Booknote: Codename: Action, Volume 1

Chris Roberson and Jonathan Lau, Codename: Action, Volume 1. Mount Laurel, NJ: Dynamite Comics, 2014. ISBN: 9781606904763.

This was a fun and easy to read romp of a comic book. Agent 1001 is the latest agent in the American intelligence community. He may also be the last one due to the agency getting consolidated with an international force. But for now, it falls to him, with the aide of his veteran mentor, to save the world during the Cold War era. The book also features some old time masked superheroes, like the Green Hornet and Kato, who will eventually join with our protagonist. However, for now, the other heroes do appear very briefly. This is clearly a volume to set up an ongoing series.

If you enjoy the old school James Bond films with its gadgets, hot women, and villains all out to rule the world, then this is a book for you. It has the super agent. It has the gadgets, including a submersible car. It has the hot women, in this case a group of French intelligence agents (by the way, why is often the "hot" women in these stories have to be French? haha!). And we have the villain trying to start World War III with a pair of nuclear missiles. It has all that old school adventure goodness packed in with some nice art to boot. This is a volume with great action, a fast pace, a great villain, and fun ride. I really liked this quick read.

The volume includes a gallery of cover art, including some alternative covers. It is a fun read that I think many public libraries will probably want to have in their graphic novel collections.

I am giving it 4 out 5 stars.

Disclosure: The mandatory stuff I have to type to tell you that I read this as an e-book review copy via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review. You know, so The Man is satisfied everything is kosher.