Titan; $4.99  

The Doctor got himself arrested and sent to Panoptopolis, an intergalactic prison where the most dangerous criminals are kept. The reason he chose to get arrested? His companion Belinda Chandra was falsely arrested and taken there. In the first issue, the Doctor began a team-up with the prisoners he was transported with, while Belinda is forced to entertain the Warden of the prison. 

In the second issue, the Doctor and his new cohorts – a Tentaculon named Methelough, an Adipose called Annie, the cyborg warrior H-8, and the Slitheen pirate Felik – make their way through the cell blocks on a mission to find the Warden’s office. Meanwhile, the unhinged Warden is forcing Belinda to regale him with stories about Earth.  

Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox has the optimism of the Fifteenth Doctor’s run on the show and the sinister suspense of earlier incarnations. Writer Dan Watters tells most of this issue from the perspective of an alien working alongside the Doctor. By doing so, he captures the harshness of the galaxy, while offering a ray of hope.  

The art by Sami Kivelä and colors by Valentina Bianconi pop on each page. The interpretations of actors Ncuti Gatwa (the Doctor) and Varada Sethu (Belinda) are nicely done, as are well known Doctor Who creatures like the Slitheen and Adipose. The Warden’s office has a sinister quality to match the man himself, and the Doctor travels through an underwater prison cell filled with beautiful color and dangerous beings.  

–Amanda Sheriff