The Prisoner discussed

One for fans of the classic enigmatic 1960s TV series The Prisoner. A brand new 320 page book has just been published entitled Half A Dozen of the Other: It Means What It Says that contains numerous in depth essays about the series. 

This is Volume Three of a series (and the final volume) that was begun by the late Ed Fordham, and has been concluded by Prisoner expert Rick Davy. It contains submissions by many writers, giving their observations, theories and knowledge about the show, and is an intriguing and entertaining read. The book also includes many new black and white photographs of Portmeirion, the village that served for location filming of The Prisoner. 

Why am I plugging this book on my business blog? Well, because I'm pleased to say there's a cartoon by me in the back, that I drew in 2007. This one didn't appear in my Fanzine Funnies Prisoner cartoon collection ('cos I forgot to include it) so it's the first time it's been in print since the PM2007 convention booklet way back when.  

If you enjoyed The Prisoner, Half A Dozen of the Other: It Means What It Says is a great read. Profits from the book will go to the charities MIND and Ty Gobaith Children's Hospice so it's all in a good cause. You can buy the book at this link:

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Half-Dozen-Other-Means-Three/dp/B0HCGNVBGS/

It's not a number... it's a stand-alone special

Today in 1967 the cult TV series The Prisoner made it's debut on our screens. (The same day as Captain Scarlet! What a day!) So I can't resist the chance to plug my Fanzine Funnies comic again, - a 32 page A5 landscape comic that collects all the strips I did in the 1990s satirising Prisoner fandom and also revealing the fate of Rover ("that big white balloon" as the public call it). 

 

Limited in quantity, and only available from my online shop, you can order it from the following link and I'll post it out to you, signed on the inside...

https://ko-fi.com/s/aca35fd9c0

FANZINE FUNNIES - The comic for fans of The Prisoner (and anyone else who likes funny comics)

Apparently it was 40 years ago yesterday when Channel 4 began repeating the run of The Prisoner TV show, the enigmatic and allegorical series that fans are still discussing today.

Being ancient, I saw the series on its original run in 1967/68, and again in the 1970s when it was first repeated. Anyway, the reason I'm mentioning it here is that my Fanzine Funnies comic is still available to buy. Fanzine Funnies collects all the satirical comic strips I did for Prisoner fanzines years ago, mainly Rogue Rover and Alistair Sadgitt AKA Mumbler Six.

 

Fanzine Funnies sold out of its initial print run of 100 copies within 24 hours of release, so I immediately had another 100 printed. There are still some left if you wanted to nab one quickly! 

Even if you're not a fan of The Prisoner I hope you'll get a kick out of it. Printed on quality paper with a matt laminated cover it's only available from my eBay page at this link...

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204426107364?hash=item2f98bed9e4:g:G18AAOSwC8JkzNzG

****************************

Have you grabbed your Fanzine Funnies yet?

The first printing of Fanzine Funnies sold out within 24 hours so I've had another batch printed and you can order one exclusively from me at this link:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204426107364?hash=item2f98bed9e4:g:G18AAOSwC8JkzNzG

Remember that Fanzine Funnies is not available in any shops or from any other seller, and I'm not doing a digital edition.  

If you missed the news about it last week, the 32 page comic is a collection of strips I did in the 1990s for fanzines devoted to The Prisoner TV series. The fanzines they originally appeared in had very small print runs so this material has been unseen by many. 

Fanzine Funnies is the latest self-published comic in my intention to get all my creator-owned strips back into print for a new audience (and for those of you who may have seen them before but like the idea of them being collected). If you like my style of humour from comics such as Combat Colin, Brickman, Derek the Troll, and Pedantic Stan you should enjoy this one too. Target audience is late Teens and older as there's some bits in there that are unsuitable for children. 

Thanks as always for your support!

 

“This is a smashing little collection, with a couple of other extras included, that I’m more than happy to recommend” - downthetubes.net

“His latest self-published comic looks perfect, especially for those of us who loved the classic TV show The Prisoner.” - Comicon.com

"highly recommended" - The Unmutual Website

*****************

FANZINE FUNNIES back in print!

A new batch of Fanzine Funnies has just arrived from the printers so I've re-listed it on eBay. Last week the first batch sold out in one day, so grab one while you can!
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204426107364?hash=item2f98bed9e4:g:G18AAOSwC8JkzNzG

*********************************

 

Announcing FANZINE FUNNIES!

It’s back from the printers and ready to mail out to buyers so I can now announce that Lew Stringer’s Fanzine Funnies is my latest self-published venture.

It’s a collection of my comic strips from the 1990s that satirised aspects of The Prisoner TV series, and the material originally appeared in Prisoner fanzines such as Camera Obscura.

As those fanzine strips from 30 years ago were only seen by a limited audience I thought I’d collect them into a new comic. The humour is quite in-jokey, but hopefully even if you only have a basic acquaintance with The Prisoner TV show and its fandom you’ll still enjoy it.

 

The 32 page A5 landscape-format comic includes two series that I did in the early Nineties; Rogue Rover tells the story of what happened to “that big white balloon” after the events of The Prisoner, with the roving, and unusually articulate, sphere becoming a jobbing actor and then a time traveller!

