Modesty Blaise, Cartoon Adventures - Book 2 of 2: The Black Pearl and The Vikings

Time to take a trip back into the world of spies, criminals, and mysteries with Modesty Blaise!  It's been three years since I read the first of these two books, so I figured it was about time.  I rather enjoyed the first collection of these Modesty Blaise comic strips, so I went into this book with the high hopes of enjoying these tales as well - and I was not disappointed.  Peter O'Donnell proves his worth as not only an excellent writer, but an outstanding artist as well with these two (well, actually three - we'll get to that in a moment) stories collected for this second book.

The Black Pearl and The Vikings contains more than just those two stories - it opens up with a 7-page origin tale titled simply, "The Beginning," which gives readers a chance to see just who Modesty Blaise really is and where she came from.  And fair warning - there is a scene of nudity in the final panel of page three, where Modesty earns her name (rather ironically) from the old man she has been helping.  The story reveals that Modesty was a refugee child who did what was necessary to survive - and after helping an old man and traveling with him for some time, she gains a wealth of knowledge that helps her as an adult.  She ultimately meets Willie Garvin in Saigon and the two become an unstoppable team - but eventually she retires, and her enterprise known as The Network is split up among the men working for her.  It was rather refreshing to read a 7-page origin tale that gives the reader everything they need to know about Modesty and her origin without unnecessary exposition and filler material to pad it out.

And thus, we move on to the first story in this book, title "The Black Pearl."  In this story, an ancient holy man in north Bengal calls upon the aid of Modesty Blaise (who owes him for saving her life some years ago) to help recover the mysterious "Black Pearl," which is said to possess the ability to know the next High Lama.  The Buddhists must recover the ability to select their next High Lama before the men who are taking over the land misuse the "pearl" to name their own hand-picked leader.  It is clear from the get-go that the "Black Pearl" is anything but a pearl, but I was definitely not expecting what Modesty, Willie, and Mark (a former operative of Modesty's Network) found!  It turned out to be a rather fun surprise, and it allows O'Donnell to create some rather creative moments in the story as the three escape from the terrorists who have been occupying the land.  It's also interesting how O'Donnell flawlessly weaves some soap opera elements into the tale, including Mark's tale of lost love, a surprising cliff-side save, and the daring plan to escape with the "Black Pearl."  All-in-all, a really great story.

The second story is "The Vikings," which, of course, is not about real vikings (since they are long-since gone), but rather, a group of fearless thieves who traverse the waters on a boat and execute robberies of the wealthy citizens along the coast while wearing viking helmets and masks to hide their identities.  On once such robbery, however, a father recognizes his son's limp and tattoo among the thieves - so he calls on Modesty and her team to help save his son.  O'Donnell really plays up the soap opera elements in this one - the father is none-too-happy with his son's life choices, including the woman he married (who he deems "beneath" their station), the son's lingering feelings for Modesty, the leader of the Vikings' lust for revenge when Modesty bests him at his own game, the near-fatal shooting that becomes a race against time to save Modesty's life, and the son's ultimate redemption and father's ultimate change-of-heart.  Yet, despite all of these melodramatic moments, there is still plenty of action for Modesty and Willie to share along the way!

I hadn't realized it as much when I read the first collection of strips, but this one seemed to be more prominent, is the obvious fact that these were collected from comic strips.  In the two main stories, the first panel has an empty block space on the upper left corner, which must have been where the "Modesty Blaise" logo went for the daily strip, and the next two panels are full panels, and so it goes through the whole book, with the strips pretty much remaining constant at three panels per "day," with the first panel missing the block up there, and the following two panels full scenes.  And there are a couple of instances where the word balloons in one panel flowed over to the next panel - and whoever put the book together, kept the word balloon complete for the panel in which the character is speaking, but in the next panel, they left in the small portion of the balloon that carried over.  However, it was not distracting enough to take me out of the story - between the engaging story and the absolutely beautiful artwork, I don't think a bomb exploding right next to me could have taken me out of the stories while I was reading them!

I haven't been able to find any other Modesty Blaise "novels" in this format, so I'm assuming these were the only two done.  And that's a shame, as looking online, I found that the strip ran from 1963 through 2002, so there are definitely tons of stories that I have yet to read!

RATING:  10 Himalayan bears out of 10 for adventure, danger, romance, action, mystery, and so much more in fast-paced, superbly written and drawn strips!

Modesty Blaise, Cartoon Adventures - Book 1 of 2: In the Beginning

Okay, I will be totally honest. I have heard of Modesty Blaise many times over the years, but I've never actually read any books or stories starring the sexy spy. I just assumed she was something similar to Emma Peel from the British television show, The Avengers. So, when I happened across two books (technically graphic novels, as they are comic strip stories) at a comic convention last year, I picked them up, figuring I would give her a try.  I finally got around to reading the first book, In the Beginning, which collects two stories: "La Machine" and "The Long Lever." And quite frankly, I liked it.

Now, fair warning - there is no "origin story" for Modesty Blaise. The first story, "La Machine," jumps right into things. Modesty Blaise is on the verge of retiring - or so she hopes. But when agents of the foreign office come to her penthouse, asking for help, she has no choice but to offer her services, along with that of her partner, Willie Garvin.  It's just like old times for the dangerous pair, as they set out to infiltrate and take down the organization known as La Machine. By the end of the tale, Modesty and Garvin have faced down some very dastardly villains, Modesty is kidnapped and tortured, and Garvin is nearly killed. But, they save the day in the end, take down La Machine, and Modesty comes to the realization that retirement is simply not an option for her...

Which takes us directly into the second tale, "The Long Lever." Now, this title makes absolutely no sense to me, as it does not seem to have any connection to the story at all. In this tale, Modesty and Garvin are called upon to find a Hungarian refugee scientist who has been experimenting with a laser ray. The Hungarian government has been fighting to get him back, and it appears they might have succeeded. Modesty and Garvin must once again go undercover on the yacht of Hungarian agents, where they believe Dr. Kossuth is being held prisoner while he is being delivered to Hungary. This assignment is anything but usual, though, as Modesty soon finds out. Nothing is quite what it seems, and when she manages to get some one-on-one time with the refugee scientist, she discovers that she may not be working for the right side!

The writing is stellar, and the art is absolutely beautiful. Modesty manages to come across as both deadly and seductive, and the detail in the locales, vehicles, and weapons is amazing.  I'm not familiar with Peter O'Donnell, but after reading this, I'll have to look him up and see what other work he has done. The only complaint I have (and this has nothing to do with O'Donnell, but more to do with the publisher) is that with the mass-market paperback format, the comic panel sizes are so small, the words are extremely small and it takes a real effort to read it.  That being said, it's worth the effort, as the stories are so engaging. She is not female version of James Bond - she is a masterpiece all on her own.

I'm likely to put off reading book two for a while, as I know once I've read it, there won't be any more in my collection at this time to read...

RATING:  10 twenty-two caliber pen-guns out of 10 for making the spy business about more than just action and adventure but about character and style a well!