Back in the 80s, the Doctor Who comic strip was just about the best thing the series had going for it.
Names of the caliber of Morrison, Moore, Gibbons, Hitch, Ridgway and McMahon were writing or penciling stories that, long before the New Adventures came along, were too broad and too deep for the small screen.
Of course, back then DWM was being done on a bit of a wing and a prayer, at a time when Doctor Who was hardly the multi-million pound franchise powerhouse it is today. But the creativity of the guys working on the strip, under the auspices or Marvel, belied the relative poverty of the mag.
These days, of course, everything's different and in recent years those classic strips have been collected and reprinted in graphic novel form, complete with additional interviews and behind the scenes material.
So the news that John Ridgway, who in Voyager and The World Shapers was responsible for drawing perhaps the best DWM strips of all time, isn't getting a penny in royalties for those reprints is somewhat surprising.
The always-readable
Angry Who Fan blog, which
first flagged this up, described their behaviour as 'shitty'. We'll go further on the Thumbcast. It's a fucking disgrace,
Ridgway revealed that the royalty agreements were basically sorted with a nod and a handshake between himself and former DWM editor John Freeman during the 80s, and that they stopped once Freeman stepped down.
His replacement was Gary Russell - currently a script editor on Who and the Sarah Jane Adventures, and formerly the editorial side of audio producers Big Finish. He was replaced by Gary Gillatt, then by Alan Barnes.
Clayton Hickman took over as editor in 2002, to be succeeded in 2007 by Tom Spilsbury.
Voyager was reprinted in 2007. World Shapers last year. On, respectively, Hickman and Spillsbury's watch. Each of those men needs to take a long, cold, hard look at themselves in the mirror. Because while legally they might be under no obligation to compensate Ridgway, they're reaping the financial rewards of cashing in on his work while Doctor Who's a hot property again.
Show you've got at least a semblance of the soul we always thought Who fandom had and sort this mess out.
Incidentally, Barnes had his own strips for DWM reprinted in 2006. Does he get royalties from those books? I think we should be told.
