Nemesis of the Daleks

"Their spirits have been crushed by the Daleks..."

Writers: Richard & Steve Alan
Format: Comic Strip
Released: September-December 1989
Printed in: DWM 152-155

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Abslom Daak

Synopsis

On the planet Hell, the Daleks are preparing their deadliest weapon yet in the form of a Dalek Death Wheel. They plan to cause absolute chaos and destruction in the universe and wipe out the Helkans from the planet. Can the Doctor and famed Dalek-Killer Abslom Daak work together to prevent the Daleks from becoming the supreme beings and rulers of the Universe?

Verdict

Nemesis of the Daleks was a great comic strip adventure and has kicked off my reading of the graphic novel of the same name. I'm not sure how regularly I will be reading the stories from this collection but at least I have now started! I thought it was very good from start to finish and was just a solid story all the way through. We only saw the Seventh Doctor battle the Daleks on television once in the outstanding Remembrance of the Daleks so it was nice to get a visual adventure with him battling his arch enemies once again in this incarnation. I have heard the Seventh Doctor do battle with the Daleks since but there is just something different about a visual story, even if it was in black and white. That's different for when it comes to a Seventh Doctor story but I really didn't let it have an effect on my reading of the comic strip. The artwork was still magnificent! After reading the latest year of Eleventh Doctor comic stories in Doctor Who Comic, it was interesting for me to read a story with Abslom Daak in the Classic era. I have read Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer but to now see him alongside the Seventh Doctor after so long with the Eleventh Doctor was really good and actually quite refreshing. His feelings for his dead loved on in Taiyin were still strong and I found it quite interesting and somewhat emotional when he wouldn't even let anyone touch her cryogenic chamber. He was obviously very sensitive on the matter which was understandable. The alliance he seemed to be creating was quite an ensemble with a Draconian and an Ice Warrior all on their way to Hell to join Daak in the fight against the Daleks. We didn't see much of them but just them appearing in this story was a terrific little treat, even if they didn't live for much of it all. I thought the characterisation of the Seventh Doctor was excellent with Sylvester McCoy's likeness being captured wonderfully well. I particularly liked his arrival on the planet. The Ogrons getting a brief appearance too was fantastic and I did like the nods to past stories and eras of the show in this adventure. We saw what were, at this point, all seven faces of the Doctor once he was being interrogated by the Daleks which I thought was terrific. The Daleks themselves were presented well and their efforts definitely seemed suited for the Classic era. The inclusion of the Dalek Emperor, who was not Davros much to the surprise of the Doctor, was brilliant and I really liked its appearance and ruthlessness when it came to the Helkans as a workforce. The cliffhangers were pretty good which is always a bonus, even in a comic strip, and I thought part four was quite pacy. I liked how time advanced quite a bit during the story and the way that the Dalek Death Wheel was thwarted was very admirable. Abslom Daak knew that sacrificing himself to destroy the Wheel would mean he'd kill numerous Daleks so I understood why he stopped the Doctor from making the sacrifice and took his place. Overall though, a great comic strip! After a somewhat lengthy audio run, it was nice to be doing something of a different format!

Rating: 8/10