Spy Seal, Vol. 1: The Corten-Steel Phoenix

by Rich Tommaso

Journey into the thrilling world of international espionage as one of Britain's most covert MI-6 divisions, the Nest, recruits a brand-new secret agent to their team: Spy Seal! Follow the newbie spy and his furry colleagues on exciting train rides, high-speed car chases, high-flying air adventures, and down secret underground tunnels, all in an effort to hunt down a dangerous British-turned-Soviet double agent—a slippery spy who poses as an upscale art dealer while covertly killing off important figures of Parliament. What is the reasoning behind this double agent's terrorist actions? Why are three masked bunny rabbits vandalizing paintings at every London gallery? And just what is this elusive Corten-Steel Phoenix anyway? Check out this deluxe format edition to decipher the answers to these and other puzzling questions in RICH TOMMASO's (SHE WOLF) latest series, visually reminiscent of such classic comics as The Adventures of Tintin and Usagi Yojimbo.

Collects SPY SEAL #1-4

Genres: Comics, Graphic Novels, Comic Book, Graphic Novels Comics, Mystery, Adventure, Espionage

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 24, 2018

About the author

Rich Tommaso is an American comic book artist.

He studied comics at the Joe Kubert Art School, but dropped out after the end of his first year.

He then spent many years making pizza while working on his art projects.

His first comic book was published in 1997 by Fantagraphics, and he subsequently produced numerous works published by Dark Horse.

Reviews

[Donovan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mildly interesting, but the blasé cliché spy character brings nothing fresh to the genre. This feels like “spy satire” but isn’t.

[Brent · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a fun mix of anthropomorphic cartoon critters, Tintin style adventure, and international spy fiction. The European album style layout and publication presentation really succeeds.
Tommaso is a fine Atlanta comics artist near here. I borrowed this fine Image Comics publication from Atlanta-Fulton Public Library, Ponce DeLeon Branch, a gift (noted with an ink stamp that bleeds onto the ink art) "From the Friends of the Ponce Library." My thanks.
Most here is for all ages.
Recommended.

[Alex Sarll]

Yes, it does exactly what it says on the tin; a seal who's a spy, albeit not a very good one as yet (for reasons unrelated to being a seal). Tommaso here resurrected a character he's been doodling for many years, to general acclaim; I have my usual disconnect from comics set in a world recognisable as ours, realistic enough to have not just revolutionaries but tankies, yet inhabited by anthropomorphic animals. Still, the Tintin-styled art (and plot, for that matter) do make for some lovely landscapes.

(Edelweiss ARC)

[Ricky Vigil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The art is fantastic! The linework is very clean, the color palette is perfectly selected, and I love the general style Tommaso's anthropomorphized characters.
As other reviews have stated, the narrative is somewhat choppy in parts--there are a few moments in the book that I thought would be explained in later pages, but they never are--and the characters have very little depth. Still, I'm invested enough to give this series one more shot.

[Zack! Empire · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this! The artwork and the color is so great. The story is a bit silly, but it's a great way to spend a half hour.
I'm really happy that Image Comics decided to publish this in the European Album sized format. It goes great with the story and art style.
I would definitely pick up a second volume.

[Nikki in Niagara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just one look at the cover tells you how Herge-esque the art is in this book. A spy story set during the cold war with all the characters being animals. Malcolm is a seal and the newest MI-6 recruit; this is his first mission. Entertaining juvenalia which while not exciting held my attention.

[Rumi Bossche · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice short spy story in the style of the Herge Tintin comics, with some very nice humor like a Wes Anderson movie, also its pretty damn cool that Rich Tommasso did everything on this book, the colors the lettering, the story. everything. really dig that.

[Kamakana · Rating 4 out of 5]

210313: art is what makes this. tintin ligne claire, Cold War espionage, easy reading, lots of dialog, action, adventure. i want to read more of spy seal...

[Alexia · Rating 2 out of 5]

WOW this was not good. Incoherent at several points. I’d be shocked if this passed under the eyes of an editor. Not charming enough to be worthwhile

[crowsden · Rating 2 out of 5]

Goofy spy fun à la Tin Tin and James Bond.

[Andy Grabia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story took some odd leaps that made me feel like pages were missing from the book. Too bad, as it was otherwise quite enjoyable.

[Aditya · Rating 3 out of 5]

This comic is sure to attract many Hergé lovers, and Tommaso pays homage to him quite a bit, from the ligne claire art style to the general adventurous spirit of of the main character who's reminiscent of Tintin. That said, the latter stages of this volume felt like they were ripped straight out of The Black Island which soured my opinion of the work a little.

More broadly, I thought this was a pretty pleasant read, although the dialogue seemed a little laboured at times. Instead it's the overarching plot where were Spy Seal's main strength lies, with the story staying compelling and fast paced throughout. Although I wasn't hugely impressed, I'm probably going to keep an eye out for any future installations because I suspect there's still the potential that this comic can forge a unique and interesting take take on the whole spy genre, although in this case it was pretty generic.

[Katie Cat Books · Rating 2 out of 5]

Political. Adult. Disconnects.

Story: Our story begins with Malcolm the seal and Sylvia the bird discussing world politics and visiting an art gallery, which leads to Malcolm becoming a British spy and going on a spy adventure.

Language: Based on themes and sexual references, this is aimed at adults, despite the Tintin looking cover. Overly filled with stereotypes of all sorts and attempts at dry humour, it ends up just falling flat. The pacing is also really strange as action sequences are condensed into just a few frames, sometimes making it unclear as to what is even going on.

Characters: Each of the characters is an animal and for the most part irrelevant as to what animal. There's a huge disconnect as characters from the beginning just disappear while dozens of new ones show up for just a page or two. Also all the women look like drag queens.

