POBB October 23, 2021

Pick of the Brown Bag

October 23, 2021

by

Ray Tate

Welcome to the Pick of the Brown Bag, my name is Ray Tate.  Here I discuss current comic books. This week a pair of espionage stories.  One from publisher Aftershock.  The other from our old friend Dynamite.

Almost American is "inspired by the true story of husband and wife Russian spies."  Well, shoot.  That limits my ability to critique considerably.  I can't examine the plausibility of the story since I must assume all of it to be true.  For the record, the narrative seems very plausible.

After disguising themselves and taking counter-measures to lose any tails, the husband and wife walk into a U.S. embassy and make contact with the CIA.  Similar to what Sydney Bristow did in Alias.

That's one of the book's great assets.  If you're a fan of the spy game genre, you've already got touchstones to work with.  

Almost American seems like a story you've read or seen before, but there's more authenticity to the tale and the way it unfolds.  For example, though the defectors have intel for the CIA, they're limited in what they know.

They're not exactly the Enigma Machine.  The CIA however can use their knowledge and act receptive to their invitation.

Veteran comic book writer Ron Marz scribes the tale based on Jan Neumann's and his wife's biographical information.  Marz employs the same method he used on Batman vs. Aliens.  Very sparse matter-of-fact dialogue.  Few if any flourishes.  The technique works well for this docudrama and lets the visuals  created by Marco Castiello entice the reader.

Castiello is one of those I can draw anything artists, whose talent I envy so much.  Castiello recreates scenes from life.

The gestures, the illusion of movement, the realistic drapery of cloth, it's all just perfect.  Castiello demonstrates his skill in depicting true emotion since this is not an ersatz marriage as depicted in The Americans, or more recently Black Widow.

For an encore, Castiello embellishes the crap ride Neumann and his wife "Maria Bogdan" must take in order to reach the next part of their cover.

A three hour tour indeed.  I'm also happy about the colors.  Nobody tried to do anything artsy fartsy with black and white or filters.  These are just normal bright, attractive colors.  Good on Dispenza.

Almost American is an engrossing read for anybody.  Fans of the methodical agents of John Le Carre will be particularly intrigued.  Anyone gravitating toward excellent, realistic art from the old school of Burne Hogarth and Joe Kubert will find much to appreciate.

In the public's eyes, Jeffrey Epstein was a mover and shaker.  Privately, he was a pimp and child molester that trafficked underage girls for sex with filthy rich businessmen.  

These statutory rapes provided Epstein with recorded fodder for blackmail.  The police and FBI eventually shut down his operations.  An unknown subject or subjects subsequently murdered Epstein in prison and staged it to look like a suicide.  

Ghislaine Maxwell was Epstein's gentlewoman's gentlewoman.  Though she denied the charges, the Justice Department convicted her on the grounds of being the procurer and groomer of Epstein's stable and just as much of a sex trafficker as Epstein.  She remains incarcerated.  

In James Bond, Maxwell is hidden beneath the fictional cloak of Sarah Richmond who is free and clear of the authorities.  Not of scrutiny.

Rodney Barnes' story is a welcome relief from Dynamite's recent theme of reimagining Bond's classic nemeses.  Himeros is brand new.  Barnes conceives of an arms dealer named Anton Banes.  Banes tasks an assassin named Kino to kill the Epstein analogue and threaten Sarah Richmond.  It seems that Banes partook in Wilhelm's child rape parties.  Apparently Banes' clientele are just human enough to look down upon such practice.  Banes wants to erase the evidence.  It's just good for business.

We don't feel sympathy for Richmond, despite her fighting for her life.  We're not supposed to.  The villains and targets differ in nuance.  M however needs Richmond alive for her knowledge.  He sends Bond to his old Goldfinger stomping grounds to intervene in the second assassination.  Therein lies the suspense.  How will Bond save this asset?  

Bond, James Bond.