Rich's ComixBlog is Exactly What It Says on the Tin, a Webcomics blog updated by Rich Morris (author of Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic), and maintained by his wife Hilary Doda.
The output of the blog is diverse, to say the least. Morris is a huge Whovian, so the majority of the featured comics are Fan Webcomics based on Doctor Who (although he also occasionally posts comics featuring original characters and situations).
If any of this sounds interesting, then by all means check it out.
See also The 10 Doctors, also by Morris.
General Tropes:
- April Fools' Day: It's an annual tradition to do a gag page on April 1. The Eleventh Doctor's first "offical" ComixBlog appearance was an Early-Bird Cameo in one of these episodes, as a matter of fact.
- Beethoven Was an Alien Spy:
- The Stalker Of Norfolk: The circumstances surrounding the death of Amye Robsart.
- Outrage: Eric Raymond was actually a Zygon pretending to be the real Eric Raymond, and Techrat was an exiled Time Lord.
- A Time To Kill: Ernst Stavro Blofeld was a Time Lord who stole a decommissioned TARDIS (just like the Doctor), only for it to break down on Earth.
- Black Bead Eyes:
- In the Doctor Who fan comics, the Fifth Doctor, Jamie, Zoe, and the Eleventh Doctor all have black bead eyes.
- Black bead eyes also show up on Darius in House Of Paulus, on Jon and Kels in 24fps, and on Dom in Storybored.
- Due to the art style, background and faraway characters also have black bead eyes from time to time.
- Call to Adventure: So far, Janette and Stormer have accepted a ride aboard the TARDIS.
- Content Warnings: The Doctor Who comics have no nudity, but if one of Rich's other comics contains frontal nudity (which happens, albeit rarely), then Rich posts a filler image in its place and a link to the actual image in the text below.
- Crossover: Almost all of Rich's Doctor Who fan comics fall under this category (see Fan Verse below).
- Early-Bird Cameo:
- Both the Scout and the Eleventh Doctor make their first appearance on the 2012 April Fool's Day page.
- In-Universe: At the beginning of Forever Janette, we see Tracy Vetter as a regular policewoman who hasn't made detective yet. The Eighth Doctor uses his psychic paper on her to gain access to the crime scene she's guarding.
- Fan Verse:
- All of the Doctor Who comics (
possibly with the exception of Seeds of Destruction) take place in the same continuity as The 10 Doctors. - This fan verse also incorporates Forever Knight, Jem, and James Bond. And it's implied that it also includes Stargate SG-1.
- All of the Doctor Who comics (
- Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Frequently crops up in the standard Doctor Who fashion. In Outrage, Six reveals Jem's secret identity to Rio; in Seeds of Destruction, Five lands on the dangerous planet Kryn instead of in Pasadena; and in A Time To Kill, Ten completely shatters James Bond's cover.
- Original Character:
- Corporal Beverly Powell, a UNIT historian, becomes the Third Doctor's companion in Stalker.
- In The Eternity War, we meet a Time Lord called the Scout, who is tracking some Daleks across time.
- Schedule Slip: Justified, since Rich works on and updates the blog in his spare time. One comic lampshaded this during one of the blog's longer hiatuses.
- The 23 Doctors stopped being updated in 2013, and as of 2016 has not been continued. Rich answered to someone who asked that the introduction of the War Doctor and new ideas such as the 11th Doctor being the 13th meant he'd have to change the story, and as two years had passed it would no longer be a 50th anniversary story.
Doctor Who fan comics:
open/close all folders
Forever Janette (crossover with Forever Knight)
The Eighth Doctor lands in 1995 Toronto and investigates a string of bizarre murders. Coincidentally, Nicholas Knight is investigating the same thing. There are flashbacks to Nicholas and the Fifth Doctor in 14th Century France.
- Body Horror: Pierre. Poor, poor Pierre.
- Continuity Nod: Under the guise of a forensic examiner, the Doctor mentions to Natalie Lambert that that when he was "called in", he was at the Opera.
- Dead Person Impersonation: The Master has a man named Pierre pretending to be Seigneur Charles Duvallée.
