The Tally Ho talks The Prisoner ‘Shattered Visage’ with Dean Motter

Welcome to The Tally Ho, a podcast about the classic TV series The Prisoner.

Following on from our recent episode about the re-release of The Prisoner: Shattered Visage, we had the great pleasure of interviewing the writer and artist behind the book, legendary comics creator Dean Motter.

Dean Motter has worked as an illustrator, designer, editor, art director and writer for over 40 years. His hugely influential original comics series Mister X began in 1983 and combined hard-boiled noir storytelling with the aesthetics of early 20th century futurism, by way of Fritz Lang’s Metropolis and the Bauhaus movement.

Dean continued to develop this retro-future-noir style in the highly acclaimed Terminal City and Electropolis, before returning to Mister X with a brand new series from Dark Horse.

Shattered Visage was originally published by DC as a 4 issue miniseries in 1988-1989 (twenty years after the original TV show airing, and set contemporaneously), the series was written by Dean Motter and Mark Askwith, and drawn by Dean Motter, with colour art by David Hornung and Richmond Lewis.

Dean talked to us about how he put together the project and the influences on Shattered Visage as well as his other major works. A huge thanks to Dean for joining us to discuss Shattered Visage, The Prisoner and his career.


Direct download: The Tally Ho: The Prisoner – Shattered Visage w/ Dean Motter

Shattered Visage is available from all good comic book shops and through numerous online comics retailers, including Titan Comics.

Titan Comics have also recently released an all-new miniseries based on The Prisoner, and released a deluxe collection of Jack Kirby’s and Gil Kane’s earlier adaptation of the concept in  The Prisoner: Original Art Edition. Check out our podcast coverage of these at the links below:

The Tally Ho talks Titan’s ‘The Prisoner’ comic with David Leach and Peter Milligan, plus Q&A with Colin Lorimer

The Tally Ho talks Titan’s ‘The Prisoner: Original Art Edition’ with David Leach

The Prisoner ‘Shattered Visage’ with David Leach

To follow our podcast, there are several places to find The Tally Ho. Episodes will be available through our main stream – called Time for Cakes and Ale – from all the usual places including iTunes, Pippa, Stitcher, TuneIn, Android, or directly via our RSS feed . Updates will be posted on our Twitter and Facebook pages. Of course, our episodes will also be available for direct download on this website.

You can find all of our 2018/2019 Tally Ho episodes, beginning with Arrival, right here! The page is updated with each new edition of the podcast. Our 2017 Tally Ho episodes on the 50th Anniversary of the UK airing can be found here!

If you enjoy our podcast, please subscribe, leave us a rating and review, and let us know what you think by getting in touch on Twitter, Facebook and here on the website. We’d love to hear from you!

Be seeing you!

The Tally Ho episodes will run concurrently with our regular Time for Cakes and Ale ones and are available via our main podcast feed.

The Tally Ho talks The Prisoner ‘Shattered Visage’ with David Leach

Welcome to The Tally Ho, a podcast about the classic TV series The Prisoner.

In this episode we look at the re-release of the collected edition of Dean Motter’s and Mark Askwith’s The Prisoner: Shattered Visage, a comic book sequel to the TV show, from Titan Comics. We chat to Titan’s senior editor David Leach about this new edition and it’s extras, with some interesting insights into how the project came together.

Originally published by DC as a 4 issue miniseries in 1988-1989 (twenty years after the original TV show airing, and set contemporaneously), the series was written by Dean Motter and Mark Askwith, and drawn by Dean Motter. This new collection features the original comic, an enlightening new foreward by Abigail McKern (daughter of the late Leo McKern, whose Number 2 returns in the comic), an afterward by Dean Motter (Terminal City, Mister X), a covers gallery, a selection of original artwork and character designs, and the original cover art of the 1990 graphic novel.

Shattered Visage has been beautifuly presented here (it is worth it to see Motter’s artwork so richly printed) and the comic is an intriguing entry into the world of The Prisoner. For all the remakes and reimaginings that have come since, Shattered Visage is the only one to directly pick up the continuity of the orginal show and ask what happened to Number 6 (Patrick McGoohan) after the events of the Fall Out. A brave curiosity perhaps, but also one filled with easter eggs and a genuine admiration for the original material, capturing the surrealist paranoia of the original show.

And stay tuned for the news round-up from the world of The Prisoner from Rick Davy of The Unmutual.


Direct download: The Tally Ho: The Prisoner – Shattered Visage w/David Leach

Shattered Visage is available from all good comic book shops and through numerous online comics retailers, including Titan Comics. A huge thanks to David for joining us to discuss this new book!

