The Prisoner: The Uncertainty Machine

The Prisoner #1-4

by Peter Milligan, Colin Lorimer (Illustrator)

Based on the TV show created by Patrick McGoohan, this all-new adventure written by Peter Milligan sees Breen, codenamed No. 6, trapped in a seemingly bizarre parallel world, unlike anything he has ever experienced before. There he must race to rescue his fellow spy before he loses his very grip on reality. But to save the day, Breen must also confront the arch controller of The Village, a person known only as Number One...

The Prisoner: The Uncertainty Machine sees a return to the world of The Village - the seminal 1967 TV spy show, written, created and starring the star of the show PATRICK MCGOOHAN. The show followed the exploits of McGoohan's ex spy character, who after resigning is abducted by The Village and interrogated to discover the real reason behind his resignation. Each week The Village would try to trick the information out of him. Set in Portmerion, The mock Italian costal village location became as much a star of the show as McGoohan and helped to cement the show's reputation as one of the classic cult TV shows of all times.

The Uncertainty Machine sees a modern day spy called Breen tasked with breaking into The Village in order to extricate a fellow spy who has been 'lifted' by The Village. The information she possesses is too valuable to fall into the hands of whoever it is that controls The Village. In order to rescue her, Breen must engineer his own defection and go rogue thereby becoming a person of interest to powers at work behind The Village. However nothing can prepare Breen for the bizarreness that awaits him inside the Village.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Thriller, Fiction, Science Fiction, Espionage

112 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2018

About the author

Librarian note:
There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name

Peter Milligan is a British writer, best known for his work on X-Force / X-Statix, the X-Men, & the Vertigo series Human Target. He is also a scriptwriter.

He has been writing comics for some time and he has somewhat of a reputation for writing material that is highly outlandish, bizarre and/or absurd.

His highest profile projects to date include a run on X-Men, and his X-Force revamp that relaunched as X-Statix.

Many of Milligan's best works have been from DC Vertigo. These include: The Extremist (4 issues with artist Ted McKeever) The Minx (8 issues with artist Sean Phillips) Face (Prestige one-shot with artist Duncan Fegredo) The Eaters (Prestige one-shot with artist Dean Ormston) Vertigo Pop London (4 issues with artist Philip Bond) Enigma (8 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo) and Girl (3 issues with artist Duncan Fegredo).

Series:
* Human Target
* Greek Street
* X-Force / X-Statix

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

A reasonably good attempt at a sequel to the classic TV series The Prisoner. Plenty of new characters and some nice nods to the 1960's series.

[Alex Sarll]

The last attempt at a Prisoner comic was Dean Motter's Shattered Visage, whose arresting imagery of a dishevelled Number Six and a decaying Village couldn't make up for a plot which gave too many answers and failed to capture the show's enigmatic spirit. Now, as part of their license shopping spree, Titan give us another go, this time written by Peter Milligan. Once, I'd have said his fascination with questions of identity made him ideal for the job; lately, though, his work has been far less consistent than it used to be – and here, it turns out he's working from a plot supplied by an editor. Which is not above some fairly old-hat generic espionage bollocks in places, though if we're honest, nor was the original series. The new sequel starts badly, with even the scene-setting text making a few too many definitive statements about the Village, among which is a description of their methods as 'mental fracking' – a term that's wince-inducing for all the wrong reasons. The plot at first seems perfunctory, but fair enough, with a British agent, Breen, feigning disavowal to get into the Village and rescue (or maybe off) his partner and lover, who's apparently already been taken there. But there are awkward mis-steps along the way, like the Evening Standard board with a colour photo of him and the headline 'TRAITOR: HIGH-RANKING SPY BETRAYS COUNTRY". Is that a plausible headline when he's only just gone on the run? And did the Standard ever run colour photos on sandwich boards for news stories, as against promotions? Still, for the most part Lorimer and Lafuente's visuals work, even if they perhaps capture the spy-world shabbiness better than the Portmeirion prettiness. The likenesses are variable; the McGoohan cameo comes off, and I love that Breen's boss is so blatantly Jacob Rees-Mogg, but I'm not entirely sure who Number 2 is supposed to be played by – possibly Peter Cook? Which would have been a fabulous thing to behold. Once we're in the Village, the show's more intense moments are evoked better than the uneasy longueurs between them, and I can't help feeling that a fifth issue might have provided welcome room for everything to breathe. Still, equally it could have provided further temptation to give answers, a trap into which this comic keeps following Shattered Visage. Is it really so hard to grasp that, no matter what explanation you give for where Rover comes from, it will never be as powerful as the sheer inexplicable, ineluctable presence of Rover on screen? Set against which, somehow the reveal of Number 1 is ingenious enough that, for me, it actually worked. I suspect every attempt to recapture the magic of The Prisoner is as doomed as 6's plans to escape, but there was just enough that worked here to stop me feeling angry about the hubris of it. A failure, but a bold one.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel as though the challenge of making any kind of follow-on to 'The Prisoner' is that the author will either have to embrace the anarchic inexplicability of the source and go off on their own tangent to it, or they'll have to try to fill in a plot around a property that was never entirely meant to make literal sense. 'The Uncertainty Machine' tries for the latter, and while I'm not entirely convinced it works, it was interesting enough and served as an enjoyable riff on the series.

