I’ve been wanting to read this since binging all three series of The Sandbaggers, since I’ve seen it repeatedly referred to as a spiritual sequel. They weren’t kidding—the first story arc feels like a remix of the show!

The third story arc was the least interesting to me (and probably the reason this didn’t get full marks). The first two deal with the cynicism of espionage and the brokenness of spies in the way I expected the series would, whereas the third arc felt more like a traditional spy story with maybe some furniture moving for future arcs.

The changing art from arc to arc was interesting. I liked all of it, and I’m glad for the character portraits at the beginning of each one. That said, I preferred some to others—Leandro Fernández’s exaggerated art of the third arc was mostly interesting except for the exaggerated bust it gave the main character. Steve Rolston’s work on the first arc is probably my favorite, though Tim Sale’s cover illustration is amazing, too.

• Queen & Country
• Greg Rucka
• The Sandbaggers
• spy fiction
• comics
• Leandro Fernández
• Tim Sale