Below is a list of comics based on the British television series Torchwood.
Publication history
Torchwood Magazine includes a 10-page Torchwood comic strip in each issue;[1] issue 2 did not include the strip. In 2010, publication of Torchwood Magazine ceased. Torchwood comics resumed publication under Titan Comics in 2016 with a new issue published monthly penned by Torchwood's John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) alongside his sister, Carole E. Barrowman. These stories serve as a direct sequel to the Barrowman's previous Torchwood novel, Exodus Code as well as make reference to Big Finish Productions ongoing Torchwood audio series
Comics
Torchwood Magazine (2008–2010)
| # | Title | Writer | Artist | Publication date | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Legacy of Torchwood One!" | Simon Furman | SL Gallant | 24 January 2008 | |
| Ianto Jones is contacted by his old mentor from Torchwood One, Rupert Howarth; a man Ianto presumed dead. Upon questioning from Jack, it is revealed that in order to escape from pharmaceutical companies who were trying to kill him over his immunity-boosting drugs, he faked his own death by torching his lab. Whilst Rupert is being questioned, something has burnt down the warehouse where he had been sleeping. Upon investigation, Jack, Owen and Gwen are attacked by an apparition that shows their worst fears. Barely escaping with their lives, they question Rupert once more whereby he reveals that the being they fought was a Chimera; a human whose DNA he had spliced with that of an alien in an effort to make a super-soldier. However the being became uncontrollable and escaped, determined to track its creator down. The Chimera tracks the team through the smell of their fear back to the Hub and begins terrorising the team. However, the reason Rupert got in touch with Ianto was to access the Torchwood mainframe and access the combination of drugs required to destroy the Chimera. Just as the creature is about to kill Ianto, Rupert injects the creature. In the resulting fall, the Chimera breaks Rupert's neck, leaving them both dead on the floor. | |||||
| 2 | "Jetsam" | Brian Williamson | Brian Williamson | 20 March 2008 | |
| A ship carrying alien artefacts is hit by a storm in Cardiff Bay, resulting in several alien devices washing up on shore. Among them is a giant armed motorbike. Next to it are tyre tracks indicating there used to be two. Surrounding the larger tracks are several tracks left by Harley-Davidsons leading Jack to believe the other bike was stolen by a biker gang. Jack and Gwen investigate several dive bars until they come across one that has been destroyed. Suddenly, the second giant bike comes out of the debris, piloted by, Drew Blayney, the leader of the bike gang. Back at the Hub, while Toshiko is investigating the bike she is possessed by the machine's AI. Toshiko's bike smashes through the wall of the Hub and begins to track down the second bike, bent on its destruction. Ianto manages to calm Toshiko down over the phone by getting her to remember a Japanese fable from her youth, thus allowing her to formulate a plan. Toshiko convinces Drew that his bike is about to self-destruct, leading him to state that he "does not want to die." The bike hears this and automatically initiates Drew's surrender. However, when Drew finds out he has been tricked, he tries to stab Toshiko leading the bike to shoot him for breaking the surrender agreement. Toshiko, as the New Champion, issues the bikes the order to shut down for good. | |||||
| 3 | "Rift War! Part One" | Simon Furman | Paul Grist | 17 April 2008 | |
| Multiple Rift contacts appear across the city, out of which come the Harrowkind; a race of warmongering creatures. The entire team leave the Hub to deal with the issue. The team quickly realise that their dispersal across the city was a device to distract the team. Jack asks one of the creatures what it wants to which it replies "war!" The creature then declares its race's wish to destroy Torchwood so that their Empire will not be wiped out by Torchwood's weapon: "the Rift." Toshiko returns early detecting large Rift activity. When the team return to the Hub, they find it has disappeared with Toshiko inside it... | |||||
