Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker #2 

Titan; $6.99 

The Black Archive at UNIT's most secure facility is holding familiar and dangerous artifacts that have been corrupted by some kind of dangerous energy with the potential to shred reality. Osgood, the head of the Black Archive, and her assistant Andrew have tasked the earliest known incarnation of the Doctor with taking the objects back to where they should be and removing the dangerous energy to protect reality.  

On her latest mission, the Doctor has been sent to Skaro, the homeworld of the Daleks, to return a piece of technology. What she finds is a landscape unlike what she had expected and the last of the surviving Kaled people. The peril escalates quickly and the Doctor must try to save the Kaleds from the imminent, relentless attacks of the Daleks… and find the true home of the device she brought with her.  

This was a fast-paced issue, but does not skimp on the story or character development. This earliest known version of the Doctor has not experienced what the more familiar Doctors have, so each meeting with a well known villain is, for her, a new experience. This makes for very different reactions when seeing them and making plans of action. Writers Dulce M. Montoya and Dan Watters are also exploring this Doctor's personality that is not as warm or funny as others. She can be abrasive and lacking in tact, which is off-putting, but can also be what characters in peril need to hear to get them to act. 

Artist Sami Kivelä and colorist Valentina Bianconi provide two very different versions of Skaro. They juxtapose the beauty that can be attained through peace and hard work with the crumbling, barren landscape that remains after wanton acts of war. The art team illustrate the Kaled people with resolve, despite their terrible circumstances, and show the Doctor's heroism and determination with a little bit of cynicism to bring out her sharper edges. 

–Amanda Sheriff