Super Spy is 52 interwoven short stories about cyanide, pen-guns, heartbreak and betrayal. Each story follows the life of a spy during World War II...
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Mar 16, 2009
Amanda
rated it: 
First, Kindt's artwork is stunning and Super Spy would be worth reading for the art alone. Luckily, the story is intriguing and told masterfully. I nearly gave this five stars, and if I reread it (which I want to already) I might.
Super Spy is set in World War II, late in the war and mostly in Europe, and explores espionage and the relationships of and between a collection of spies. A series of smaller, interconnected stories are presented deliberately non-linear, forcing the reader t More...
Super Spy is set in World War II, late in the war and mostly in Europe, and explores espionage and the relationships of and between a collection of spies. A series of smaller, interconnected stories are presented deliberately non-linear, forcing the reader t More...
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Dec 22, 2008
Heidi
rated it: 
I love that with graphic design books you really can judge a book by the cover. Although in the case of this cover, I was led to believe it was a little more light than it actually was. I thought it probably was Nancy Drew type "Super Spy" not spies killing other spies. The illustrations were really powerful but I would have enjoyed a verbal introduction to the story. After reading it I was left wanting to know more.....were the stories were based on truth, why did he choose the subj
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Dec 01, 2008
Marissa
rated it:
I had a migraine when I read this comic book and so I admittedly didn't pay it the careful attention the interweaving stories really require. This comic about spies is fittingly constructed like a puzzle, with a lot of interlocking pieces that the reader has to slowly put together by paying close attention to small details and keeping a lot of different characters straight. It's a fantastic concept and it's pretty amazing in it's execution from a narrative standpoint. My main criticism is that i
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Jan 01, 2011
Joseph
rated it:
Matt Kindt's graphic novel Super Spy takes a collection of classic characters and presents a complex story of interwoven lives, loves, and betrayals during a time of war. His characters become so real that the reader easily forgets the story is fiction. The daily lives of the agents and double agents balance the mundane and the spectacular so beautifully that hanging the laundry becomes an act of defiance and a tryst with an exotic dancer in Cairo is just part of the job.
Drawn in a be More...
Drawn in a be More...
Jul 30, 2011
Seth
rated it: 
Over the last couple decades it has been a popular ploy in fiction to attempt the creation of a single story through the use of a multitude of narrative points. Novels will set forth what seem like a number of unrelated short stories that—only when all finished and seen from the outside—combine to form a single narrative thread. Numerous protagonists will weave in and out of story focus, each propelling the fictive direction according to their own story needs but all the while vector More...
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Nov 29, 2009
Brendan
rated it:
Kindt’s lovely graphic novel approaches spy stories with the alt-comics bent, reminding me a bit of what a spy story might look like if Quentin Tarantino plotted the screenplay, but then Wes Andersen wrote the dialog and the characters. A few extra thoughts:
* Reminds me more of Le Carre than Fleming. These are spies that lament the pressure they must undergo. They’re tired and scared and murdered easily.
* The women get a particularly bum rap in the story, usually hav More...
* Reminds me more of Le Carre than Fleming. These are spies that lament the pressure they must undergo. They’re tired and scared and murdered easily.
* The women get a particularly bum rap in the story, usually hav More...
Oct 12, 2010
Holly
rated it:
Graphic novel set during WWII; interconnecting dossiers about spies working in Europe, the US, and Egypt and the inherent and human conflict between personal choices and those made for their country.
Part mystery (esp wrt identifying the sometimes nameless spies; the reader is actively engaged in what she sees of the character versus what she is told), part spy novel, part metafiction, part romance, the always (somehow) glamorous but tragic lives of several spies overlap in what is le More...
Part mystery (esp wrt identifying the sometimes nameless spies; the reader is actively engaged in what she sees of the character versus what she is told), part spy novel, part metafiction, part romance, the always (somehow) glamorous but tragic lives of several spies overlap in what is le More...
