Illustrator Jenny Parks‘ cats/Doctor Who mashup Doctor Mew is simply adorable – and some of the Gallifreyan moggies have a pretty cool similarity to their human counterparts, especially the Tom Baker one. Turnstyle, whence this link comes from (via John Freeman at Down the Tubes), also has an interview with Jenny about this and her other work.

The news isn’t all bad though, as they promise to get it back on sale as soon as possible. Details are being regularly posted on the Vworp Vworp blog. As annoying as it is for those wanting the issue, it’s surely a good thing for Colin and Gareth to be so open and honest about the problems they’ve been having, and we’re all hopeful that it sorts itself out very soon.

In the meantime, take a look at a bit of classic Mick McMahon, as featured in Vworp Vworp Volume 2. He’s posted up the complete Junkyard Demon strip at his Tuggin’ Your Coat blog and has this to say:

“The second issue of the Doctor Who fanzine Vworp Vworp! has finally been published. There’s a lot of good stuff about Gibbons, Bakers and sundry others, as well as an interview with yours truly about my all too brief sojourn at Doctor Who Monthly.

This Junkyard Demon strip, my only contribution to the Doctor Who canon, was beautifully written by Steve Parkhouse and ‘Mickily’ inked by the talented Adolfo Bullya. It was the first time I had worked from a plot, as opposed to a full script, and also the only occasion that my pencils were inked by another artist. I am still more than happy with the storytelling/layouts, and the drawing, although a long way from any sort of apex, is still me on top form for those days, though I do still cringe at my clumsy attempt at a likeness for the unfortunate Mr Baker – Harpo Marx, anyone?

All around though, a thoroughly enjoyable experience, and one of the few things from the seventies/early eighties that I can still bear to look at.”

Page 1 of Junkyard Demon by Parkhouse, Mcmahon and Buylla.

McMahon’s Tom Baker Doctor Who – Harpo Marx? He’s too hard on himself surely?

November 23rd and that means happy birthday to the world’s longest-running science fiction show. Join me for a quick Vworp! I think we need some Doctor Who art to celebrate the day – how about some classic Doctor Who comic work from the brilliant Mick McMahon, who recently posted up all of his Junkyard Demon strip on his blog, featuring Tom Baker’s incarnation finding an early style  Cyberman in a glactic junk yard:

I still remember that one from the first time round – also still have fond memories of this classic Doctor Who comic strip from Pat Mills, John Wagner and the great Dave Gibbons: The Iron Legion (image borrowed from Lew Stringer’s fine blog)!

And let’s have some more visual fun with some of the cool Who imagery that’s appeared on our regular weekend Art for Art’s Sake slot:  Laura Howell‘s Gilbert and sullivan meeting the Doctor made me smile!

And I love WJC‘s fab rendering of Tom Baker’s Doctor (still ‘my’ Doctor) with the TARDIS in space, taken from the new Vworp Vworp fanzine:

Geronimo! Cool Matt Smith portrait by Eric Shaner:

Phil Noto‘s portrait of Amy Pond is, approriately, gorgeous:

And since we can never have too much of Amy, this has been one of my favourites since I first saw it last year – a luscious Art Nouveau style Amy with TARDIS by Bill Mudron. Gorgeous:

actually I can’t resist posting another one from Bill – Who Looks Like a Lady?

And how wonderful is Geoffo’s Little Prince-Doctor Who mashup (taken from the Little Prince website)?

And Meghan Stratman has all the Doctors in one go:

and what about some dancing Doctors (from the Journal of Impossible Things)

Okay,w e could fill the entire blog w??

Okay, we could fill the blog today with Doctor Who art but enough is as good as a feast and all that. But we can’t have a birthday bash of Who art without some proper old school kicks from the great Chris Achilleos, who drew the cover art to most of the old Target Who novelisations, which back in the days before home video was pretty much the only way we young fans could learn the stories of the older episodes and the Doctors who came before us. Some of those 70s novels even came with some interior B&W illustrations by Achilleos, like this one from the Doomsday Machine featuring Jon Pertwee’s Doctor with Katy Manning’s Jo Grant:

But mostly those of us of a certain age remember Achilleos fondly for his cover illustrations – I remember being so disappointed when Target went with boring photo covers for early 80s onwards Who books, it just wasn’t the same as those fabulous Achilleos covers that gave us a little magical Who thrill back when we didn’t even have the comic, let alone the home videos to keep us going between each season. For an 8 year old Who fan in the mid 70s Achilleos’ cover art was as important as Chris Foss’ work was to the adult science fiction books we’d graduate to further down the line.

This made me smile – it’s a Lego take on Star Trek, but look closer on the Enterprise bridge and there’s the Doctor (with Fez, Fezes are cool) and look out! They’re being attacked by the pirates of the Crimson Permanent Assurance! Genius. (link from The Brothers Brick via Geek Chocolate)

“Mission to the Unknown: the rise of Doctor Who: How the show was created, influenced and precursors (H.G. Wells, Quatermass, British culture and living in 1963). From history lessons to ‘Dalekmania’, embracing ‘bug-eyed monsters’.

From smacked bottoms to cosmic kisses: the Doctor’s women: The role of the female companion, and how it changed from screaming girls, to beating up Daleks with baseball bats, to “the most important woman in the universe”, the changing portrayal of women on television, and the women behind the camera.

Edge of Destruction: the wilderness years: How the fan community kept the show alive during the years when it was off-air, fan fiction,and how they embraced different technologiesto generate new content. The lost episodes;the task of restoration.

The Greatest Show in the Galaxy: the regeneration of Doctor Who: Looking at how the show was revived into a successful, new – yet still recognisable – format, and how it has grown to become one of the BBC’s flagship shows. And a look to the future… How many more Doctors can there be?”

More details and information can be found on the university’s website here.

Neil Roberts reminds us that tonight sees new Sarah Jane Adventures on CBBC (at 5.15pm), a bittersweet occasion for many fans, happy to see the show back but sad because we lost the wonderful Liz Sladen only a few months ago. But that sadness aside it’s nice to think we’re still going to see her in action again in the role that put her forever in the hearts of legions of fans across the years, from old hands Whovians my age who adored her in the Pertwee-Baker era to younger fans who adore her just as much for her own show and appearance in the revived Doctor Who (that ep was such a pleasure to watch). We may have lost Liz, but Sarah Jane is still there, defending the Earth in her own unique style… And Neil has been busy once more creating art for the BBC’s official SJA mini-site, including this nice, creepy image of the Nightmare Man, which younger fans can have fun re-colouring to their own design, as well as checking out a host of other artwork and comics on the site: