Rich Morris' Comics - YAFGC and The ComixBlog

Loooong long ago when I was about 13 or so I wanted to draw some Doctor Who comics, just ’cause I enjoyed the character so much and we didn’t get the show in Canada (not on the channels we had). So I wanted to make some up.
I tried drawing some Tom Bakers in panels very similar to the way I did these, 8 boxes draw with a ruler across a sketchpad.
I couldn’t draw him the way I liked and it frustrated me. So instead I started drawing adventures of my OWN Time Lord known as the Scout. They’re also pretty awful, but at least I didn’t have to make it look like anyone real.

Some years later when I was at Sheridan College, I started doing a comic strip in my sketchbook which I called “The Link Trap” which included all my characters from all my RPGs I’d ever been in…well, lots of them, anyway… including my old Time Lord “The Scout”. It was a hoot and my girlfriend at the time enjoyed it. But I ran out of steam right a the very end, and while the plot was resolved, the denuement very suddenly stops.
Years later, when the new series started up again, I started doodling all the verious Doctors and realized that I could now draw all of them reasonably well enough.
I had also been telling Hilary about how I have this habit of starting massive projects and not seeing them through, and she inspired me to start YAFGC and keep it going. The idea of writing/seeing a massive multiple Doctors story was something I always harboured, and resulted in me running two RPGS on that theme:
“The 10 Doctors” in 1992, which included the 7 from TV and 3 “apocryphal Doctors -Cushing, Martin and David Banks (The Ultimate Adventure),
and
“The 8th Doctor” in 1994, which included the 7 from TV who had to rescue the infant version of the original incarnation.
I had also run various multiple incarnation RPGs of our own original Time Lords including The Scout.

So anyway, I finally realized I had the tools and the muse to finally DO this huge comic and see how far it got. Not only that, but I had the means to share it with people online and see how it stood up.

I’ve been absolutley floored by the positive reactions, and so I’m inspired not only to keep going, but to start doing more of them afterwards.

And no, I haven’t figured out how to give hints about the later comics without spoiling too much.
I will say this:
It will be sort of a series including various incarnations.
They will have their own internal continuity and relate to eachother as do episodes of the show.
Some will involve more than one incarnation.
Some may not involve the Doctor at all, but other characters in the universe.
Some may involve my own Time Lord, the Scout.
Some new companions may result.

I’m gambling on a twist to the stories that I’m sure will thrill lots of people and annoy others. But, this is my muse, my site, my comics. So I hope you’ll enjoy the ride!



This particular story, no. When I started all I knew was I wanted to get all 10 Doctors in the same place, and then break them into smaller groups, then reconnect them at the end. I came up with the plot over a few weeks before I started, and it keeps evolving as I draw it.
Hopefully future comics will be more... settled, beforehand.

I've been drawing cartoons and things right from my childhood. I used to copy the Flintstones and the Pink Panther right from the TV, so sayeth my mother.
I did some art classes through elementary and High school, though I chose not to pursue it professionally until I learned to really hate Computers. I'd taken a few computer programming courses (GWbasic, Fortran, Pascal...all the rage back in 1986!) and they hated me as much as I hated them. So I went to Sheridan College and did the Classical Animation program. I've been working in the industry (on and off) ever since as a Character/Prop designer, a storyboard artists, layout artist, animator, animation supervisor, and briefly as a Director. I'm doing storyboards now. That's about 16+ years working in children's television, which I have finally come to find stunningly dull. So while I do that, I'm expressing myself in the more adult oriented "YAFGC" and the fannish "The 10 Doctors", among others.

Awesome

The reason I ask so much is that (as I've briefly mentioned), I've been really inspired by this story (and comic) to have a crack at my own. I've got a few ideas already but I can't develop a plot. Don't take this the wrong way, but a multi-Doctor story is kinda "the norm" for fan writers these days so I wanted to somehow use the multi-Doctor idea but completely twist it. I've had an idea to set my story in the 14th Doctor's timeline but I'm beginning to question the logic, because it might just be confusing. Rich, would you recommend sticking to One-Ten? Do you think it'd be easier than a future Doctor?

The problem with future Doctors is that they haven't been cast. There is no 14th Doctor so you're making it all up. Eventually canon will catch up to you and prove you utterly wrong.
So it depends on what your goal is. If you just want to write a cool story about the Doctor and don't give a hang about conflicting with the series or if the fans will critique it or not, then sure, make stuff up and go with it.

My 10 Doctors plot was meant to be a tribute to the series, so I took great pains to make sure it would fit into the series without conflicting with anything. That being said, so much of it has inconsistant continuity, so I had to lay down the law of what *I* considered canon and not. For example, anything that wasn't on the show doesn't count, so I can pick and chose which other media things I want to keep or dismiss.

I've often found that when it comes to these things, if I'm going to make SOME of it up, I might as well make ALL of it up. Hense the adventures of The Scout. Nobody can argue about a character I've made up. On the other hand, few people will care about him because it's NOT the Doctor.

It's an awkward balancing act.

If you want a twist, just figure what makes them standard and change them.

It's all 10 Doctors, but they're somehow mixed up.
They're not the REAL 10 Doctors and they're trying to find the real one.
It's actually about the actors, rather than the character.
Something cause them to regenerate with different personality, which also allows you to change their costume choices. And they have to fix the timeline.
Stuff like that.

I'm similar - if it's not on TV, it isn't canon.

I thought if I did a future Doctor, it'd open the possibilities for things like the rebuilding of Gallifrey, cyber-evolution and some other cool concepts that, ultimately, can go wherever they want because it hasn't been done on TV yet. But then, as you said, TV would catch up.

Hmm, but yeah. Thanks for the advice and replies Rich

More questions for Rich

1. I understand you have a basic plotline and some subplot ideas, but have you ever reached a point and then had a change of plan? Basically, has something big been changed? Like an alternate "Ten Doctors"? Just curious ^_^

2. Please can we have a Zarbi cameo? xD

Fanks ^_^

It happens regularly. The thing is growing organically which is part of the reason I cannot predict how long it will take to finish.
Some examples of original plot ideas that the comic veered away from include:
a) "The 10 Doctors" was originally meant to be a great big crossover story with other science fiction TV shows I enjoy. Fortunately, I decided to simplify my life by sticking to ONE universe.
b) I wasn't going to include any companions at first, just the 10 individual incarnations of the Doctor.
c) Once I did decide to include companions, I was planning to make sure they ALL showed up, even the dead ones and even the really obscure ones (Like Sara Kingdom and Katarina)
d)The Silurians (and the Sea Devils) were going to be another independant force that had to be fought seperately by UNIT while the 3rd and 9th Doctor were taking care of the Cybermen.
e) The 2007 Christmas Special started out as a branched off substory where the 1st Doctor finds the Time Scoop and teleports all the other Doctors and companions, even those NOT in the story, (and the Master) to Gallifrey to celebrate Christmas. The 10th Doctor freaks out about him hijacking the plot (9th Doctor: "You can't just HIJACK the story for a Christmas party!" 3rd Doctor: "Of course we can. WE'RE the Doctor!") the 4th Doctor offers the Master a Humbug (to which he replies "BAH!") Jamie flirts with all the female companions (notably Peri, Tegan, Rose and Ace) the K9s all sing a rousing chorus of "We Wish you a *beeeep* Christmas!"), The 2nd and 7th Doctors accompany on the spoons and recorder while Jamie pipes. Romana 2 and the 4th Doctor get blind drunk and wind up making out in the TARDIS, Peri and some other companions decorate the 6th Doctor like a Christmas tree, including a little star tucked in his curly hair and wraping him in garlands.The 1st Doctor addresses the audience at the end. I got about two pages into it and ran out of time.



HAHAHHHAHAAHAHAHHHHHAHA!
No.
For logistical reasons and my own sanity, I don't take requests on this thing.
That isn't to say it WON'T happen.. but if the plot doesn't go that direction, it won't happen. I'm not going to work it in deliberately at this point.
Truth be told, I'm eager to get this story done and on to the next ones. But I won't let this one suffer a hurried ending. I'm taking my time and letting all of it come together as planned with a little of its own liberty.

See- now I'm hoping for a 2008 Christmas Special. Bcs I just have to see them decorating 6 like a Christmas tree

Hey Rich

Just curious... how did you set-up "The Ten Doctors"? I know you always had the little ideas but did you create character profiles and completely design the characters/features (eg. the Time Daleks) or did you make up their characters/abilities along the way?

Cheers,
Lewis.

