By Jigounov & Sente
Publisher: Cinebook
ISBN: 9781849183017
Trapped in Afghanistan, and seemingly outmanoeuvred and manipulated by unknown forces, our small band of heroes are held captive between a strange alliance between some renegade US officers and the Taliban. After a brutal display of just how far their keepers are willing to go to secure compliance, Jason, or XIII, consents to being smuggled back in to the US.
The only wild card at present appears to be Betty, rooting around in San Francisco for a lead from an old acquaintance of Jason. Unfortunately, despite her SPAD training giving her an edge, Betty’s being tracked via her credit card. Meanwhile Jason is forced to undergo a further memory-recovering procedure, but not before he’s told of his family’s part in a historical pact made with the Pilgrim Fathers. Unknowingly for Jason, the regression reveals enough to force him onto a collision course with Betty.
As a writer, Van Hamme must be one of the toughest acts to follow, and yet Sente keeps the plot thrumming and mystery turning that upholds the spirit of the original books. The plot, with its tendrils reaching so far back in time, is legitimised by the basic instincts of greed and self-preservation, balancing the fanciful with a hunger for power and control, and all the time further fleshing out the awkward childhood and troubled adulthood of the man who becomes XIII.
Also, a tip of the hat to Jigounov who has taken over the art duties on the XIII series. He does a remarkable job of mirroring Vance’s style and layouts to be almost seamless. A different art style would most certainly have made these new books feel like a separate series rather than the fluid continuation that they’ve become.
And if you liked that: See all the XIII books over at www.cinebook.com
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