Category: Modesty Blaise

 

By Peter O’Donnell and Jim Holdaway (Titan Books)
ISBN 1-84023-721-X

One of the greatest strengths of Modesty Blaise was the powerfully contemporary relevance of the stories when they first appeared in the London Evening Standard. Many of the topical plots could also be seen on the news pages most days, but there they sadly lacked the likes of the inimitable heroine and the charismatic Willie Garvin to sort out the perpetrators.

The title feature pits our reformed supercriminals against a deadly gang of drug-dealers, an area of endeavour they’d loathed and shunned when they ran the organisation called the Network. The vehemence with which they dispatch the dealers plaguing London’s swinging scene has more than a little whiff of wish-fulfilment to it, and the action set-pieces crackle with tension.

The follow-up tale “The Galley Slaves” uses the lavishly garish location of a movie-prop Roman Trireme to pit Modesty and Willie against an army of mobsters attempting to make off with US military hardware, and the final tale, “The Red Gryphon” is a more personal tale as Modesty takes revenge for the murder of a companion whilst solving an ancient Venetian treasure mystery.

In all these stories, as the plots unfold, O’Donnell and Holdaway increasingly concentrate on the protagonists’ characters, fleshing out already-complex heroes with subtle mannerisms and peccadilloes seldom seen in popular fiction, let alone strip features. Blaise and Garvin are complex, complex people.

These tales are classic adventure outings. The action is always credible, even throwaway characters are well-realised and the villains memorable even when they suffer their inevitable ends. Perhaps the greatest strength of Modesty Blaise is the powerfully timeless quality of these tales.

© 2005 Associated Newspapers/Solo Syndication.

 

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.