Despite the modern trappings of John Le Carré’s The Circus: Losing Control #1, including hackers using sophisticated code to thwart other hackers and retinal identification scanners, the story feels old-fashioned in the best way. Reading this first issue – the first part of a three-part miniseries – felt like diving into a classic James Bond adventure, only the main character of the miniseries is not a masterful secret agent. She’s a member of the Circus, one of Britain’s top spy agencies, who coordinates all activities and information for Control, the agency’s head. Her name’s Maggie Salinger but her official designation in the Circus is Mother, and she’s about to become embroiled in a crisis that will push all her skills in information collection, subversion and detection to the limit.
There are a lot of character introductions and background information given in this debut issue, but writer Matt Kindt deals it out masterfully. You never feel overwhelmed by the information. Maggie narrates the story and not only describes each of the main operatives at Circus, she gives insights into their psychology as well. You know Diana, the Head of Banking? She loves to gossip, so keep quiet around her. Alfred Lerner? That guy is hungry for Control’s job, so he may appear nice but he’ll dagger you in the back if it helps him grab the top spot.
Dark Horse
Watching Maggie move covertly and methodically through this cloak-and-dagger world is delightful. No AI or modern computers will ever equal human intuition and experience, and she’s living proof of that as she looks for clues to Control’s fate while keeping up appearances that everything’s normal.
And there are lots of clues! From a cell phone with the word “Don’t” already typed into a message to a missing babysitter, it all points in an ominous direction that would even strain the deductive limits of Mr. Holmes and Watson and points to levels that are way beyond Maggie’s pay grade.
Artists Ibrahim Moustafa and Brad Simpson bring this shadowy world to life, imbuing personality into all the characters and upping the paranoia level by making even the most innocuous areas seem malevolent.
Maggie’s greatest strength is her ability to instantly sum people up, and though the bulk of the issue is spent with introductions and her search for Control (why hasn’t he reached out to her this morning and why isn’t he in his office?), it’s fascinating watching her work, in some cases using her eccentricities (including her OCD-like need to always sanitize her hands) to elude suspicion and dodge danger.
If you’re a fan of Jason Bourne/James Bond-style stories, pick up this first issue. It plunges you into a world of intrigue akin to those franchises with wonderfully clever and eccentric heroine Maggie Salinger.
You must be logged in to post a comment.