How do you choose between the covert organizations of your Mum and your Dad?

After she and her gay BFF Go Go Fiasco are attacked by ninjas, Angela St. James discovers that her mother, the head of super secret spy agency G.O.O.D (Global Organization for the Obliteration of Dastardliness) has been keeping secret from her. Her father, who she believed was killed when she was little, is very much alive and is in fact the head of E.V.I.L (Extralegal Vendors of Iniquity and Licentiousness). Now both her parents are interested in recruiting her and Angela has to make a choice.

As a big fan of Modesty Blaise (both the books and the comics), this sounded like a fun read. My husband borrowed it from a friend and figured I’d think it was amusing. It does have a lot of things I find entertaining. Sexy super spies, gadgets, ridiculous rival organizations, exotic locations, dangerous missions, outrageous names and funny banter – this comic has it all. Angela St. James is a gorgeous bombshell and to explain why there has never been interested in her best friend and sidekick Go Go Fiasco, what better way than to make him gay? While living her jetset life, Angela discovers that everything she has believed about her parents is a lie, and now they both want her to become a valued agent of THEIR organization. I don’t want to reveal which of the two groups she picks, not that it’s a massive spoiler.

This trade paperback collects the first six issues of Codename: Knockout and it was a nice quick, if somewhat forgettable read. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem as if DC have collected the next issues of the comic, which makes me sad. I wouldn’t mind reading the rest of the series, the writing is fun enough and the many different artists who portray Angela, Go Go and the other glamorous spies do a good job. Having to track down the rest of the series in individual issues is too much effort, however, so until it gets collected, I doubt I’ll get to read any more.

Also posted on my blog.