One thing I thought was done particularly well was the way the four issues mimicked the show's way of introducing Number 6 into wildly different circumstances week to week. At one point Breen is undergoing a rather standard interrogation by torture; the next minute he's on a couch in Vienna being analyzed by Sigmund Freud. It echoed the original program but still made sense in the context of the book.

Your mileage may vary depending on whether you prefer a coherent narrative plot or the shambolic weirdness of the show, but for myself I enjoyed it and will be looking forward to the next volume.

[Rex Hurst · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is what you might call a soft reboot of the The Prisoner series. It is ostensibly in the same universe as the TV series, but doesn’t mention the original series at all, except for some vague references. “Only one man managed to escape The Village, and he went mad.” Luckily, it is only a four-issue limited series, because (as with all other media connected to the 1960s series) it will be of interest only to those who liked the original.

Despite that, there were some things which the series did right. The redefinition of the Village and its aims, at least those aims on the surface, is very timely and feels correct. Certainly most of their activities revolved around extracting information. And they reveal the identity of Number One, the mysterious leader of the Village organization. In this version, it is something very different from what we see in the final episode, Fall Out, of the 60s series, but perhaps that is what the book meant by the original protagonist going mad. What they came up with was a little clichéd, but still interesting in its presentation.

Essentially the plot is The Spy Who Came in from the Cold meets the Village. A spy attempts to be snatched up by the Village and succeeds. He wakes up in the odd surroundings of the Village, as the new Number 6. The rest is your standard Prisoner fare of oddity, double takes, take backs, back-stabs and retreads where everything in the protagonist’s life is tossed into question. Where it is different is that this Number 6 is not made of as stern stuff as is the original, which leads to an incredibly satisfying ending.

[Frédéric · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a huge fan of the original TV show, so original, brilliant and so peculiar.
I'm naturally inclined to suspiciously look at any attempt to use this amazing material: the so-so Thomas Disch novel and the incomprehensible and ugly Dean Motter comic book left me kind of wary.

So I was agreeably surprised to see Peter Milligan doing something quite in tune with McGohan's spy-ish universe.

In 4-maybe one too short-issues Milligan deftly uses the gimmicks of the series in a modern environment with a classical but clever plot. Confusing but not confused it is typically whacky Milligan stuff, perfectly in adequation with the Village and its decadent and vaguely sinister atmosphere.

One minor drawback would be Number 6's weird recovery in the old geezers' ward. To be honest I understood what had happened thanks to the following issue's summary. It's not totally out-of-place in the context though.

A very decent book in pure fan-service fashion.

[James Parsons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great four part mini series inspired by the cult sixties television series. Has some great artwork and really captures the feel of the show with the paranoia and quirks. Does a few things they could not do all those decades ago. Shame it is only a short series.

[Samsalaqueen]

Quite predictable storyline but I still enjoyed it. Aesthetics are just really cool and close to the original.
I don't know if I am remembering it incorrectly but weren't the bubbles pink?

[Matthew Kresal · Rating 4 out of 5]

Airing for seventeen weeks on British television in late 1967 and early 1968, Patrick McGoohan’s The Prisoner has had a remarkable impact and afterlife as a cult TV series. Something owed in no small part to its story of a resigned intelligence operative held against his will in the seemingly inescapable Village, told with a mix of sixties spy-fi tropes, surrealist imagery, and ahead of its time social commentary. It’s something that, as AMC and ITV learned with their 2009 limited series, also has made rebooting it a difficult proposition. Titan Comics become the latest to try in 2018 with their limited series The Uncertainty Machine and made what must be said to be a dang good crack at bringing the Village into the present day.

