Queen & Country: Declassified
Story:
Art:

Written by Greg Rucka
Art by Brian Hurtt
Lettered by John Dranski
Cover by Scott Morse

Notes: Three-issue limited series.

Published by Oni Press.
Price: $2.95 each
My verdict: Good espionage eatin'.

Paul Crocker, head burrito in the regular series, gets a story of his own, back when he was a minder. The year is 1986. He's newly married, he's just gotten back from a job that went bust in Berlin, and he wishes he could have a breather. And if wishes were fishes, we'd all ride, as Ben Grimm once said. He's instead suddenly promoted to being Minder Two (with the demise of Minder One which he's just learned of) and on call to pull a KGB agent out of Prague. Trouble is...he just did this same type of job in Berlin...and botched it.

If there's one thing Rucka can do well (and thankfully, there are many), it's write good spy/espionage stuff. No, I take that back: after reading the last issue of this three-parter, he can write great spy/espionage stuff. And the reason is that you've got lots of good drama to go around. It's not all running about, shooting guns or sneaking in alleys. Just like in the regular series, you've got emotions and excellent characterizations. The job Crocker's there to do is only part of the equation. If you didn't have a character who you actually thought of as a living breathing human being, then none of what happens over the course of this series would make a damn bit of difference.

Also, you've got the art by Hurtt helping out here. On the first read, you don't necessarily walk away with an understanding of how the work helped the series as a whole. This is not Perez or Ross here, where the art leaps off the page and tries to throttle you--no, this is much more subtle. But going back a second read, when the story is already in your head and not encompassing your full attention, that Hurtt has a really good handle on the use of shadows, of "camera" angels, of action shots. Watching a certain character get shot and take a dive off a wall is painful in the extreme, even though it takes place over the course of three short panels. Masterfully done, I must admit.

The Queen and Country (I guess this series makes the thing a franchise now) franchise continues to impress, and frankly, I wouldn't mind a few more spinoffs like this. Hell, bring in different artists and let them take Rucka's words around for a spin or two. I'll bite.

QUOTE: "Come on. I'm not bloody dying in Prague."