Agent Unknown

Written by Robert J. Sodaro
Pencilled by Dell Barras
Inks by Lan Medina & Cesar Magsombol
3-Issues, B&W Comics Format
Renegade Press, 1987

This short-lived series from Renegade Press, long-time home of comicdom's most successful P.I. comic, Ms. Tree, was one of several apparent, unsuccessful attempts by the publisher in its waning days to appeal to the same crime/adventure audience.

Agent Unknown is, frankly, a disappointing book with an intriguing, original premise full of potential. Clearly intended to be an ongoing series, every issue of AU contained two self-contained stories, each focusing on different agents of the same fictional spy agency.

The first story in each of the three issues is a chapter in the ongoing saga of "Deuces and Jacks," two brothers who work for the LED (Law Enforcement Division) in the early 1960's, while the back-up tales focus on "Stacy Anne Duncan," an operative for the ILED (as in "International") in the 1970's. The Deuces & Jacks stories are related chronologically, while the Stacy Anne Duncan stories jump around to different points in her career.

In the first issue, it's 1961, and Jefferson Davis "Deuces" Seven and Andrew Jackson "Jacks" Seven – who come across kinda like grown-up versions of the Hardy Boys playing spy – prevent an Arabian sheik from blackmailing the U.S. with a microdot containing a list of double agents. In the second story, set ten years later, CIA agent Stacy Anne Duncan battles machine-gun toting assassins who don't want her to take the high-ranking position she's just been offered with the ILED, while protecting the life of a churlish senator.

In Issue #2, the boys travel to Martha's Vineyard, and take on an unauthorized mission to save the reputation of an old family friend by breaking up a large gambling organization. In Stacy's story, it's 1978, and she's single-handedly taking out a drug dealer who's gotten his hands on state secrets before he can sell them to the enemy. She's also reunited with an old acquaintance/love interest, whom she offers a job.

In #3, Deuces & Jacks' story continues, as they travel to Vegas and uncover a Nazi war criminal. In the Stacy Anne Duncan adventure, we've jumped back to 1970, when, as a rookie agent of the CIA, she first meets the aforementioned love interest, as they are assigned to work together to apprehend and extradite an IRA assassin.

Robert J. Sodaro had a good idea here. Had the series lasted, it might have developed into something very interesting. But, as it ended up, it's an unfortunate misfire.

Sodaro's stories are well-plotted and nicely paced, making good use of their limited page counts. Each story is essentially self-contained and more-or-less satisfying. Characterizations are also fairly deftly established and well-realized, considering the relative brevity of the stories. Unfortunately, his dialogue is frequently clunky and the narrative captions stilted; he also has an annoying fondness for ending captions with ellipses... which often make it feel... like the narrators... are having difficulty.... maintaining their... trains of thought.

The pencilling by Dell Barras is good, solid, professional work. However, I've always felt that his characters have a certain generic quality to them, lacking distinctive features or personality, and that's the case here as well. The inking on the first two issues is fine, while the third issue looks sloppy and rushed. Throughout, though, the art looks like it was intended to be colored, with open, airy linework reminiscent of the era's super hero books.

The covers are just bland, with unexciting layouts, drab colors, and an amateurish, uninspired logo that does nothing to convey what the book is about nor "sell" the product.

Unfortunately, it just feels as if no one involved was really up to meeting the challenge of the book's intriguing premise. There's a lot of possible reasons for this; creating a black & white title for a small press publisher with limited resources can result in a lot of compromises – believe me, I've been there. Artists often cannot afford to commit the necessary time, inkers and letterers bail out, and editors/publishers can become apathetic. One gets the impression reading these issues that all that may have occurred, and more.

Nonetheless, what counts is the final product, and ultimately, Agent Unknown is almost worse than bad – it's mediocre.

Two out of Six Bullets.