Titan Comics have also recently released an all-new miniseries based on The Prisoner, and released a deluxe collection of Jack Kirby’s and Gil Kane’s earlier adaptation of the concept in  The Prisoner: Original Art Edition. Check out our 2018 podcast coverage of these HERE and HERE.

To follow our podcast, there are several places to find The Tally Ho. Episodes will be available through our main stream – called Time for Cakes and Ale – from all the usual places including iTunes, Pippa, Stitcher, TuneIn, Android, or directly via our RSS feed . Updates will be posted on our Twitter and Facebook pages. Of course, our episodes will also be available for direct download on this website.

You can find all of our 2018/2019 Tally Ho episodes, beginning with Arrival, right here! The page is updated with each new edition of the podcast. Our 2017 Tally Ho episodes on the 50th Anniversary of the UK airing can be found here!

If you enjoy our podcast, please subscribe, leave us a rating and review, and let us know what you think by getting in touch on Twitter, Facebook and here on the website. We’d love to hear from you!

Be seeing you!

The Tally Ho episodes will run concurrently with our regular Time for Cakes and Ale ones and are available via our main podcast feed.

The Tally Ho talks Titan’s ‘The Prisoner: Original Art Edition’ with David Leach

Welcome to The Tally Ho, a podcast about the classic TV series The Prisoner.

In this special episode we look at the new deluxe hardcover The Prisoner: Original Art Edition based on The Prisoner from Titan Comics. We chat to editor David Leach about how this project came together and what fans can expect from this long-awaited release. He also gives us a sneak peek of Titan’s future plans for The Prisoner.

This new collection features two alternate versions of ‘Arrival’, the first episode of The Prisoner, both previously unreleased, and now presented in full-scale facsimile format. The first adaptation is written and drawn by the legendary Jack Kirby, the second is written by Steve Englehart and drawn by Gil Kane.

Although the main draw is the beautiful presentation of these works, the extra features are a genuine delight that elevate this book to essential status for comic book and/or The Prisoner fans:

  1. A Foreword by Mike Royer, inker/letterer in the Kirby version
  2. A double-page Kirby spread, newly coloured by Mike Allred
  3. Writing The Prisoner, an all-new essay by writer Steve Englehart
  4. A newly lettered version (by Rick Parker) of the Englehart/Kane edition, with the accompanying script transcriptions
  5. A reproduction of the original 1967 The Prisoner ITC Press Book
  6. The Making of a Television Legend: The Story of The Prisoner by Rick Davy from The Unmutual Website
  7. Biographies of Jack Kirby and Gil Kane


Direct download: The Tally Ho talks Titan’s ‘The Prisoner: Original Art Edition’ with David Leach

The Prisoner: Original Art Edition is available from all good comic book shops and through numerous online comics retailers, including Titan Comics. A huge thanks to David for joining us to discuss this new book! Titan Comics have also recently started an all-new miniseries based on The Prisoner. Check out our podcast HERE from earlier in the year when we interviewed writer Peter Milligan and editor David Leach, and our blog Q&A with artist Colin Lorimer.

You can also find out more about Jack Kirby’s life and career at the Kirby Museum.

To follow our podcast, there are several places to find The Tally Ho. Episodes will be available through our main stream – called Time for Cakes and Ale – from all the usual places including iTunes, Pippa, Stitcher, TuneIn, Android, or directly via our RSS feed . Updates will be posted on our Twitter and Facebook pages. Of course, our episodes will also be available for direct download on this website.

You can find all of our 2018 Tally Ho episodes, beginning with Arrival, right here! The page is updated with each new edition of the podcast.

If you enjoy our podcast, please subscribe, leave us a review, and let us know what you think by getting in touch on Twitter, Facebook and here on the website. We’d love to hear from you!

Be seeing you!

The Tally Ho episodes will run concurrently with our regular Time for Cakes and Ale ones and are available via our main podcast feed. Find out more here.

The Tally Ho talks Titan’s ‘The Prisoner’ comic with David Leach and Peter Milligan, plus Q&A with Colin Lorimer

Welcome to The Tally Ho, a podcast about the classic TV series The Prisoner.

In this special episode we look at the new comic book series based on The Prisoner from Titan Comics. We chat to editor David Leach and writer Peter Milligan about the genesis of the project and their interest in the show, and they give us a hint at what to expect! We also had the chance to ask artist Colin Lorimer a few questions. Check out our Q& A below.


Direct download: The Tally Ho talks The Prisoner comic with David Leach and Peter Milligan

A Q&A with artist Colin Lorimer:

Have you always been a fan of The Prisoner?
I would have discovered it in the late 70’s, early 80’s and at being such a young age I obviously hadn’t a clue what was going on. However it’s visuals and sheer weirdness did leave a lasting impression on me. On revisiting it again years later I became a huge fan of the show and remain so this day.

