HE-WHO-CONTROLS-THE-SPICE-CONTROLS-THE-UNIVERSE!

The Doctor is discussing how his current situation--a population hiding from an alien attack--reminds him of several similar situations:

Wait.

"The Daleks' destruction of the Atreides' systems?"

So the Daleks destroyed Dune?!?!?

Perhaps Davros needed some spice for his experiments?

Davros, Emperor Of Doom?

Daleks vs. Sandworms?

Or is Paul able to convert a sizable portion of Davros' troops to his side, so we have a scene with thousands of Daleks chanting, "MUAD-DIB! MUAD-DIB!!"

And maybe, just maybe, we can see the Doctor fight this guy:

This is why I'm not allowed to write comics...or franchise crossovers.

From Doctor Who: The Twelfth Doctor #13 (2015)

Young Ziggy Stardust And The Bathroom Humor Of Mars

Young, pre-naming-himself-David-Bowie-and-becoming-the-coolest-human-alive David Jones is traveling with the Doctor, because comics, and is on an alien space station. While using the ahem facilities, we see he hasn't quite got his future lyrical genius down pat yet...

So close, David, so close...

From Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #4 (2014)

I Wonder If Douglas Adams Ever Saw This Cover?

 Wait...Hollywood was the City Of Death?

It's a Doctor Who joke, people.

The Naked Easter Eggs Of Doctor Who: Prisoners Of Time #1 [NSFW]

Warning...there's a NSFW drawing and photo later on in this post...

So, in the very first panel of Doctor Who: Prisoners Of Time #1, our mysterious villain is gazing at a collage of various incarnations of the Doctor and his companions:

Wait a minute...what the...?

We need a close-up here!

Oh no they didn't. Did they?

Oh, yes they did!!

You see, after she left Doctor Who, Katy Manning, who played companion Jo Grant, did a...ahem...pictorial feature for a magazine called Girls Illustrated, wherein she posed, well, starkers with a Dalek:

Yeah, I thought that picture looked kind of familiar...

Of course, you have to wonder how our mystery villain had this picture, as it didn't occur in the Doctor Who universe. Unless he knows the Doctor and company are fictional characters. Hmmm, maybe the mystery villain is Michael Grade...

Or maybe this did happen. Maybe Jo Grant did sneak into a UNIT holding facility and posed with a Dalek shell left over from Day Of The Daleks as part of some secret mission...

More pictures of Jo and the Dalek can be seen here; like this one, the naughty bits are covered. If that's too risque for you, here it is in Lego form:

Why You Don't Give Gallifreyan Technology To Von Doom

Why don't you give Victor Von Doom technology from Gallifrey? Because he can make it better, and more evil:

Sonic and silent? It's already better than that annoying sonic screwdriver! Advantage, Von Doom!

Doom would obviously kick ass at Dig Dug.

Uh oh, the villains (well, the other villains) are waiting for you!! No worries, though:

ZAP!!!

Obviously, Doctor Doom 1, Doctor Who 0.

Now back to work on my Von Doom/Davros slash fiction...

From Super-Villain Team-Up #2 (1975)

The Daleks Were Right!!!

OK, we're going to get hyper-nerdy now (editors note: "now"?) (snell's note: shut up).

One of the more famous Doctor Who stories was...

The Dalek Invasion Of Earth. It's well known because a) many eerie scenes of Daleks marching through an abandoned London; b) The "what if the Nazis had won WWII" allegory; c) it's the first time one of the Doctor's companions left; d) it was remade into a theatrical movie starring Peter Cushing.

But it's also equally well known for it's naff science. As my friend Siskoid describes the Dalek's plot:

The Daleks' plan is revealed and it is, of course, very much absurd. They mean to empty the Earth's core, disrupt its magnetic and gravitational fields, and replace with a power source to turn the planet into a great, big (gas-guzzling) spaceship.

(BTW, Siskoid is doing a daily Doctor Who review, each episode in chronological order. Go read it, every day!)

Anyway, this is the part where I rise to the Daleks' defense, because the plan was so brilliant, it was actually implemented in the past...er, the future...er, it get confusing.

The Doctor Who story, aired in 1964, was set in 2164 (or, 2150, if you prefer the theatrical version). But let's travel backwards, to a 1952 comic book story, and go forward to the 25th century!! (Oh, my head...)

The Solar System's Space Guard has been alerted to an unusual threat:

After landing to investigate, rescuing a bikini-clad "space article writer," fighting monsters who were really holograms, and finding secret entrances, the discover:

"Outer Spacians"????? Man, this political correctness has gone way too far!!

Upon further exploration...

The world hollowed out?? Can you touch the sky?

Hollowed out the world, installed motors in it, and drove it around the cosmos, and planned to use it to conquer other planets?!?!?

In other words, 12 years before Dalek Invasion of Earth (or 3 centuries after...oh, my head), the Outer Spacians had the exact same plan!!!

The Daleks are vindicated!! The Daleks are vindicated!! We have to stop making fun of their "ridiculous" plan!! They could have used it to conquer the cosmos!! Nothing could have stopped them had they hollowed out the Erath!! Nothing!!!...



Oh.

Never mind.

From Fantastic Worlds #6 (1952).

Space Epilogue:

Casper Versus Capitalism--IN SPACE!!

Well, since my pal Siskoid was so enamored of a catch phrase from yesterday's post, it's only fair that we take a closer look at the main story from Casper In Space #7 (1973).

The funny thing is, it is a story that is absolutely nuts, and plays like nothing so much as a Doctor Who New Adventures novel, albeit with Casper in the role of The Doctor.

We start as Casper and his pals are kidnapped by a pink energy beam from space, and met by an Ambush Bug-looking dude:



And what is the yellow?





Ah, but what happens when they switch to green?


Hmmm, an entire planet that seems dedicated to serving consumer desires (and perhaps creating them). What could possibly go wrong?


Oh, dear.

Well, Casper gets away and does some snooping:



Purple ray? Oh, no...

Fortunately, Casper gets away, and encounters some of the actual denizens of this culture, who complain about the policy of their leader:


And how does he make an ennui-filled populace buy things?

Ahhh....

Sadly, the purple ray catches up to Casper...


But, fortunately, Casper's friends come to the rescue!


Robots???

Well, after a robust battle...


So, let me see if I have this straight. This culture somehow got taken over by robots who produce mass amounts of consumer goods. When the people can't afford the goods, the robots extend them easy credit. When consumers don't want anymore, the robots introduce "rays" that make then buy uncontrollably. And when, even then, the market is saturated, the start shanghaiing people from other galaxies so they can sell stuff to them??

You know, I really didn't expect that much allegory in a Harvey story...

Anyway, we get a real Doctor Who ending:


Yay!! The Doctor Casper has freed the people from an alien rule that is in no way an exaggerated metaphor for anything here on earth, and leaves them to run their own lives. (Yeah, it's also a Kirk ending, too, given the robots in control...)

[Please don't ask an inconvenient questions about who built the robots, or what happened to them, or how the whole culture fell under their sway. There is no explanation.]

BONUS IRONY: This odd anti-capitalist screed (odd for a Harvey book in 1973, at least) appears in an issue chock full of ads for Casper bed sheets, Casper (and other Harvey characters) record albums, and other assorted merchandise. I'm just sayin.'