Trust

Justice Inc. #1

by Andy Helfer, Kyle Baker (Illustrator), Bob Lappan (Letterer)

By the time you met him in the pages of THE SHADOW, Richard Benson was an old man still practicing his craft, living off past glories. Now come back to 1948 when Richard Benson was in his prime as the renowned freelance crime fighter, The Avenger, head of the small band of criminologists known as JUSTICE, INC. The Avenger and his cohorts are enlisted by the CIA to infiltrate the upper echelons of the emerging Third World nations and impersonate their leaders. But as is often the case in affairs of intrigue, the circumstances of The Avenger's employ are not what they seem. Richard Benson discovers the truth...and vows to destroy the Agency and all that it stands for.

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Politics

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

Andrew Helfer usually credited as Andy Helfer, is an award-winning comic book creator best known for his work as an editor and writer at DC Comics, where he founded the Paradox Press imprint. Helfer joined DC in the 1980s, and was responsible for placing Keith Giffen and J.M. deMatteis on the Justice League titles; as well, he was the editor for The Man of Steel limited series by John Byrne. He also developed the Max Allan Collins-written series Road to Perdition and the John Wagner-written A History of Violence, both of which became successful films.

Reviews

[Alex Sarll]

Much like X-Man, the Avenger is a great character to be aware of simply to fuck with would-be gatekeepers who are not as fully versed in the deep lore as they think they are. But beyond that, I thought Kyle Baker's cartooning should be an excellent match for the malleable face that allows Richard Benson to impersonate anyone a case might require. To an extent, it is - but most of the time, all the characters' visages are blurred, washed out, the better to bring out the murky world of Cold War espionage in which Benson and his team become mired here. Even if it weren't a prestige format miniseries, everything about this signals it's a late eighties project, part of that era when comics had seen Watchmen and Dark Knight and got carried away with a particular strain of revisionism. Which is to say, Andy Helfer's story is all about taking a character with old-fashioned ideas of right and wrong, then swamping him in shades of grey; his pulp adventures of yore become a fiction within a fiction, his origin story gets sinister new twists. From this distance it feels dated and certainly not essential, but it's far from the worst example of its type.

[Blake · Rating 3 out of 5]

(FYI I tend to only review one book per series, unless I want to change my scoring by 0.50 or more of a star. -- I tend not to read reviews until after I read a book, so I go in with an open mind.)


I'm finally going through my physical tv, film etc. tie in library owned book list, to add more older basic reviews. If I liked a book enough to keep then they are at the least a 3 star.

I'm only adding one book per author and I'm not going to re-read every book to be more accurate, not when I have 1000s of new to me authors to try (I can't say no to free books....)


First time read the author's work?: Yes

Will you be reading more?: Yes

Would you recommend?: Yes


------------
How I rate Stars: 5* = I loved (must read all I can find by the author)
4* = I really enjoyed (got to read all the series and try other books by the author).
3* = I enjoyed (I will continue to read the series)
or
3* = Good book just not my thing (I realised I don't like the genre or picked up a kids book to review in error.)

All of the above scores means I would recommend them!
-
2* = it was okay (I might give the next book in the series a try, to see if that was better IMHO.)
1* = Disliked

Note: adding these basic 'reviews' after finding out that some people see the stars differently than I do - hoping this clarifies how I feel about the book. :-)

[Gonzalo Oyanedel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Los orígenes del justiciero pulp recontados en viñetas por Andrew Helfer y bajo el prisma de la Guerra Fría. Creyendo ser un vengador, Richard Benson se descubre a sí mismo como una marioneta. El apartado gráfico de Kyle Baker es soberbio.

[Reyel2107 · Rating 4 out of 5]

not the shadow but so great !!!!!