Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox TP Review

 

Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox TP Review

Writer: Dan Watters

Artist: Sami Kivelä

Colorist: Valentina Bianconi

Letterers: Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith

Cover Artist: Nipuni

Editor: Jonathan H Wilkins

Art Director: Oz Browne

Publisher: Titan Comics

Price: $17.99

Release Date: July 21, 2026

 

The Doctor has worn many faces and lived many lives. In his current incarnation, he has loved and lost. Given his abilities to travel through time and his extraordinarily long life, a companion helps him remember all the people who need his help. After Earth’s sun went nova, the Doctor and his companion freed its remaining inhabitants and reunited a little, lost girl with her parents. Where will the Doctor travel next? And who will help him rescue people in need? Let’s grab our sonic screwdrivers, leap into Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox TP, and see!

 

Story

After robots abducted her, the Doctor was trying to help Belinda Chandra return home. But something was shielding the Earth from his TARDIS’ navigational computers. Then, amid their search for Earth, Shadow Proclamation agents abducted the Human nurse. While Earth hides, the Doctor tracks his abducted companion to the Panoptopolis, a space station that orbits a black hole. No one who arrives there ever leaves. Still, that won’t deter the Doctor from rescuing his companion.

 

Yet in Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox TP, Belinda isn’t his companion. The Doctor arrives on a prison shuttle with a cyborg, a Tentaculon, an Adipose, and a member of the Slitheen family. And when Security drags the new arrivals to Interrogation because of an irregular energy reading, H-8 the Living Gun, Methelough, Annie, and Felik decide they’re better off with the Doctor than going it alone in the Prison’s Gen Pop.

 

Dan Watters’ story contrasts the Doctor with the Warden of Panoptopolis. While the Doctor has lived for centuries, the Warden has ruled the maximum-security establishment for 800 years. Due to the Black Hole's gravity, uncrewed shuttles bring new inmates and supplies. The Warden can always shoot troublesome prisoners into the singularity. But the inhabitants, the Gravelyte guards, and the Warden can never leave.

 

As the Doctor and his new companions set off to find the Warden’s office, they must brave inmates who prey on their fellow captives. The Doctor points out that he and H-8 have slightly different life philosophies. But as his new companions aid him in his search for the Human nurse, the Doctor’s words and actions prompt them to reflect on their past. Yet while his new companions ponder how they might live differently, Belinda Chandra sits in the Warden’s office. And the only thing that keeps her breathing is her ability to entertain the bored ruler of his forever home in Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox TP.

 

Art

Sami Kivelä surrounds the ringed space station with inset panels of the arriving shuttle and a view inside. The Doctor sits on a bench, his hands chained to the floor, beside a tooth-like Adipose and gassy, green Sliveen. Seated nearer the hatch, a purple cephalopod and a multi-armed cyborg frame the trio. Rock-creatures with horns direct them inside with their cattle prods. Before mingling with the rest of the prison population in the dining hall, the Doctor gazes up at an eyeball security camera. Then, he demands they release one of their prisoners to him.

 

Valentina Bianconi links the Doctor's orange-brown coat with the orange-tan rocky guards. With a purple Tentaculon and a green Sliveen for company, the fashion-conscious Doctor stands out among the prisoners and guards in Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox TP. Yellow makes its presence felt in this lavishly colored story. The latest visitors enter beneath a yellow-and-black warning line. They pass through a brownish-yellow hall. The rock guards scan a white card adorned with yellow. As they enter a cafeteria filled with inmates wearing yellow coveralls, a yellow-eyed security camera watches them. Yet red will fill the air and make its presence felt, all too soon.

 

Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith fill white dialogue balloons with uppercase black dialogue. The narrator speaks into light-yellow boxes, while the rocky guards use cloudy, light-yellow balloons. The words grow bold for intonation and swell for raised voices. Sound effects enhance battles and put would-be rescuers at ease. Yet a lowly character speaks the loudest, even if it is a squeak. The tightly bound trade paperback features glossy paper and doesn’t obscure the art near the gutter. A cover gallery and pages from Sami Kivelä’s notebook fill out this trade paperback. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a physical review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

The Panoptopolis holds many dangerous prisoners. But none of them are as dangerous as the guards or as ruthless as the Warden. In this story about the temptations and abuses of power, the Doctor inspires the imprisoned to ignore their fears in Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox TP.

 

Rating 9.8/10

Doctor Who Circuit Breaker: Adversary of the Daleks #1 Preview

 

COVER A: JAY ANACLETO

When the BBC shut down TV production after the Seventh Doctor and Ace's final onscreen adventures in 1989, work began on making a Doctor Who movie. As the property drifted between filmmakers and studios, all the scripts had one idea in common. Hollywood was fascinated with the Daleks. They just didn't know how to reinvent them for the big screen. 

Perhaps it's just as well the Daleks didn't feature in the 1996 American-made Eighth Doctor TV pilot, as the series eventual return to the BBC in 2005 proved that the Daleks didn't need to be reinvented. They were still capable of turning the Doctor's life inside out, and endangering the Earth, whenever they wished.

Yet every time they've appeared, each Doctor Who story has explored new aspects of the Daleks. What changes will the Daleks demonstrate when the Doctor discovers them meddling in Earth's past? And can the Doctor prevent them from destroying our future?

Here's all the info from Titan Comics: 

DOCTOR WHO: CIRCUIT BREAKER – ADVERSARY OF THE DALEKS

Writers: Dan Watters & Dulce M. Montoya

Artists: Roberta Ingranata, Sami Kivelä & Valentina Bianconi

Publisher: Titan Comics

Issue Length: 48 Pages (Full Color)

Price: $6.99

Release Date: July 8, 2026 

 

THE DALEKS ARE BACK! Titan Comics is thrilled to announce their involvement in the Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker mixed-media event, with TWO comics and an all-new graphic novel which will feature the Fugitive Doctor’s first encounter with the Daleks!

With Issue #1 launching the first full adventure of the epic Circuit Breaker mixed-media event, Titan will publish two thrilling adventures that send the Doctor across time and space into her deadliest conflict yet. In Adversary of the Daleks, the Doctor arrives in Thessaloniki in ancient Greece where she discovers that even the gods fear strange visitors from across the universe.

While in Dawn of the Daleks, the Doctor travels to the war-ravaged world of Skaro as the Doctor battles the Daleks with the fate of their Kaled forebears at stake!

Written by acclaimed comics writers Dulce M. Montoya and Dan Watters (Batman: Dark Patterns, Nightwing) - and brought to life by stunning artwork from Sami Kivelä (Undone by Blood), these comics will be a must-read for fans of Doctor Who, science fiction, and epic intergalactic adventures. 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

Here are more cover options:

 

COVER B: PHOTO

 

COVER C: ROBERT SIENICKI

 

 

COVER D: FLOPS

 

COVER E: FLOPS - COLOUR YOUR OWN VARIANT

 

Jay Anacleto Inks Cover

 

 

Here's the full list of cover options for both issues:

 

ISSUE 1:

COVER A: JAY ANACLETO

COVER B: PHOTO

COVER C: ROBERT SIENICKI

COVER D: FLOPS

COVER E: FLOPS - COLOUR YOUR OWN VARIANT

 

ISSUE 2:

COVER A: NIPUNI

COVER B: PHOTO

COVER C: KIT WALLIS

COVER D: FLOPS

COVER E: FLOPS

Doctor Who: Circuit Breaker: Adversary of the Daleks #1 will be released on July 8, 2026, with Issue #2 on August 5, 2026, and the Graphic Novel to follow on the December 2, 2026. 

Thanks to Titan Comics for sharing this preview with us.

Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #4 Preview

 

COVER A SUNGHAN YUNE VARIANT

The Doctor wants to rescue his companion. So he sneaks aboard a shuttle carrying prisoners to the supermax prison orbiting a black hole. But just as light cannot escape a black hole, once prisoners check in, they never leave Hotel Panoptopolis. Will Belinda share Katarina's fate in The Daleks' Master Plan? Or will she be granted a stay of execution like Perpugilliam "Peri" Brown in The Trial of a Time Lord?

Here's all the info from Titan Comics:

 

DOCTOR WHO: THE PRISON PARADOX #4 (OF 4)

Format: Comic book

W: Dan Watters

A: Sami Kivela

Publisher: Titan Comics

FC, 32pp, $4.99, February 18, 2026

 

The grand finale! The entire journey has led to this point, as the Doctor and Belinda face the sinister Warden. What is his staggering secret and can the time travellers do the impossible and break out of his inescapable prison?

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are more cover options: 

 

COVER B PHOTO VARIANT

 

 

COVER C SAMI KIVELÄ VARIANT

 

Thanks to Titan Comics for sharing this preview with us.

 

For more:

https://titan-comics.com/c/2391-doctor-who-the-fifteenth-doctor-the-prison-paradox/

 

 

 

 

 

Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #3 Review

 

Writer: Dan Watters

Artist: Sami Kivelä

Colorist: Valentina Bianconi

Letterers: Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith

Cover Artists: VV Glass, Photo & Sami Kivelä

Editor: Jonathan H Wilkins

Art Director: Oz Browne

Publisher: Titan Comics

Price: $4.99

Release Date: January 21, 2026

 

After robots abducted Belinda Chandra, the Doctor tried to return her to Earth. When locating his favorite planet proved difficult, he landed the TARDIS on Clithrow. But while the Doctor took a vindicator reading, Shadow Proclamation agents whisked Belinda off to the Panoptopolis, the escape-proof prison orbiting a black hole.

 

Like CIA agent Snow, the Doctor sneaks into the Panoptopolis on a rescue mission. But can he rescue Belinda from a prison holding more species than space penitentiary MS One? And does the Doctor prefer Luc Besson movies to Roald Dahl adaptations? Let’s grab our sonic screwdrivers, leap into Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #3, and see!

 

Story

H-8, the living weapon, fell while helping the Doctor escape the Gravelyte guards. Methelough, the Tentaculon who devoured its siblings at birth, fell before its Zygon pursuers. So, as the Doctor prepares to enter a wing filled with dangerous inmates, only Felik the Slitheen and Annie the Adipose accompany him. And while Felik is the larger of the two, the pirate wonders if uniting under the Doctor’s banner was wise.

 

As in the last issue, Dan Watters narrates events from an omniscient perspective. But instead of relating insights from Methelough’s point of view, he filters the Doctor's journey from Annie's worldview. Like Groot, Annie's ability to communicate with non-Adipose species is limited. But even though she is composed of lipids, Annie demonstrates that she has a heart in Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #3.

 

While addressing what makes the Adipose tick and how other species regard them, the Doctor encounters a danger that wouldn't win entry to the Second Doctor's Monster of the Week ranks. The Doctor also expresses his concern for his squad. Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #3 may not rack up as high a kill count as classic stories like Warriors of the Deep or Attack of the Cybermen. Still, as the Doctor reminds Felik and Annie, not all the inmates snuck aboard to rescue innocent victims. Nor may they prove as amenable to joining their rescue squad.

 

Art

While Sami Kivelä compares a sleeping baby and cuddly bunnies with Annie, Felik’s eyepatch and claws reinforce the image of a predator. Annie may be tiny compared with the Slitheen. But she gazes up at her ally with a scowl when the Adipose hears something she dislikes. The Doctor flashes a radiant smile as he studies his sonic screwdriver. But he glances back to deliver a warning before placing a hand on a glowing scanner.

 

Valentina Bianconi lavishes a loaded palette of bright and attractive colors on Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #3. Clad in his long brown coat, the stylish Fifteenth Doctor ventures into danger, followed by the green Slitheen and white Adipose. Red light fills a room filled with containment cells. A spinning fan evokes the Ninth Doctor's journey through Platform One with Jabe, the sentient tree. Yellow links the floor lighting and the yellow hand scanner with the yellow eyes inside each surveillance camera. But purple signals danger as the Doctor travels toward the Warden's yellow office.

 

Richard Starkings and Tyler Smith fill white dialogue balloons with carefully hand-written uppercase black dialogue. The narrator speaks closely spaced lines of text into light-yellow boxes. The words grow bold for intonation, swell for raised voices, and never shrink. Yet the diminutive character most species disdain captures readers' hearts with her big squeaks. Thanks to Titan Comics for providing a review copy.

 

Final Thoughts

Fighting their way through a maximum-security prison was always going to be dangerous. But while the Doctor fears his allies will succumb to their baser natures, the inmates show a surprising ability to rise above their self-serving ways in Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #3.

 

Rating 9.8/10

 

To look inside see my preview of Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #3.

Doctor Who: The Prison Paradox #3 Preview

 

COVER A: V.V. GLASS

Belinda Chandra has lost much. Her family, friends, and the life she knew. So as the Doctor tries to rescue her from Panoptopolis, she tells the Warden about her missing planet. But the Doctor is discovering that the Shadow Proclamation is imprisoning people for being who they were born to be. 

Is it wrong to follow the way nature programmed us? Does our environment shape us into a mold from which we cannot escape? Can we rise above our instincts, and become the people we yearn to be? And will Belinda's explanation of zebra crossings turn the Warden into a Beatles fan?

Here's all the info from Titan Comics: 

 

DOCTOR WHO: THE PRISON PARADOX #3

Format: Comic book

(W) Dan Watters

(A) Sami Kivelä

Publisher: Titan Comics

FC, 32pp, $4.99, On Sale January 21, 2026

 

Something more terrifying than mere criminals lurks within the space prison of Panotoplis.

 

Can the Doctor and Felik be saved from possession by an evil alien entity and how can a lone Adipose defeat an invisible enemy?

 

 

Now, let's take a look inside:

 

 

 

 

Here are more cover options:

 

COVER B: PHOTO

 

COVER C: SAMI KIVELÄ HOMAGE COVER

Thanks to Titan Comics for sharing this preview with us.

 

Shiver Suspenstories 2 #1 Cover Preview

 

 

The holidays can be tough, especially when you don't feel like you belong. Noah feels isolated and alone at his new school. While his classmates celebrate the Christmas season, he belongs to the Jewish faith. He endures bullying each day because he is an outsider. How can Noah stand up for himself and make friends, or at least put a stop to the bullying? And who else will we meet in the five stories included in this holiday issue?

Here's all the info from Oni Press:

 

SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES 2 #1 (ONE-SHOT)

WRITTEN BY DAVID M. BOOHER, MELISSA FLORES, GEORGE NORTHY & BEN H. WINTERS ART BY SAMI KIVELÄ, DAN McDAID, & MORE COVER A BY DUSTIN WEAVER COVER B BY ADAM HUGHES EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY SHAWN McMANUS B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT BY DUSTIN WEAVER ARCHIVE EDITION (1:50) BY RIAN HUGHES AS IF THE HOLIDAYS WEREN’T HORRORIFIC ENOUGH?! EC Comics and Oni Press are BACK to stab your stocking for the second year running with all-new, all-terrifying tales of holiday horror and Christmastime catastrophe as SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES slays again!  In this year’s giant-sized, 56-page tome of gruesomely gift-wrapped delights: We’re tying perpetual naughty-listers David M. Booher (Canto), Melissa Flores (Biker Mice from Mars), George Northy (Yuletide), and Ben H. Winters (Benjamin) to the dried-out Christmas tree in the family parlor . . . and gathering ‘round as artistic Tormentors-in-training Sami Kivelä (Abbott), Dan McDaid (Shazam!), and more surprise guests throw a few lit matches their way to get this old-fashioned solstice sacrifice started in style!   Yes, we know: It smells like dinner might be getting a little overdone! Never fear, because EC’s newest annual tradition also comes complete with an extra-added EC Comics classic—newly restored back to its authentic original coloring! As you sift through the charred remains, just remember: SHIVER SUSPENSTORIES is here to bring the horror back to the holidays . . . and we wouldn’t want it any other way! ON SALE DECEMBER 10, 2025 | $8.99 | 56 PGS. | FC     Here are other cover options:     COVER B BY ADAM HUGHES       EC HOMAGE VARIANT (1:10) BY SHAWN McMANUS   B&W ARTIST EDITION VARIANT BY DUSTIN WEAVER   ARCHIVE EDITION (1:50) BY RIAN HUGHES

 

Thanks to Oni Press and Superfan Promotions for sharing this cover preview with us.