Emperor of the Daleks!

"My Daleks have come to save me..."

Writer: Paul Cornell
Format: Comic Strip
Released: February-July 1993
Printed in: DWM 197-202

Featuring: Seventh Doctor, Benny, Sixth Doctor, Peri

Synopsis

The Doctor has a dastardly plan spanning two of his incarnations and numerous of his encounters with the Daleks. Davros is in the mix, too. Just what is he up to? Is the Doctor intent on saving Davros from extermination at the hands of Skaro's Dalek Emperor? What role will he play in the Dalek Civil War and how will Abslom Daak's presence alter his plan?

Verdict

Emperor of the Daleks! was an outstanding comic strip to continue my reading of the graphic novel of which this adventure is the titular story. It really was incredible and I was quite intrigued to see that things started with the Sixth Doctor and Peri. I was caught off guard and I actually suspected the whole story to feature them so I was rather happy to see the Seventh Doctor and Benny at the beginning of part two. I do love a multi-Doctor story and it seems an absolute age since I've done one so this was terrific, even if the two incarnations only briefly encountered one another. The story following on from the events of Revelation of the Daleks with Davros was excellent but I really did not expect it to serve as a prequel to Remembrance of the Daleks as well. This story really did have everything! The Doctor wanting to do a deal with Davros to defeat the Daleks was great but I loved that it was obvious that he knew the Dalek creator would turn against him anyway. He had planned for that quite wonderfully. I thought part four being in colour was pretty cool and a nice way for DWM to commemorate their 200th issue. The references to Nemesis of the Daleks were good and I thought the presence of Abslom Daak brought a nice dimension to the story. His aggression and impatience were fully on display here and that usually proves problematic. I quite liked how Benny was sick of his mourning of Taiyin and basically told him to buckle up and move on. It was a good relationship and an unexpected highlight of the story. The setting switching to Spiridon was superb and I loved the resemblances to Planet of the Daleks. These Daleks were loyal to Davros and that posed trouble for the Dalek Emperor. The way he was destroyed was full of impact and I quite liked that it took multiple Daleks to eliminate him. I enjoyed the mysterious nature of the Doctor in this story as we never quite knew what he was up to. He was setting things in motion for his own past which was tricky, as he mentioned, but it worked out terrifically. Daak obliterated Davros and left him pretty much in half but I loved how that led to him being encased with what we saw him on screen against the Seventh Doctor. The virus saw that he forgot most of the events of this story but one thing that remained in his mind was the Hand of Omega. He wanted it and would seek it, leading things to Skaro's destruction. I thought everything tied up nicely and everything was just brilliant. Overall, a stunning comic strip adventure!

Rating: 10/10