Top Secret

XIII #14

by Jean Van Hamme, William Vance (Illustrator)

The Mongoose is dead. So is Number I. But, since he was the President of the United States, XIII s friends are all on the run again. McLane, though, has been arrested, and he s being judged in secret by the heads of the American intelligence community. Sentenced to life in a secret prison, he has no illusions that he ll ever reach it. The ruthlessness of the NSA Director proves him right but he s not the only one who wants XIII dead.

Genres: Bande Dessinée, Comics, Adventure, Fiction, Crime, Graphic Novels, Thriller

48 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2000

About the author

Jean Van Hamme, is a Belgian novelist and comic book writer. He has written scripts for a number of Belgian/French comic series, including Histoire sans héros, Thorgal, XIII, Blake and Mortimer, Lady S and Largo Winch.

More on the brilliant, Jean Van Hamme:
http://lambiek.net/artists/v/van-hamm...

Reviews

[Chad]

XIII is saddled with yet another former identity as charges are trumped up in a secret kangaroo court over the death of the President. I'm not sure why Van Hamme keeps going back to the well of, "No, this isn't who XIII is, it's this person." It's to the point where it's just silly now rather than a revelation. Then half way through this turns into Van Hamme's version of The Most Dangerous Game and that's where the book gets fun again.

[Zare]

Having been sentenced for actions in previous volume (in other words for being the witness) XIII is saved from getting murdered by government when another team crashes the party, kills everyone and hijacks the XIII.

Although they saved XIII this party has agenda of its own and not necessarily one that will benefit our hero.

Excellent story ends with dramatic cliffhanger.

Highly recommended to all thriller fans and [of course] fans of XIII adventures.

[Vincent Riopel]

Une relance de l’intérêt après les tomes de l’Enquête qui avaient ralenti mon rythme. Retrouver une BD plus classique fait du bien et redonne envie de replonger dans l’univers de XIII. Cela dit, ce n’est pas mon tome préféré : j’ai eu l’impression que certaines intrigues étaient un peu forcées, comme si on cherchait à relancer artificiellement l’histoire avec de nouveaux éléments. Le ton m’a semblé différent, presque comme une tentative plus expérimentale, notamment avec une dynamique de chasse à l’homme moins ancrée dans ce qui faisait la force des premiers tomes. Malgré tout, ça reste agréable à lire, bien dessiné et efficace. J’espère simplement retrouver davantage l’essence des douze premiers tomes dans la suite.

[Cass]

3,5

[Bradhernandez]

XIII is captured by a group of privateer assassins who operate out of a modified container ship. Since mongoose is dead, the group is now run by Irina Svetlanova, a psychopathic lesbian assassin who sends her lover, a corrupt NSA agent to seduce and kill XIII. A manhunt though northern California ensues but XIII escapes

[Saoirse]

Encore un tome plein de rebondissements. Gros suspense à la fin, j’ai hâte de lire le prochain.

[Gorka Larrañeta]

Nuevo arco, nueva identidad. Blanco humano, lesbian chic killers, desvergüenza máxima.Y que dure!

[Timothy]

Wrong Name listed for 1572582340

[Glamdring]

Even though the story could have been finished with the thirteenth volume, it's still pretty well written.