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By Peter O’Donnell & Jim Holdaway (Titan Books)
ISBN 1-84023-684-1
The third volume of Titan’s Modesty Blaise collections represents three of her most engaging early adventures as creators O’Donnell and Holdaway began to truly hit their stride with work often qualitatively superior even to anything else then – or even now – available.
First up is the still tellingly fresh and relevant “Top Traitor†as Secret Service Supremo Sir Gerald Tarrant vanishes leaving a nasty whiff of defection in his wake, compelling Modesty and Willie Garvin to rescue not only their friend but his shattered reputation.
“The Vikings†turns the focus onto crime action when the duo intervene in the affairs of one of their old gang members when he is sucked into an outrageous band of Scandinavian Reavers intent on reviving the plundering practises of their ancestors.
Espionage was never far away in the 1960s and the thrills and mystery continue in “The Head Girls†when sabotage, industrial theft and murder point inexorably to the return of a hated arch-foe.
These stunning and addictive slices of escapist adventure have actually improved with age – or rather by comparison with what has come since in this genre – and these volumes are an absolutely prime example of what comics can be. Get the set and treasure them for ever.
© 2004 Associated Newspapers/Solo Syndication.