Doctor Who and the Iron Legion (comic story)

Summary
The Doctor arrives on a future Earth where the Roman Empire went on to conquer the galaxy with their Iron Legion of robots led by servant of the Gods, General Ironicus. Escaping from the General and from the Ecto-Slime in the Arena for the entertainment of the young Emperor Adolphus and his mother Juno, the Doctor is forced to work as a slave onboard a slave 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 anti-life creatures who feed off Death). The Doctor awakens the Beast Men, (unsuccessful genetically engineered soldiers kept in storage), to create maximum disruption in the city. Magog (Adolphus’s ‘mother’), is unhappy to see the Doctor and ultimately kills the General. As she changes shape to kill the Doctor the whole of Rome watches on vidscreens, and they revolt. Taking the Doctor back to the TARDIS, Magog is tricked into being expelled from the craft into an empty dimension vowing to return. The other Malevilus are attacked by the Beast Men in their temple a spaceship which explodes killing them all. The citizens make Vesuvius the New Emperor and the Doctor suggests a boarding school for Adolphus.

Characters

 * Adolphus Caesar (Foe)
 * The Emperor Adolphus Caesar! Ruler of the Earth! Master of the Solar System and the Galaxy Beyond! A spoilt child. On the Doctor's suggestion sent to a boarding school on the ice-planet of Cryos Four


 * Barbarius
 * Keeper of the `Monsters (Zarks, Kronks and Ectoslime) used to fight at the Rome Hyp-arena to entertain the crowds.


 * The Beast Men
 * Before the wide use of Iron Legion robot soldiers came genetically engineered soldier apes that were grown for conquest. Unfortunately they that disobedient and smashed things without regard. They were de-activated and held for centuries in storage in the Bestiarus before being revived for a maximum of 24 hours and used to cause distribution throughout the city by the Doctor


 * Ectoslime (Friend/Foe)
 * Giant slug-like creature that stuns its victims with its odour before liquefying and drinking them. Used in the arena and a crowd pleaser with its own admirers known as Eccy fans. They communicate verbally and have a highly developed sense of humour to compensate for their appearance.


 * General Ironicus (Foe)
 * Robot leader of the Iron Legion with a head shaped to reflect the Imperial Eagle of Rome. He had a chestplate light that, only when it was purple meant he could be spoken too. He was made to internally combust by Magog (in the guise of Juno) as a lesson to the Doctor.


 * The Malevilus (Foe) (Babiyon, Abiss, Epok, Necros and Magog)
 * Flying creatures not dissimilar to a Krillatane. A form of anti-life that feeds off death. Together they nurtured the Roman army with technology which helped enable them to feast on prisoner's from another dimension which were offered up sacrifice. Their spacecraft was revered and known as the Temple of the Gods. Left unable to protect their craft when Magog was captured by the Doctor they died when their spacecraft was destroyed.


 * Magog / Juno (Foe)
 * As leader he was the most fearsome and powerful of the Malevilus, capable of multiple-metamorphosis,using the power of the Five of the Pentangle. He took over the body of Adolphis' mother Juno, waiting to do the same to Adolphis when he succeeded the throne. Once seperated from the other in the TARDIS the Doctor tricks him into being caged by a conduit to an empty dimension, thereby weakening the others that are killed when their spacecraft is destroyed.


 * Morris(Friend)
 * Ex-gladiator.Constant escapee from being a slave in the Imperial Air Gallery (Ironicus' prefered method of travel). Patched up and bionically repaired, he helped the Doctor escape. He was killed by a Bact Gun, a weapon that fires a metal eating bacteria that devoured him during an air battle with the Iron Legion.


 * Vesuvius (Friend)
 * A former historian, oldest surviving robot in Rome, with on his flat top the Flame of Freedom burning. Hero alongside the Doctor in the battle to overcome General Ironicus he was rewarded by being made Emperor of Rome

Original Print Details (Publication with page count and closing captions)

 * 1) DWM Issue 1 (5 pages)  Next week: Into the Dimension Duct!
 * 2) DWM Issue 2 (4 pages)  Next Week: Enter the Ecto-Slime!
 * 3) DWM Issue 3 (4 pages)  Next Week: Temple of the Gods!
 * 4) DWM Issue 4 (4 pages)  Next Issue: Against the Gods!
 * 5) DWM Issue 5 (5 pages)  Next Week: Death in the Air!
 * 6) DWM Issue 6 (4 pages)  Next Week: The Beast-Men Awake!
 * 7) DWM Issue 7 (4 pages)  Next: The Final Battle!
 * 8) DWM Issue 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) Doctor Who Marvel Premiere (Issues 57-58) Reprinted in colour.
 * 3) The Iron Legion (Graphic Novel) Reprinted as originally, in black and white

Continuity

 * The Fourth Doctor makes his entrance by characteristically breezing 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 Snowman, Autons, Axon... Daemons, Daleks, Dinosaurs when gong through a list of encountered creatures.