The Archives of Phryne

So, after the dramatic arrival of the Mechanoids, the Daleks now face THE LIBRARIANS!It seems bizarre that after a strip which felt like a prologue to a huge story arc involving a galactic war between two terrifying alien forces, we get a story where the Daleks face a group of strangely-foreheaded librarians on the planet Phryne.

The Archives of Phryne is thoroughly underwhelming. The Phrynians are as dull as ditchwater and the Daleks don’t fare much better. This strip also continues the increasingly strange vein of tragedy which pervades this strip. The Phrynians are forced underground, their leader commits suicide and the Daleks, yet again, fail to achieve their aim: in this case, to obtain the secrets of the many weapons and defensive measures the Phrynians catalogue.

A big hole in the story is the absence of the Golden Emperor (as he’s referred to in this strip). His conniving, scheming, hilarious monarchy is sorely missed in a story which sees the Daleks the closest to their TV counterparts’ characterisation so far in this strip’s run.

One interesting twist is the reveal that all the secrets the Phrynians hold are stored in their brains rather than physically, but frankly as story goes, it’s too little too late.

The artwork for this story continues the clean lines and bold colours introduced halfway through the previous strip but a lot of the backgrounds are quite dull and almost beige in colouring. The Phrynians clothes come in a variety of bold primary colours (helpful for identifying who is who). The comic strip also obtains a brand new, striking title logo in blue and yellow which, oddly, feels less in keeping with the strip’s spirit than the original red/Daleky one did.

We move on now to the discovery of a rogue planet!