Daleks, invasión a la Tierra año 2150 (comic story)
Daleks, invasión a la Tierra año 2150 was a comic adaptation of the cinematic film Daleks' Invasion Earth 2150 A.D. The comic is perhaps the only licensed story in the Doctor Who franchise to be published exclusively in a non-English language, as the comic is only known to have released in Argentina and was thus printed in Spanish.[nb 1] It was published in a 14 February 1978 edition of El Tony Extracolor (No. 400), following the film's release in 1977.
Information on the comic's publication and status is scarce. The comic credits the film to Orbe Show, an Argentinian independent film company,[1][2] which, it would seem, was involved with the 1977 theatrical release. Thus, the comic would have been licensed from them to advertise the film.
The original film's director, Gordon Flemyng, is also credited. The story was adapted by Alfredo Grassi (using the pen name Fred W. Seymour) with illustrations by Clemente Rezzónico (as simply "Rezzónico"). Both were reputable in the field of Argentinian comics at the time.
Publisher's summary[[edit] | [edit source]]
La máquina del tiempo lleva a cuatro inhabitantes del siglo XX a terrible mundo futuro, en el que malévolas inteligencias han iniciado la conquista de la Tierra y la sistemática exterminación de sus inhabitantes.
Una historia de ciencia-ficción que provocará comentarios entre los adaptaciones al género, sin duda.
Plot[[edit] | [edit source]]
In the year 1977, a night thief knocks police constable Tom Campbell on the head, knocking him out long enough to rob a jewellery store and then flee in a getaway car. Campbell wakes to see the robber flee, and runs into a nearby green police box. Tom enters the box, which is secretly a time machine that has already set course for the year 2150. As he passes out, he's watched over by the travellers in the machine; Doctor Who, Louise, and Susan. As two men outside the police box attempt to enter, the ship vanishes.
As Campbell awakens, Doctor Who explains that they have travelled to the date 14 April 2150. The doctor explains that he came here because his previous research has suggested an alien invasion takes place around 2150. As they exit the time machine, they see this is accurate, as London is totally destroyed. The doctor tells the story of how he built Tardis, and says he will get Campbell back to his time soon.
Suddenly, a beam by Tardis collapses, and rubble surrounds the ship. Campbell saves Susan and pulls her away from the police box just in time. The time machine is now trapped by rubble, and Doctor Who and Campbell go into a local factory to look for something to help them to get to ship.
As Susan has twisted her ankle, Louise goes to get a wet tissue for her. When she returns, Susan is gone, and Louise looks up to a gigantic flying saucer looming over the city. As she reacts, a man grabs her face to quiet her.
Inside the factory, the doctor and Campbell find a man wearing synthetic black material leaning against a set of boxes. The man collapses to the ground, and the Doctor declares that he is dead. The doctor and Campbell rush back to Louise and Susan, but find them gone. Doctor Who explains why he has come to the year. When he was in the year 3000, he found historical records which told of a cruel race known as the Daleks which invaded Earth in 2150.
Suddenly, the doctor and Campbell are stopped by a squadron of the men in synthetic clothing: Robohombres. The pair run towards the River Thames, only to see a single red Dalek rise to meet them. The Dalek order the Robohombres to find the rest of the humans, and if they do not surrender, they are to be annihilated.
Meanwhile, Louise is led through the ruins of the underground, where he explains what has happened. The Daleks have invaded Earth, and any humans they capture are turned into Robohombres, robots who work in mines to serve the Dalek's ultimate plans. Her captor, Peter, is part of a rebellion, and they are heading to the underground base, which is also where Susan is. Once there, Louise meets Malcom, and asks what has happened to her uncle, Doctor Who, and Tom Campbell. Another resistance fighter, David, reveals he witnessed them being captured, and there is no hope for them now.
Meanwhile, the doctor manages to escape from the Dalek prison onboard the ship, accidentally passing an intelligence test which proves he and Tom are worthy of becoming Robohombres. However, the resistance decides to infiltrate the Dalek saucer, destroying one Dalek and arriving just in time to save the pair from the robotisation process. The fighters have brought bombs, but they have no effect on the Dalek shells, and Louise watches on as the battle turns against the humans.
Louise watched with horror how the bombs exploded harmlessly in front of the row of Daleks, from whose metallic arms rose a cloud of vapor which surrounded the attackers… finishing them amid terrible cries of pain. It was radioactive smoke which disintegrated nervous cells upon mere contact. The girl ran away terrified down the long corridor and just when she thought it had reached her, she found an open door.
The resistance fighters begin to retreat, but as Doctor Who points out Louise is still on the ship, Campbell places his Robohombre helmet on as a disguise. Meanwhile, Peter makes it back to base to tell Malcom and Susan that the attack has failed. They have to flee the base, and Susan writes a message for Doctor Who.
As they make it above ground where a delivery truck is stationed, they are faced with an approached Dalek squadron. Malcom faces the Daleks alone, only to see his first bomb not effect the Daleks. Instead, he throws the second into the ruins around him, causing an avalanche that crushes both the Daleks and him. Peter and Susan drive off in the delivery van, and are chased by a Dalek saucer, which destroys the truck. Peter and Susan escape, but are taken captive.
Doctor Who and David reach the abandoned resistance lair, where Who discovers Malcom's notes. Malcom was a geologist, and had a theory about what the Daleks are planning. The pair rush off to the Dalek mines, where doctor Who suspects they will take Susan.
At the same moment, Campbell manages to find Louise after hunting through the ship disguised as a Robohombre. They sneak out of the saucer, which happens to be at the Dalek mine, where they are reunited with doctor Who. The Doctor explains that the Daleks are mining the Earth's core. He has discovered that the Daleks have a weakness to magnetism, and if they effectively turn Great Britain into a giant magnet, the Daleks will be destroyed. They can accomplish this by deflecting a bomb built by the Daleks as it is sent into the Earth's core.
The Doctor meets with Dalek Alpha, the mine's leader, and warns them that if the bomb is sent down, all Daleks in Great Britain will be killed. As Tom sneaks into the mine's ventilation to set the plan into motion, the doctor grabs a mic in the headquarters and gives an order to the Robohombres: "Destroy the Daleks! Order irreversible!" The Robohombres immediately begin attacking and destroying the Daleks.
The Dalek bomb is sent down the wrong passageway, and activates the plan. As the Daleks on Earth are all destroyed and sucked into the very Earth, the Robohombres' minds are also freed. In the chaos, the doctor and Susan are reunited. Doctor Who tells Campbell that he now knows why the Dalek Invasion of Earth is only a legend in the year 3000 — a human travelling 2,150 years into the future to save the Earth? It's too fantastic to believe!
Days letter, as the world settles, the group return to Tardis, with Campbell back in his uniform. The doctor takes Campbell back to 14 April 1977, but five minutes before the heist. Campbell approaches what he knows to be the heist getaway car and knocks out the driver, taking his place. The robbers exit the store again, and are knocked together by Campbell, who considers that "Officer Inspector Tom Campbell" has a good ring to it. He says the doctor and his machine is to thanks, only to look back for the phone booth one more time and see both gone.
It wasn't there anymore... it had vanished from that corner. Maybe to look for new adventures in that unmoving river that is time... in the remote future, in the distant past... or simply to return to its own time to allow its "temponauts" to rest from their fatigue. Who could tell?
Characters[[edit] | [edit source]]
Worldbuilding[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The getaway driver knocked out by Tom is named Biff.
- Wyler, from the original film, is given the name Peter. Dortmun is renamed Malcom.
- According to future Earth records, the Daleks are from the planet M-1 near the star Deneb.
- The number plate of a delivery van is EK1171.
- The Doctor, Susan and Louise, are called "temponauts", an apparent portmonteau of temporal and astronaut.
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- Alongside what is listed in the intro, the open pages to the comic also credit Peter Cushing, Jill Curzon and Andrew Keir as Doctor Who, Louise, and Tom Campbell. The final credit is a mistake, as Campbell was played by Bernard Cribbins. Andrew Keir played Wyler (here known as "Malcom") in the original film.
- Tardis is illustrated as green throughout most of the comic, a contradiction to the blue of both the show and the films; incidentally, another such error previously occurred in the American comic book adaptation of Dr. Who and the Daleks. However, in this case the issues go further. The box has no light on the top, and the sides adjacent to the front doors are cut in half (meaning there are six windows instead of eight). The uppermost sign reads "TELEPHONE" instead of the typical "POLICE public call BOX". There is no text where the "Pull to Open" tab should be.
- Most of the Daleks are depicted as red, and have fewer neck rings than is typical, giving them a short, pudgy appearance.
- Being only 12 pages, this story condenses much of the original film.
- All of the main characters maintain their original names, with the Doctor referring to himself as "doctor Who". (The title "doctor" is not usually capitalised in Spanish unless used as an abbreviation.) Susie is referred to as "Susan", like in the TV series.
- According to this adaptation, the start of the story (the jewellery heist) is not set in 1960s Earth. Tom directly states that he believes the current date to be 14 April 1977. The Doctor clarifies that it is actually the 14 April 2150. This change is due to the fact that the original film wasn't imported into Argentina until 1977.
- Unlike in the original film, it's stated that Dr. Who came to 2150 on purpose to investigate the invasion of Earth. In the year 3000, he found records of the legend of a Dalek invasion.
- Doctor Who and Susan never indicate that they have met the Daleks before. This is because, in Argentina, the second Dalek film was released before the first. This is also logically why the race's homeworld is described as M-1 near the star Deneb. The final narration box also suggests that Doctor Who and his companions are not native to the 20th century, a discrepancy with the first film that was implied, but not explicitly stated, in the theatrical Dalek Invasion.
- Although the comic is in Spanish, it can be inferred that diegetically, the characters are speaking English due to the setting in London. Spanish terminology is still used, such as the Robomen being called "Robohombres" (hombre is Spanish for 'man') and London being referred to as "Londres".
Continuity[[edit] | [edit source]]
- The Doctor is travelling with Susan. (TV: Dr. Who and the Daleks, COMIC: Dr. Who and the Daleks)
Footnotes[[edit] | [edit source]]
Notes[[edit] | [edit source]]
- ↑ The Iris Wildthyme short story Amser Gwyllt was published in both Welsh and English. The wiki encourages any readers who know of any possible stories published officially and exclusively in another language to reach out/contribute!
