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Codename: Action Volume 1
During the height of the Cold War, unknown forces scheme to heat up a global conflict. As key officials on both sides of the Iron Curtain are replaced with doppelgangers, the infiltration threatens to disrupt the precarious state of world affairs. The security of the Free World depends on a young secret agent, one assigned to shape the world's masked heroes into a force with singular purpose and unyielding resolve!
128 pages, Paperback
First published April 15, 2014
1 person is currently reading
13 people want to read
About the author
Chris Roberson
552 books264 followersChris Roberson is the co-creator with artist Michael Allred of iZombie, the basis of the hit CW television series, and the writer of several New York Times best-selling Cinderella miniseries set in the world of Bill Willingham’s Fables. He is also the co-creator of Edison Rex with artist Dennis Culver, and the co-writer of Hellboy and the B.P.R.D, Witchfinder, Rise of the Black Flame, and other titles set in the world of Mike Mignola’s Hellboy. In addition to his numerous comics projects, Roberson has written more than a dozen novels and three dozen short stories. He lives with a teenager, two cats, and far too many books in Portland, Oregon.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 27, 2025
This way to short a mini series for the story that was told using the large number of characters included. Almost all of the Golden Age comic & Pulp characters have barely more than a cameo appearance. The plot was good and the art is well done. Recommended
August 11, 2016
This review originally published in Looking For a Good Book. Rated 3.75/5
Not long ago I reviewed a graphic novel written by Chris Roberson titled Masks, in which some masked crime fighters from the late 1930's worked together. Now, Roberson has stepped in to the future (from the 1930's) to the late-1950's-mid-1960's era. If you think about the fact that masked crime fighters were the popular media figures from the 30's, what might you think of as popular in the late 50's? Action/adventure spies!
Roberson here writes a nice homage to the James Bond era with this book, Codename: Action, complete with sexy femme fatales and numbers instead of names and criminals of the egghead variety on remote islands!
We start with new agent (called "Operatives" or "Operators") 1001 teaming up with legend Operator 5 to figure out who is replacing world leaders with doppelgänger, and why (presumably to start the next world war).
Roberson manages to include The Green Hornet and Kato, as well as a costumed superhero called The American Crusader. Both are very appropriate to this era as The Green Hornet made the cross from the pulps to radio to television, and the costumed superheroes began to make their appearances at about this same time. Together, these three types of crime fighters blend together to create what the superheroes become, a topic which Roberson weaves in to the story superbly.
The artwork by Jonathan Lau is quite nice and captures the mood and style of the period.
And while I like what Roberson has done, creating new-but-recognizable characters and given us a glimpse at how our crime fighters have morphed from one variety in to another, this particular story felt lacking to me. The story got just a little out of control (although, in retrospect, it's still in line with the 'wackiness' of the era and the whole atomic age) as it reached the climax and when it finished I thought..."that's it?" While it clearly opened the door to future stories (or a future series), this was a self-contained, concluding story, which I greatly appreciate.
The book concludes with the script for issue #1 of the Codename: Action comic and a cover gallery and a character guide for the artists. These sorts of bonuses are becoming fairly common in graphic novels.
Looking for a good book? Codename: Action Volume 1 is a solid, steady graphic novel that honors the period of spy movies but doesn't quite rise above the mediocre plotting of those same spy films.
Not long ago I reviewed a graphic novel written by Chris Roberson titled Masks, in which some masked crime fighters from the late 1930's worked together. Now, Roberson has stepped in to the future (from the 1930's) to the late-1950's-mid-1960's era. If you think about the fact that masked crime fighters were the popular media figures from the 30's, what might you think of as popular in the late 50's? Action/adventure spies!
Roberson here writes a nice homage to the James Bond era with this book, Codename: Action, complete with sexy femme fatales and numbers instead of names and criminals of the egghead variety on remote islands!
We start with new agent (called "Operatives" or "Operators") 1001 teaming up with legend Operator 5 to figure out who is replacing world leaders with doppelgänger, and why (presumably to start the next world war).
Roberson manages to include The Green Hornet and Kato, as well as a costumed superhero called The American Crusader. Both are very appropriate to this era as The Green Hornet made the cross from the pulps to radio to television, and the costumed superheroes began to make their appearances at about this same time. Together, these three types of crime fighters blend together to create what the superheroes become, a topic which Roberson weaves in to the story superbly.
The artwork by Jonathan Lau is quite nice and captures the mood and style of the period.
And while I like what Roberson has done, creating new-but-recognizable characters and given us a glimpse at how our crime fighters have morphed from one variety in to another, this particular story felt lacking to me. The story got just a little out of control (although, in retrospect, it's still in line with the 'wackiness' of the era and the whole atomic age) as it reached the climax and when it finished I thought..."that's it?" While it clearly opened the door to future stories (or a future series), this was a self-contained, concluding story, which I greatly appreciate.
