Dawn of the Daleks

"It's getting pretty boring seeing you die."

Writers: Dan Watters & Dulce Montoya

Format: Comic Strip

Released: August 2026

Printed in: Circuit Breaker #2

Featuring: Fugitive Doctor

Synopsis

The Doctor travels to the war-ravaged world of Skaro as she battles the Daleks with the fate of their Kaled forebears at stake!

Verdict

Dawn of the Daleks was a great comic strip adventure to continue the ongoing Circuit Breaker saga! We return to the world of Titan Comics for their second and final contribution to the multimedia story and it's a really strong one. I'm surprised that both of their comic strips have gone for the Daleks given the potential for a huge variety of objects and locations to visit as a result, but what we got here was fascinating. I love the idea of doing a loose sequel to Genesis of the Daleks, but of course the Fugitive Doctor here has no idea that she would be present at their genesis. Hearing that the Doctor was just a story was a wonderful line and I like how the Fugitive incarnation here is discovering so much of what she will become. People she interacts with and particularly Osgood and Andrew aren't exactly hiding the fact of who she will become and just how important she will be. That feels strange and I must admit I thought certain elements of the Doctor's personality here were traditional writing for the character rather than this version as part of Division. I do like the idea that with this supposedly being the earliest incarnation of the Doctor that is known that she is slowly developing into the person we know of legend, but for now I think a little more of putting up a fight would have been beneficial. The story obviously has strong connections to Genesis as aforementioned so the item being out of time and place this time around made sense to be a time ring. I'm not sure the overall story surrounding these items actually makes a huge amount of sense but it gives us more Fugitive Doctor and it's just a bit of a fun. I'm not taking this too seriously and I think that's the best approach. This almost feels a bit like the ongoing Twelfth Doctor Adventures at Big Finish with the frequency in which we are getting stories and it's quite incredible that this is already the fifth instalment! Visiting Skaro is always great and I love that the Fugitive Doctor has stepped foot there prior to The Daleks, not that she'll know it by then. When the TARDIS showed the planet location I wasn't expecting such a vibrant and colourful landscape to greet the Doctor! The Kaleds were down to their last 103 survivors which is a pretty bleak situation but I love that some did survive in hiding. The war between Daleks and Kaleds could really be eternal and I love that it's not actually the Thals this time around. There are those of his own species that were revolted by and wholly against Davros. The little flashback sequence of the Fourth Doctor confronting him was wonderful. I must say, the artwork in this comic was superb. It was so vibrant and that worked really well with the large number of Daleks present. Flis was a strong character and her realisation that there were so many variants with different kinds of weapons because they were going to conquer the universe. I felt like she was leaping a tad there but she wasn't wrong! There were some seriously strong Nazi connotations with how much they were displaying a dislike for the unlike. I will say though I think the continuity was slightly off in having an Emperor Dalek in the factory representing the design seen in The Parting of the Ways. Surely it should have been closer to The Evil of the Daleks? That's a small nibble and the illustration regardless was terrific. The Doctor acknowledging the usefulness of a sonic device was a nice touch of what's to come which was good in foreshadowing the future, as well as her inadvertent offering of the Kaleds to come with her in the TARDIS. I think this Doctor understanding the Daleks after the events of Adversary of the Daleks was great and presented really well, and the simplicity of the time ring being offered to the Kaleds was good, if not a little forced. Overall though, a great read! 

Rating: 8/10