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 Now this is what adventure looks like!
Like a well-deserved left cross to the kisser, the stories presented in X-9: Secret Agent Corrigan, volume 2 (of a projected five volumes) satisfy on a visceral, straight-to-the-point level. In each arc of the classic newspaper comic, which in this volume first saw print between September 1969 and April 1972, a week's worth of strips is used for set up, and then it's full steam ahead as the action plays out in brisk fashion over the next two-and-a-half to three months. Secret Agent Corrigan is unadorned meat-and-potatoes adventure so in terms of plotting, there isn't really any new ground covered here. We have the usual hallmarks of the genre: women kidnapped, guy gets mixed up with the mob/syndicate, people staging their own kidnapping or attempts on their lives for personal gain only to have it backfire, hero gets mixed up in political hotspots around the world, and the like. However, a master storyteller like Archie Goodwin, the writer on the series from 1967 to 1980, knows why these plots work and exploits them to their fullest potential in the limited space available to him. If you're a fan of those great half-hour television dramas of the 1950s – such as Dangerous Assignment or Patrick McGoohan's Danger Man – you will love Corrigan.
In the best tradition of the iconic newspaper adventure strips, Goodwin's laconic FBI agent Phil Corrigan muscles his way balls-first into one deadly situation after another propelled by pure testosterone and the desire to get the job done. He's a guy's guy in a way that seems quaintly retro when contrasted to the way men are depicted in the media today, but Corrigan's uncomplicated sense of himself is very refreshing because of it. Goodwin's stories are elevated to a new level by his collaborator Al Williamson, an illustrator squarely in the Alex Raymond tradition of more realistic figure drawing.
It must have been quite a daunting task to follow in the footsteps of two legendary creators of genre fiction, but that is exactly what Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson set out to do when they took over this classic comic strip which began life under the name Secret Agent X-9.
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Above: strip from September 4, 1969, "Prince Kasim" storyline [Image provided by The Library of American Comics]
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Secret Agent X-9 began publication as a daily newsapaper comic strip on January 22, 1934 and lasted until February 10, 1996. What makes X-9 stand out from among the many other action-adventure comic strips that populated the newspapers back in the 1930s was its pedigree. The creators of X-9 were no less than Dashiell Hammett and Alex Raymond. Hammett is widely recognized as one of the progenitors of the genre of hard-boiled detective fiction. Athough he wrote only five novels, Hammett's influence is far-reaching as his works – which include the creation of Sam Spade for The Maltese Falcon and Nick and Nora Charles for The Thin Man – have been adapted to film and television numerous times over the decades and are known worldwide. The artist on the strip Alex Raymond is no less a luminary in his own right being the creator of the seminal space fantasy comic strip
Flash Gordon. Interestingly, Raymond's Flash Gordon and Hammett's Thin Man novel saw print on January 7 and January 8, 1934 respectively – a scant two weeks earlier than their collaboration on Secret Agent X-9 – quite an historic month for the two! However, in spite of the talent of the creators involved, the strip was not a big hit for them and both left after about a year.
X-9 continued through the decades in the hands of several creators, most notably artist Mel Graff who drew the strip for about 20 years and gave X-9 his real name of Phil Corrigan.
When Goodwin and Williamson took over in 1967, they brought a pedigree of their own. Al Williamson made his mark as artist on some of the most notable comic magazines of all time including EC's Weird Science and Weird Fantasy as well as Creepy and Eerie, the flagship magazines of EC's spiritual successor Warren Publishing. Archie Goodwin is recognized in the comics industry as being one of the finest writers and editors that the medium has ever produced. Like Williamson, Goodwin made his reputation at Warren's Creepy and Eerie, but as head writer and editor. For Marvel Comics, Goodwin served a short stint as Editor-in-Chief during the 1970s and later inaugurated the Epic Comics line which was Marvel's creator-owned imprint. For DC Comics, Goodwin wrote or edited a number of Batman-related projects and created the 1970s Manhunter character who appeared in a classic serialized story in Detective Comics with art by Walt Simonson.
