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The Illegitimates #1-6
The Illegitimates
Jack Steele: World renowned agent of Olympus, super-spy, debonair, lover of ladies, man-slut.
While facing off with his arch-nemesis, Viktor Dannikor, Steele faces his biggest defeat, but who will take his place? Olympus scrambles to find not one, but five newbie agents to fill the void and, unbeknownst to them, they share a common thread.
Can these five strangers embrace their fates and come together to save the world? They are THE ILLEGITIMATES! And if you called them bastards.... you'd be absolutely right!
While facing off with his arch-nemesis, Viktor Dannikor, Steele faces his biggest defeat, but who will take his place? Olympus scrambles to find not one, but five newbie agents to fill the void and, unbeknownst to them, they share a common thread.
Can these five strangers embrace their fates and come together to save the world? They are THE ILLEGITIMATES! And if you called them bastards.... you'd be absolutely right!
- GenresComicsGraphic Novels
132 pages, Hardcover
First published September 2, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 22 of 22 reviews
October 20, 2015
Superspy James Bond...eh I mean Jack Steele dies and it's up to his five Illegitimate children to take his place, save the world and revenge his death on Dannikor, his arch nemesis.
This volume covers all 6 issues and since it’s only 132 pages is it a quick read. It was ok to read, not amazing, but since I’ve grown up watching James Bond movies was it fun to read a comic that is without a doubt a parody of James Bond. Just think about it, what if Pussy Galore, Mary Goodnight, Honey Ryder, Natalya Simonova and Christmas Jones had gotten pregnant and the children team up together after James Bonds death. What a movie…hahaha
Anyway, if you like James Bond and you like comics then you will like this one, the plot is simple, and the ending is actually startling and a bit sad which surprised me because the rest of the volume didn’t feel that serious.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
This volume covers all 6 issues and since it’s only 132 pages is it a quick read. It was ok to read, not amazing, but since I’ve grown up watching James Bond movies was it fun to read a comic that is without a doubt a parody of James Bond. Just think about it, what if Pussy Galore, Mary Goodnight, Honey Ryder, Natalya Simonova and Christmas Jones had gotten pregnant and the children team up together after James Bonds death. What a movie…hahaha
Anyway, if you like James Bond and you like comics then you will like this one, the plot is simple, and the ending is actually startling and a bit sad which surprised me because the rest of the volume didn’t feel that serious.
Thank you Netgalley for providing me with a free copy for an honest review!
April 29, 2019
It starts badly. That art is bad. That dialogue? Bad. It never really got any better for me...some of the characters looked like they were traced over (like the blonde, in the beginning, looked like Harley Quinn).
October 25, 2019
An unoriginal idea gets a flashy update that is a virtual speed read. The book is all art. There is very little exposition but its not without its merits. Killam and Andreyko don't break the mold but its mindless fun. Kevin Sharpe does some really nice work but there are some oddly gruesome panels. Overall, a decent way to kill half an hour.
June 3, 2022
Love the premise and would definitely like to see this group have some more adventures.
April 22, 2024
Interesting concept
The multiple illegitimate kids of a James Bond like character all secretly groomed to be super spies. They grow up not knowing each other but must cone together once the learn who their father is and that he is now dead. I cool concept that led to a fun read.
The multiple illegitimate kids of a James Bond like character all secretly groomed to be super spies. They grow up not knowing each other but must cone together once the learn who their father is and that he is now dead. I cool concept that led to a fun read.
June 18, 2014
(ARC given by NetGalley)
The Illegitimates picks up a concept done by the Dynamo 5 series and shifts Superman-proxie to James Bond-proxie: ie. a great superhero\spy die, and to keep the world safe, his wife\handlers round up his sons and daughters who have inherited some of their father's prowess.
