Steele, Jack Steele. A super spy to rival the famous James Bond. Jack Steele was a man’s man, ladies’ man, man about town. He had a long history of getting the job done, whether in a dashing tuxedo or in bed with a beautiful woman. What happens when these super spies get too old or too dead?
Mostly spoiler free review of The Illegitimates #1
IDW Publishing and Saturday Night Live’s Taran Killam are looking to answer that question with The Illegitimates. Issue #1 starts off with a series of battles, close calls, and female conquests throughout Jack Steele’s history as a spy. Finally, in the Ukraine, Steele is up against his archenemy, Dannikor, on top of a train. They duke it out, but it was all a distraction and in the end, Jack Steele looses his head… literally.
So, the world’s greatest spy is dead and the government is beside itself trying to figure out what to do now. With Dannikor on the loose, the threat to the world ever increasing, they need a Plan B. Enter Project Sire.
As we find out, Jack Steele was a great spy, but not so good at personal protection… if you know what I mean. This means a list of five people who are the offspring of this super spy, each with their own special abilities, thus the title The Illegitimates. The government has been watching and nurturing each of them through life, making sure they were trained and given the opportunities they needed to be molded to take their father’s place someday. All we have to find out now is which one will it be?
Quite a range of kids to chose from. Vin Darlington, the marksman. Kiken Kaze, machines are his specialty. Saalinge M’Chumba, the only one who has actually worked as a spy. Leandros Antonio Caliestas, martial artist who splits his time between cage fighting and modeling. And then there is the intern, also called the Lordsley girl, the daughter of one of the office temps. And now Dannikor knows about them too, so this could get interesting.
I really like the humor of the book. There are a lot of jokes that keep the story light but still involve the reader. Taran Killam and Marc Andreyko spin a cool story and this trip sounds like it is going to be a lot of fun. The art is great, I really like what Kevin Sharpe and the team do in bringing this story to life. You have to check out The Illegitimates #1 in stores now.
Honestly I left it on the shelf cuz I thought the cover looked stupid. I know I know, “never judge a book” and all that, ESPECIALLY not a comic book but I can’t help but cover shop sometimes. The premise as you lay it out sounds pretty cool though. I kinda wanna read it now after all.
The writing is really funny. I love James Bond, so this view of the consequences of his promiscuity being the basis for a replacement plan is really great.
sounds fun. i really like andreyko, so i might have to give this one a shot.