It's fine. As time goes on it has its moments but the out-of-sequence narrative didn't do anything for me and trying to read the "real order" in the front of the book in Comixology seems like a lot of work. Kindt's art is better than the story. ( )

This is a collection of short stories about spies in World War II, interconnected but in no particular order. In theory, they could be read sequentially by using the dossier numbers, but with the ebook version, I found this impractical.

It is, nevertheless, perfectly possible, after a few stories, to start to see the connections among them. Taking place in Spain, France, Germany, Britain, and Russia, we see the terror, price, loves, and mistakes of the spies. I won't say there's not room to be confused. However, keep reading, and it all hangs together, and we get to know and care about the spies.

The art is intentionally comic-strip art. Large parts are in sepia tones. Others are in full cartoon-color. It's simple and strong, not sophisticated, and reaching directly for the emotions.

In the end, I didn't care for the disjointed arrangement of the stories, but I certainly don't regret reading it.

I bought this books. ( )

Opens very strong; eventually the tying-together of the threads got a bit distracting. The art is decent, but the layouts are often quite confusing. ( )

A dark "slice-of-life" collection of interrelated graphic stories concerning WWII spies. ( )

[a:Matt Kindt|10179|Matt Kindt|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1205036445p2/10179.jpg]'s graphic novel [b:Super Spy|589072|Super Spy|Matt Kindt|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1212761487s/589072.jpg|575856] takes a collection of classic characters and presents a complex story of interwoven lives, loves, and betrayals during a time of war. His characters become so real that the reader easily forgets the story is fiction. The daily lives of the agents and double agents balance the mundane and the spectacular so beautifully that hanging the laundry becomes an act of defiance and a tryst with an exotic dancer in Cairo is just part of the job.

Drawn in a beautiful, spare '40s style, the art matches the period of the story. Kindt's usage of open space and two-tone panels allows him to tell the most complex story without crowding the page. The result encourages the eye to examine each panel closely, pick up the subtlest clues, and easily switch from text to illustration without jarring the mind out of the world built by the stories.

I originally reviewed this book for Green Man Review in June 2010. Read my full review here. ( )