- Foregone Conclusion: Since the story takes place in between seasons two and three of Forever Knight, we know that Nick, LaCroix, Janette, and Natalie will live. Schanke will also survive, but not for long. Also, given how the story ends, it's implied that Janette returning to Toronto as a human in FN's third season is a result of the Eighth Doctor's help, and we know that this will ultimately be doomed to failure.
- Have We Met Yet?: The Fifth Doctor and Nyssanote run into the Master.note The following exchange occurs:Five: So, you managed to escape from Xeraphas, did—
The Master: Oh, stop. We've had this conversation before, Doctor. We're off-phase this time. - In Medias Res: The story starts out with the Eighth Doctor investigating a mystery in 1995 Toronto, then flashes back to the Fifth Doctor and Nyssa in 1348 France. The narrative goes back and forth after that.
- Red Herring: Nicholas Knight is investigating doll-sized human corpses when the Eighth Doctor shows up on the scene. Seasoned Whovians immediately suspect that the Master is killing people with his tissue compression eliminator again. Except it isn't him this time.
- Title Drop:Janette: Release me now and I will help you. I will stay with you...
Pierre: Forever, Janette?
Janette: Forever. - Translation Convention/Translator Microbes: Played with on this page. Upon encountering the TARDIS in the woods, LaCroix sees its signage in Latin, Janette sees it in French, and Nicholas sees it in Dutch.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: Expressed by Nick, natch. Also lampshaded by Eight when he talks to Janette at the end of the story, when he points out that she's seeking "an alternative to the crushing boredom of eternity".
The Stalker Of Norfolk
The Third Doctor takes a UNIT corporal back in time to meet Lord Robert Dudley, Lady Amye Robsart, and Elizabeth I. They also encounter mysterious vapours.
- Foregone Conclusion: Just read your history books. Also discussed In-Universe pretty early in the story, when the Third Doctor tells Beverly that there's nothing he can do for Lady Robsart's cancer. By the end, she does die, but it's because of something else.
- Have We Met?: Lord Robert Dudley asks this of the Doctor. They actually had met before (when the Doctor was in his first incarnation and visiting Elizabeth's coronation), but Dudley shrugs this feeling off.
- Historical Domain Character: Lord Robert Dudley, Lady Amye Robsart, and many other people involved in the events leading up to Lady Robsart's mysterious death. All explained in this cheat sheet.
- The Knights Who Say "Squee!": The Third Doctor is excited to meet Queen Elizabeth, having just narrowly missed talking to her in his first incarnation, but he holds in his excitement. Beverly, on the other hand, is openly excited to meet everyone and witness history in the making. So much so, that it nearly gets her into trouble when she offhandedly corrects Queen Elizabeth on a proper quote in a famous Elizabethan speech.
- Popcultural Osmosis: Rich had to explain in the story's cheat sheet that he did not do a crossover featuring the cast of Blackadder II (Edmund Blackadder II's unnamed cameo on page 18 notwithstanding). The other characters are actual people from the Elizabethan era,
believe it or not. - Sweet Polly Oliver: Beverly's 16th-Century disguise is a male's doublet and tights, as she didn't want to wear a corset and dress. The whole time she's there, people refer to her as a male...but she still goes by "Beverly".note
- Time-Travel Tense Trouble: Lampshaded on page 10.
Outrage (crossover with Jem)
The Sixth Doctor and Mel attend a Jem concert in 1988, and the Doctor casually spills the beans to Rio about Jerrica Benton's double life. Meanwhile, Eric Raymond and Techrat discover the TARDIS and set their sights on the Doctor.
- Artistic License – History: On page 2, the Doctor uses the word "email," and Mel has no idea what he's talking about. Except Mel's a computer programmer from the mid-Eighties, and the term "email" had been in use amongst programmers since 1982. Rich admitted his mistake in the comments for that page.
- The Atoner: The real Eric Raymond, who goes back to work for Starlight Studios after being freed.Jetta: Some kind of infiltration scheme, eh? Break 'em from within!
Eric Raymond: Actually no. It's a thing called redemption and forgiveness. You should look it up. - Big Damn Heroes: Roxy saves the day by sneaking up on Techrat, getting the best of him, and punching him off the railing, saving both Rio and the Doctor.