Not sure I totally understand what you're asking, but I'll try to explain:
I've been drawing the characters and monsters from Doctor Who since I was very young (I wax nostalgic on my childhood Who experiences elsewhere in the forum), so I didn't really need to make model sheets or anything. I'd developed my own "cartoon shorthand" by now. I did print out a page of small photos of all the Doctors, the companions I was using, the Torchwood cast (most of which I didn't use anyway) and a few other things I used for reference. I also brought a couple of reference books with me ("Time Frame, A Pictorial History of Doctor Who", among others)
As for the story, I frequently scribble notes about what's done, what has to happen next in what order, and things like that on Post-It notes and on the backs of Storyboard Template pages and they're tucked loosely (or taped to) the inside of the latest binder that carries the comics themselves. ("The 10 Doctors" now has three binders while "YAFCG" now has 10). Sometimes I'll scribble doodles in the margins or poses or quick layouts of a panel, but usually I just go straight ahead and make it up as I go along. I *MAY* think one or two panels ahead of myself while I'm drawing.
As for the Time Daleks (and I guess also the augmented Sontarans and the CyberSilurians) I make up their abilities using simple logic and plot necessity.
Time Lord Daleks would KNOW that shooting a Time Lord with a regular weapon would be useless, so naturally they'd use a staser setting.
At this moment, I have an idea of how the Doctor(s) are going to defeat the Time Daleks and rescue the 10th Doctor (because you KNOW that has to happen... the show continued after the New season 2), but by the time I get to drawing that part, my ideas may have changed, my story needs may have changed, and I may have thought of something better. So it's all pretty fluid and organic.

hmm- that's pretty daring creatively - I had imaged you had fixed points in the story that were to come and how to solve it all, and all that changed would be how the characters got to said points, to do their required bits, as the story evolved.

Then again, after more than a year under your belt, moving the story along, you clearly have a good idea of how to keep the ball rolling even while the cliffhangers keep coming <g>

Looking forward to seeing more!

BTW - thanks again for showing us the 6 Xmas tree Doctor, that was a treat <g> tho my favorite panel may be the Rock'n Around the Christmas Tree...or maybe 4 and Romana ... oh...never mind! I always pick lots of favorites, which is why a story with all the Doctors appeals to me so much.

I have a question for you Rich! Do all the original drawings of your comics exist somewhere on paper? If so you must be drowning in them by now!

I've been trying to draw some comics with the hope of setting up my own webcomic for a month or two. I tried it on just a graphics tablet but found it so much easier to sketch on paper first before scanning and colouring: already I've collected a nice chunk-of-tree's worth of paper.

I'm just imaginging your house full of filing cabinets for all your drawings!

Yes. Yes, we are. Plus 20 years worth of sketchbooks, plus all the originals of every YAFGC strip, plus random character sketches and doodles, plus our daughter has started demonstrating exactly how much like her dad she is, and has been asking for "pin! peppa![trans: pen! paper!] pees, mummy, dawing!" every day. We have a number of binders and storage boxes filled with the ones he's keeping, and recently my MIL gave us a big box of things *she'd* been saving, until she and my FIL moved house.

Rich is a compulsive sketcher - by about our third date, I was carrying a pen or two in my purse at all times - no placemat or napkin is safe. I know a number of people who have had meals out with us, who still have placemats from various brunch places and diners up on their fridges, with whatever caricatures, one-panel gags and horrible illustrated puns Rich was doodling out that day. I've been cleaning out my wallet and found receipts tucked in there with little doodles of chickens or stick men on them. My corset busk from my tudor garb has a little Kilroy peering over, on top - I had loosened the ties and poked the busk up about an inch one day while we were at a feast and I'd overeaten, and Rich leaned across the table and got me before I realized what was happening.

And every time I come across one of his breadcrumbs somewhere in my daily life, it makes me smile.

Heheh - I used to work for a cartoonist ages ago. I remember the bank tellers really looked forward to my paychecks - he was incapable of just signing once he had a pen in his hand, each one was a unique cartoon - they said they loved getting them but felt guilty about processing his art with their machines <g>

Hehehe, I've heard a story about a famous cartoonist - possibly Charles Schultz, but I don't really remember - getting free meals at restaurants by paying with cheques that he had drawn cartoons on. More often than now they would keep it for the cartoons, frame it on their walls and the cartoonist didn't ever end up paying.

Hunh... I never got quite that lucky. I've had lots of incidences where the waitresses and waiters asked to keep my placemat and they've ended up on the wall in the kitchen for ... well, I have no idea how long... probaby not too terribly long..
And ONCE I got a free drink for drawing a waitress at a medieval themed restaurant. But usually they just say "nice" as they clean up.
I guess I'm not that good. Or not that famous. *shrug*