Customer Reviews

Queen & Country, Vol. 4: Operation Blackwall

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So far British agent Tara Chase, the heroine of the Queen & Country comic book series, has been settling cases in the Balkans and the Middle East.
This one hits closer to home.
The father of an old friend is being blackmailed with a sex tape starring his daughter and a Frenchman with more than just a pretty face. Whereas she's in love he's in it for the money.
England and France are fighting for a multi billion business deal. France does the tape, England counters with Tara. You can guess the end of the story. Her majesty always gets it her way. But you'll be surprised at the twists and turns Greg Rucka built in. I also like that the French that is spoken is authentic and without mistakes. A thorough job.
Jason Alexander's art is fabulous. He changes perspectives all the time, much like a moving camera (as in Domino, NYPD Blue etc.) which fits perfectly to tell this fast paced tale.
His thin lines and edgy sketches sometimes remind me of his friend Kent Williams with whom he shares a studio, or British spy comics from the 70's. Yet Jason Alexander has made this his very own.
You should definitely check out his other work f.e. Empty Zone or The Tower.
As to Greg Rucka, fabulous, as always. Also highly recommended: his Queen & Country novels

The fourth story in the Tara Chase spy saga finds author Greg Rucka teamed up with a fine new artist, one J. Alexander, whose gauzy, fine-line black-and-white work recalls Gray Morrow's work in the early 1970s -- very classy and compelling. The plotline is a welcome detour from the Islamic-themed stories that seem poised to dominate the series. Here, the bad guys are -- zut alors! -- the French government, a fine twist for a book devoted to the British intelligence service. A sex scandal looms and Ms. Chase is called in to handle it; the story zips along at a healthy clip and will hold your attenton from start to finish. A good, entertaining read... You won't be able to put it down, and will be eager for the next installment!

From the introduction:

"[T]he world really is won by the inch. People need to read these stories. They need to understand it's the long game that counts. Every day goes by, and the world burns, and all Tara [Chace] and her ilk can do is keep the flames away from the front door one more morning. Every time they do that, it's a victory. You can't win the War on Terror. You. Can. Not. You can just win today's battle."

That's all. The story in this volume of the ongoing series is more personal, but every bit as difficult as Tara's other missions. And the message is still the same: you can't escape evil, but you can fight it-- and that's the only way to keep from being overwhelmed by it.