Duel of the Daleks






	This third story is probably one of the finest strips in the collection. Zeg is a lowly Dalek worker in the inventions factory, until his casing is transformed into an almost indestructible alloy. Filled with a sense of his own power, he challenges the Emperor's authority. The only solution is to pit Zeg's strength against the Emperor's brains in a deadly duel out in the wastelands of Skaro. Although the third story, Duel of the Daleks was attempted second because of the small cast of characters. The amount of animation almost doubled between this and the first story, making it much more visually exciting. Below is a selection of images from this third story. Please click here to get your copy.

I was working late at night, down in the lab

An image taken directly from the strip. I had a lot of fun creating the landscapes of Skaro for this story and trying to get the atmosphere exactly right - creepy, colourful, exciting, but not too garish!

The Dalek Brain Machine set. I spent a lot of time on this one as it returns later in the series. It does puzzle me, though, that the Daleks choose to decorate their city with blue and white chequered tiles. However, that's what featured in the original strip, so that's what appears on the screen.

The jungle of Skaro. In the strip, this features for only one frame. I have expanded this section slightly to generate the creepy and mysterious atmosphere that this one frame suggests. There's a surprise lurking in all that vegetation, I can tell you!

Another frame that exactly mirrors one of the strip frames. This is at the start of the duel, as Zeg sets out across the desert in search of the Emperor.

The Examination Chamber, and another shot taken directly from the comic strip. The monitor screen (as well as the Daleks) are animated.

Good golly, I hadn't realised just how much of the design and how many camera angles in this story came directly from the strip. This shows the Emperor heading towards the old Dalek workshops for the final showdown.

A shot from early in the feature. This is Zeg working in his laboratory before he gets his metalert paint job and delusions of grandeur.

The Emperor's plan to destroy Zeg in the river of acid fails and Zeg is just a little bit annoyed.

Nice and clean, though.

And here we see Zeg taking that not-so-fatal plunge into the aforementioned acid.

The Emperor looking striking and victorious (even though he isn't). I'm rather fond of this shot.

A Dalek warns of a coming storm. Slightly better than our weathermen, then...

The Black Dalek! The very name evokes terror, sweaty palms and bowel disorders. Probably.

A crowd shot. Lots of loved-up Daleks milling about at the Emperor's latest charity gig in aid of the Skarosian Panda Protection League.

A shot of Zeg in his laboratory. I had fun creating this set... and borrowing elements from Frankenstein's laboratory!

The Emperor and the Black Dalek share a quiet moment on the balcony overlooking the wastelands.

This scene was added to create tension and slow the pace a little before the duel begins. It also serves to enhance the threat that Zeg poses to Dalek civilisation.

Zeg amid the mercury geysers.

This set went through about six different versions before I was relatively happy with it.

The Emperor addresses the Daleks.

Where he intends to post them to, I have no idea...

This is an early test render of this sequence. The stage later changed colour as I felt the white was too glaring and distracted from other elements in the scene.