Something which writer Peter Milligan (drawing, if you’ll pardon the expression, on a plot from series editor David Leach) does by having his cake and eating it too. Namely, that The Uncertainty Machine is both a sequel to the original TV series and a soft reboot of it at the same time. Instead of following McGoohan’s unnamed operative, the Titan comic follows MI5 operative Breen who, after a botched operation in the Middle East that led to the capture of fellow operative and lover, resigns and ends up in the Village with all of the iconography fans of the original McGoohan series will instantly recognize. As they will, too, the cat and mouse games of mind manipulation, escape attempts, and the inevitable question of who exactly is running the village. Milligan offers up a Prisoner twist on the early 21st century status of the spy genre alongside some knowing nods to and a cameo or two from the original series. It’s what the 2009 series (which this reviewer is one of the few fans of) should have done more effectively: take the premise and iconography and bring it into the here and now.

A task in which the writing is helped by that all important aspect of the graphic medium: the artwork. Colin Lorimer artwork (with Joana Lafuente’s coloring and Simon Bowland as letterer) has a lot of heavy lifting to do in trying to take the iconic and surreal aspects of the 1960s series and modernize it. It’s a task that it’s more than capable of pulling off, with the first issue largely set in a recognizable modern world before shifting gears visually into the more familiar territory of the series. It’s a mix of elements that makes clear Lorimer’s being a fan of the original series with the attention to detail of a number of instantly recognizable locations and semi-recreated moments along the way. Like Milligan’s writing, it adds to the sense that The Uncertainty Machine is both a sequel and soft reboot of the iconic series.

And one that works far better than it honestly has any right to do, all things considered.

[Michael Emond · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ah, The Prisoner. Impossible to explain why fans love it so much to people who have never watched the show. At its core it was about a clever spy being thrown into the greatest interrogation experiment ever. But what made it so memorable is because it was a mystery that was never completed - we humans need closure and this is a show that was never meant to be taken literally so there could be no true closure. You can interpret it any way you want - but I see it as a metaphor of how society tries to make us conform and how a person strives to be an individual in a communal society.

So there was a comic series in the 90's that I have in my collection - but never really liked.

And now there is this series. The art is amazing. Let's get that out of the way - the look of the book is excellent. When things are getting trippy in the story I appreciated the art anchored the book.
The story...I want to say first it might be a story you need to read a couple of times and sit down and think about. I feel I am doing a disservice to it by reading it in one hour (it is a quick read) and trying to write a review based on my impressions. But based on my impressions I enjoyed the book but think it failed to add anything to the original series. The twists at the end didn't hit me like they were supposed to because the build up didn't create the tension it should have. In the TV series (even as short as it was) you felt trapped with Patrick McGoohan, you felt like screaming "who is number 1" right along with him. It had the viewers begging for the mystery to be solved. In this short series I never got the same connection with the main character, I never got the same sense of desperation, the same disorientation. Even when weird things were being revealed - a new number 2, and the great reveal "who is number 1" it was more a mild "oh, that's an interesting idea" rather than a release of "OH MY GOSH!!!"

I think the truth is - The Prisoner was a perfect TV series (despite its imperfect last episodes) that can never be done again. Milligan tries, and successfully fails. He succeeds at a fun new take on The Prisoner but fails at recapturing the magic and reasons why I love the original series so much.

[Darcy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had the privilege of meeting Colin Lorimer at a convention and saw his work on the Prisoner Graphic novel. I happily purchased it and greatly enjoyed the story. While not a direct reference to Patrick McGoohan's character, the series captures all of the weirdness that was a hallmark of the original television show. In this outing, an agent is placed into the surreal world of the village, where he also tries to escape and confront the mysterious #1. I should mention, I did not see the ending coming.

This is a delightful romp that truly captures everything that made the TV series unique. I would love to see more, but for now you will not go wrong in picking this book up.

[Tara · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Uncertainty Machine doesn't come remotely close to the original The Prisoner show - how could it? - but it's kinda interesting in its own ways.

[Joel Kirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm a fan of the 1960s series The Prisoner, but it's overrated. Certain aspects seem profound when they are likely not (e.g., those last two episodes being cryptic or weird just because).

The comic collection does some of that cryptic bit. However, giving the writers the benefit of the doubt, I thought there might be some expansion in future issues, but this four-issue series is for now.

Hence, the book takes some bad from the 1960s series but still manages to retain the 'good' by maintaining the vibe of said series.

Outsiders know the Village at this point. At least spy agencies do, but it still needs to be clear who is behind it all. And one can escape and return, as seen in the comic.

But there needs to be clarity on who runs The Village or who is behind it all. Our 'hero' becomes the new Number Two to exact revenge on someone that double-crossed him, but does he become just as shady as those running said Village?

