Modesty Blaise: The Hell Makers

Modesty Blaise: The Hell Makers 

By Peter O’Donnell & Jim Holdaway with Enric Badia Romero (Titan Books)
ISBN 1-84023-865-8

‘The Hell Makers’, lead story in this Modestly Blaise volume, concentrates on developing the unique relationship between the heroine and her partner-in-crime, Willie Garvin. When enemy agents capture and subject him to an horrendous ordeal of drug-induced torture as a means of bending Modesty to their will, we learn just how powerful are her platonic feelings for Willie and also just how deadly and ruthless she can be in defence of her friends.

‘Takeover’ is a more conventional crime thriller with our heroes reluctantly compelled to thwart an attempt by the Mafia to take control of the British crime scene.

In many ways ‘The War-Lords of Phoenix’ is the most memorable story, and not solely because it was the last that unsung genius Jim Holdaway worked on. Tragically he died, at the miserably young age of forty-three, midway through a truly exceptional adventure, featuring a Japanese secret society, assassination, martial arts mayhem and a generational saga of Atomic Armageddon that truly typified the super-agent genre so popular at the time.

The frantic search for a replacement artist is told in a text feature, but it is a lasting tribute to all concerned in the strip’s creation that a seamless transition was accomplished with the hiring of Barcelona-based Enric Badia Romero, who, whilst speaking no English, adapted his style to a passable imitation of Holdaway’s, and settled in for a long and competent run on the strip.

Perhaps the most fitting tribute to the mastery of Holdaway’s genius is that his best work remains as vibrant and captivating as ever.

© 2005 Associated Newspapers/Solo Syndication.