Doctor Who and the Iron Legion (comic story)


 * For the graphic novel, see The Iron Legion (graphic novel).

 - or The Iron Legion - was a Fourth Doctor comic strip published in Doctor Who Magazine.

Summary
A robot legionnaire attacks a small English town of the 1970s. Tracing them to their origin, the Doctor arrives on another Earth in which the Roman Empire conquered the galaxy with their Iron Legion of robots commanded by General Ironicus, a servant of what he calls the gods.

Escaping from the General and from the Ectoslime in the Arena where the boy Emperor, Adolphus Caesar and his mother Juno watch, the Doctor is enslave onboard a ship travelling home. Joining forces with escapee Morris and Vesuvius (one of the oldest robots left), the Doctor discovers the Gods of Rome are the evil Malevilus, five winged demonic creatures who feed off death. The Doctor awakens the Bestiarus, unsuccessful genetically engineered soldiers kept in storage to create maximum disruption in the city.

Magog, Adolphus's 'mother', is unhappy to see the Doctor. She ultimately kills the General. As Magog changes shape to kill the Doctor, the whole of Rome watches on vidscreens and they revolt. Returning the Doctor to the TARDIS, Magog is tricked into being expelled from the craft into an empty dimension. She vows to return. The other Malevilus are attacked by the Bestiarus in their temple, a spaceship which explodes and kills them all.

The citizens make Vesuvius the new Emperor and the Doctor suggests a boarding school for Adolphus.

Characters

 * The Doctor
 * The Doctor makes his entrance in a characteristically breezy fashion, stepping into a local corner shop to stock up on provisions and jelly babies!
 * In the first scenes it is established that the Doctor is not human and has two hearts, a fact that confuses a robot soldier of Ironicus' army, and helps the Doctor to escape.
 * The Doctor mentions "abominable snowmen", Autons, Axos, Dæmons, Daleks and dinosaurs when going through a list of creatures that he has encountered.
 * Adolphus Caesar
 * Barbarius
 * Babiyon, Abiss, Epok, Nekros and Magog
 * General Ironicus
 * Maximus Bilious
 * Morris
 * Vesuvius

Species

 * Bestiarus
 * Ectoslime
 * Malevilus
 * Kronk
 * Zark

Locations

 * Zaggar Six
 * Benidorm
 * Crab Nebula
 * Cryos Four

Original print details

 * (Publication with page count and closing captions)


 * 1) DWM 1 (5 pages) Next week: Into the Dimension Duct!
 * 2) DWM 2 (4 pages) Next Week: Enter the Ecto-Slime!
 * 3) DWM 3 (4 pages) Next Week: Temple of the Gods!
 * 4) DWM 4 (4 pages) Next Issue: Against the Gods!
 * 5) DWM 5 (5 pages) Next Week: Death in the Air!
 * 6) DWM 6 (4 pages) Next Week: The Beast-Men Awake!
 * 7) DWM 7 (4 pages) Next: The Final Battle!
 * 8) DWM 8 (4 pages) Next Issue: Join the Doctor in City of the Damned!

Reprints

 * 1) DWMS Summer 1980 Reprinted complete in black and white.
 * 2) Marvel Premiere Issues 57 and 58 Reprinted in colour.
 * 3) DWMS Summer 1985 Marvel Premiere reprint
 * 4) The Iron Legion (graphic novel) Reprinted as originally, in black and white
 * 5) Doctor Who Classics Recoloured for this 2007 American title issues Issue 1 and Issue 2.

Continuity

 * K9's absence in this and the following story is explained in K9's Finest Hour.
 * While not explicitly stated, this story most likely takes place between DW: The Invasion of Time and DW: The Ribos Operation.
 * Kronkburgers are later seen in DW: The Long Game.

Timeline

 * This story occurs after: DWM: Stowaway
 * This story occurs before: DWM: City of the Damned