SHORT STEPS AND SIDE STRIPS: Star Tigers (Part Two)
Issues: 44 – 46 of Doctor Who Monthly
Script: Steve Moore*
Art: David Lloyd*
Page Count: 12 (four pages per part)
Main Characters: Abslom Daak, Salander, Harma and Mercurius **
*Unaccredited in the original publication, information from the Abslom Daak, Dalek Killer graphic novel
** Mercurius’ name is spelt Mercurious in the first frame of the first part.
Synopsis:
Continuing on from the previous installment of Star Tigers, Daak and Salander plan to get a crew for the kill wagon. Daak’s choices are Harma (and Ice Warrior) and Mercurius (an earthman). Harma is working on Paradise as a professional killer and Daak accidentally forces Harma to try and kill him. Daak overpowers him though and takes him back to the kill wagon. Vol Mercurius is playing a war game with his robotic companion, the war game being played out for real elsewhere on the planet Dispater. Daak arrives and takes him from his game. In space, Mercurius correctly identifies some meteors as being camouflaged daleks and the kill wagon is put through its paces with Daak relishing the opportunity to destroy the daleks. Mercurius assumes command of the ship against Daak’s will and they plot a course for the dalek command ship. They drop their cargo of nukes in a volcano and the resulting eruption wipes out the dalek craft.
Episode Endings:
One – Harma is on board and they set off to get Mercurius, Daak admitting that they’re not exactly friends…
Two – Mercurius has joined the crew, leaving his robot klikbrain dead on Dispater.
Three – The crew share memories as the dalek command ship is destroyed by the volcano.
Continuity
Along with Vol Mercurius and Selene, Daak once defrauded Pan-Galactic Shippers of four billion but Mercurius ran off with both the money and Selene. Daak cut off Mercurius’ hand.
Paradise is the finest fun-house in the galaxy where you can get absolutely anything if you have the money. Amongst the many attractions there are a Dreamshop and an old-fashioned alcohol bar. Food there includes Betelgeuse Burgers. Harma is working at “Slash Killersteins Murderama” in cubicle number two. He offers death by crushing, pounding, stabbing and shooting but can’t get oil for boiling alive. He’s contract bound to kill anyone who enters his cubicle. Ice Warriors have weak spots but they’re hard to find.
No one knows who built the castle that Mercurius resides in. Mercurius programmed klickbrain with everything he knew so that he’d be the perfect intellectual companion. Mercurius has hijacked a few Draconian vessels in his time, he also knows a lot about daleks and their strategies. He once teamed up with a four-tentacled Rigellan that had three mouths.
The Dalek Space Commando Units disguise themselves in hollow meteors.
Salander tries to pay for things with draconian crystals.
Vorkelites get a kick out of being executed.
Comments:
Slightly disjointed, the second half of “Star Tigers” is an enjoyable enough romp and introduces the final two members of the crew nicely. The third part (which basically contains the entire dalek part of the plot) is an interesting cross between a character piece and a space battle. We never learn where Mercurius gets his knowledge from and things do seem a little rushed towards the end. However it’s still worth reading.
When republished as part of the “Abslom Daak Dalek Killer” graphic novel, parts of the story were subtly re-written to give the daleks more prominence.
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