Jun 26, 2009
Raina
rated it: 
I wanted to like this more than I really did. Of course, that may have to do with the fact that I read it after I was supposed to be sleeping when I was sick and stressed. But I couldn't quite make out a lot of the illustrations. I love the idea - weaving various stories of espionage from WWII into one long narrative that connects. But I couldn't make out some of the pictures and thus lost out on some of the story. Also, many of the characters looked the same - which I'm sure is appropriate
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Mar 21, 2009
Janet
rated it:
I've heard good things about this, and I really wish I liked it better, at least enough to finish it. I'm not sure why it's not working for me, though I think it's partly that the style of the artwork doesn't harmonize with the subject matter (for me; of course this is subjective and I'm not the most sophisticated reader of graphic novels so, even more than usual, your mileage may vary). I do like that he gives his own sequence for the stories but also makes it possible for you to read them chro
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Oct 14, 2007
Jeremiah
rated it:
I haven’t read anything by Kindt before, but after reading this I am definitely going looking for his other books. Both art and story were beautiful. This graphic novel is a collection of interlocked stories (not necessarily all told chronologically) that deal with espionage during WWII. Kindt focuses on the missions, the people undertaking them, and the toll the job takes on the individual, their family and the bigger picture and not (usually) the glorious Bondian action it insinuates. Paths cr
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Oct 02, 2007
Eric
rated it:
I dug this. It's an effective use of a fun trend in recent comics—the series of short stories done in pastiches of various styles, that all turn out to interconnect and form one larger story. (Dan Clowes' recent stuff (Ice Haven and Death Ray) is probably the best example of this.) Interesting to see that approach applied to a different kind of story. It manages to encompass a number of different takes on the spy theme, from espionage as workaday drudgery to a Mata Hari riff to a parodic take on
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Jun 01, 2010
Molly
rated it:
This was excellent. Spies, nazis, love affairs, etc. It was tricky, though- the stories were non-linear, so after I read it, I went back and re-read the whole thing in what I gathered was the chronological order. It helped- as I read, I did not realize how much the stories were inter-related, so the second time through was one of those 'Ohhh! now I get it' types of deals. Although some of the stories still don't make 100% sense to me... but that's kind of the nature of spy stories, isn't it?
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Oct 24, 2009
George
rated it:
Surprisingly good:- surprising because the overall approach is rather kitsch and sometimes much too like the old MAD spy-vs-spy. However the artwork is great, the structure and interweaving of storylines is intriguing. My main gripe is that this could have been a really great and powerful book if it had been based on historical fact, with real stories and experiences (and the reality of how brutally spys were treated) rather than this rather lame adventure book style.
Aug 07, 2010
Shawn M.
rated it:
I first read this "book" on long flight to Norway and have been singing its praises ever since. Like very, very few graphic novels before it, Super Spy weaves such delicate and seemingly disparate stories into one cohesive narrative. That someone actually took the time to figure out the 52 (!) storylines tie together in this story is amazing, but that really speaks volumes for the work of Matt Kindt. Great read. Couldn't recommend this any more highly.
Jan 17, 2009
Jessi
rated it:
Saw this on Heidi's list and then at the library so I picked it up. Another fast read... but somewhat hard to follow. The stories seem to be intertwined but there is no coherent time line. I don't mind if stories are jumbled, but I do like to be able to sort them out in my own mind. Couldn't do it with this book. Like Heidi, I found this a little depressing but was overall impressed. Would I read another book by this author? Probably not.
Apr 15, 2008
Michellette
rated it:
This graphic novel follows around the intertwining lives and adventures of several spies during WWII. The chapters, or 'dossiers,' are presented in a seemingly random, non-linear sequence. The drawing of each character is not always consistent, so it's one of those things I'll read over again and probably go 'Oooooooh, so that's who that was...' a couple times. This effect of people not always being who you think they are, or might be, works with the theme of the novel however, as this is the ki
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Dec 23, 2008
Steve
rated it:
Matt Kindt's new book falls in the same vein as his previous work 2 Sisters. On its surface it is an intricately woven tale of spies working in Europe during World War II, but in reality it is about the people themselves more than their vocation, the relationships they form and the hardships they go through.
Mar 23, 2009
all of these graphic novels i'm posting tonight are from GQ's 20 must read graphic novel list (after watchmen).. these are the ones i haven't heard of. i think i've read a bit over half of the list.. anyway, the list is here:
http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing...
enjoy:
http://men.style.com/gq/features/landing...
enjoy:
Jul 29, 2010
Robyn
rated it:
My problem with this book was that there were just too many stories for me to keep up with. I caught some of the connections, but I am sure that I missed several others. The art was beautiful and I really liked a few of the stories, but there was a lot of repetition (spy gets compromised, spy gets killed.) I guess that isn't a lot different than real life espionage, but I still would have liked a bit more intrigue.