We never know.

I can see The Village being a character like Silent Hill, the town, from the video games series. However, after the first three (and best games), the player or audience would understand what makes Silent Hill tick.

Granted, The Village is not an entity of its own but ran by various people, but this book could have given more insight into who they are while maintaining the mystery.

Again, once our 'hero' becomes 'one of them,' I wonder where he stands. Can he leave The Village willingly because he outwitted those from The Village? Or does he like the power?

(We've seen Patrick McGoohan's Number Six able to become # in the series, but he still escaped).

So many questions, and I would have more if I continue to think about what I read. These lingering questions are why the book was exciting but could have been better.

As of this review, this collection is 'Volume 1,' so the writers may (or may not) expand on this updating of The Prisoner universe.

[D.M. · Rating 3 out of 5]

Back we go again to The Village, the creation of Patrick McGoohan et al.'s seminal cult television show 'The Prisoner.' Peter Milligan has set himself no small task here: rather than revisit the existing storyline(s) or characters as was done in Dean Motter's 1988 comic mini-series 'Shattered Visage,' he is using The Village and its machinations as a jumping-off point for a new narrative. Unfortunately, this 'first book' only runs a little over 100 pages, which is not nearly enough space to introduce new characters, establish relationships and characterisation, get us into The Village and THEN deliver a substantial narrative. Milligan does a workman-like job of it, though, and it's an entertaining -- if not particularly engaging -- story of spies and their double- (maybe triple- and quadruple-) crossings. Milligan's stabs at expanding the actual mythology of The Village feel regrettably half-hearted.
The art here from Colin Lorimer is likewise not much more than adequate, leaning heavily on haircuts and clothing to tell characters apart in the absence of distinctively drawing individual faces. Fortunately, there are only about five consistently recurring characters in this short story, so it's never too noticeable that they're not very different.
I had forgotten this series was happening, and it was with some excitement I stumbled upon this (signed Forbidden Planet edition) collection recently. Though it was a quick read and not a purchase I regret, I do not feel compelled to pursue the series any further than this (if it is continuing).
This edition adds a couple pages of character sketches, some alternate covers and brief biographies of Milligan and Lorimer.

[Adam Graham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collect's Titan's four-issue Prisoner mini-series. Set in modern times, an MI-5 agent resigns in disgust when his partner (and romantic interest) is left behind on a mission in the Middle East and he finds himself captured and taken to the village.

There's some good things to say about the book and most of it has to do with the art. The art is pretty good throughout, with some really nice high points. The big two-page spread when he wakes up in the village is spectacular. The writing isn't bad. Each individual chapter throws our hero and the readers for a new loop, so there's some real cleverness behind these stories.

What doesn't work is more the big picture stuff. I think what writer Peter Milligan really fails to capture with the Village is the dissonance of it. In the TV show, it was a place that appeared to be the most pleasant place you can imagine, but it was contrasted by making a sinister secret. I n addition, the nice feel of the Village is designed to make it easy and comfortable to turn traitor. In this book, the Village never tries to make itself seem pleasant or alluring. Instead, it's full of people who do nasty things while wearing 50-year-old clothes for no good reason.

In addition, the book's explanation of who is Number 1 is not only nihilistic, it's also a bit daft. Overall, if you're looking for a psychological spy thriller comic, this is not a bad one to read. However, as a comic book take on the Prisoner, it leaves a lot to be desired.

[Stephen Abell · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has a similar premise to The Prisoner: Shattered Visage, where one agent has to infiltrate The Village to help retrieve a fellow agent.

This, however, is a better story than its predecessor as the backstory is much stronger and the MI5 agent's abduction is well thought out and goes to prove you can run but you cannot hide. The trouble is the "Tie-in"'s. For example, when the MI5 agent is gassed and abducted he has visions of the old No2 and No6 and the chess board. This is a bit jarring and pulled me out of the story (a bad thing) as I wondered how he knew these people and imagery(?)

Anything that detracts from the story and its telling weaken the whole. Then the ending is too abstract to work. I can understand what Peter Milligan was trying to do - as I had a similar thought as I watched the last episode of the television series, but not too this extreme, which is too far.

As for the artwork, Colin Lorimer and Joan LaFluente do a good job of bringing the story to life. Though the story isn't action-packed the artists are great at making the panels interesting and keeping the reader turning the pages.

As with the previous Prisoner Grapic Novel I wouldn't recommend rushing out for this. But if you love the series and find a copy going cheap or free somewhere then pick it up and have a read. Otherwise, just watch the series, it's far superior to any of the graphic novels that have followed it.

