Script: Alan Barnes Art: Martin Geraghty, Robin Smith
Doctor Who vs the Daleks part VIII by Noe Geric 9/12/25
It was finally time for the McGann Doctor to meet his greatest foes. If you think about War/Legacy/Time of the Daleks, it might comes to you that they're known to be some of the worst/dull story ever written. Fire and Brimstone had time to prepare itself with the whole of The Keep to serve as a prequel. But how to tell an epic encounter between the ''new" Doctor and the Daleks in 5X8 pages? Isn't it too short? Add the Threshold (a DWM reccuring villain at the time) and parallel evolutions of the Daleks, it might prove to be a bit messy...
Martin Gheraghty's artwork is still excellent. He now knows how to do the Eighth Doctor and Izzy to perfection, and Alan Barnes's script is again full of beautiful imagery and clever concepts. The stations surrounding the sun, the Dalek ship, the battles... It's all perfectly done and a pleasure to read. I'm still not quite sure about the Daleks' eyes in this, though. The Threshold may have a particularly weird design; they're unsettling monsters but doesn't seem to be the perfect enemies for the Daleks... I can't see how a war between the two could exist (well, the Movellans and Mechanoids are a bit crap and don't looks menacing at all). The story is epic in all sense, with incredible ''shots'' of the action and exposition.
The main problem lies in the plot that tries too much at the same time. It feels like Resurrection of the Daleks and its multiple sub-plots leading to nowhere. Here the monsters try to release a virus, conquer other dimensions, before being attacked by Daleks from THESE dimensions while the Threshold arrives, with a gift given by the Time Lord's that'll open only when the Daleks are dead, the robot from The Keep comes back, the Doctor has a plan, Izzy makes some references, and it all ends in a big explosion because... I can't clearly remember why, but the story was already five episodes long and the conclusion incredibly rushed.
It may be epic, but it's a little messy. Characterization is spot-on, and the cliffhangers are actually page turners (the Doctor even gets exterminated!). But it's packed full of good ideas that can't breathe, so perhaps The Keep should've taken some of these and spare Fire and Brimstone the uncomfortable task of being too busy to care about how it'll all end. It isn't bad; it's great fun to read, like most of the DWM comics at that time. But it's heavy on plot, and there are still loose ends to tie up. At least the eighth Doctor gets a decent encounter with his deadliest goes, but Children of the Revolution is yet to come! Definitely recommended, but be careful not to switch off your brain or you'll miss something important! 8/10