DOCTOR WHO: TIME LORD VICTORIOUS #1/ Script by JODY HOUSER/ Art by ROBERTA INGRANATA/ Colors by ENRICA EREN ANGIOLINI/ Flattening by SHARI CHANKHAMMA/ Letters by RICHARD STARKINGS OF COMICRAFT/ Published by TITAN COMICS

The Tenth Doctor is fresh off an adventure. He remembers that much. What he doesn’t remember is who he was traveling with, which is worrying. What’s even more worrying is the TARDIS logs don’t have any record of where and when he’s been either.

What’s especially worrying, however, is that The Daleks seem to be popping up everywhere and everywhen he tries to go. And they are frightened. Which is terribly worrying in a species that supposedly bred the fear out of themselves. Yet that’s not quite so awfully worrying as the fact that these Daleks have no memory of the Time War, suggesting The Tenth Doctor is in some kind of alternate timeline born of a paradox.

The most worrying point in all of this? These Daleks are so desperate for help they are turning to him, expecting him to save all reality from an enemy they have no hope of defeating. And for Daleks to admit defeat before the battle has started? Well, that’s set The Tenth Doctor beyond worrying and on the edge of outright panic.

If you haven’t heard about Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious by now, you’ve probably been rather sheltered. The long and the short of it is that the BBC, Titan Comics, Big Finish and everyone else involved in producing the adventures of The Doctor in one form or another are joining forces to tell a story that crosses time, space and multiple media. This means a series of comics, novels, audio plays, video games and more – all devoted to this one epic tale.

Thankfully, this first issue does come with a handy chart telling you which media are coming out where and when. It all starts with a Doctor Who themed escape room,A Dalek Awakens, continues on through the release of this comic and will go on through the month of September with the release of the Doctor Who 2021 Annual and a Ninth Doctor comic book mini-series titled Doctor Who: Monstrous Beauty.

Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious #1 does a fine job of setting the storyline up. Jody Houser perfectly captures the voice of the Tenth Doctor, giving him a snarky edge as he talks his way past the Daleks he’s stunned to learn aren’t trying to kill him, for once. Roberta Ingranata likewise does a fine job drawing the various Dalek designs and depicting David Tenant’s features. The colors by Enrica Eren Angiolini are astonishing, Shari Shankhamma did a fine job on the flattening and Richard Starkings does his usual stellar job on the lettering, crafting a font for the Daleks that is distinctively mechanical yet still readable. The only flaw to all this is that Ingranata’s faces are somewhat static and The Doctor sometimes has a neutral expression when the dialogue suggests he should be shouting.

While unlikely to make any new Whovians out of the uninitiated, Doctor Who fans will love this comic. While the Doctor’s future may be full of turmoil and uncertainty, fans can be sure of a ripping yarn if the rest of the Time Lord Victorious event is as good as this issue.

Doctor Who: Time Lord Victorious #1 releases on September 2nd, 2020!