A brash and sexy CIA agent recruits Max Field, a nerdy comic book artist who looks a lot like David Mack and draws a book with Japanese themes like Kabuki, to be a freelance field operative who uses the cover of regularly traveling to comic book conventions around the world for minor ops and intel gathering. Field quickly finds himself in over his head and constantly questioning every choice he is making.

It maybe peters out a little toward the end and never really has much by way of action scenes, but its a fun and humorous ride most of the way. ( )

What if someone realised that artists travelling all over the world for comic book conventions, being a nobody in every other context and a huge celebrity to the devoted few, surely that would be the perfect cover for a spy? But would someone like that like to be recruited? And what would it do to them, to their life and their sense of identity, should they accept?

The premise is very good, and I don't really have any major beef with the execution, either -- except that the story barely feels like it has started when the comic ends. Without really paying off the premise much beyond some internal monologues of the protagonist. I'd be very interested in reading a volume 2 of this (they seem to imply they'd like to make one some day), to see where it could go from here.

That said, in its own, odd little character study kind of way, the book is satisfying enough. The protagonist is relatable and likable, the mystery woman is funny and just the tiniest bit scary, the dialogue (as one would expect from Bendis) is snarky and fun, yet often oddly and endearingly earnest. And while David Mack's style is much too artsy for my tastes (it's admittedly nice for covers, but too messy and confused for interior art), he seems reined in here compared to other books, rarely getting in the way of the storytelling and frequently actually aiding it considerably. Additionally, I thought the layouts were quite good.

All in all, a good reading experience, even if the premise warranted a somewhat grander story than I feel I got. ( )