Second Empire - or Daleks like they were in the Good Old Days

[major_clanger]

If you grew up in the '60s or '70s you might remember the Dalek Chronicles comic strip, either in its original run in TV21 magazine or (as I saw them) in later reprints. Written very early in Doctor Who's run, the strip established a continuity about Dalek origins that consistent with what had been alluded to in the first Dalek serial, although it was later rendered non-canonical by Genesis of the Daleks. It also followed the original depiction of the Daleks as having a somewhat wider emotional range and even degree of personality than the near-automatons they later became - although New Who reversed this to an extent.

Well, if you liked The Dalek Chronicles you'll probably love Second Empire, an amazing fan-produced CGI comic strip of some seven hundred pages that gloriously hearkens back to the old comic's design aesthetic and approach. The author/illustrator - who goes by the name MechMaster - clearly has immense enthusiasm and affection for the subject, beautifully capturing the aesthetic of not just the original strip but other classic comic-strip sf of the era such as The Trigan Empire.

Second Empire is set in a continuity of its own, neither that of The Dalek Chronicles nor of Classic or New Who. These Daleks are far more human in their behaviour - they even have names - and the strip at times heads into outright parody and humour. But it's also well-written, chock-full of references, and features an amazing gamut of Dalek designs based on everything ever seen in comics or on TV (or in some cases, only in early concept art). I actually think MechMaster's rendering of the basic Dalek design is perhaps the most convincing-looking I've seen, even more so than the more realistically-rugged redesign done for New Who. (The less said of the godawful New Paradigm Daleks the better, and Second Empire even gets in a joke at their expense.)

I came across Second Empire looking for comments on a rather different Dalek-related spin-off I'm planning to review. Second Empire could hardly contrast more in tone with I, Davros but it certainly pleased my inner 9-year-old, whilst giving the actual 45-year-old me some good chuckles of recognition.

Comments

[davidwake.livejournal.com]

Those look really nice and I look forward to reading them.

There was a fan made CGI animated version of the Century 21 Daleks: Dalek Chronicles. I think it's unique in visual SF in being the only story that doesn't feature a single humanoid being.

[davidwake.livejournal.com]

Have you noticed the communications panels? Very original series Star Trek.

[major-clanger.livejournal.com]

Oh, that's only the beginning of the references...

[parrot-knight.livejournal.com]

Extremely clever, and drenched in Dalek and wider SFF and pop culture lore.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Awesome - I've been bingeing on this all day, wonderful stuff. Especially like the in-jokes such as the graveyard of really bad Dalek ideas.

[ci5rod.livejournal.com]

Wonderful stuff, I agree. I pimped it over on epic_recs a month or two back.