‘Doctor Who: The Lost Dimension #3’ Review
Written by Nick Abadzis | Art by Mariano Laclaustra, Carlos Cabrera | Published by TItan Comics
Part 3 of this 8 part event sees the creative baton passed over to the team of Abadzis and Laclaustra and Cabrera, and the focus back on the Tenth Doctor after last issue’s focus on the Ninth Doctor. The series seems to have kicked off with a massive first issue to set the stage, featuring as many Doctor’s and companions as you could shake a stick at, and is then using subsequent issues to focus more tightly on the individual Doctors. All, of course, are in the process of investigating and/ or fighting the same event, but not all know that yet. All, however, know that something is very, very wrong.
So by now I am assuming you know the main story, that some mysterious entity or entities are unleashing huge white holes that are destroying everything in their path. Multiple Doctor’s have been caught up in this, as have various companions including Captain Jack and Tara who are trapped with the Fourth Doctor. Our focus this issue is back with the Tenth Doctor, and his investigation of the sudden appearance of the Third Doctor in the TARDIS. As Cindy points out, the Third Doctor has a face that’s old, but seems young, the Tenth Doctor has a face that’s young, but seems old. The old man is a prior incarnation of the young man, so he is simultaneously older and younger at the same time. Personal timelines can be very complicated when you are a Time Lord…
Whatever energy is at play has dragged the TARDIS off course, and they make an emergency landing on the Poseidon space station, apparently on emergency lockdown. The station is being hit by more radiation than its shields can handle, something the Doctor’s quick fingers soon sort out. A button here, a button there. The Doctor, Cindy and Gabby claim to be station inspectors, and set out to discover just why they have been directed here. The Doctor learns that probes have been going missing, something the station personnel blame on space pirates but The Doctor is not convinced. He has noticed the energy surges are not natural but are being engineered, and are composed of the white hole anti-energy that is causing trouble everywhere. Probably not the ideal time for a Cyberman invasion.
The Cybermen have invaded the station, with a huge fleet of Cyberships in support and an ability to convert quicker than ever. The Doctor tells everyone to evacuate the station. It seems the Cybermen were already on the station, planning to capture it, but the white energy has changed their plans. Although many crew escape, a lot of ships are scuttled and the rest are trapped on the station. The Doctor though has noticed the Cybermen are acting very un-Cyberlike, and realises they are infected by the ‘Peace’ corruption force themselves, not in control of their own actions. One touch from them infects you. Hey, where’s Cindy?
Yep, Cindy’s in trouble. She dons an air-suit and makes a break for it, but one of the infected ship’s crew touches her. So why isn’t she infected? Cindy doesn’t care, and catches up to The Doctor who has found a way to evacuate the other crew before evacuating himself, Gabby, and Cindy. Does time travel energy make you immune? Can a cure be rigged up using vortex energy? The Doctor ponders this as the TARDIS whizzes through time and space….and then there’s knocking on the door. Of the TARDIS. In deep airless space. That can’t be good.
Well this issue the fun continued, and I loved the tension that Nick Abadzis generated throughout. You could feel the clock ticking as events played out. Very nicely scripted, and I liked the way the story fit into the overarching plot, though I would have liked to see a bit more of what’s going on elsewhere. As it was, it felt like a taster for The Tenth Doctor’s own book, much as last issue was a taster for The Ninth Doctor. Now, that can’t be deliberate can it? The art was very nice throughout, my only niggle the fact that many pages had lots and lots of panels giving it a slightly busy feel. Technically, though, very nicely done.
Nest issue, The Eleventh Doctor’s turn. Well, timey-wimey is his speciality.
**** 4/5