| 4 | "Rift War! Part Two" | Simon Furman | Paul Grist | 15 May 2008 | |
|
Toshiko manages to stop the Hub halfway to its destination by using the Rift Manipulator. It now hangs in a dark space. Jack tells Ianto and Gwen that the Harrowkind's distraction was so that a giant Rift storm could be generated to steal the Hub. When the Hub disappeared, so did all of the Harrowkind. However, Owen managed to deactivate and remove one of the recall devices from a dead soldier. Meanwhile, whilst Toshiko tries to reactivate the Rift Manipulator, she is confronted by a man named Vox. He tells Toshiko that when she cancelled out the Rift storm, she stayed exactly where she was but instead stopped her movement through time and is now stuck in the gap between one moment and the next. He tells her that he is hiding there from The Sanctified, the race who employ Harrowkind as shock-troopers. Vox gives Toshiko a miniature Rift Manipulator Device which he wears on his arm and tells her to activate it at the top of the water tower. The device shunts the Hub back into its regular time but burns out on the way, trapping Vox in Cardiff for the time being. And with two enemies now in Cardiff, the Sanctified are sure to be back... | |||||
| 5 | "Rift War! Part Three: Funhouse!" | Simon Furman | SL Gallant | 19 June 2008 | |
|
Owen and Gwen are investigating Rift activity at Cardiff Castle when they are suddenly trapped in a large vortex full of medieval knights. According to Toshiko however, they are all illusions as she is picking up nothing tangible at their location. Vox explains that some races such as The Sanctified can harness Rift energy for different means. Meanwhile, Owen is attacked by one of the knights and when Gwen tries to shoot it, the illusion shatters and they fall onto a giant teddy bear. Sitting next to the bear, watching a hologram of knights fighting, is a Zansi Baby; a huge humanoid infant. Vox reveals that the Zansi were a race subjugated by The Sanctified centuries ago because of their harness over Rift technology – for example, the creation of a safe environment for a Zansi Baby to mature in using Rift energy. The Baby's presence within the castle is put down to unstable Rift energy within The Sanctified's Empire – something they blame Torchwood for. A perception filter is placed over the castle by Torchwood allowing Gwen and Rhys to practice parenthood and look after the child. After six weeks, the child has matured and transforms to its true adult form; a large tentacled creature. Despite the happy ending, Vox warns Jack that this is only the start and they should expect another attack from The Sanctified soon. However, Vox reveals he may be able to stop it by sealing the Rift forever... | |||||
| 6 | "Rift War! Part Four: Dino Crisis" | Ian Edginton | SL Gallant | 17 July 2008 | |
| After several false Rift contacts, one brings through a dozen dinosaurs. Scared, the dinosaurs go on a rampage. Ianto takes one out a Baryonyx with a harpoon gun. Meanwhile, the rest of the team track down the other dinosaurs to the Millennium Stadium. Using the corpse of the Baryonyx mounted on the back of a bus as a shepherd, the team herd the dinosaurs back into the Rift incursion they came from. As they go through, Ianto notices that the dinosaurs have been barcoded and are livestock for some unknown race, leading Jack to speculate that they should start looking at the bigger picture... | |||||
| 7 | "Rift War! Part Five: Dark Times" | Paul Grist | Paul Grist | 14 August 2008 | |