- Continuity Nod: Techrat bitterly reveals that the Time Lords banished him to Earth with his memory altered, something that the Doctor reluctantly admits "does sound familiar".
- Crack Fic: Who else can have the Sixth Doctor meeting Jem, and have it make sense?
- That said, it becomes crackier when you realize that, in Rich's narrative, Jem now shares a universe with Forever Knight.
- That said, it becomes crackier
- Disney Villain Death: Subverted with Techrat, who gets punched off of some scaffolding by Roxy. He regenerates, ending one of his lives.
- Dragon with an Agenda: Techrat.
- Earn Your Happy Ending: Stormer finally gets one, after all her time being vilified on both sides, for being with the Misfits, and being the nice one. She does a Heel–Face Turn because of her feelings for Kimber, but her declaration of her feelings is cut short twice, first by Rio, and then by Kimber saying she's going out with Sean and thinks he's going to propose again. Mel and the Doctor find Stormer crying of a broken heart, knowing that her band mates probably won't help the situation and the Misfits will most likely be broken up. Stormer's offered a place on the TARDIS.
- '80s Hair: The most 80s-tastic TARDIS team visits Jem and the Holograms. The comments joked that Rich was feeling the urge to draw lots of hair and getting it out of his system.
- Enemy Mine: The Misfits team up with the Holograms and the Doctor to stop Techrat.
- Foil:
- Techrat, for the Doctor. Just like the Third Doctor, Techrat has been exiled to Earth with no chance for escape. Likewise, just like the Sixth Doctor, Techrat is a temperamental Insufferable Genius. However, the Doctor has always swayed towards helping humanity, and helped UNIT during his own exile; Techrat only cares about his own goals, and willingly helps the Zygons cause trouble.
- The Misfits, for the Holograms (continuing from the TV show). It's most apparent in the story's two songs: "Behind the Mask" by the Misfits is all about how an ambiguous identity can be used as a weapon; "See Me Rise" by the Holograms is about how dropping a facade will lift a person higher.
- This is tied directly into Stormer's arc. In canon, she has a real name (Mary Phillips), and by the end of the story, she's still using her Misfits nickname and isn't able to tell Kimber her true feelings. Feeling lost, she finds her way into the TARDIS crew.
- Interestingly, the Doctor is a foil for Jem/Jerrica. Jerrica's Character Development involves her deciding to reveal her secret identity to the world. The Doctor, who actually instigated and supported this change, has a mysterious past and true name that he chooses not to reveal. This is explicitly pointed out at the end, when Stormer calls him on it after he inquires about her nickname.
- Friend to All Children: The Sixth Doctor, to Mel's surprise. He mends Ashley's foot, does a magic trick to cheer her up, and is generally very kind to her throughout the process.
- Fully Absorbed Finale: It's a fan crossover work, so it doesn't really count as canon (obviously), but Outrage pretty much serves as an unofficial series finale for Jem. To wit: Rio finally discovers Jerrica's double life, everyone finds out the truth about Jerrica's father and Synergy, the villains behind Eric Raymond's Jerkassery are discovered and defeated, Techrat regenerates and disappears, Rio proposes to Jerrica, and Jerrica decides to reveal her dual identity as Jem to the world.
- Heel–Face Turn: Stormer, because of her feelings for Kimber.
- Locked Out of the Loop: The Misfits originally thought the Doctor was a recording executive who was offering the Holograms a contract. They find out the truth when the fake Eric Raymond has enough of Pizzazz's attitude, tells her off, and reveals his true form to everyone.
- Man Behind the Man: The reason Eric Raymond was such a bad guy was because he was being manipulated by some Zygons. Eventually, they got tired of his incompetence and replaced him with a Zygon disguised to look like him.
- As it turned out, the real Eric's dealings with the Misfits and the Stingers was all to slow down the Zygons from getting their hands on Synergy and to protect the Holograms, even though he couldn't make it look like that because they had his sister. At first, the Zygons weren't sure if Eric was doing it deliberately or because he was an idiot, but they became convinced when he sold half of the studio to Riot and the place was swarming with the Stingers' entourage.
- Moment Killer: Rio rescues Kimber and Stormer, interrupting right as Stormer is admitting her true feelings to Kimber.
