"The 10,000 Disasters of Dort" is a British comic strip published in the weekly anthology Lion from 18 May to 23 November 23 1968, published by Fleetway Publications. Written by Mike Butterworth and drawn by Spanish artists Luis Bermejo and José Ortiz, it concerns a terror campaign against Earth by aliens from the fictional doomed planet Dort, who hope to force humanity into sharing their home.
Publication history
The story was originally serialised in 28 two-page weekly black-and-white episodes in Lion from 18 May to 23 November 23 1968; during this run "The 10,000 Disasters of Dort" was featured three times on the comic's front cover. The following year, an additional strip featured in the 1970 edition of Lion Annual. The story was reprinted in Lion itself between 22 December 1973 and 18 May 1974 (twice being featured on the cover), appearing in the title's final issue before it was merged with Valiant. As a result, the final two episodes were redrawn substantially to allow the story to conclude; those behind the new material have yet to be identified.
In May 2023, the serial was selected for collection in Rebellion Developments' Treasury of British Comics series of trade paperbacks. The original serial, the two annual stories and the modified conclusion of the reprint were all included in the book, which featured a brand new cover by artist Staz Johnson, as well as a factual article from the 1971 Lion Annual and a preview of the upcoming The Spider's Syndicate of Crime versus the Crook from Outer Space collection. To promote the book an eight-page preview - comprising the first four episodes - was printed in Judge Dredd Megazine #456.
Plot summary
On 18 March 2000 the liner RMS Royalty arrives in New York City only to find the city completely destroyed; half an hour later the ship itself is lost when it simply collapses. Samples taken from the city are transported to the Cambridge laboratory of Professor Mike Dauntless; three days of study later, he finds the atomic structure of all metal within fifty miles of New York has been altered to the consistency of rubber by an unknown technology. The following day a huge hexagonal structure appears on a holl near Moscow, and projects the giant form of Ratta, dictator of the planet Dort. Scientists from Dory have discovered that by 2050 their planet will collide with its sun. As a result, Ratta has targeted Earth as a new home for his people and plans to unleash ten thousand disasters to hammer the human race into submission, of which the New York attack was just the first.
While the Council of World Governments gathers 48 hours later, few take Ratta's threats seriously - much to Dauntless' irritation. As a result, Ratta unleashes giant weeds that destroy most of Paris. Dauntless investigates by helicopter and rescues a young orphan called Gaston. The pair crash and have to fight their way out of Paris, where law has broken down among the survivors. Ratta announces a third disaster, and Melbourne is overran when he enlarges the city's population of zoo animals. Dauntless flies to Australia on Concorde to investigate, with Gaston stowing away too. Despite a huge eagle destroying their plane, the pair land and Dauntless has a super-sized housefly captured for study. While they work, the relentless Ratta unleashes a fourth disaster, chemically altering all the tea in England so it induces rage in those who drink it, reducing the country to anarchy. Dauntless is able to come up with a serum to return the animals threatening Australia to their normal size but is caught up in the chaos returning to London, and quickly realising the victims need to be anaesthetised while Britain's tea stock is destroyed.
