![\"Modesty](\"http:\/\/www.comicsreview.co.uk\/nowreadthis\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/06\/mbbsuki.jpg\")
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By Peter O’Donnell<\/strong> and Jim Holdaway<\/strong> (Titan Books) One of the greatest strengths of Modesty Blaise<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n The follow-up tale \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Galley Slaves\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> 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, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Red Gryphon\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/em> is a more personal tale as Modesty takes revenge for the murder of a companion whilst solving an ancient Venetian treasure mystery.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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<\/strong> is the powerfully timeless quality of these tales.<\/p>\n \u00c2\u00a9 2005 Associated Newspapers\/Solo Syndication.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" \u00c2\u00a0 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 … <\/p>\n
\nISBN 1-84023-721-X<\/p>\n