Now, this works rather well on superheroes -- superpowers are iffy and god knows how they are transmitted, but I was puzzled by trying to tack this on James Bond, who, for all of his skill, was still a normal human being. Hell, other than his incredible luck, the reason why he was so good at his job was that he had good training and no attachments. Taking a bunch of teens who had mothers and normal families and expect them to perform at the level of a superspy was pushing it a bit too far for me. That and the fact that some of the characters had traits that I don't remember Bond having (like the Brains of the outfit, with eidetic and photographic memory and an IQ off the charts).
My second issue with the book was that the characters were mostly, well, been there, done that and none of them was particularly memorable except for his spy daughter: the brains is the awkward and shy girl, the gunman is a redneck, the latino is hot and fixated on his mother... you get the drill. Why not, then, go for something original? Why not have one of the daughters be a sexy and expert social butterfly -- but who's into women (like her father) and leaves behind strings of spurned female lovers? Or have the brains of the suit be strong, cold, overconfident, and able to read you like Sherlock Holmes? Why do we have to see again the asian who's got ties to the Yazuka and is good with cars\vehicles?
Still, I did enjoy myself reading this, and I believe the next books might actually get better (the final plot twist of who actually betrayed James Bond-proxie was very satisfactory and addressed an earlier complaint about how silly his death was). While I do have my reservations, I'll check the next volumes.
The Illegitimates picks up a concept done by the Dynamo 5 series and shifts Superman-proxie to James Bond-proxie: ie. a great superhero\spy die, and to keep the world safe, his wife\handlers round up his sons and daughters who have inherited some of their father's prowess.
Now, this works rather well on superheroes -- superpowers are iffy and god knows how they are transmitted, but I was puzzled by trying to tack this on James Bond, who, for all of his skill, was still a normal human being. Hell, other than his incredible luck, the reason why he was so good at his job was that he had good training and no attachments. Taking a bunch of teens who had mothers and normal families and expect them to perform at the level of a superspy was pushing it a bit too far for me. That and the fact that some of the characters had traits that I don't remember Bond having (like the Brains of the outfit, with eidetic and photographic memory and an IQ off the charts).
My second issue with the book was that the characters were mostly, well, been there, done that and none of them was particularly memorable except for his spy daughter: the brains is the awkward and shy girl, the gunman is a redneck, the latino is hot and fixated on his mother... you get the drill. Why not, then, go for something original? Why not have one of the daughters be a sexy and expert social butterfly -- but who's into women (like her father) and leaves behind strings of spurned female lovers? Or have the brains of the suit be strong, cold, overconfident, and able to read you like Sherlock Holmes? Why do we have to see again the asian who's got ties to the Yazuka and is good with cars\vehicles?
Still, I did enjoy myself reading this, and I believe the next books might actually get better (the final plot twist of who actually betrayed James Bond-proxie was very satisfactory and addressed an earlier complaint about how silly his death was). While I do have my reservations, I'll check the next volumes.
June 17, 2014
Secret agent Jack Steele is cut from the same cloth as another famous British secret agent -- including all the same proclivities from dueling over-the-top villains with delusions of grandeur to fine single beverages to the latest in high tech gadgets and toys. He's also the same love 'em and leave 'em type of guy -- except that Jack has apparently left a string of illegitimate heirs across the years and world from his globe-trotting, world-saving adventures.
When Jack is killed in action, the British secret service turns to his illegitimate children in the hopes of crafting a team of agents with all the skills that Jack had -- minus, of course, the rampant seduction of every member of the opposite sex who crosses their path. Brought together to fight a threat to world safety and peace, the team isn't necessarily interested in saving the world, at first. Then someone kidnaps their mothers and the team has an incentive to work together and try to find out the mastermind behind the nefarious plot.
