“If you’re not on the same side as Jack Kirby…”

Max Field

Cover is an interesting beast. On one hand, I was a fan of its story and its discussions on the mental processes of a comic book creator. After taking Bendis’ and Co.’s Masterclass through the Jinxworld Substack for nearly a year, it’s not hard to see Bendis’ thoughts on comic book creation, and more broadly story creation in general, all over this story. That being said, if you’re a fan of comics, comic books, graphic novels, graphic novellas, Bendis, Mack, Jack Kirby, or any variation therein, then you’ll get a big kick out of this book.

If not, then I wonder what you might find here. The intro does a lot of the heavy lifting, though, as artist Mack recounts talking with Bendis when he was dying in the hospital, hoping to one day write the correct book for his friend and him to fully explore their creative life.

You can see it on the first page. Max Field is a comic creator, best known for writing and drawing a critically acclaimed comic series called “Ninja Sword Odyssey.” He visits cons, is on the up and up as a creator, and has a best friend named Owen James, who is also a comic creator. They both spend their days, and their nights, and the time in-between, talking comics.

Until a strange woman comes up to Field at a con, buys all of his original artwork, and offers him a job.

A spy job. For the CIA. See, the world is nuts, and its not getting any less nuts. To find and retrieve the information they require, the CIA is starting to branch out into new, unique avenues of information extraction. One method: comic creators, as they travel the world, are allowed into secure nations, and are typically overlooked.

And that’s the general gist. Are you the kind of creator to do the impossible? To serve and work for your country if it served the greater? Are you as brave as the characters you claim to embody in your mind when you write?

At least, that’s how I see it.

Mack’s art is brilliant, a step above anyone else in the field as always. One thing I did notice is Mack’s artwork tends to be more fluid, less detailed, the further he gets away from the plot. When the CIA agent, a beautiful, charming woman named Julia, comes around, the art becomes painted, realistic, focused. As if this life, this lifestyle, is what Field was looking for. The thing that would give him meaning was what he was writing about this whole time.

Again, like comics? Know anything about comics? It’s for you. Each page, each reference, is something that could lead you down an hour of time on Wikipedia. Don’t know anything about comics? Maybe skip.

Cover Vol.1 by Brian Michael Bendis and David Mack (Amazon)

Thanks for reading,

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