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.”

Like other loyal fans of the longest-running sci-fi show in television history, Lee demurs on having a favorite Doctor. (“I know it’s a cop-out, but it’s true,” he said.) But he also welcomes the question as a chance to marry the show’s enduring appeal to his own life.

“Everyone goes through this, because your tastes change as you age,” Lee explained. “When I was 8, I loved Tom Baker and hated the first three. When he changed to Peter Davison, I was 11, and I felt a far stronger kinship with this younger, more earnest chap. I enjoyed Colin Baker and Sylvester McCoy, but they came during a time in my life that I was discovering other worlds, like girls.

“Tennant brought me back to the new series,” Lee added. “He became my favorite because I wrote him. I had to sit and watch the same episodes time and again to get his mannerisms just right. By that point, I was in my late 30s, and enjoying stories of a crotchety old man who turns into a bit of a hobo.”

Now that Lee is a comparatively old man, he’s tasked with penning the comic for the Doctor’s youngest Doctor incarnation. He’s loading up the new series with social networking slams, Jack the Ripper intrigue, and crossfires featuring cyborg dinosaurs and Vikings. In other words, the kind of smart but fun sci-fi that has made Doctor Who an infinitely renewable entertainment resource.

The not-so-secret weapon behind that longevity? Doctor Who’s brilliant blend of brains, bravery and banter. The entertaining mix remains roughly the same no matter who plays the title role.

“No show can survive a full cast change,” Lee said. “People have tried it, but there’s always one character who stays the linchpin of the show, and with Doctor Who, it’s the Doctor. But because we found early on that he can change, we can have total cast restructures and still go, ‘No, it’s the same — a man and a floating blue box, just a new face.’”

Images courtesy IDW. Follow us on Twitter: @morphizm and @theunderwire.

See Also:

• Sexy Geeks of 2010: Matt Smith
• Can Doctor Who Redeem Ebenezer Scrooge?
• Doctor Who: The Complete Fifth Series

Authors: Scott Thill

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