The Iron Legion

"Yes, I know I'm impossible!"

Writers: Pat Mills & John Wagner

Format: Comic Strip

Released: October-December 1979

Printed in: DWM 1-8

Featuring: Fourth Doctor

Synopsis 

The Doctor has discovered an alternative Earth where Rome never fell, but went on to conquer the entire galaxy! He must now face the evil Ironicus and avoid the wrath of the devious Magog before it's too late...

Verdict 

The Iron Legion was an excellent story to kick off my reading of the graphic novel of the same name! I really was mightily impressed with what I read considering this was the first ever comic strip produced by Doctor Who Magazine! It was a little lengthy at eight parts but with each part consisting of just four or five pages, it allowed for a terrific pace and a number of fantastic cliffhangers! It really did go through an awful lot which, if done right, is very good and I'm grateful to say that things were done very right here. I must say, I thought the artwork was outstanding for this story with so much going on both in the foreground and background so a great deal of work must have gone into the production of the comic strip. It really was marvellous and although I wasn't reading the story in the first eight issues of what was then Doctor Who Weekly, I did feel very privileged to be reading the very first comic strip adventure produced by what is now Doctor Who Magazine. 501 issues later and the comic strip is still going very strong with the latest story of The Pestilent Heart. It's incredible really to think that this is where all these comic strips kicked off. Right here with the Fourth Doctor and an alternative Rome. The idea of Rome never falling and actually going on to conquer the entire galaxy is marvellous and it worked excellently with the evil Malevilus at the helm. The explanation of their intervention in history, creating this alternate timeline, was very good but the fact this was set in an alternative Rome is where the story loses its one mark for me. I just thought there should have been considerably more explanation as to how the Doctor had arrived in the alternate timeline and the Doctor then just popped off and left immediately after the Malevilus were defeated. There needed to be a little bit more clarity but other than that, the story was terrific. There were numerous references which I loved with The Claws of Axos, Invasion of the Dinosaurs, The Abominable Snowmen and The Dæmons all getting a wonderful little mention, as well as referrals to the Daleks and Autons. I must say I thought the characterisation of the Fourth Doctor was superb with the likeness of Tom Baker being effortlessly captured by the writers. For the first comic strip, that really was marvellous. I thought Ironicus was a decent villain but he didn't pale in comparison to the Malevilus who were the true enemies of the story. Vesuvius was a humorous character and I liked how the Doctor associated himself with him. He also got friendly with another robot in the form of Morris and his speech also added some comedy to the story. His death was rather sad though with the Doctor conceding there was nothing he could do. The role of the TARDIS in bringing about the defeat of the Malevilus was crucial but actually unexpected. I was unaware they carried a spare empty dimension to throw enemies into but it was so sudden that I enjoyed it. Magog would do very well to return from that kind of imprisonment. Overall though, a brilliant start to the comic strips in Doctor Who Magazine! I'm looking forward to seeing how the rest of the graphic pans out now.

Rating: 9/10