Newest, Youngest Doctor Who Matt Smith Metamorphs Into Comics

I’m an old-school Doctor Who fan, who’s always loved its subversive sci-fi on television and in comics. The latest Time Lord is Matt Smith, who’s a hoot, who’s finally getting his comic-book close-up this month. I probed Doctor Who comics brainiac Tony Lee for details, for Wired.

Time Lord Faces Holographic Spam in New Doctor Who Comic

The 11th Time Lord tackles holographic spam and other annoying online extrapolations in the first issue of the all-new Doctor Who comic book series.

“There’s no Norton AntiVirus for the Tardis,” long-time Doctor Who comics writer Tony Lee told Wired.com in an e-mail chat. “So the spam e-mails take physical form … people offering amazing offers from far-off kingdoms who just need a chapo like yourself to help them — oh, and your account details of course…. And if it’s destroying your inbox … well, you really shouldn’t be joining those sorts of websites now, should you?”

Lee’s interstellar goof on social networking, previewed in Wired.com’s exclusive gallery above, kicks off Wednesday with the comics debut of actor Matt Smith, the latest (and youngest) Doctor, whose television counterpart has brought blockbuster ratings to the BBC’s venerable sci-fi franchise.

IDW’s new ongoing Doctor Who comics series features art from Andrew Currie, Tommy Lee Edwards, Kelley Yates, Fables all-star Mark Buckingham, Richard Piers Rayner, Matthew Dow Smith and Chris Samnee.

The goal is to translate Smith’s charismatic enthusiasm — and geeky bow tie — which have helped him put a personal stamp on the television show, to the page.

“I think Smith took a couple of episodes to settle in, but overall I felt that he made [the character] his own,” Lee said. “Which, after David Tennant, was always going to be a problem. Smith was the Peter Davison after Tom Baker. He had to take [the role of the Doctor in] a totally different direction before he could own it.”

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