years later, no one cares. Basically because comic art has got far more detailed then it used to be in the 40s - 60s a lot of artists struggle to meet monthly deadlines.

While we're on the subject, how closely do the first year of the ongoings tie into Four Doctors? I've read vol 1 of 10's, it's great, I'm going to read more. But vol 1 of 12 was a bit rubbish and I could do with skipping the rest if it's not important.

 

[Allyn Gibson]

While we're on the subject, how closely do the first year of the ongoings tie into Four Doctors? I've read vol 1 of 10's, it's great, I'm going to read more. But vol 1 of 12 was a bit rubbish and I could do with skipping the rest if it's not important.

They don't. The tenth and eleventh Doctor ongoings are helpful for introducing you to Gabby and Alice, but there's no direct connection between any of the ongoing series and the crossover.

 

[C.E. Evans]

My main concern is, having this set during the period when Captain Jack is travelling with them really limits how much time this "ongoing" series can go on for. At least the Tenth and Eleventh Doctor series have potentially years they can play with (several, in the Eleventh's case) but just how long did Jack spend with the Doctor and Rose? Certainly not more than a handful of months, maybe six at the most.

The thing with having a time machine is that countless adventures can be squeezed in that duration--and they still can get back in time for afternoon tea.

 

[Stevil2001]

Six months of adventures could yield 26 different stories if each story lasted a week chronologically. It seems unlikely that that gap will be overfilled any time soon.