“Nemesis
of the Daleks” is written by: Richard and
Steve Alan (pseudonyms for Richard Starkings and John Tomlinson) with art by: Lee
Sullivan, and lettering by: Zed (a pseudonym for Richard Starkings). It was released in Doctor Who Magazine issue 152-155
(August-November 1989) and is reprinted in its original form in Doctor Who: Nemesis of the Daleks by
Panini Books.
Abslom Daak is a throwback
character from the early days of Doctor Who Magazine. Created by Steve Moore and Steve Dillon for
the backup strip, two stories reprinted in the back of the collected edition of
Nemesis of the Daleks, he is a character that fits so well into what the
1990s would bring for Doctor Who that in many ways “Nemesis of the
Daleks” reads as a statement for where Doctor Who is going. This was the last strip released by Doctor
Who Magazine while Doctor Who was in its original run, finishing
release in the middle of The Curse of Fenric, and tonally it’s taking
itself far more seriously than anything the Seventh Doctor’s comic run had done
so far. This story reads as a special
event, Abslom Daak makes his debut proper in a Doctor Who story and writers
Richard Starkings and John Tomlinson directly write a sequel to Remembrance
of the Daleks. This amount of
crossover with the parent show at this point is a particularly bold choice,
like using Peri during the Sixth Doctor’s era, it’s making its own statement as
to what Doctor Who wants to be. Tonally
this story moves away from what had been mostly lighter fare, following a very
Season 24 Seventh Doctor as he stayed in the backseat of most of the stories with
writers interested in writing other things.
Starkings and Tomlinson do continue the trend of the Doctor as background
character, but here he is characterized as a far more serious figure. The Daleks bring out the danger as they are
essentially following the plot of Star Wars in creating a Death Wheel
under their emperor, heavily implied by the Doctor to be a Davros who is now
fully Dalek. The plot is simple, using
the archetype of Star Wars to show the Daleks as a great, galactic empire
bent on destruction and putting the comic version of the Seventh Doctor in a
scenario where he cannot make jokes.
At the heart of “Nemesis
of the Daleks” is Abslom Daak as more than just a Dalek Killer. Starkings and Tomlinson do write him with
Steve Moore esque dialogue, emphasizing the joy that he gets from slicing
Daleks in half while artist Lee Sullivan is clearly having fun with the
inventive ways that can happen, but there’s the constant undercurrent of a man
who just lost all the allies he held dear under the surface. There’s a reason the Doctor allies with him,
he can see the man determined to see the Daleks defeated underneath all the
bluster and machismo. He is motivated by
the possibility of saving the love of his wife, the Princess Taiyin who is held
in suspended animation at the moment of her death. She dies here anyway, quite literally being a
woman held in a refrigerator until the point of her death which is a shame as based
on the original “Abslom Daak…Dalek Killer!” and “Star Tigers” strip there was
actually development that could have been done when given to a different
writer. Her sexist handling is largely
the biggest black mark against this story, as “Nemesis of the Daleks” despite
being highly derivative is a well told story.
Sullivan’s art is elevating much of the more derivative material by
looking modern, formatting itself with panel layout that is far closer to what the
rest of the industry was doing while maintaining this realistic style. The use of inks is particularly moody,
Sullivan taking advantage of the mediums to portray the Daleks in these immense
numbers, often relegated to the shadows with what seems to be hundreds just
waiting to converge. This is also very
much a tribute to Terry Nation’s style of storytelling. The setting is the planet Hell and visually the
Emperor is the Golden Dalek Emperor from the early 1960s comics. In a way Starkings, Tomlinson, and Sullivan are
tributing the past while making way for a future of darker storytelling. The question is will that be where the strip
goes at this point?
Overall, it’s just nice
to have such a solid Seventh Doctor comic strip after an entire volume of ups
and downs. “Nemesis of the Daleks” while
wearing influences on its sleeve is elevated to near great status by the work
of Lee Sullivan and by using its four part structure to focus on one character
who was already established in the script, even if he hadn’t appeared in a
decade. It’s not a nostalgia based
story, but one that works because of stronger characterization and while the
Doctor is on the sideline he is clearly the Doctor, making plans and pushing pieces
to quickly defeat the Daleks. 8/10.
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