[Philip · Rating 2 out of 5]

A very disappointing attempt at recreating the magic of 'The Prisoner' TV show for a new medium. This comic book was drab and dreary, trying to take a secret agents plot line (one which might be quite good if presented as a story in it's own right) and force it into becoming a Prisoner rip-off.

There's no sign of Patrick McGoohan, even though is face is plastered over the front covers. It's a brave idea to abandon the original Number Six in favour of a new hero, but the original show was so inherently bound up with the personality of McGoohan and 'Number Six' that his absence leaves a gaping hole. The images of Portmerion, of the villagers in stupid clothes, the green dome, these are all present but all lacking. They feel more like obligations than truly part of the narrative.

Are we coming to the realisation that 'The Prisoner' can't be recreated? Both this comic and the 80's 'Shattered Visage' failed. The remake failed. I don't know anything about the books but I'm sure I would have done were they successful. Only Big Finish's Prisoner radio series has been accepted. Maybe the original 'The Prisoner' was one-of-a-kind, and any and all attempts to recreate it are destined to be obligated to the 'Adaptations' segment on 'The Prisoner's Wikipedia page.

[Norman Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

This modern update on the 1960s cult favorite mostly captures the weirdness of the TV series, but doesn't quite hit it out of the park. Most of the weird situations the protagonist finds himself in are negated by them being simple hallucinations brought about by some sort of neural machine. In the TV series, the weird situations were almost always elaborate, but very real, con games perpetrated by the mysterious members of The Village. Also, too much time is given to the balloon rovers, a nifty visual from the first couple of episodes of the TV series, but quickly dropped presumably because they were too inexplicable, even for such a strange show. The "twist" ending was unexpected, although there was no real setup for it, either. I think this collection would have benefitted from at least one more issue to let the story breathe a little. The artwork is clean, with interesting layouts.

[Gphatty · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm not a Prisoner super-fan, but I do love the world of the Prisoner, and a great deal of its spy-based moral ambiguity, as well as its often purposeful break from reality. This graphic novel lived up to that promise, with lots of intrigue, double-crossing, unreliable art and narration, and -- unlike many Prisoner things -- a strong, mostly unambiguous ending. Highly recommended, but mostly for fans of the original TV show and the 90's comic.

[Matt · Rating 3 out of 5]

Collects The Prisoner issues #1-4

I recently watched the TV series that inspired this comic book, so I was disappointed that this story doesn't star the original characters. There is pretty good story here, and some of the mysteries of the show resurface, but I felt a little let down by this. Good, but not great.

[Rob McMonigal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Really disappointing. There's no good reason to care about the main character, whose relationships all feel forced. There's no life in the oddball parts of the Village, either. Just a lot of hitting highlights and "revealing" things that probably never needed an answer. I had high hopes for this one, but no dice.

[RND · Rating 2 out of 5]

Tongue-in-cheek, self-referential, occasionally meta... yup, this is Milligan, alright. Twisty-turny but without much foundation to work with you can only sit back and try to enjoy what other cockamamie schemes/imagery they're going to come up with next.

[Alistair · Rating 2 out of 5]

2+
if 2 is okay and 3 is good
it was always on an almost impossible mission?
it tried but my history and experience of the village gave it a hopeless job.
a brave attempt but it's never going to cut the mustard.

[Jhemlee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a fan of the old British tv series. This has echoes of that series but with a modern twist and way more action. Parts of the book felt too contrived however and the last few pages seemed rushed. Still, this is a good addition to the canon.

[Dennis Lynch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting sequel to TV series

[Min · Rating 2 out of 5]

This starts the series anew, for the 21st century, with a new Prisoner.
In its own way, it offers answers when the series avoided that, however, I wasn't particularly enthralled by it.

[Number Two · Rating 1 out of 5]

It's even worse than "The Shattered Visage". We have all the answers (for example whose side is The Village on) from the start, and uncertainty was always the best part of the show.

[Grzegorz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chyba obecnie jednak Big Finish ma ciekawszy pomysł na wymyślanie tego serialu na nowo. Ostatecznie wygląda to tak jakby wszystko miało byc dłuższe ale w ostatniej chwili skracano cały scenariusz

[Marcus · Rating 3 out of 5]

A step above the 1990 comic. Better art, better storyline etc. The Uncertainty Machine is Number One and Shattered Visage is Number Two.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fantastic return to the Prisoner universe. Patrick McGoohan would be pleased, I think.

[Katharama · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars