Codename: Action #1

Set during the Cold War, the first issue of the new six-issue mini-series from writer Chris Roberson and artist Jonathan Lau is an old James Bond-style spy thriller. Codename: Action #1 introduces us to newly appointed Operative 1001 who will work with the much more seasoned Operator 5 to stop a hidden force pushing the world to the brink of World War III by replacing influential figures on both sides of the Iron Curtain with doppelgangers determined for war.

Codename: Action #1 works as a spy thriller, although I'm not sure how the super-hero element (such as introducing Captain Action at the end of this issue) is going to work without changing the tone of the mini-series.

I have mixed feelings about Jonathan Lau's art, but the action scenes definitely have a spy flavor to them and work better than the less action-packed panels. With Operative 1001's graduation assignment, the car chase, and an aerial training manuever by a bevy of French female spies, there's plenty of action for a comic with the word in its title. Worth a look.

[Dynamite Entertainment, $3.99]