In 1967, The Prisoner surprised the hell out of pretty much everybody. Secret agents loomed large in pop culture at the time, and everyone was excited to see what Patrick McGoohan, star of Danger Man, had. But they weren’t expecting the uncomfortable, surreal and often frightening TV show about dehumanization as McGoohan’s Number Six woke up trapped in a mysterious Village, not able to trust anybody, including himself. Which sets Peter Milligan and Colin Lorimer a hell of a task to update it in Titan’s new miniseries, something they pull off with aplomb.
Set in the modern era, our new Prisoner is Breen, a MI5 agent who’s lost his stomach for the job, especially after a fellow agent disappears. She’s supposedly been abducted by The Village, which has been little more than a myth in intelligence circles all these years later. Breen, not entirely buying it, seeks out the Village and, well, you know what they say about being careful what you wish for. Milligan is an old hand at both spy fiction and mind-screw stories, and part of the reason this book works is that he knows the series well but doesn’t try to cram it in. This would be a good story with not a hint of McGoohan’s series, but his playful use of its ideas gives the book a layer of surreality.
Similarly, Lorimer doesn’t feel bound by the art design of a fifty-year-old TV show; his sharp lines and murky shadows fit the story well while giving it a very different air. And when Breen finally gets where he’s going, it gives the whole thing a welcome air of menace. Too often with licensed books you know exactly where they’re going. The Prisoner, we don’t, and it promises to be a heck of a journey.
Kill Or Be Killed #18, Image Comics
Ed Brubaker, Sean Phillips, and Elizabeth Breitweiser explain one of the biggest questions in the saga of Dylan, the homicidal vigilante: Just who the hell is the copycat killer making Dylan’s confession seem like a delusion? True to this book’s taste for swerving, he’s a nobody, the typical “bad guy” you find in stories like this, a right-wing racist jerk with a shotgun and a grudge. What’s clever is that in any other story, that’d be the end of it, Dylan would be off the hook. But that’s not how this book works, and even a twist in the opposite direction, a detective who thinks the case is a bit too neat and tidy, doesn’t go quite how you’d expect. It’s a thrilling issue, but it doesn’t give up the deconstruction of white urban vigilante stories that drive the book.
Batgirl #22, DC Comics
Hope Larson and Minkyu Jung deliver what seems, at first, to be a fairly typical start to a new arc in a superhero book. Old friends are back in town, and they bring new problems with them, even as Babs thinks she’s stuck running in place. Except Larson and Jung put the entire thing back on its heels in the last few pages, in what’s a subtle call-out of arcs that launch a new plot instead of a new direction. Batgirl has been a solid book for a long time, but this new arc is a welcome step up for Babs, and the ensuing arc promises to be something to watch.
The Hunt For Wolverine #1, Marvel
What, you thought Marvel was going to let Wolverine just die? Charles Soule, David Marquez, and Paulo Siquiera have two stories about the search for Logan, who we last saw supposedly encased in molten adamantium after his healing factor failed. But, of course, his corpse is gone. We all know what happened, and the team thankfully doesn’t waste time pretending that there’s any mystery to how Logan is up and around, but instead set up a far more interesting mystery: Who’s behind Logan’s missing corpse? And why?
Aliens: Dust To Dust #1, Dark Horse
Gabriel Hardman, with help from Rain Beredo and Michael Heisler, offers up what seems to be a typical story in this franchise: An isolated planet, a bunch of colonists, and a whole lot of killer bugs. But Hardman realizes that what matters here is perspective; instead of some hard-ass marines or merchant sailors, we’ve got a single mom and her son who wake up in the middle of a nightmare with no idea what’s going on or why. Hardman cleverly uses our knowledge of the franchise to foreshadow the plot, and keeps the story moving relentlessly, making for a fun read and proof that there’s always a fresh take when the bones of an idea are good enough.
Abbot #4, BOOM! Studios: Saladin Ahmed and Sami Kivela speed up their ’70s-set horror noir, as Abbott gets a grip on her power and Kivela, in particular, shows off some killer layouts.
Lockjaw #3, Marvel: Daniel Kibblesmith and Carlos Villa bring in some surprising characters this issue, and we’re not talking about Spider-Ham, either, as this hilarious miniseries winds down.
Harrow County #30, Dark Horse: Cullen Bunn and Tyler Crook’s final arc on their brilliant mix of Faulkner and Lovecraft hits the gas as Emmy faces her greatest foe.
Dungeons & Dragons: Evil At Baldur’s Gate #1, IDW Publishing: Jim Zub, Dean Kotz, and Max Dunbar tackle the somewhat intimidating task of working with the beloved video game and pull it off with a breezy, fun fantasy story.
The Terrifics #3, DC Comics: Joe Bennett and Jeff Lemire continue their affectionate parody of Silver Age Marvel, right down to the absurd antagonist and the soapy melodrama.
This Week’s Best Collections
Goldie Vance Vol. 4, BOOM! Studios ($15, Softcover): Jackie Ball and Elle Power offer another mystery tale in the adventures of Goldie, the heir to Nancy Drew’s all-ages investigations into the unusual, in a great book for the whole family.
The Pervert, Image Comics ($18, Softcover): Michelle Perez and Remy Boydell offer a deeply personal look at a trans woman in Seattle, the sex work she engages in to keep a roof over her head, and what a job, any job, can take out of you if you let it.
Absolute Preacher Vol. 3, DC Comics ($150, Hardcover): The finale of Garth Ennis and Steve Dillon’s grotesque, hilarious take of morality, religion, and cowboys gets a luxurious hardcover.