Jan 02, 2009
Lidia
rated it:
The art in this is really unique and interesting. The only difficulty was keeping track of the characters in order to make all the connections when the stories start to come together. I'll probably read it again pretty soon in order to get the bigger picture.
Oct 31, 2008
Dave-O
rated it:
What does it mean to be a spy? That is, to make a life out of deception? What toll does it take on your humanity? What Kindt does, rather than add to the heap of spy cliches, is puts a human face on spying.
The result is an original approach to not only to this genre, but of the comic narrative as well. Spy stories loop through each other and back again and the interlocking narratives left me with a stronger idea of wartime psychology and the idea of spying than any host of war movies More...
The result is an original approach to not only to this genre, but of the comic narrative as well. Spy stories loop through each other and back again and the interlocking narratives left me with a stronger idea of wartime psychology and the idea of spying than any host of war movies More...
Aug 25, 2008
emo
rated it:
This one is hard to follow. The art is, well, pretty, which definitly counts for something. It has a wistful quality too. I like how the "cool badass" elements and poetic elements are woven together.
Not a bad start into the illustration of Matt Kindt, but his characters look the same and it's hard to discern them from others unless they have something obvious in their features. And as far as the writing goes, the many characters are sad and reluctant about different things, b More...
Not a bad start into the illustration of Matt Kindt, but his characters look the same and it's hard to discern them from others unless they have something obvious in their features. And as far as the writing goes, the many characters are sad and reluctant about different things, b More...
Feb 12, 2008
Cullen
rated it:
Super Spy is a mammoth graphic novel (336 pages) that illustrates just how powerful comics can be as a storytelling medium. The book follows the lives of all-too-human “super” spies throughout WWII. The stories are touching, thoughtful, and (sometimes) a little grim. While reading, I couldn’t help but feel that I was the spy, peeking in on the secret lives of these desperate men and women as they struggle to live despite the deadly nature of their business. Super Spy is beautifully realized and
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Dec 03, 2008
Meridth
rated it:
This graphic novel does a really excellent job at getting into the psychology of being a spy. How this career choice or lifestyle influences your psyche. It does this by several mini-stories based around WWII. I fully recommend this book to anyone. (I guess not small children.)
Jul 18, 2009
Josh
rated it:
It started as a 3, then went to 4, and by the end I was really impressed. My advice is to pay attention. The little short stories all do matter, and remembering the characters helps.
Jul 07, 2008
Jennifer
rated it:
I think I would have liked this book more if I'd had time to read it in one sitting. The stories shift through time so the story only pieces itself together towards the end. This would have been a neat trick (and I think is a neat trick), but the characters (physically) were not distinguishable enough from one another. After I put the book down and picked it back up, I had to really work hard to figure out who was who again. The time I had to read the last half in one sitting was the best, b
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Jul 26, 2010
Abby
rated it:
This breakthrough work by Matt Kindt tells the stories of ordinary people working as spies in the closing days of World War Two. Readers chase intricately connected vignettes back and forth across time and all over Europe, giving the book an impressive cinematic scope and power. However it is in tracing the personal damage caused by the large and small betrayals of spy work that the book finds an equally involving emotional depth.
Jun 11, 2010
Jenna
rated it:
A fascinating and richly detailed fictional graphic novel about the life of various spies during World War II.
Oct 11, 2010
Tia
rated it:
I never thought another graphic work (apart from Maus) would make it into my Top Tier bookshelf, but holy frijoles. Maybe it's that I'm a sucker for spy stories, or an especial sucker for spy romance, or a super-sucker for works that can knock the wind out of me, but I read this on two plane trips and it made my jaw drop. Spies, intrigue, fantastic drawings, but also history, and real humanity, vulnerability and, most surprising, beauty.
please find yourself a copy of this. if you took More...
please find yourself a copy of this. if you took More...
Mar 08, 2010
Matt
rated it:
Gripping, suspenseful, and heartbreakingly human. Kindt's storytelling is astounding.