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| Above: Williamson's expert use of black & white on display in sequence from March 7, 1972 during the "Doctor Seven Returns" storyline. [Image provided by The Library of American Comics] |
So do the talents of Goodwin and Williamson compare favorably with X-9's creators Hammett and Raymond? It's almost blasphemous to say this, but in some regards, they actually exceed them. Hammett's dialogue has more wit of course, but Goodwin's pacing is superb, and he manages to maintain an ever-present sense of tense urgency throughout the stories. In reading the 280 pages of stories that comprise this volume, one continually feels swept up in a tornado of gunplay, fists, leaps, and one death-defying scenario after another. Goodwin's terse dialogue and quick cuts are at times too good – you have to force yourself to slow down to admire the crisp, drool-worthy black-and-white art of Al Williamson – but don't fail to do so. Williamson is a master craftsman who lays out the breathless action to perfection and excels at balancing light and dark in each panel in order to create convincing depth and texture. He is an illustrator in the classic sense in that he brings all his considerable skills to the forefront in service of the story rather than resorting to over-obvious flash that only serves to call attention to the artist at the story's expense. Aspiring artists, and quite frankly, many of today's top comic book artists, will find a lot to learn here from basic figure rendering to advanced composition and layout. As a team, Goodwin and Williamson mesh flawlessly. They are clearly of one mind working toward a common goal: delivering a narrative gut punch – a giddy thrill ride of action, excitement, narrow escapes, exotic locales, and femme fatales.
The eleven capers presented in X-9: Secret Agent Corrigan volume 2 are as follows (unofficial story titles provided by us for convenience):
- "Prince Kasim" - Corrigan's wife Wilda is kidnapped by Prince Kasim of the Middle Eastern nation of Turistan to be his wife as he ascends to the throne.
- "Byron Jagger" - Spy novelist Jagger tries to goose sales of his book by faking attempts on his life and saying they're the work of Cain, a notorious spy thought dead who Jagger claims is still alive. Turns out Jagger is correct, and Cain decides to silence the writer for real.
- "Clete Bowman" - Bowman decides to give up his failed acting career for a shot at real money by becoming a courier for an espionage ring trafficking in stolen defense plans.
- "Gorstrom" - Big game hunter and syndicate bigwig Gorstrom hunts the biggest game of all on his private Caribbean island – Phil Corrigan, who is playing bodyguard to government witness Karen Holt.
- "Charlene Amberson" - Rich girl Amberson arranges her own kidnapping to score some cash to run away with the guy her father disapproves of. The ruse turns deadly when the couple's cohort decides to make the kidnapping real.
- "Jonas Branveldt" - Corrigan heads to the South American jungle of Arumba to find the notes of presumed-dead Dr. Branveldt who made a discovery that could make atomic weapons obsolete. What he finds is a very much alive Branveldt along with a lost valley unchanged since the Mesozoic era filled with danger – and dinosaurs! Exceedingly entertaining story with page after page of bravura Williamson art.
- "Doctor Seven" - Corrigan meets recurring enemy Dr. Seven and his henchwoman Lushan for the first time as our FBI guy gets loaned out to the CIA to track down US space satellites knocked out of orbit and brought to the nation of Kalipur.
- "R. Barcroft Baxter" - Movie producer Baxter seeks to undermine Galaxy Studios head Kay Stirling in order to take over the company and run it as a syndicate-controlled enterprise.
- "General Drax" - Corrigan is assigned to bodyguard Drax, the dictator of Balkania under threat of assassination, as he prepares to address the United Nations.
- "Jonas Garth" - Corrigan heads to the African nation of Ukhari on the trail of Jonas Garth, a treasure hunter who is wanted for murder back in the States.
- "Doctor Seven Returns" - Blamed for Corrigan's defeat of Dr. Seven, Lushan trades information about Seven's next scheme for Corrigan's protection.
Once again, The Library of American Comics has outdone itself on this compilation using thick matte paper for the best combination of readability and durability. An essay by Goodwin's wife Anne T. Murphy opens the book with insights into Archie and Al both individually and as creative partners. The strips themselves were reprinted from Al Williamson's personal proofs provided by his wife Cori, and are of uniformly excellent quality resulting in the definitive showcase for what is considered to be the last great action-adventure newspaper strip. A must-buy for any lover of American newspaper comic strips.
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