For the past few years IDW publishing has been getting the rights to publish comics based on TV shows. They’ve published series based on Angel, Star Trek, Ghost Whisperer, 24, Transformers and my favorite show Dr Who.  They’ve been publishing Dr Who Classics, which reprint stories from the 1980’s, and put out Dr Who: Agent Provocateur, which is the first Dr Who comic with stories created exclusively for the US market. 

A little back story for those unfamiliar with Dr Who: the Doctor is a mysterious time traveler who moves about in his space/time vehicle (known as TARDIS) exploring, righting wrongs, fighting evil, and getting in and out of trouble in his own unique way. He is currently on his tenth incarnation. The Doctor has the ability to regenerate when critically injured. He’s done this nine times since his first appearance back in 1963, making Dr Who the longest running sci-fi series of all time.

The new series is written by Tony Lee with art by Pia Guerra. Lee channels the personality of David Tenant (the actor currently portraying the Doctor). Guerra in her first work since the award winning Y: The Last Man series seems to be trying something different, as the art is a bit more open than her past endeavors. It borders on cartoonish; however, since Tenant himself seems to be a bit cartoony at times, it’s a good fit.  She captures his likeness and the other Doctors’ likenesses as well without letting it overpower her style.

Dr Who: The Forgotten has the Doctor finding an sign that says “The Exhibition of The Doctor.”  Upon entering the exhibit, he finds nine mannequins, each wearing an outfit unique to that incarnation of the Doctor. The exhibit shouldn’t exist because there’s no one living that knows all about his past incarnations.

The Doctor collapses after a mysterious figure presses a button; once on his feet, the Doctor realizes he can’t remember anything before his current incarnation. When he starts to remember an adventure from his original incarnation, we’re treated to a nice adventure reminiscent of the first Doctor portrayed by William Hartnell. The tale is even in black and white, just like his episodes were broadcast.

Longtime viewers of Doctor Who probably think that this mysterious stranger is the Master, Dr Who’s arch-nemesis. All signs point to yes, especially after the Hartnell tale. The mystery man says he wants the Doctor to be so damaged that he has to regenerate, so is it the Master? Only future issues will tell us.  Dr Who: The Forgotten is off to a good start with an adventure of the Doctor that’s worthy of being a televised episode.  Based on the first issue, Dr Who: The Forgotten looks to be a hit!