In Review: The Prisoner #1

The Prisoner #1 Cover A: Mike & Laura Allred. The Prisoner ™ and © ITC Entertainment Group Limited. 1967, 2001 and 2018. Licensed by ITV Ventures Limited.  All rights reserved.

The Prisoner #1 Cover A: Mike & Laura Allred

Writer: Peter Milligan
Artist: Colin Lorimer
Publisher: Titan Comics
FC, 32pp, $3.99
Out: Now

The Comic: In the 21st Century, the global currency is no longer oil or gold but information. And he who possesses it possesses the world. There is one place on the planet where the most valuable information is mined, a place that prides itself on ‘mental fracking’, promising to extract any secret from any individual using any means possible.

It is perhaps the intelligence community’s darkest secret, aligned to no one political system or state, an autonomous institute, free of state manipulation. The identity of its controller, the mysterious Number One, is unknown. It is a place so secret, some believe it to be a myth. It is The Village…

Cover A: Mike Allred. Colors By Laura Allred
Cover B: Photo Cover
Cover C: Jack Kirby, Mike Royer. Colors by Mike Allred
Cover D: Colin Lorimer. Colors by Joana Lafluente
Cover E: John McCrea. Colors by Michael Spicer
Cover F: Mike Allred Black and White Variant

The Review: The Prisoner TV series had my mind working overtime when I first saw it, and slowly but surely, Titan Comics new The Prisoner comic has done exactly the same, sending my synapses screaming with the twists and turns Peter Milligan skilfully delivers.

Truth be told, just like the original 17 episode, acclaimed 1960s show, it’s quite clear that the reader becomes a prisoner to this story, with plenty of nods to the original while setting up a contemporary mythos of its own, all of which serves to simply heighten an my appreciation of this fast-moving tale. By the end – of Issue One – no spoilers! – you’re as trapped as the central protagonist, a spy with secrets of his own that have attracted plenty of untoward attention. Milligan make the most of the episodic nature of the comic to leave you wanting more, questions fast forming in a by now frazzled brain as he throws numerous concepts into the mix.

It’s almost as if Milligan was born to write this story, a very different kettle of fish to his more recent Dan Dare tale, proving how well he can adapt his storytelling to the character and setting in hand, be it Sci Fi or Spy-Fi.

Colin Lorimer complements Milligan’s storytelling perfectly, as you’ll see from the pages released for preview purposes below. There’s a confidence to his storytelling and some great action sequences, too, all making for a terrific first issue.

I’m eagerly looking forward to The Prisoner #2. Be seeing you!

The Prisoner #1 is available from all good comic shops and digital comic platforms

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The Prisoner #1 Cover B

The Prisoner #1 Cover B

The Prisoner #1 Cover C: Mike Allred, Jack Kirby

The Prisoner #1 Cover C: Mike Allred, Jack Kirby

The Prisoner #1 Cover D: Colin Lorimer

The Prisoner #1 Cover D: Colin Lorimer

The Prisoner #1 Cover E: John McCrea.

The Prisoner #1 Cover E: John McCrea

The Prisoner #1 Cover F: Mike Allred Black and White Variant

The Prisoner #1 Cover F: Mike Allred Black and White Variant

The Prisoner #1 - Vice Press Cover by Chris Weston

The Prisoner #1 – Vice Press Cover by Chris Weston. (See news story)

Sample Pages from The Prisoner (Not Consecutive)

The Prisoner #1 - Page 1

The Prisoner #1 - Page 2

The Prisoner #1 - Page 3

The Prisoner #1 - Page 4

The Prisoner ™ and © ITC Entertainment Group Limited. 1967, 2001 and 2018. Licensed by ITV Ventures Limited.  All rights reserved.



Categories: British Comics, British Comics - Current British Publishers, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News, Reviews

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