The book concludes with the script for issue #1 of the Codename: Action comic and a cover gallery and a character guide for the artists. These sorts of bonuses are becoming fairly common in graphic novels.
Looking for a good book? Codename: Action Volume 1 is a solid, steady graphic novel that honors the period of spy movies but doesn't quite rise above the mediocre plotting of those same spy films.
July 16, 2014
'Codename: Action Volume 1' is a cool throwback to the spy movies of the 1960s filled with some nice twists and turns along the way. Dynamite Entertainment has a nice hit on their hands with this one.
In the height of the Cold War, new spy, Agent 1001, is teamed up with old spy, Agent 5, to find out why certain world leaders are making angry posturing speeches. Along the way, they discover that masked heroes are being duplicated and these clones are being used in the plot. A shadowy organization, a mad scientist, a hidden island base and sexy French spies are only part of this graphic novel. Add in The Spider and the Green Hornet and Kato (among others), and you have a lot of plot elements, but it all falls deftly into place. Will Agent 1001 prove himself capable and defeat the strange new evil he finds?
The story by Chris Roberson is great and the art by Jonathan Lau is even better. The book concludes with a script to story section and the obligatory (but fun) alternate cover gallery. Lots of fun and I enjoyed it.
I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
In the height of the Cold War, new spy, Agent 1001, is teamed up with old spy, Agent 5, to find out why certain world leaders are making angry posturing speeches. Along the way, they discover that masked heroes are being duplicated and these clones are being used in the plot. A shadowy organization, a mad scientist, a hidden island base and sexy French spies are only part of this graphic novel. Add in The Spider and the Green Hornet and Kato (among others), and you have a lot of plot elements, but it all falls deftly into place. Will Agent 1001 prove himself capable and defeat the strange new evil he finds?
The story by Chris Roberson is great and the art by Jonathan Lau is even better. The book concludes with a script to story section and the obligatory (but fun) alternate cover gallery. Lots of fun and I enjoyed it.
I was given a review copy of this graphic novel by Diamond Book Distributors and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.
March 9, 2017
Pretty school James Bond type spy story. This series shows an early adventure of Captain Action and what I think is his first meeting with Dr. Evil. Several other pulp heroes have cameos, but really the appearances aren't major and don't add a whole lot to the story.
Someone is replacing world leaders with doppelgangers in an attempt to start a global nuclear war, and Captain Action finds himself right in the thick of things.
I liked the art, and the story wasn't bad either. Captain Action toys were a little before my time, but I'm sure fans of the toys would enjoy this updating of the story.
Someone is replacing world leaders with doppelgangers in an attempt to start a global nuclear war, and Captain Action finds himself right in the thick of things.
I liked the art, and the story wasn't bad either. Captain Action toys were a little before my time, but I'm sure fans of the toys would enjoy this updating of the story.
August 21, 2015
A spy series about Captain Action's origin. A twist with a lot of the good old known pulp heroes like Green Horner, The Spider etc. etc. The artwork was great. The story was good too. Nothing to be too excited about, but if you're into James Bond, you'll like it. The ending wasn't much and wasn't that satisfying, but it was good.
What was the most great thing about this title was the art, really good. Our hero's story is the classic 101 on spy stories. Young spy just joined the secret agency and has to team up with the one of the best in there, if not the best and oldest spies of the agency. Things unravel fast and professional spy gets caught. Now it's up to the young one to save him and save the world along the way. With the help of another spy, a female, from another agency.
It's not filled with lots of clichés and that's what kept me reading.
Again, if you're into James Bond, you'll like it, especially the older Bond movies.
What was the most great thing about this title was the art, really good. Our hero's story is the classic 101 on spy stories. Young spy just joined the secret agency and has to team up with the one of the best in there, if not the best and oldest spies of the agency. Things unravel fast and professional spy gets caught. Now it's up to the young one to save him and save the world along the way. With the help of another spy, a female, from another agency.
It's not filled with lots of clichés and that's what kept me reading.
Again, if you're into James Bond, you'll like it, especially the older Bond movies.
March 2, 2014
A (semi) sequel to Dynamites 'Masks; mini-series has us in the 50's, when super heroes were losing their popularity and spies were taking over.
Aging pulp super spy teams up with young up and comer and an assortment of Golden Age super heroes to save the world from a diabolical conspiracy.
Lots of fun with the miix of GA comics, pulp and the beginnings of the 60's spy era.
Aging pulp super spy teams up with young up and comer and an assortment of Golden Age super heroes to save the world from a diabolical conspiracy.
Lots of fun with the miix of GA comics, pulp and the beginnings of the 60's spy era.
