This one is built on extremes.

First extreme is art. It is gorgeous, way action flows, very vivid drawings and beautiful colors. Visually this one was one of the most beautiful comics I ever read. On this field comic is truly awesome.

Second extreme is story. Now, you know when people get mad and then start grumbling and planning to make everyone pay no matter what. Well that is what happens here - a rather unlikable character that roamed the world and killed, maimed and terrorized whomever he was told to kill, maim and terrorize suddenly decides to make the responsible people pay, set the world right. This decision is not made in vacuum but when he is diagnosed with terminal illness. And the way he decides to "change the world to the better" is akin to childish breaking everything up no matter the cost - innocent people still die but they die for the cause so I guess that is good (!?!). Ending is .... weird to say the least. Author tried to write something down similar to R.E.D., Losers or Man on Fire but unfortunately made a bombastic story full of cliches (bad Russians (and what he says about them when it comes to Russians in UK is true reflection of modern times), bad Arabs, bad priests that are of course molesting kids (did I mention cliches), bad, bad, bad ... and they all need to die in the most horrible way possible) that flows like a shot coming out of the pistol but shatters in the air after the few meters due to no substance in it.

Visual masterpiece but unfortunately without story to be up to the level set by the visuals.

Interesting read but if you are interested in good visuals and good story you might enjoy more any new James Bond comic. ( )

King Of Spies (2022) by Mark Millar (writer) and Matteo Scalera (Artist). This graphic novel is fast paced, explosive and very original. An old hand at the spy game, Roland King is stunned to learn ha has a brain tumor and six months to live. He has spent his life for Queen and country, but now he looks and sees that England, the modern England of today, isn’t what he was fighting for. Those in power don’t belong there. Those he fought against are the same type who are running the show.
Saddened, but not daunted, Roland King decides to do the only thing he can. He decides to take the fight to those who have abused the system. Being a master spy, saboteur and deadly in so many ways, his new enemies don’t know what hits them.
Of course this also means the intelligence services of every country are arrayed against him.
That means it is an even fight.
The story is fresh and the art is fantastic. Be it the streets of London or the wharfs of central American countries, the details are crisp and the action non-stop. Congrats go to this duo for bringing forth a new, yet ill-fated hero, for our times. ( )

Mark Millar's movie pitches in comic book form are always worth a look, even if they are misses more often than they are hits. Alas, this newest one is very much a miss.

An aging James Bond type is dying from a terminal illness, and in his bitterness he decides to pull the people he used to work for into the grave with him. If you've ill will in your heart for George W. Bush, Pope Benedict XVI, and Prince Andrew, you'll maybe get a momentary chuckle, but the rest is a tiresome and increasingly ludicrous series of action set pieces duct-taped together with father and son issues straight out of Harry Chapin's "Cat's in the Cradle" song.

Pure dross. ( )

Enjoyable if rough. The art is fantastic and I can sympathise with its pessimistic, worn-down feelings about modern Britain. But it deed feel like a first pass for the inevitable screenwriter to carve into shape. ( )