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Whilst chasing a Weevil, the team encounter a Rift incursion opening in front of them. Vox runs forward and closes the incursion with a specially made gun developed by the Sanctified. However, both Jack and Gwen have disappeared. The Rift has taken Jack and Gwen back to a forest in the year 600 AD. In front of them lies a spacecraft, but as they approach it, they attacked by men with swords and arrows. They fight them off, but as they get closer, Gwen turns on Jack and tries to stop him getting to the ship. Meanwhile, Tosh and Vox work together to re-boost the signal using the gun and open the incursion once again to get Jack and Gwen out. Jack calms Gwen down and makes her see sense. They enter the craft and encounter an empath pilot, a creature who projects its emotion into the world around it. It was the pilot who caused the humans to protect it. Vox enters the craft behind them and tells them to leave. He tells them that he will be able to help the creature due to its similarity to Sanctified technology. Jack and Gwen travel back through, closely followed by Vox. He tells them that he sent the empath pilot back where it came from. However, the creature lies dead on the floor... | |||||
| 8 | "Rift War! Part Six: Circles" | Paul Grist | Paul Grist | 12 September 2008 | |
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In 1918, Harriet Derbyshire is arranging to borrow a tank from an army captain. Meanwhile, Gerald Carter is infiltrating a ritual at an ancient circle of stones. However, he is discovered by one of the members of the cult who threaten to sacrifice him. They are interrupted by the arrival of Harriet in the tank. But suddenly, the stones around them begin to glow... | |||||
| 9 | "Rift War! Part Seven: The Man Who Fell to Earth" | Ian Edginton | D'Israeli | 9 October 2008 | |
| An oddly-shaped Rift incursion, "shaped more like a door than a tear", appears at the local shopping centre. By the time Jack and Gwen arrive however, whatever came through has disappeared. They check the CCTV tapes and witness a metal egg-shaped object transform into a likeness of Johnny Depp. Suddenly they hear screams from another section of the shopping centre but it is just several women screaming over the likeness of Depp. He has been cornered in the Marks and Sparks stock room. Jack and Gwen enter the room, but the alien escapes under the guise of a male model who featured on one of the posters. They chase the man through the centre when suddenly, they themselves are being chased by the Harrowkind. The Harrowkind start firing at Jack and Gwen who both take hits. The man runs over and touches Jack and Gwen and with a blinding flash of light, all three are gone. Tosh's sensors back at the Hub reveal that they are no longer on the planet. When Jack and Gwen come to they are confronted by a metal man who reveals that they are inside him... | |||||
| 10 | "Rift War! Part Eight: The Enemy of my Enemy..." | Ian Edginton | D'Israeli | 6 November 2008 | |
| 11 | "Rift War! Part Nine: The Calm Before" | Paul Grist | Paul Grist | 4 December 2008 | |
| 12 | "Rift War! Part Ten: The Storm" | Paul Grist | Paul Grist | 31 December 2008 | |
| 13 | "The Selkie" | John Barrowman & Carole E. Barrowman | Tommy Lee Edwards | 19 February 2009 | |
| Captain Jack goes to Scotland to investigate the mysterious deaths of an island's male inhabitants. He discovers the creature responsible for the killings is an old acquaintance of his. | |||||
| 14 | "Broken, Part 1" | Gary Russell | Adrian Salmon | April 2009 | |
| When a new hotel opens in Cardiff, the Torchwood team investigate strange disappearances to the guest, and they are unexpectedly reunited with an old enemy - Bilis Manager. | |||||
| 15 | "Broken, Part 2" | Paul Grist | Paul Grist | June 2009 | |
| 16 | "Broken, Part 3" | Nick Abadzis | Paul Grist | August 2009 | |
| 17 | "Broken, Part 4" | Nick Abadzis | Paul Grist | October 2009 | |
| 18 | "Broken, Part 5" | Nick Abadzis | Paul Grist | December 2009 | |
| 19 | "Fated to Pretend" | Brian Minchin | Steve Yeowell | February 2010 | |
| 20 | "Shrouded, Part 1" | Gareth David-Lloyd | Pia Guerra | April 2010 | |
| 21 | "Shrouded, Part 2" | Gareth David-Lloyd | Pia Guerra | June 2010 | |