Collecting together the first several issues of The Illegitimates, the story told here is largely a throw away Bond-homage until the final two issues when a fairly interesting twist is thrown into things. I won't reveal what it is here because it will ruin a lot of the fun of reading this collection, but I will say that it made me sit up and take notice of this comic collection in a way I hadn't necessarily thought possible based on the first three and a half or so issues. In fact, I'd say those first couple of issues are largely fun, but not necessarily ground breaking with the most fun coming in the flashbacks to Steele and his liaisons with the various mothers of the children.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
When Jack is killed in action, the British secret service turns to his illegitimate children in the hopes of crafting a team of agents with all the skills that Jack had -- minus, of course, the rampant seduction of every member of the opposite sex who crosses their path. Brought together to fight a threat to world safety and peace, the team isn't necessarily interested in saving the world, at first. Then someone kidnaps their mothers and the team has an incentive to work together and try to find out the mastermind behind the nefarious plot.
Collecting together the first several issues of The Illegitimates, the story told here is largely a throw away Bond-homage until the final two issues when a fairly interesting twist is thrown into things. I won't reveal what it is here because it will ruin a lot of the fun of reading this collection, but I will say that it made me sit up and take notice of this comic collection in a way I hadn't necessarily thought possible based on the first three and a half or so issues. In fact, I'd say those first couple of issues are largely fun, but not necessarily ground breaking with the most fun coming in the flashbacks to Steele and his liaisons with the various mothers of the children.
In the interest of full disclosure, I received a digital ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 18, 2014
'The Illegitimates' takes an interesting (but done before) premise from the superhero genre and pastes it into the superspy genre. It's not a bad story, but has a weird habit of going way over the top with gore.
The book starts with Olympus super spy Jack Steele, who at the end of a number of his famous missions has a number of dalliances with beautiful women. This is similar to a fictional cinematic British spy. When he dies in an over the top horrific sort of way, his spy agency is left in the lurch. But they have a plan. They've been keeping track of the offspring of Steed's dalliances and a number of them seem to be spy material. While Steed was a superspy, it will take 5 of his children to do his work. Of course, they don't want to work together, but when archenemy Viktor Dannikor plots to destroy the world, they better get their act together to stop him.
This graphic novel has 6 issues, with the possibility of more in the series. At times it rockets along (no pun intended), but it seems to drag a bit in places. Even though it's a retread, I still found it clever, but some of the death scenes seemed overly graphic to me for some reason. I liked it, but just didn't quite love it.
I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors, IDW Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
The book starts with Olympus super spy Jack Steele, who at the end of a number of his famous missions has a number of dalliances with beautiful women. This is similar to a fictional cinematic British spy. When he dies in an over the top horrific sort of way, his spy agency is left in the lurch. But they have a plan. They've been keeping track of the offspring of Steed's dalliances and a number of them seem to be spy material. While Steed was a superspy, it will take 5 of his children to do his work. Of course, they don't want to work together, but when archenemy Viktor Dannikor plots to destroy the world, they better get their act together to stop him.
This graphic novel has 6 issues, with the possibility of more in the series. At times it rockets along (no pun intended), but it seems to drag a bit in places. Even though it's a retread, I still found it clever, but some of the death scenes seemed overly graphic to me for some reason. I liked it, but just didn't quite love it.
I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors, IDW Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
July 3, 2014
The art was good, however, the plot has been used too many times so the beginning of this series suffered for it, at least in my book.
The story starts of showing the escapades of Jack Steele super spy/James bond of his generation. Like any super spy, he liked the ladies had a bunch of affairs and 5 bastard children.
But, what story isn't complete without the super spy having a relationship with his assistant; and if you guessed that she eventually ended knocked up, well you were right, but he persuaded her to have an abortion by arguing that then their relationship would be discovered. Guy should have probably learned how to use a glove, because when she finds out he was having kids left and right and forced her to give up hers, well she helps with early retirement [that scene was so gruesomely drawn]. So, when they announce there's a traitor you immediately know its her.
When the bad guy wants to take over the world, the spy agency recruits the 5 bastards to stop him and they become the new super spies.
This was the first book of what will be a series and for a starter it was good, again plot has been done a million times, but still entertaining. I’m just hating, because I always feel bad for the assistant that was so in love with the douche bag of a spy.