I picked this up as its categorized in many places as a middle grade graphic novel, but instead it's just a poorly done adult graphic novel.

[Dakota Morgan · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think Spy Seal suffers from high expectations on my part. As an avid Tintin fan, I saw the format (extra large, extra slim book full of clean linework and flat colors) and was immediately on board for whatever. Unfortunately, "whatever" wasn't all that great.

Spy Seal is about a seal who gets caught up in some sort of criminal conspiracy revolving around...well, at least in part around the phoenix of the title, although that phoenix barely comes up. I can't say for certain what the criminals are doing or why. Spy Seal suffers from an extreme lack of explanation. Often, scenes end abruptly, as if pages or panels are missing. And the humor is weird, to say the least. It's like if Wes Anderson was hornier.

All that said, the Herge-esque art certainly is pleasant to admire. Just don't bother trying to follow along with the story.

[Blaine McGaffigan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rich Tomasso’s “Spy Seal” is an homage to Tintin comics that is pretty to look at but doesn’t quite work on a character level.

The main character is learning to become a spy and works with a ton of new animals throughout the book. His relationships with the multitude of characters introduced is confusing. He has adventures, but there is no double-cross, no reveal, or any other plot point that makes this a great spy story.

The art is fantastic. I could look at the smooth linework and rich color palette all day long.

I’m eager to see where this book goes from here.

[David Miller · Rating 3 out of 5]

The fantasyland of cold war espionage games is ever fertile for storytelling, and anthropomorphic animal societies are a comics classic. That basic combination has been explored before, and I found that Spy Seal delivers on its premise, but ultimately plays things a little too straight to be thoroughly exciting.

The art is charming and easy to follow, and the action is well paced for a spy adventure. I'm not sure that I was a huge fan of its style, but I did enjoy the color scheme in particular.

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Three and a half stars. This is a fairly enjoyable romp, with a naive spy dumped into the deep end of solving international espionage cases. The story seemed to jump about wildly near the end, which is too sudden and clearly set up for sequels - although as the hawk is as drop-dead sexy as the seal hero says, that may be no bad thing. (And if that sentence never sounded like making sense to you, this may not be a book to your taste.)

[Ben · Rating 2 out of 5]

An anthropomorphic seal becomes a spy in an unmistakably Tintin-esque adventure. I would probably give another volume in this series a chance, but it didn't blow me away. The art is great and very "Hergé", and the concept itself is interesting. The execution was just OK, the plot was average, and the overall effect, for me, was a wistful pining for an actual Tintin escapade that I've probably read 30 times over.

[Paul Allard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Old-fashioned Cold War spy tale – quite good

This comic collection deals with anthromorphised spies (all different animals) involved in Cold War espionage occurrences. It's a bit wordy – lots of explanations and long dialogues which aren't easy to read in the digital edition. There's plenty of action and it's very reminiscent of (and obviously a tribute to) Hergé's work in Tintin and other stories. There are many references to this throughout. It's quite fun and worth a look.

[Sem · Rating 4 out of 5]

God bless Rich Tommaso and his insane, passionate pursuit to cover every single freaking genre out there. Sometimes all in one book (She-Wolf), sometimes separately, like in this spy spoof/homage/whatever this is. It's fun enough and the art is great, so if you're not yet fed up with the secret agent fare, check it out.

[Sean Kottke · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a pure delight. It carves out a lovely aesthetic space between Tintin, Blacksad, James Bond, Wes Anderson films, and Sally Cruikshank cartoons. There are a couple of places where it feels like a page or a few panels are missing to initiate changes in scene and resolve cliffhangers. I look forward to following more Spy Seal adventures. As a comic written and illustrated by the same person, this fulfills one more plank of the Read Harder 2018 challenge.

[Paul Ocone · Rating 2 out of 5]

Borrows imagery and style from Tintin, but this comic is nowhere near as good as Tintin is. I was especially unimpressed by the writing, which includes jarringly unnatural dialogue. As for the art: the color palette and linework and backgrounds are pleasing enough, but are not enough to save the writing.

[Jeff Lewonczyk · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very pleasant diversion - a popcorn comic. Tomasso's artwork and storytelling is a direct homage to Herge - some panels even mimic iconic Tintin images - but the more grown-up tone and winking anthropomorphic riffs on Cold-War iconography are distinctly his own. It's pure fluff, but very attractive to look at and the perfect material to while away a sick afternoon at home.

[J MaK · Rating 3 out of 5]

(3.0) This book carries the feel of an old-school espionage thriller, which gives it a nostalgic edge even if the plot itself isn’t especially gripping. The anthropomorphic characters are a standout feature—quirky and memorable—and they seem intentionally designed to draw readers in and keep the story moving, adding a creative twist that makes the experience worthwhile.

[Samson · Rating 4 out of 5]

this is so, so silly. I loved it. It's basically slightly more mature Tintin with animals. It's so,,, british. I literally have no clue who to recommend this to, and I have no idea why the local library had this, but I'm so glad I read this; it's ridiculous.

why does this eXIST

[Rob · Rating 4 out of 5]

So much fun. The best parts of Tin Tin and James Bond, but, y'know, with talking animals.

[Josh · Rating 3 out of 5]

*Galley received from Image*

Objectively, I feel like this wasn't a great comic. However, it operates with enough ridiculous, self-aware flair that I found myself enjoying the experience anyway.

[Burgerchamp · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great throwback to the great Belgian comics of the 30’s and 40’s. Has kind of a Wes Andersony vibe thrown in. As a huge Tintin fan, can’t wait for more.

[P. · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh.

[Emma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just lovely.