In January 2008, a six-issue Doctor Who comic book will premiere from IDW Publishing.  Although the British comics were reprinted in America by Marvel several decades ago, this is the first comic ever produced specifically for an American market in the show's 44-year existence.

With covers by Nick Roche (Transformers) and interiors by a variety of artists, each issue will be written by Gary Russell, whose Doctor Who credits stretch through editing Doctor Who Magazine and producing Big Finish Doctor Who audio adventures as well as writing nine classic Doctor Who tie-in novels and assorted show guides. He also has experience writing for the comics, having previously written a series of adventures for the Eighth Doctor, which are online at Cuttings Archive. His new series credits include the 2007 Doctor Who Encyclopedia, Inside Doctor Who - The Official Guide to Series 1 and 2, and the March 2008 Torchwood tie-in novel, The Twilight Streets.

Each comic will have a stand-alone story with elements that add up to a series-long arc, just as in the aired show. The Tenth Doctor is traveling with "the rather fabulous Martha Jones, a young trainee doctor from contemporary London" (a description which sets the comic at some point in the previously aired series rather than after Martha's rumored return in Series 4). Plot-wise, IDW says they will "face down threats to stop darkness and evil from spreading throughout the cosmos - and, while they're at it, they also hunt for the galaxy's best chocolate milkshakes. Unknown to them, however, forces have set their sights on the good Doctor: As the last of the Time Lords, he is, after all, highly collectible to the right people." (Although Russell claimed "each issue is wholly 100% created for IDW. Besides which, I don't think there are any unused/spare TV stories lying around for me to steal!" I must note that this description contains some of the same elements of the plotline of Jacqueline Rayner's Ten and Martha tie-in novel, The Last Dodo.)

Russell also assures readers that the comic is deliberately written so that people who have only seen the new adventures of Doctor Who - or no Doctor Who adventures at all - can enjoy it.

Sample artwork and more quotes from Gary Russell and Nick Roche are available at their interview at Newsarama by Michael San Giacomo. IDW does not yet have ordering information on their website, but it will doubtless become available in January as the series premieres. American readers should also be able to preorder the series at their local comic shop.