World Famous Comics: Modesty Blaise: The Gabriel Set-Up (Modesty Blaise (Graphic Novels))
Modesty Blaise: The Gabriel Set-Up (Modesty Blaise (Graphic Novels))
By: Peter O'Donnell Publisher: Titan Books Average Rating: Binding: Paperback Label: Titan Books Number of Items: 1 Number of Pages: 112 Publication Date: April 01, 2004 Release Date: April 01, 2004
Product Description: Modesty Blaise, cult creation of best-selling author Peter O'Donnell, is back! The London Evening Standard adventures of this all-round bad girl and spy are now collected in the first volume of a luscious Collectors' Edition paperback library! Thrown into searing hotbeds of intrigue, and up against impossible odds, Modesty Blaise proves once and for all that the female of the species is deadlier than the male. With her trusted right-hand man, Willie Garvin, and the underworld resources of 'The Network' on tap, no job is too big, no threat too great! This volume is packed with special features created exclusively for this book, including an all-new introduction by Peter O'Donnell.
Graphic SF Reader An earlier collection of the classic strip. the style and look is of an earlier era than the later newspaper strips that I remember growing up with, but are still very nice, and you get to see some of the early adventures here that began to mold both the character and the artist.
A comic strip legend's legendary beginning I cannot improve on Mr. Linguini's fine review, but here's mine. Prior to acquiring this volume, I had never read any Modesty Blaise. I'm pleasantly surprised.
The newspaper adventure strip has its special appeal and there is a small but devoted niche of readers for them. I have been reviewing the Checker Book Publishing Group Steve Canyon series, which is wonderfully drawn, imaginative, well-printed and bound, but the reproductions are unfortunately small. Also, I've contracted a seven-year itch after six years' worth of that series. So I tried a little Modesty.
The reproductions here are superb and their size is just right. (A daily strip is about 18 in² compared with the Checker Canyon's 11 in².) The binding is in signatures as are the Canyon strips. The stories have a freshness that is matched by the drawings.
The background story of the heroine is the stuff of legend (I leave it out here), inspired by a real life experience of the author. Her "sidekick" Willie Garvin is nothing like the bearded, buffoonish rustics we see in Canyon and some westerns (Lt. Blueberry, for example): he's her absolutely trusted, trusting and competent lieutenant. This makes for an effective team we care for, even if Garvin does hit no fewer than three women in the first three adventures. Our intolerance for such things today says quite a bit about some of the positive aspects of political correctness. Feminism, with Modesty in the avant-garde, had not yet quite gotten its bearings, but the strong, self-reliant, attractive woman, also being sketched in the co-temporal Avengers TV series, was a beacon for the future. The whole package is very sixties.
I haven't seen it mentioned elsewhere, but MB's looks are not conventional - that is, they don't quite fit into the comic strip mold of "beautiful woman." She comes close, though: she is very attractive, as if she's above-average looks-wise and takes perfect care of herself. She has a distinctive look. Whereas the Steve Canyon femme fatales vary in a few shorthand-type lines, Modesty Blaise has a largish nose, a narrow chin and high cheekbones, along with an expression in the eyes that is precisely hers, such that she can't be mistaken for anyone else. Most of the other characters in the series are also clearly distinct from each other. Holdaway's art stands out in this regard. In fact, a lot of Modesty's attractiveness is in her visual expression - a rare achievement in comic art.
This is the kind of strip that might entertain even non-strip readers. The stories are fun, action packed, superbly drawn, and so well paced that we wind up reading them too fast and wanting more when done. I can well understand the cult following this strip has. The Titan books are so well done that they are a sure bet for comic strip collectors or adventure aficionados. The Gabriel Setup is where you should begin: it has the first three adventures plus Modesty's origins. It's my first but by no means my last.
Absolutely fabulous There isn't a better story strip from the last 50 years than Modesty Blaise by Peter O'Donnell in the years it was drawn by Jim Holdaway. This volume starts from the beginning of the strip and is one you will read and reread. O'Donnell's writing is top-notch, and Holdaway's art sets a standard that few other other comic strip artists can ever match - and the combination is MUCH greater than the sum of the parts. Titan's presentation is excellent - crisp, large reproduction so the strips really shine. Excellent editorial matter - good introductions and a very useful episode and artist guide to the entire run of the strip.
Over the years there have been several Modesty Blaise reprints. The volumes from Titan are still the best and unlikely to be surpassed. Go for it.
WONDERFULLY NOSTALGIC Such warm feelings of when I was a kid and would see this in the newspapers. I'd even taken to cutting out the daily strips and pasting them into an exercise book in an attempt to compile an entire story. Each story is so well crafted; the art is dark and mysterious. Modesty herself is chic and mesmerising and her sidekick Willie is the coolest guy. What a team! Add internationl intrigue to the mix, and you have the makings of true James Bond-like adventure. What an excellent way to pass a rainy afternoon! More please, more!
When I was little, I wanted to BE Modesty Blaise I used to read Modesty stories scattered across comic book albumes containing various comics. Now finally I got my hands on first five Modesty books, nicely bound, with creator's comments on almost each story. All in one place, at last.
Anything Goes Trivia
Trevor
Megaton Man
