JOHN HAVOC

John Havoc is an agent with Department Q.

That governmental entity is part of the British Intelligence community and a very effective but decidedly not very nice one. When we first get a glimpse of this organization, it is trying its best to hide a mistake made by one of its agents which resulted in a wrecked airplane and numerous fatalities. It was covering up its culpability by throwing all the blame on the pilot and not the real cause, namely mistakenly firing his handgun several times in a pressurized cabin.

The pilot of that doomed aircraft was Havoc and until the lead started to fly in the cabin while he was in the cockpit unaware of the looming gun battle, he was an aviator in very high regard chosen as the man to fly the new Anglo-German supersonic passenger plane. He was known as a steady hand at the controls though one not prone to putting up with bureaucracy, so much so that he ruffled a lot of management feathers. That was likely why, when he was the only survivor, the fine fellows in Department Q figured no one would be too unhappy if he took the fall. They did offer him a check. He tore it up.

It was at that point he decided to snoop into what really happened and got involved in a whole new world. It was also when Department Q, an organization which seems to get nastier and meaner as time goes along, kept coming to Havoc with more threats and more promises to help him recover his good name and get his pilot license back. Does Havoc believe them? Not for a moment. Does he really have much of a choice? Not a bit.

For all the adventures we have of Havoc, and there are quite a few to entertain us, he will be constantly struggling to get a decent life back but each time he takes a step forward, Department Q is there with another need for someone of his skills and tenacity and if pulling him into their project messes up his plans, too bad.

The head of Department Q, a particularly odius fat man with a very wicked imagination and even more diabolical sense of humor, seems to take extreme delight in derailing Havoc at each turn. Even worse, he gets the credit when Havoc, despite everything thrown against him, pulls off the impossible.

The stories of John Havoc are a delight to read and are far more entertaining than most graphic adventures that came before.

First, the artwork is really top-notch. Most of the pages are limited to two large panels which gives the artist room to work. Being in black and white, shading is vital to bring off the correct atmosphere and it is done very well.

Second, the stories are 64 pages long which gives the writer a chance to set up the scenario, find a way for Department Q to inviegle Havoc into the mess, give Havoc the opportunity to grasp what is going on, and then conclude each assignment with intelligence.

Havoc has one major flaw and that he is a good guy. He wants to do good. He wants to live a decent life. He is a perfect sap for a rotten fiend like the Director.

When I read a story, knowing it will not end well for Havoc but still hoping for the best, I know the author/artist has done their jobs well.