- Railing Kill: Roxy pushes Techrat over the edge of a scaffold, and he falls to the ground. Subverted when he regenerates and runs off immediately after.
- Screaming Woman: Despite this being one of Mel's defining character traits in the actual TV show, she doesn't scream once during the whole course of the story.
- Shout-Out:
- After Techrat falls to his death, the Doctor goes to look at his body, only it has vanished.note
- Page 49 has a nice little shout-out to the "Two-Minute Time Lord" podcast.
- Spanner in the Works:Mel: Oh, I'm not worried. I know you've got a plan.
Six: Well, I did. But it rather depended on a distinct absence of certain bouffant-haired pop stars. - Took a Level in Badass: Mel takes a more extroverted role in this story concerning the action than she's usually known for.
- Villain Song: The Misfits sing an original ditty entitled "Behind the Mask." This comes complete with an impromptu music video, per usual for Jem. The Sixth Doctor is flummoxed.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Rich didn't follow up on Ashley's role in the story, even though she was there when Jerrica finally reveals that she's Jem.
- He also doesn't follow up on the Stingers, who will be coming home from tour to find themselves without a recording studio and business partner.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Mel to Six, after he reveals Jerrica's secret to Rio.
- Who Names Their Kid "Dude"?: The Doctor wants to know what kind of a name "Stormer" is. Stormer wants to know what kind of a name "Doctor" is. The Doctor abandons the point.
- Word of God: Jem creator Christy Marx left a friendly (albeit brief) message in the comments section on page 3.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: With the Doctor's TARDIS within his reach, and Synergy's power source in hand, Techrat remotely gasses the Zygons. Then, when the Zygons try to escape, Stingers Sound goes kablooey—-Techrat had rigged it to explode if the Zygons attempted to leave Earth without him.
Seeds Of Destruction (written by Landry Q. Walker)
Peri wants to visit a garden in Pasadena. The Fifth Doctor doesn't, so he takes her somewhere else. Naturally, they run into trouble. This story was written by Landry Walker as a pitch for a Fifth Doctor audio adventure.
- Cliffhanger: This story ends on one, as the author had originally developed the script as a Big Finish pitch.
- Damsel in Distress: "And do you know what we do with damsels?" "YES SIR! WE SAVE THEM SIR!"
- Guest Strip: Rich did the artwork, but the story was written by Landry Q. Walker.
- Plant Person: Five and Peri find themselves running from zombified versions of these.
- Wham Line: "This is the planet Kryn. And these are the Krynoids."
A Time To Kill (crossover with James Bond)
Donna and the Tenth Doctor meet James Bond and blow his cover by accident. Meanwhile, in 1973, Blofeld captures the Master, and one James Bond rescues another James Bond. And elsewhen, yet another James Bond visits a nightclub.
- Actor Allusion: Or the fanfic equivalent. Brosnan!Bond meets with Jack Wade at a nightclub to deliver a disc that comes from someone named Mitchell (who Jack doesn't like). Wade was played by Joe Don Baker, who also played Mitchell.
- Big Damn Heroes: Connery!Bond swoops in and rescues Lazenby!Bond from some goons.
- Celebrity Paradox: Donna opines that Ten is "all James Bond" with his tuxedo and fancy gadgets; a page later, Ten runs into his old friend, James Bond. Ten later explains to Donna that Bond exists both as a fictional character and a real person, and can get around this because his name acts as a Perception Filter (see below). Still, we don't know yet if the Bond series' actors are the same in this universe as they are in ours; if so, then it becomes an incredible recurring case of Identical Stranger.
- Continuity Nod: The Misfits' song "Behind the Mask" from Outrage is heard at the beginning of the story. The Doctor wonders where he's heard it before.
- Distracted by the Sexy / Male Gaze: Donna's dress.Donna: Between [the sonic screwdriver] and your trainers, I'm amazed they let you in here.Ten: I know. Security seemed to be distracted by something...
- Foreshadowing: On Page 013, Ten mentions the SGC. Rich not-too-subtly hinted in the page comments that there's going to be yet another Who crossover to that effect sometime later on...
- Fiction as Cover-Up: Bond's franchise, and apparently a few others as well...Ten: Clever, isn't it? Your immediate reaction: it's a movie, so it can't be real.