The Prisoner had a very distinctive visual style. How did you go about translating such an iconic aesthetic into the comics?
I purposely went for quite a traditional, old-school style with the art so that it had an almost ‘aged’ quality to it. When I was checking out Joana’s first colour pass my son looking over my shoulder remarked that it had an old seventies 2000AD vibe to it. I can live with that.

Are there any particular features of The Prisoner that you have enjoyed drawing?
I love drawing architecture so being surrounded by tons of reference photos of the wonder that is Portmeirion (The Village) has been a true joy. Also, the 60’s vibe with the clothing, etc, is something that I’ve always been drawn to, so that’s a plus.

Are the visuals already incorporated and described in Peter’s script, or have you had flexibility in how you interpret the material?
Peter’s scripts are quite succinct in their descriptions and he’ll pop in the odd reference picture if there’s something specific he had in mind but like most good writer/artist relationships it’s a pretty organic process.

Did you look at any of the Kirby/Kane adaptation?
I only found out about that quite recently through that glorious two-page spread of The Village that’s been floating around the internet. Kirby really played to the beat of his own drum and like most projects he worked on added a visual flair that most of us can only dream about. I’ll be picking up the new Titan print of this for sure. I should add that plug is completely unintentional.

The Village. Artwork by Colin Lorimer, colours by Joana Lafuente. Copyright Titan Comics.

Much of the look of The Prisoner comes from the wonderful architecture of Clough Williams-Ellis who built Portmeirion. Have you visited the village? How much leeway do you have to depart from the geography of the original show, which often took liberties with the landscape of Portmeirion itself?
As mentioned above, I’m trying my best to be as faithful to the original series as possible and getting The Village right is key to that. Of course I do have to fudge and cheat some aspects as I just don’t have the appropriate reference, but the fact that this book is set fifty years after the original series gives us a bit of leeway as we can expect a few things may have changed in the interim.

You worked before with colourist Joana Lafuente on The X-Files and Millennium, which captured the look and feel of the original shows. How does the relationship work between an artist and a colourist when putting together a finished comic, especially for an adaptation?
Yes, those projects are what brought us together. I have Denton J. Tipton at IDW to thank for the introduction. Joana and I have a really good rapport and have worked on numerous projects together (some outside of comics). In regards to The Prisoner we tried to keep it as close in tone to the original series as possible adding some comicbook flourishes where we could. I suggested the films of Powell and Pressburger and the art of Andy Warhol and Peter Blake for inspiration.

As well as The Prisoner, can you tell us about any other projects you are working on?
I’ve another book in the works that I’m writing and drawing which should hit before the end of the year. I can’t say too much about it at this point bar to say that like my last book, The Hunt, it’s another horror tale.

We’ve had a preview of the first issue and we love it! We’ll review the series later in the year. Issue 1 of the four-issue The Prisoner miniseries is availble on April 25th. There are several variant covers available for the first issue:

Cover 1: Art By Mike Allred. Colors By Laura Allred
Cover 2: Photo cover
Cover 3: Art By Jack Kirby. Inks by Mike Royer. Colors by Mike Allred
Cover 4: Art By Colin Lorimer. Colors By Joana Lafluente
Cover 5: Art by John McCrea. Colors by Michael Spicer
Cover 6: Art by Mike Allred (black and white Cover 1)
Big Finish exclusive available direct from Big Finish, or through a pre-order of Volume 3 of the wonderful The Prisoner audiodrama. Details here.
Diamond UK exclusive featuring the 50th anniversary artwork by Chris Weston.

   

These are available from all good comic book shops and through numerous online comics retailers.

Finally, a huge thanks to David (editor), Peter (writer) and Colin (artwork) and the additional members of the creative team Joana Lafuente (colours) and Simon Bowland (letters). Be seeing you!

To follow our podcast, there are several places to find The Tally Ho. Episodes will be available through our main stream – called Time for Cakes and Ale – from all the usual places including iTunes, Pippa, Stitcher, TuneIn, Android, or directly via our RSS feed . Updates will be posted on our Twitter and Facebook pages. Of course, our episodes will also be available for direct download on this website.

You can find all of our 2018 Tally Ho episodes, beginning with Arrival, right here! The page is updated with each new edition of the podcast.

If you enjoy our podcast, please subscribe, leave us a review, and let us know what you think by getting in touch on Twitter, Facebook and here on the website. We’d love to hear from you!

Be seeing you!

The Tally Ho episodes will run concurrently with our regular Time for Cakes and Ale ones and are available via our main podcast feed. Find out more here.