Secret Service #4 – Review

By: Mark Millar (writer), Dave Gibbons (art), Matthew Vaughn (co-plotter), Andy Lanning (inks), Angus McKie (colorist)

The Story: After some setbacks, a young spy-in-training gets taken under his uncle’s wing.

Quick Review: This was a pretty sharp issue.  It is well-paced, has an enjoyable story and a sharp sense of humor.  Getting art from Dave Gibbons isn’t hurting things either as the whole product looks very nice.

If I have a complaint about the issue and series its that we are still watching this young spy-to-be working his way through training.  We’ve been on this story for a few issues now.  To recap, the basic story of Secret Service is that England’s #1 spy (James Bond, without the use of that trademarked name) who brings his lowbrow nephew into the spy agency as a way to “save” him: he saw the teen growing up in a lousy environment, with lousy alcoholic divorced parents and decided to get him “out of there” before he turned into another useless street punk.  It’s much the same thing as when at-risk kids in the U.S. join the military.  Thus far, we’ve seen that the kid is highly capable at the physical tasks, but lacking the spit and polish to be a truly successful spy.  Even though we’ve kinda been stuck in training mode for a few issues, the final challenge they come up with for the kid and his resolution are so cool that I didn’t really mind that much.  It’s almost like Millar had this one more “awesome” scenario to convey and since it’s his book, he was able to tell it.  It was also very cool watching the kid get fashion tips from his uncle.  Hopefully some of the comic fans reading the issue will pick up a tip or two…..

Gibbons is one of those guys we don’t get to see enough of.  He’s just kinda a throw-back to the great old days of comic art where guys came from a great illustration background.  It’s just nice to sometimes see comic art that isn’t paying homage to the Image founders.  The pages where he really shines are when the street punk gets all dressed up in a proper suit.  Gibbons is able to “sell” that look of a “confident man in a well-fitted suit” better than most artists.

Conclusion: Another very solid issue.  This is a very enjoyable series and if you haven’t been reading this single issues, it’ll make a great trade when it finishes.

Grade: B+

– Dean Stell