A Brief History of Cwej
by Erika de Atayde
art by Leela Ross
While mostly famous internationally for its newer seasons, Doctor Who aired originally from 1963 to 1989, and until its return there were, save for a brief movie in the interim, no Doctor Who stories whatsoever on television. But television isn’t the only place for stories to bloom. You see, from the beginning of the show in the sixties to this very day, Doctor Who never actually stopped. Between books, comics, audio dramas and the occasional stage play, thousands of Doctor Who stories were told, and when the TV show found itself cancelled, the adventures went on in these mediums, introducing new characters, new villains, and wild new ideas. These brought the world of Doctor Who to a whole new audience, well beyond the flickering light of the television.
But for our purposes, the most important of these new adventures are the novels, of which one in 1995 introduced the two new companions who would travel with the Doctor: Christopher Rodonanté Cwej and Roslyn "Sarah" Forrester, better known as Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester.
Originally 30th century members of the Adjudicators, a group of lawbringers in blue and gold armor sworn to an oath of justice, Chris and Roz followed the doctor into danger in over 20 novels until, tragically Chris’ best friend and partner in the good fight, Roz, met with a gruesome fate.
After Roz's demise, Chris kept travelling with the Doctor until he decided he needed to set out on his own. There was a war spanning the heavens–time, space, the cosmos, and reality itself–and the good Doctor's people recognized Chris had the potential to help them win it. Or at the very least, survive.
Our handsome hero accepted the job, but it wasn’t all that he imagined it would be. After doing their dirty work, Chris was subjected to a strange, terrible, and powerful experiment that split his history and possible lives into a one man army of countless variants of himself. They called these alternate people the Cwejen. His efforts and those of his Superiors weren't enough, and they had to devise a new plan:
Chris was turned into pure data, and the very nature of his existence, his endless possibilities already split across history, were used in yet another terrible experiment to bring peace to the universe. It worked. But at the cost of Chris’ body.
But not all was doom and gloom. As a being of data, our bold blond could download himself into any of those countless Cwejen, scattered throughout history and the cosmos. Now he was able to help wherever he had a body, even if he wasn’t always sure where he’d end up. In this new form, Chris went on many adventures on his own, with the occasional new friend as his companions, much like an old acquaintance he'd rather not meet again who travels in a blue box.
That's where we find ourselves, in the real world, in the year of 2025, celebrating Chris's 30th anniversary! To commemorate this milestone Arcbeatle Press. has made a series of zines from April to December where Chris travels throughout America from point A to point B to answer a call to adventure and an invitation to a mysterious auction. But he’s not alone in these travels, he is accompanied by his newest companion, who is rising to become one of his greatest friends, a young lady called Jhe Seng Mi, born hundreds of years in the future on a human colonized Mars called Gongen. This Korean-Martian teenager is the protagonist of her very own series, Academy 27, itself a spin-off of the larger sci-fi series WARSONG.
The two first met on the Arcbeatle Press. original novel "And Today, You", and fans immediately loved their chemistry and camaraderie. The call for them to journey together again was strong, and so to celebrate this anniversary, we’re happy to give fans just what they wanted. Chris and Sang Mi find each other again on the zeroth chapter of this journey, "Shutter Speed", released as 2025's Easter Special, which leads right into the next story in our series, "The Book of the Fair", the main story of the first issue of the Cwej 30th Anniversary Zines, and the first official chapter of their grand journey, appropriately named "Cwej: Odyssey"!
The adventure, set at the 1893's Chicago World's Fair, introduces the mysterious new villain Salome, an ancient West-Asian Queen cursed with immortality due to sins against humanity… or so we're told. Now she begins a plot in the Gilded Age to end her misery even if it means taking the whole world with her, and is the very same person to, over a century later, invite the amazing adjudicator and the marvellous martian to the mysterious auction at the heart of America.
Now, the Odyssey of Cwej and Sang Mi begins. And who knows where it will take them next?
But for our purposes, the most important of these new adventures are the novels, of which one in 1995 introduced the two new companions who would travel with the Doctor: Christopher Rodonanté Cwej and Roslyn "Sarah" Forrester, better known as Chris Cwej and Roz Forrester.
Originally 30th century members of the Adjudicators, a group of lawbringers in blue and gold armor sworn to an oath of justice, Chris and Roz followed the doctor into danger in over 20 novels until, tragically Chris’ best friend and partner in the good fight, Roz, met with a gruesome fate.
After Roz's demise, Chris kept travelling with the Doctor until he decided he needed to set out on his own. There was a war spanning the heavens–time, space, the cosmos, and reality itself–and the good Doctor's people recognized Chris had the potential to help them win it. Or at the very least, survive.
Our handsome hero accepted the job, but it wasn’t all that he imagined it would be. After doing their dirty work, Chris was subjected to a strange, terrible, and powerful experiment that split his history and possible lives into a one man army of countless variants of himself. They called these alternate people the Cwejen. His efforts and those of his Superiors weren't enough, and they had to devise a new plan:
Chris was turned into pure data, and the very nature of his existence, his endless possibilities already split across history, were used in yet another terrible experiment to bring peace to the universe. It worked. But at the cost of Chris’ body.
But not all was doom and gloom. As a being of data, our bold blond could download himself into any of those countless Cwejen, scattered throughout history and the cosmos. Now he was able to help wherever he had a body, even if he wasn’t always sure where he’d end up. In this new form, Chris went on many adventures on his own, with the occasional new friend as his companions, much like an old acquaintance he'd rather not meet again who travels in a blue box.
That's where we find ourselves, in the real world, in the year of 2025, celebrating Chris's 30th anniversary! To commemorate this milestone Arcbeatle Press. has made a series of zines from April to December where Chris travels throughout America from point A to point B to answer a call to adventure and an invitation to a mysterious auction. But he’s not alone in these travels, he is accompanied by his newest companion, who is rising to become one of his greatest friends, a young lady called Jhe Seng Mi, born hundreds of years in the future on a human colonized Mars called Gongen. This Korean-Martian teenager is the protagonist of her very own series, Academy 27, itself a spin-off of the larger sci-fi series WARSONG.
The two first met on the Arcbeatle Press. original novel "And Today, You", and fans immediately loved their chemistry and camaraderie. The call for them to journey together again was strong, and so to celebrate this anniversary, we’re happy to give fans just what they wanted. Chris and Sang Mi find each other again on the zeroth chapter of this journey, "Shutter Speed", released as 2025's Easter Special, which leads right into the next story in our series, "The Book of the Fair", the main story of the first issue of the Cwej 30th Anniversary Zines, and the first official chapter of their grand journey, appropriately named "Cwej: Odyssey"!
The adventure, set at the 1893's Chicago World's Fair, introduces the mysterious new villain Salome, an ancient West-Asian Queen cursed with immortality due to sins against humanity… or so we're told. Now she begins a plot in the Gilded Age to end her misery even if it means taking the whole world with her, and is the very same person to, over a century later, invite the amazing adjudicator and the marvellous martian to the mysterious auction at the heart of America.
Now, the Odyssey of Cwej and Sang Mi begins. And who knows where it will take them next?