What to say about The Lost Dimension: Alpha? I definitely wish the issue was longer. That sounds like a complaint, but really, it’s more of a compliment because it really is just that good of an issue. In Titan Comics’ latest Doctor Who crossover, The Lost Dimension, multiple incarnations of the Doctor come together in order to save the universe from a mysterious entity known only as The Void. The Void has always existed: “No place. The silent realm. The Lost Dimension.” But the void is no longer empty. The void is hungry. It’s devouring our universe – through time and space! Now, every Doctor must play his part to save… EVERYTHING! Written by George Mann and Cavan Scott and illustrated by Rachel Stott, Cris Bolson, Pasquale Qualano, Elton Thomasi, Klebs Jr., and JB Bastos, The Lost Dimension: Alpha is the first of eight issues in The Lost Dimension crossover event. (As always, spoilers follow) 

Here’s the thing about these Doctor Who crossover comics: there’s usually so much going on that the first issue often feels disjointed. This is definitely the case here, but it feels less disjointed than previous first issues of crossovers have felt, which is definitely a good thing. The issue is primarily told from the point of view of the Twelfth Doctor, Bill, Nardole, and Jenny – the Doctor’s Daughter (see the season 4 episode The Doctor’s Daughter for more) – while featuring small asides with the Tenth Doctor, Gabby, and Cindy and the Eleventh Doctor and Alice, respectively, as well as what essentially amounts to a prologue with Captain Jack Harkness and Tara. Because so much of the issue is from the Twelfth Doctor’s point of view, the issue is given a bit of an anchor and doesn’t completely lose itself or feel like several different mini-stories crammed into one larger story.

As previously mentioned, The Lost Dimension: Alpha features the return of the Doctor’s Daughter (by stolen DNA), Jenny. Here, she is some kind of intergalactic savior, like her father, who travels around in this really cool Gallifreyan armor. It’s a pretty cool design, and kudos to Rachel Stott (and any other artists who had a hand in drawing her) for reintroducing her with such style. Judging off of the events of this issue, Jenny seems to have a large part to play in the crossover as she appears to be at the center of whatever is happening with the Void. And this, alone, is exciting as Jenny was always a character who I felt was underexplored in the greater mythology of Doctor Who. She was introduced and then promptly forgotten about and never really mentioned again, so I’m really hoping she gets to properly shine brightly in this crossover. So far, so good!

As for the storyline itself, it’s really interesting. I like that these Titan crossovers always include some huge threat to the universe. It ensures that there’s really a good reason for multiple incarnations of the Doctor to come together. Sure, it’s also a gimmick designed to sell comic books, but the authors and editors of the crossovers always seem to make sure there’s a really good in-universe threat for the Doctors to face, and that’s still the case here. In fact, I’d say this one is possibly the best of the universe-threatening threats so far. This is literally the Void threatening to retake the universe and absorb it into nothingness. It doesn’t really get much worse than that, does it? I feel like Mann and Scott, as well as Stott and the other illustrators really do a good job at demonstrating just how bad the threat of the Void is. Anytime it’s mentioned or shown, you really get the sense that it’s bad news bears, and it’s really good that they’re all able to pull this off like this.

Overall, I just really enjoyed this. The writing was tight and entertaining and the artwork was superb, especially when it came to the work on the character designs and their facial expressions. Titan has been producing some really good Doctor Who comics since they got the license a few years ago, and The Lost Dimension: Alpha proves to be no exception to this. I hope that with the eight issues this crossover has, it’s able to tell a story that feels a bit more fleshed out and full than the previous crossovers did (with their limited 4 issue run time). The ending of Alpha leaves me wanting more, and that’s exactly the way you want the first issue of a crossover to be! Pick this issue up and get into The Lost Dimension with me!

(5 out of 5 wands)