The other series in the comic, Mumbler Six, features Alistair Sadgitt, the most intense fanboy in the world! Let’s face it, as enthusiasts of genre TV or comics, we’re all a little offbeat to certain degrees but Alistair Sadgitt dials up the eccentricity to 11… and beyond!

Bonus material in the comic includes Number Six and his Unmutual Tricks (What if The Prisoner had been a traditional British humour strip), two full page satirical cartoons, and two examples of my combining traditional cartoons with CGI models.

All in all, a fun package printed on quality paper stock. This initial print run is limited to 100 copies but there will be more printed if it sells out. 

Note: Contains some scenes that aren't suitable for children so I recommend this for late teens upwards.

Only available exclusively from me at comic cons, or from my eBay listings at this link (Updated link): 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204426107364?hash=item2f98bed9e4:g:G18AAOSwC8JkzNzG

********************* 

Coming soon from the nutty 1990s...

One of the comics I'll be self-publishing soon will be a collection of the strips I did for fanzines in the 1990s. Some of you may have never seen these as they were done for the Camera Obscura fanzine which was dedicated to The Prisoner TV series, and were only circulated to a small group of readers. (I did a collection a few years afterwards but the print run was very low.) 

Here's a sneak preview of one of the pages. I'm hoping to publish the comic next month so stay tuned for more news soon! Hopefully the income raised by this will help to fund Combat Colin No.5! 

****************************

 

 

The Prisoner (2006)

Being an admirer of the classic 1967 TV series The Prisoner I've referenced the show a few times in my strips over the years. I've also provided artwork for charity auctions held by Prisoner fans. One such instance was 15 years ago at the event PM2006, held at Portmeiron, North Wales, where most of the outdoor locations for The Prisoner had been filmed.

Back in 2006, as you may recall, there were rumours and speculations about a new Prisoner TV series, and who might be cast in the role of Number Six, so I thought I'd do a cartoon about that. In the end, as we now know, the series didn't appear until 2009 and it wasn't a patch on the original. 

Anyway, I enjoyed drawing this cartoon and it was amongst the items auctioned off to raise money for the Ty Golbaith Children's Hospice. You can read all about the event at The Unmutual website here:

https://www.theunmutual.co.uk/pm2006.htm

Number Six (and his Unmutual Tricks)

Back in 1996 I created this page for a fanzine devoted to The Prisoner TV series. The background story to it being that, as The Prisoner never had its own comic strip in the 1960s, I was speculating as to how it might have been adapted as a humour strip. Unlikely of course, but it was fun to do!

Sadly, the "Be Seeing You" sign that Number Six used in the series (shown in the title panel) has very unwelcome fascist similarities today. Just thought I'd better mention that before some moron thinks it supports those white supremacist idiots! 

The original art is owned by the commissioning editor so this is just a photograph but I might redraw it one day. For now though, seen for the first time outside of that fanzine's readership, here's Number Six and his Unmutual Tricks! (If you're not familiar with the old Prisoner TV show the humour might be lost to you, so apologies for that, but hopefully there's enough of you to "get" it.) 

I haven't been involved with Prisoner fandom for years but if you're a fan of the show (and of Portmeirion, the village in Wales where it was filmed) I recommend The Unmutual website. It's a hive of information!
https://www.theunmutual.co.uk

I am not a number...

...I'm a free cartoonist. Or at least I was the day I did this drawing for charity. It was sold at the PM2005 event 9 years ago, a convention for enthusiasts of the 1960s The Prisoner TV series. The event took place in Portmeirion in North Wales, where the outdoor locations for the series were filmed. A good time was had by all and all the profits went to the Ty Gobaith Hope House Children's Hospice. 

You can read more about the event here:
http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/pm2005.htm

And if you're a fan of The Prisoner, bookmark The Unmutual Website for information: 
http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/index.htm

Alistair Sadgitt and Rogue Rover

Twenty years ago I used to produce a few comic strips for an independently produced fanzine dedicated to The Prisoner TV series, the excellent, thought-provoking 1960s drama starring Patrick McGoohan as 'Number Six'. The humour of my strips was a bit brutal in places, poking fun at, shall we say, the more eccentric side of fandom. 

Alistair Sadgitt embodied the sort of obsessive fan that every hobby attracts at times. Most fans/hobbyists are nothing like that of course but we all know one or two that are, from comics to football, they're out there. Way out there!

My other strip, Rogue Rover, told the story of one of the strange 'Rover' guards (or "that big balloon" as most people called it) as seen in The Prisoner. 

Both strips appeared in the Birmingham-produced fanzine Camera Obscura in 1993/94, and I collected them into a couple of self-published mini-comics in the year 2000. The print runs of all of them were very small so very few people have seen them. Here's a few examples. Some are a bit in-jokey so if you've never seen the TV series you might miss a few gags but I hope you enjoy them. Click on each image to enlarge it to make it easier to read.

If you're interested in The Prisoner TV series be sure to bookmark The Unmutual Website, a free online resource for Prisoner-related articles and news. You can find it here: http://www.theunmutual.co.uk/