Rating 3.5 out of 5
Read@Book
The story starts of showing the escapades of Jack Steele super spy/James bond of his generation. Like any super spy, he liked the ladies had a bunch of affairs and 5 bastard children.
But, what story isn't complete without the super spy having a relationship with his assistant; and if you guessed that she eventually ended knocked up, well you were right, but he persuaded her to have an abortion by arguing that then their relationship would be discovered. Guy should have probably learned how to use a glove, because when she finds out he was having kids left and right and forced her to give up hers, well she helps with early retirement [that scene was so gruesomely drawn]. So, when they announce there's a traitor you immediately know its her.
When the bad guy wants to take over the world, the spy agency recruits the 5 bastards to stop him and they become the new super spies.
This was the first book of what will be a series and for a starter it was good, again plot has been done a million times, but still entertaining. I’m just hating, because I always feel bad for the assistant that was so in love with the douche bag of a spy.
Rating 3.5 out of 5
Read@Book
August 11, 2016
The Illegitimates is an interesting take on the James Bond spy genre, based on the premise that a guy who has as much unprotected sex as Bond -- or, in this case, Jack Steele -- is likely to have produced at least a few illegitimate offspring.
I found the premise intriguing, but it was a bit too close to the James Bond universe in a few key ways, such that I couldn't read The Illegitimates without constantly comparing it to Bond plots and characters. I probably would have enjoyed it more if it could have stood on its own, without the allusions to Bond. I also didn't enjoy the graphic way in which the violent deaths were depicted; it's not a book I could read while eating.
Note: I received a digital copy of this book through NetGalley.
I found the premise intriguing, but it was a bit too close to the James Bond universe in a few key ways, such that I couldn't read The Illegitimates without constantly comparing it to Bond plots and characters. I probably would have enjoyed it more if it could have stood on its own, without the allusions to Bond. I also didn't enjoy the graphic way in which the violent deaths were depicted; it's not a book I could read while eating.
Note: I received a digital copy of this book through NetGalley.
February 4, 2015
The concept of 'The Illegitimates' sounds fun, and while they get points for having 5 characters who actually have potential (instead of just some DNA), the story is very much one that’s been done before. If they’re going for clichés (which I think they are), they've nailed it.
It adheres to the James-Bond-Style of plot, so prepare to suspend much disbelief. One thing I really liked was the artwork.
We get only basic knowledge about each character, which makes them very one-sided and almost uninteresting. If the characters had a chance to grow and develop this series could have been more interesting, but I guess that's the problem with having 5 "heroes" and only 6 issues.
It's a fun, easy read with a few note-able moments (the demise of Steele & the Secretary's tale); but for me it was let down by the lack of interesting characters.
It adheres to the James-Bond-Style of plot, so prepare to suspend much disbelief. One thing I really liked was the artwork.
We get only basic knowledge about each character, which makes them very one-sided and almost uninteresting. If the characters had a chance to grow and develop this series could have been more interesting, but I guess that's the problem with having 5 "heroes" and only 6 issues.
It's a fun, easy read with a few note-able moments (the demise of Steele & the Secretary's tale); but for me it was let down by the lack of interesting characters.
June 17, 2014
The most super-awesome spy in the world is killed and the super-awesome secret agency he worked for recruits the bastard offspring of his decades of flings to back-fill his job. They're all highly skilled and super sexy (one even looks like a muscled up Taran Killam). And, though they've been kept in the dark about their heritage, they jump right in to the spy game and (spoiler) kill the bad guy.
I thought it was a good spoof on the spy genre. As you might expect with 5 main characters and only 132 pages to work in, the character development is a little light. But, I'm sure there are more volumes in the works that will pick up some of that.
I thought it was a good spoof on the spy genre. As you might expect with 5 main characters and only 132 pages to work in, the character development is a little light. But, I'm sure there are more volumes in the works that will pick up some of that.
