The Sheep And The Wolves webcomic (Nick Prolix)

Jay Brown

Set in the seedy underbelly of London in the swinging 60s, Nick Prolix’s webcomic The Sheep And The Wolves takes a unique look at the familiar subject of Cockney gangsters. But will his tale of Jimmy the debt collector be the leader of the pack, or just another wold in sheep’s clothing?

Publisher: Nick Prolix
Writer: Nick Prolix
Artist: Nick Prolix
Price: Free to read at thesheepandthewolves.com

The Sheep and the Wolves is a black and white webcomic set in 1960’s London in the fictional borough of Three Kings. It’s drawn and written by self-taught cartoonist Nick Prolix. The stories Nick tells are typically British, at least for the period it is set in and they deal with issues like racial and sexual politics and of course crime. Our main character Jimmy is a debt collector for the mob and in his wideboy style, he takes us through the old school, newspaper style strips as he goes about his business of collecting money, intimidating almost everyone he meets and chatting up girls.

There are some fourth wall breaks and a lot of narration that can catch you off guard but ultimately work well in the grand scheme of the series. There is an air to the strips that feels almost like an old sit-com you’d find on British TV in the 60’s or 70’s and that’s down to the cheeky, tongue in cheek styling Prolix grants Jimmy with. At points, you can almost hear the canned laughter when reading some the funnier lines.

Part black comedy and part crime caper The Sheep and the Wolves is original, it sets itself apart from other webcomics with its wit and it’s clever writing. Prolix nails the retro terminology and feel. It may seem intimidating at first if one is unfamiliar with the slang but it’s not an obstacle, it’s easy to find the flow and understand what’s happening.

The Sheep and the Wolves is updated fortnightly and there is a Patreon for fans to get access to exclusive work from Prolix. You can find all the strips published so far at thesheepandthewolves.com