Modesty Blaise - Ripper Jax by Peter O'Donnell and Enric Badia Romero
| Modesty Blaise - Ripper Jax by Peter O'Donnell and Enric Badia Romero | |
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| Category: Graphic Novels | |
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Reviewer: John Lloyd
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| Summary: Four more dramas for the compelling comic heroine, even if this is not quite the best selection ever. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 136 | Date: March 2016 |
| Publisher: Titan Books | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 9781783298587 | |
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Is there any stopping Modesty Blaise? Well, inasmuch as there are only ten stories left that have not been anthologised in these lovely reprints, yes – just three books to go, by my reckoning. That reckoning should be quite accurate, if I can be immodest, for there is a lot that is routine about these stories. They all had three panels a day, six days a week (with one day's output being less relevant to the story for those papers that didn't carry the comic on weekends), for twenty-one weeks. But rest assured there is also a lot that is unusual about Modesty and her output, including a never-ending variety to the locations, to the manner of the baddy's crime, and to the action Modesty and her Willie are forced to undertake to win the day. And nobody, but nobody, has undertaken so much action and come out looking so attractive…
In a very noticeable change of form, the book has a two-page introduction but the individual tales come with no such adornment. That is, of course, about the only thing that has changed, although a little too much of this made me feel the original creators were missing a tiny trick here and there. Modesty flies via a stop-off in Karachi to New Zealand, and dines when she gets there, all in the same lovely frock – where is the scene of her stripping off while she discusses the case with her Willie? The title story of this collection sets up an intriguing case, but even in a set amount of strips there should have been room for a further twist or bit of intrigue. The third drama, that goes right back to Modesty's pre-comics career, would have been even meatier had it shown the richness of her life story if it came earlier in the run, and not as story number 85.
But it is still mighty and meaty, in that it takes us to the north African deserts for its drama, and gives us a little bit more than the usual relationship with the baddy (a factor that the introduction kind of belabours). The final of these four novellas is also strong, being an exotic kidnap story that just piles on the PG peril and daytime-audience drama. Seeing as these tales come from the mid-1990s you can see a little modernisation from the earlier books; there is a mention of Islamist extremism here, and the more modern originals mean these reprinted panels of artwork are perfect, showing the visual dynamism off superbly. But to repeat not a lot changed – Willie still backs Modesty up, when she needs it (and they do make a great team), she is never alone in the cleavage stakes whatever the story calls for, and the action does still hark back to a retro, more innocent time. People may well be able to take or leave the style here (and may disagree with everything I say about Modesty being attractive, although I would never suggest people judge by the cover artwork in this instance), but to me these innocent antique-tinged dramas make for great modern escapism, and these books act as wonderful time-machines to present 21 weeks' worth of drama from then, to us at our leisure now.
I must thank the publishers for my review copy. We also have a review of Modesty Blaise - The Girl In The Iron Mask by Peter O'Donnell.
We first met the series here. If it's even less reconstructed graphic female crime-solving you seek, you may find favour with Scarlett Couture by Des Taylor.
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You can read more book reviews or buy Modesty Blaise - Ripper Jax by Peter O'Donnell and Enric Badia Romero at Amazon.com.
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