Dean Motter, �The Prisoner: Shattered Visage�
Man, oh, man, did this have the opportunity to really, really suck. How many times have you seen something �based upon� something, and watched it turn to crap, sometimes even spoiling the original in its awfulness?
I�ve certainly seen it enough. And The Prisoner was already pretty goddamn out there in the first place, so putting the writing of a �sequel� of sorts into somebody else�s hands is begging - begging - to spiral toward something truly horrid. So how the hell did this manage to be fairly good?
I suppose part of it was the fact that this was a graphic novel, and Motter used some great images from the show in order to build the right sense of creepiness. Also, when I was reading this I was in a reminiscing kind of mood, having just finished most of the editing on my book of England.
So this graphic novel was a pleasant journey back to the UK with the drawings of London, the peculiar speech patterns, and many references to lousy pub food from places with the most idiotic names for a drinking establishment I�ve ever seen.
And speaking of which, I�ve been seriously ill for the last week or so, hence why it took so long for me to post anything. I�ve written previously about my sickness patterns, mostly noting that I don�t get sick very often, but when I do it�s bad enough to lay me out for almost an entire week. I used to think this happened to me once a year. Since writing about England, however, and starting this journal, I�ve realized that I always get sick about a week before Finals � which means it�s at the same time that all my final projects are due, most of which I haven�t started. It�s like my body says, �Oh, you think you�re so smart? Let�s throw this into the mix! HAH!!!�
And during this time I always go through the same routine. I make a huge cauldron of soup. I lay in bed for four or five days and I drink a butt-load of juice. After about a week and a half, I finally get over it. But I�ve since figured out a cure, and I figured it out (to tie it back to this book review) in England.
See, I became deathly ill over there as well, and again, it was about a week before Finals started. Four days of staying in bed and feeling like I was going to die, I remembered in a feverish state that it was my birthday the next day, and decided I was going to hit the pubs and clubs with a vengeance, even if it killed me, which it probably would.
I went out that night and drank a ton of Newcastle � my beer of choice over there, because I could get a bottle that was somewhere in the neighborhood of 25 ounces for about a half-pound more than you would pay for a pint. Not to mention that Newcastle is damn fine beer.
The next day, I felt fine.
So this time around I was sick just after Thanksgiving, and stayed that way until last Thursday. Then I remembered about the Dickies show and decided to try my trick with Newcastle again. And I�m all better! I�m gonna write a book - �The Newcastle Cure: Drinking Your Way to Health and Fitness!� With a title like that, you just know everybody is going to buy it!
Anyhoo, all these memories are probably making me kinder to this graphic novel than I ought to be. I do remember the references to the most repeated phrase (�I am not a number, I am a free man!� which, by the by, was never actually said in any of the episodes � it was only in the opening credits... I am such a geek.) were totally ham-fisted. But then again, so was Patrick McGoohan�s acting in the show.
A lot of the secondary storyline wasn�t that interesting either. Furthermore, the only people who are going to understand this sequel are the ones who have watched all the episodes � repeatedly. The storyline here is fairly vague, just like the show. But in what looks like an attempt to make the story make sense to those not in the know, there are various references to the episodes.
I think they wouldn�t make sense to those who hadn�t seen the shows in the first place, and if you had, these repeated flashbacks are annoying. You end up wanting to shout, �Yes, I know! Can we get going please?�
So maybe this book sucks after all.
