By Vance & Van Hamme
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 978-1-84918-058-0
The creators' aim of building tension and drama through the mysterious circumstances of XIII's amnesia, not to mention the different themes of the three books prior to this, have been entertaining but full to over-flowing with plot details, characters and settings. Suffice to say that you'd be forgiven if it was becoming hard to keep track of who was who, where it happened and when. In this fourth book, SPADS, Vance and Van Hamme offer a brief re-capping of the story and then pull those story threads together to create a bigger picture and focus the reader's interest.
XIII, now under the identity of Ross Tanner, has been sent by General Carrington to join the SPADS (Special Assault and Destruction Squads). The aim is to find out more about Captain Rowland, XIII's previous identity and somebody somehow connected to his own past. XIII has to hold his own amongst this elite group of soldiers, find answers, and take on the forceful and arrogant figure of Quinn. Back in Washington the group looking into XIII's involvement with the presidential assassination are making progress, but the information that emerges casts suspicions on some those involved in that very investigation.
As with the previous three books, the storytelling is excellent and the artwork a pleasure to take in. It was wise to draw together what has happened in the previous volumes, but it's been done without frustrating repetition whilst still moving the story forwards. Vance seems more than capable in illustrating whatever situation Van Hamme throws at him, which really helps ground the book in its setting. What is becoming abundantly clear is why this was such a big hit across Europe.
And if you liked that: Volume 5 is just around the corner
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