| 22 | "Somebody Else's Problem" | Christopher Cooper | Stephen Downey | August 2010 | |
| 23 | "Hell House" | Roger Gibson | Vince Danks | October 2010 | |
| 24 | "Overture" | Gary Russell | John Ridgway | December 2010 | |
Online Exclusives
The following titles were released exclusively on UKTV's Watch website between 2009 and 2010 in conjunction with Torchwood Magazine
| # | Title | Writer | Artist | Publication date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "The Return of the Vostok" | Brian Minchin | Adrian Salmon | February 2009 |
| 2 | "Ma and Par" | Oli Smith | Brian Williamson | February 2010 |
Titan Comics (2016)
| # | Title | Writer | Artist | Publication date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "World Without End, Part 1" | John Barrowman & Carole E. Barrowman | Antonio Fuso & Pasquale Qualano | August 2016 |
| 2 | "World Without End, Part 2" | John & Carole E. Barrowman | Antonio Fuso & Pasquale Qualano | September 2016 |
| 3 | "World Without End, Part 3" | John & Carole E. Barrowman | Antonio Fuso & Pasquale Qualano | October 2016 |
| 4 | "World Without End, Part 4" | John & Carole E. Barrowman | Antonio Fuso & Pasquale Qualano | November 2016 |
| 5 | "Station Zero, Part 1" | John & Carole E. Barrowman | Neil Edwards | March 2017 |
| 6 | "Station Zero, Part 2" | John & Carole E. Barrowman | Neil Edwards | April 2017 |
| 7 | "Station Zero, Part 3" | John & Carole E. Barrowman | Neil Edwards | May 2017 |
| 8 | "Station Zero, Part 4" | John & Carole E. Barrowman | Neil Edwards | June 2017 |
| 9 | "The Culling, Part 1" | John & Carole E. Barrowman | Neil Edwards | September 2017 |
| 10 | "The Culling, Part 2" | John & Carole E. Barrowman | Neil Edwards | October 2017 |
| 11 | "The Culling, Part 3" | John & Carole E. Barrowman | Neil Edwards | November 2017 |
| 12 | "The Culling, Part 4" | John & Carole E. Barrowman | Neil Edwards | December 2017 |
Continuity
- In The Legacy of Torchwood One!, Ianto's fear is a man made of metal, possibly a reference to the Cybermen and his late girlfriend Lisa.
- One of the biker gangs mentioned in Jetsam is "Blaid Drwg" (sic) and a poster in the background in Rift War! Part Four: Dino Crisis says "Bad Wolf".
- When Drew Blayney is possessed by the bike in Jetsam, a picture of The Beast from Doctor Who episodes "The Impossible Planet"/"The Satan Pit" is shown.
- Toshiko runs past a "Jubilee Pizza" restaurant in Rift War! Part One, the pizza chain seen in various episodes of Torchwood and the Doctor Who episode "Dalek". It is named after the Doctor Who audio drama Jubilee, the basis for "Dalek".
- One of the items Jack gives Gwen and Rhys to help look after the Zarsi Baby in Rift War! Part Three: Funhouse is a book of Venusian Lullabies, first mentioned in the Doctor Who serial, The Curse of Peladon.
- In Station Zero, Dana and Gwen mention the Committee, an organisation related to the Big Finish Productions Torchwood audio dramas.
Outside references
- The line "the children of the stones" in Rift War! Part Six: Circles is possibly a reference to the HTV series Children of the Stones, a series about a time rift centred on a circle of stones.
Collected editions
Some of the stories are being collected into a trade paperback:
- Rift War (128 pages, June 2009, Titan Books, ISBN 1-84856-238-1)
- The Selkie (96 pages, May 2010, Titan Books, ISBN 1-84856-663-8)
- Torchwood Archives: Volume 1 (112 pages, Jul 2017, Titan Books, ISBN 1-78586-161-1)
- Torchwood Archives: Volume 2 (112 pages, Oct 2017, Titan Books, ISBN 1-78586-162-X)
- World Without End (112 pages, Apr 2017, Titan Books, ISBN 1-78585-369-4)
- Station Zero (112 pages, Sep 2017, Titan Books, ISBN 1-78585-681-2)
- The Culling (112 pages, May 2018, Titan Books, ISBN 1-78585-855-6)
See also
Notes
- ↑ "Torchwood Magazine". Titan Magazines. 24 January 2008. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
References
- Torchwood at the Comic Book DB (archived from the original)
External links
- Exclusive Torchwood Magazine Comic Strip, made by Titan for Watch