Category Archives: SPYCRAFT & WARFARE

On John le Carré’s non-Circus novels

Posted on September 24, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

Earlier this year, I discussed John le Carré’s Circus novels as the perfect counterpoint to the James Bond branch of spy fiction. Yet there is much more to le Carré’s writing, which has taken this genre into all sorts of … Continue reading →

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COMICS CAN BE AWESOME (30 March 2020)

Posted on March 30, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

Media and politicians continue to refer to the ongoing pandemic as a ‘war,’ but I have some issues with that metaphor. It’s the kind of jingoistic language that is used to exclude any possibility of critical dissent, to exacerbate xenophobic … Continue reading →

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On World War II adventure movies

Posted on March 26, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

Writing about The Unknown Soldier last week made me think that I should expand a bit more on the specific genre that is World War II adventure. In fact, I want to go straight to the source and actually talk … Continue reading →

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Spotlight on The Unknown Soldier, 1977-1980

Posted on March 18, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

When I last wrote about The Unknown Soldier – DC’s cult comic about the top US secret agent in World War II – I mentioned how David Michelinie briefly turned the series into a vicious anti-war parable, casting the hero … Continue reading →

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On John le Carré’s Circus novels

Posted on January 29, 2020 by I.M. Baytor

I won’t drift too far away and too often, but this year I want to widen the blog’s scope every once in a while. With that in mind, let’s shift gears for a bit and talk about John le Carré’s … Continue reading →

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Spotlight on Fury: My War Gone By

Posted on November 26, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

2012’s limited series Fury: My War Gone By is the kind of idiosyncratic, fascinating beast you get in the field of comics, bizarrely merging auteurism-ran-loose with a popular corporate franchise in the form of provocative historical fiction. It’s not just … Continue reading →

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Spotlight on Fury: Peacemaker

Posted on July 30, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

We kicked off this year’s Spy Fiction Month with a comic set in World War II and we’ll finish with one as well. Like I mentioned last week, in 2001 Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson reinvented Marvel’s war-hero-turned-super-spy Nick Fury … Continue reading →

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Spotlight on Fury MAX

Posted on July 24, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

Way before Samuel L. Jackson embodied the role, Colonel Nick Fury was already a household name for Marvel fans, having starred in a string of seminal psychedelic spy comics by Jack Kirby and Jim Steranko back in the 1960s… Strange … Continue reading →

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A couple of excellent spy novels

Posted on July 17, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

Shifting gears for a bit, today let’s talk about a couple of cool books without drawings that came out almost a decade ago… OUR KIND OF TRAITOR (John le Carré, 2010) “At seven o’clock of a Caribbean morning, on the … Continue reading →

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Spotlight on The Unknown Soldier, 1975-1976

Posted on July 10, 2019 by I.M. Baytor

In the early 1970s, the Unknown Soldier feature of Star Spangled War Stories told exciting spy adventures set in World War II, starring a disfigured operative turned master-of-disguise who undertook secret missions under direct orders from Washington. As I explained … Continue reading →

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