- Meanwhile, in the Future…: The plot jumps around from the Tenth Doctor and Donna's time (with Craig!Bond), to 1973 (with Blofeld, Delgado!Master, and two other Bonds), to Brosnan!Bond's time.
- Noticing the Fourth Wall: Apparently the Doctor has.Ten: Even I had a TV show once. Got cancelled in the late '80s last time I checked, though.
- The Nth Doctor: The Doctor and Donna meet Craig!Bond, Lazenby!Bond meets Connery!Bond, Brosnan!Bond meets a woman at a nightclub, and Moore!Bond meets the Third Doctor. Presumably, the story will later explain whether it's regeneration or multiple agents using the same codename.
- Perception Filter: Bond's name. Ten explains it to Donna: whenever Bond gives his standard "Bond, James Bond." introduction, it activates an audio perception filter.Ten: When said in a certain way the person hearing it remembers the name and face, but not the details about him. It gets fuzzy. Like a dream you can remember but can't recall the exact details. It won't work every time and it doesn't work on the same person more than a few times. But it's enough to fool a lot of people.
- Then, to demonstrate, he uses the line on Donna, and she instantly forgets who Bond is.
- To Be Continued:
- The intro ended with the Tenth Doctor and Donna helping a weakened James Bond into the TARDIS while a female sniper looks on. The story eventually picked back up in early 2012.
- The story took another hiatus starting in late April 2012 after the colourist went on holiday.
- And it took yet another hiatus (this time unexpectedly) when Rich's hard drive crashed in September 2012.
The Eternity War
A Time Lord called the Scout tracks the Rani and some Daleks throughout time, and discovers that (as always) they're up to no good.
- Oh, Crap!: Pretty much defines the look on the Scout's face when his Time Lord superiors tell him what the Daleks are doing.
- Our Zombies Are Different: The Daleks are using the Rani's serum to make some Type C zombies.
- Sailor Earth: The Scout.
- The '60s: The Scout tracks the Daleks to a graveyard in 1968 Pittsburgh.
Other Comics:
24fps- All Animation Is Disney: In-Universe, this is what people automatically assume when Eric tells them he's an animator. Naturally, he doesn't really care for the assumption.
- The Smurfette Principle: Discussed and subverted here.
House Of Paulus / The FVLMINATA Series
- Alternate History: House Of Paulus is based on an RPG called FVLMINATA, which takes place in a universe where the Roman Empire discovered firearms and never fell.
- Amazonian Beauty: Midna. She trains gladiators, she's depicted as quite muscular, she stands a full head taller than the other characters, and it's implied that Even the Girls Want Her because of her muscular build.
- Male Gaze: Happens on page XLVIII.
- Series Hiatus: Page 1 of Part 2 (entitled "Circe's Furies") was posted in December 2009. It hasn't been updated since then.
Thursday
- Affectionate Parody: Of B-movies. There are zombies, evil spirits, possession, aliens, teenagers being kidnapped, etc.
- Cut Short: Thursday 14 didn't have an ending, as Rich went on a four month hiatus after publishing the third page.
- Fanservice: Thursday Horrors is pretty NSFW. The female biker protagonist, for example, spends most of the story in her underwear, and a zombie woman is seen in the buff.
Storybored (with Dominic Marco)
- Cloud Cuckoo Lander: Stu, if that's his real name. He prefers to be called "Linoleum Teapot" anyway.
- Real Life Writes the Plot:
- When Dom got sick in Real Life, Rich went ahead and did a solo strip about it, and his comic avatar mentioned something about it.
- When the real life Rich and Dom were separated after their storyboarding project was concluded for the season, they wrote it into the strip.
- Self-Insert Fic: Rich and Dom are the two main characters.
- Two Lines, No Waiting: Now that that Rich is done for the season on his latest storyboard project and is separated from Dom, each author is maintaining their separate halves of the strip. Rich is documenting his time away from work and with his kids, whereas Dom is documenting his time at work.
The Fairies of Cottondale Wood (with Jennifer Morris)
- Lighter and Softer: Rich calls it an attempt to make a more family-friendly version of Yet Another Fantasy Gamer Comic. It helps that it's co-written by his 4-year-old daughter.
