Titan Comics 2018
Written by Peter Milligan
Illustrated by Colin Lorimer
Coloured by Joana LaFluente
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Editor & Original Plot by David Leach
Becoming a target for both British Intelligence and The Village, Breen escaped to his safe house in Tuscany. However, four days later, a knock-out gas was pumped into his bolt hole and Breen awoke to find himself a ‘guest’ of The Village.
It is kind of amazing to me that shows like this were so far ahead of their time that they were so underappreciated when they aired. I count The Wild Wild West with Robert Conrad in with this. They fused some smart storytelling with plot devices that made Star Trek’s technology seem tame and are considered too cerebral for most audiences. Still I think that that itself is it’s greatest appeal the cerebral aspect that makes the reader think, become involved and have to take notice of events that are happening.
Peter is one of those people who can do cerebral in a way that makes the readers mind think that they are as wrapped up and warped as the character in the pages of this story. Breen is being subjected to The Villages treatment and I swear part-way through I was convinced and fooled by what I thought was actually going on. The way this is structured is damn well sensational as right from the get go we’re drawn into this in a way that is touching, unnerving and downright invasive. It is so strong an opening that it will leave wide eyed and speechless.
From there the roller coaster does not stop for anything. It is one thing after another as The Village tries to make Breen crack and reveal the secret they want. So we start seeing what he has to go through on a daily basis as he’s led to the room, barraged with the attempts in all manner of different ways to get him to buckle. This is why spies get mental training or why those with mental fortitude are often the best spies in the business. I am not sure where I fit into all that but knowing myself and my own history yeah I am pretty sure I could last a bit.
Sigh Colin and Joana do some stellar work on the interiors here. The utilisation of page layouts is super and how we see the angles and perspective in the panels shows of that amazing eye for storytelling Colin has. The attention to detail and how the story is translated visually makes the story stronger, more believable and actually incredibly creepy. The manipulation of linework and how the colours are used make this freaky at times and in ways that keep the reader rapt to the page. Backgrounds when utilised are amazingly effective the decision not to use them eh but okay because the detail in what we see is just that good.
The story is so good and so strong and the characterisation that we see well it fits into this like that last puzzle piece that have been looking for ages. Then what Peter does better than anyone is make you question everything you believe about the book. Is this representation of Breen accurate or is all this a product of them messing with his mind trying to make him crack and reveal his secrets thus turning him into some brainwashed member of The Village. Because seriously I think the people that we’ve met are like Stepford Wives and eerily creepy and delicious.
Titan Comics has some of the most amazing stories hitting stands today and it’s books like this that really keeps them in the mix of top companies whose books you NEED to be reading.