The Prisoner #1
Story by: Peter Milligan
Art by: Colin Lorimer
Coloring by: Joana Lafluente
Release Date: April 25th
Publisher: Titan Comics
The Prisoner #1 is a mind bending political thriller. In this a spy is looking for the mysterious Village, where only one person has escaped. The promo from Titan Comics for The Prisoner #1 seemed promising. However I was completely unaware of the original television program. I had to look it up and watch clips online. I think it’s worthy enough to revisit. It dealt with themes I think that are still relevant today.
Before I give a critique I’ll have to first preface with the fact that I had to read this story twice. Normally I can breeze through comics and my overconfidence got the better of me with this issue. So I took a more serious look into the book. Upon closer inspection I can say with confidence that Peter Milligan spins an intricate tale in The Prisoner #1. Often these political intrigue stories can be a bit dull, but Milligan kept it entertaining.
When I judge the art in the book I have to be careful. I’m not a trained artist or good, at best I’m an adequate doodler. In The Prisoner #1 the art is adequete. There isn’t anything ground breaking or new and that’s okay. I tend to grade artist by consistency. Colin Lorimer is the artist for this book and I think the work he did for The Hunt is objectively better. In this book, Lorimer’s faces are often obscured with shadows and thick lines. In the book there are over head landscape scenes and there are murky swathes of black mixed in the picture, I’m not sure if it’s for atmosphere.
When you finally get to see the mysterious Village, it’s not in perspective. The golf cart on the lawn gives it away automatically, and the whole scene begins to falls apart. You see all the inconsistencies throughout the picture, I don’t mean to pick on this one particular page in the book, but it’s a big deal in context of the story. Which in turn takes away from a moment that had been set up. Colorist Joana Lafluente does a great psychedelic scene that adds life to the story. But overall the art is dark. Lafluente and Lorimer both worked together on The Hunt and it looks like it was done by another team. The Prisoner #1 looks rushed in comparison.
Overall I like this book and I want to read the next one. I believe the artist took some missteps creatively but it doesn’t take away from a great story.
- Story - 9/109/10
- Art - 6/106/10
Summary
Overall I like this book and I want to read the next one. I believe the artist took some missteps creatively but it doesn’t take away from a great story.