July 27, 2014
Sharing perhaps too much DNA with Millar's Secret Service:Kingsman, this book is still a snappy and fun one. With punchy narrative and equally clear artwork, it has a similar weapon, and a similar ethos – spoofing the James Bond shtick by passing it on a generation. Here the Bond-type has naturally produced five unwitting heirs, ignorant all of their true heritage and true abilities. The fact they can't work together properly is a given, but when they do and battle the first global problem of their career for a British/US joint intelligence agency, they provide a brisk read that won't change the earth, but can easily entertain a good proportion of it.
December 11, 2015
*sigh*
I really, really, from a deep, honest and fatherless place wanted to love this.
I am here fully for all the illegitimates. Not knowing many children from single parent homes growing up, I glommed on to them in literature. This book, gave me FIVE of them, and they were all super slick spy types. A pack of bastard children brought together to make a superspy squad.
This book was so corny, so predictable and was too simply written for me. It was cartoonishly gory. Just missed the mark.
*sigh*
Average, like a cup of tea that is just teetering on cold but has just the tiniest bit of heat left in it.
I really, really, from a deep, honest and fatherless place wanted to love this.
I am here fully for all the illegitimates. Not knowing many children from single parent homes growing up, I glommed on to them in literature. This book, gave me FIVE of them, and they were all super slick spy types. A pack of bastard children brought together to make a superspy squad.
This book was so corny, so predictable and was too simply written for me. It was cartoonishly gory. Just missed the mark.
*sigh*
Average, like a cup of tea that is just teetering on cold but has just the tiniest bit of heat left in it.
July 23, 2014
Take Jack Steele (think James Bond under a different name), add in a woman spurned and a nasty villain and you get one dead agent. However, Jack had left a legacy - 5 children by 5 different mothers who had each been raised and unknowingly been trained by Olympus. Naturally, Olympus brings the five together to stop the evil mastermind's plot. The fun is in watching the interaction, the wackiness of over-the-top spy tales portrayed in small panels rather than big screens. It will be interesting to see how the writers/artists can top this tale. Enjoy if you like Bond, Flint, or Matt Helm!
August 7, 2014
This was a fun, quick read satire on the James Bond super spy genre. Here, our intrepid her Mr. Bond, I mean Jack Steele dies, having left behind five offspring from various flings around the globe (usually at the end of each picture but Jack may have moved quicker than James). The spy agency brings the five in for training and sends them off together on a mission, Naturally, they don't know the true relationship with each other. General 60s spy stuff and hilarity ensue.
The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
The publisher provided a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 12, 2014
It has some promise as a twist on the James Bond-type super spy, but I couldn't really get past the premise. It feels too contrived, too tongue in cheek, and goes on the shelf of "not for me." That being said, I feel a 3-star rating is in order because it's not bad--the writing and drawing have potential, the story could go interesting places. It's not bad, but it's not my cup of tea.
June 13, 2014
I found the premise of Taran Killiam's The Illegitimates to be pretty cool: a James Bond type super spy gets offed, so his bosses call upon his five bastard children (each conveniently of a different ethnicity so as to make this all P.C. and unified or whatever) to form a team of super-spies.
July 15, 2014
Note: I received this as a NetGalley ARC.
This comic was, well, just sort of...meh. I like the concept of superspy Jack Steele's illegitimate children taking his place, but the storyline was fairly weak. The comic has promise though.
This comic was, well, just sort of...meh. I like the concept of superspy Jack Steele's illegitimate children taking his place, but the storyline was fairly weak. The comic has promise though.
May 1, 2016
Have you ever stopped to wonder if a certain international super-spy’s fondness for women ever had… consequences? If, perhaps, his wandering ways had left their mark on the world?...
Full review available at http://noflyingnotights.com/2016/02/2...
Full review available at http://noflyingnotights.com/2016/02/2...
April 2, 2016
It's a straight up what if James Bond had a bunch of kids and they later are needed for a James Bond type mission.
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