Review of "Modesty Blaise: The Jericho Caper, The Killing Ground, Bad Suki," by Peter O’Donnell and Jim Holdaway

Review of

Modesty Blaise: The Jericho Caper, The Killing Ground, Bad Suki, by Peter O’Donnell and Jim Holdaway


Five out of five stars

Modesty and Willie battle evil once again

 There are three distinct stories in this collection, all are excellent and demonstrate Modesty and Willie at their do-gooding and ferocious best. The first is called “The Jericho Caper” and it has Modesty in a Central American village enjoying a peaceful respite. When armed men come and rob the store and take three young women back with them, Modesty is prompted to action. She summons Willie and together they travel to the camp of the men and free the women and replace the leader of the men. They use subterfuge as well as plenty of deadly force. They are truly a two-person army.

 The second story is “The Killing Ground,” and it opens with Modesty and Willing being tied up on a boat. An old adversary is going to release them on an island and then have his team of hired killers track them down and kill them. The deck is even further stacked against them, the supplies and equipment they were given are all sabotaged. However, this is of course Modesty and Willie, so one-by-one they defeat their opponents and win the day.

 The third story, “Bad Suki,” is the best of the three. It opens with Willie saving the life of a young woman that is high on drugs. With nowhere else to go, he takes her to Modesty’s place, and she cleans her up and puts her to bed. The woman is angry and resentful and stomps away. This is the opening where Modesty and Willie take on a ruthless drug gang. Unlike many of their other actions, there is no quarter given by Modesty and Willie, although they must escape from a Houdini-like deathtrap. It shows Modesty and Willie at their idealistic best, risking their lives to defeat a gang that they detest, making the fight against drugs personal.

 There is no better fighting team than Modesty and Willie, and in many ways the strip was ahead of its time. For Modesty is not only a great fighter, she is also the undisputed leader of the team, commanding great respect from all that know her.