July 6, 2021
It is 1966, and a young trainee has just passed his final test to become a field agent for the agency. Which agency? You don’t have a need to know, but it’s been protecting America from the shadows since the 1930s. Newly minted “Operator 1,001” is teamed up with veteran Operator 5 on a suddenly urgent mission. Several world leaders have abruptly become belligerent, pushing the international community towards global war. Thanks to an earlier action of the agency, it’s known at least one of them has been replaced by a doppleganger. But who’s behind it and why?
Meanwhile in France, the aerial government agents led by “Black Venus” have just gotten orders to hurry to North Africa to find and destroy any secret Soviet troops there. The orders are apparently legitimate, but clearly insane, so the squad in general is sent to “seek but not find” while Black Venus investigates what’s really going on.
And the costumed hero American Crusader, who’s lent his voice to the “diplomacy first” movement, is ambushed by a man who looks exactly like him.
Back in 1966, Captain Action was a toy line of 12″ action figures from the same man who’d first come up with the idea for G.I. Joe. As the Ideal Toy Company held a lot of licenses at the time, including both DC and Marvel superheroes, the idea was that Captain Action could don masks and costumes to become any of the adult male characters they had rights to. Later, a kid sidekick, Action Boy, and a villain, Dr. Evil (no relation) were added. The toy line only lasted a couple of years, but was fondly remembered and is a favorite with collectors.
It’s had a couple of comic book series over the years from different publishers, and this version was from Dynamite Comics in 2013 using characters they had access to at the time.
Operator 5 disguises himself as the United States ambassador to the U.N. and comes out for nuclear disarmament in a bid to have himself captured and replaced so that Operator 1,001 can then track him to the villains’ lair. Black Venus tracks some misappropriated nuclear warheads and the two cross paths and team up.
Meanwhile, other costumed heroes like the Green Hornet and the Spider are captured.
Eventually, it is discovered that the dopplegangers and other villainy are the work of an organization known as Hexagon, which wants to cause global war and then take over the weakened survivors. Their head scientist, Dr. Thorpe, has bigger plans (it’s fairly clear he’s a disguised alien.)
Operator 1,001 (at one point referencing his toy line origins by disguising himself as the American Crusader), Black Venus and Operator 5 manage to free the captive heroes, stop a nuclear launch, and at least temporarily thwart the plans of Hexagon and Dr. Evil. The American secret agency is folded into a new international intelligence organization (still not named) and Operator 1,001 gets the new codename Captain Action.
As an origin story for Captain Action, it’s okay. His personality is a bit bland, but workable, and we get to see his skills in action.
While most of the other heroes are what TV Tropes calls “Advertised Extras” who get maybe a page or two and are then relegated to crowd scenes, all these potential protagonists make the story feel crowded. Captain Action doesn’t even get his codename or distinctive costume until the last two pages!
Hexagon’s plans to destabilize society by sowing distrust of government, authority in general, and costumed heroes could have used more breathing space that this miniseries just didn’t have room for.
The collected edition has a look at an early script, a bunch of very nice alternative covers, and a character design sheet.
While this series is okay for what it is, the primary appeal is to the collector’s market.
Meanwhile in France, the aerial government agents led by “Black Venus” have just gotten orders to hurry to North Africa to find and destroy any secret Soviet troops there. The orders are apparently legitimate, but clearly insane, so the squad in general is sent to “seek but not find” while Black Venus investigates what’s really going on.
And the costumed hero American Crusader, who’s lent his voice to the “diplomacy first” movement, is ambushed by a man who looks exactly like him.
Back in 1966, Captain Action was a toy line of 12″ action figures from the same man who’d first come up with the idea for G.I. Joe. As the Ideal Toy Company held a lot of licenses at the time, including both DC and Marvel superheroes, the idea was that Captain Action could don masks and costumes to become any of the adult male characters they had rights to. Later, a kid sidekick, Action Boy, and a villain, Dr. Evil (no relation) were added. The toy line only lasted a couple of years, but was fondly remembered and is a favorite with collectors.
It’s had a couple of comic book series over the years from different publishers, and this version was from Dynamite Comics in 2013 using characters they had access to at the time.
Operator 5 disguises himself as the United States ambassador to the U.N. and comes out for nuclear disarmament in a bid to have himself captured and replaced so that Operator 1,001 can then track him to the villains’ lair. Black Venus tracks some misappropriated nuclear warheads and the two cross paths and team up.
Meanwhile, other costumed heroes like the Green Hornet and the Spider are captured.
Eventually, it is discovered that the dopplegangers and other villainy are the work of an organization known as Hexagon, which wants to cause global war and then take over the weakened survivors. Their head scientist, Dr. Thorpe, has bigger plans (it’s fairly clear he’s a disguised alien.)
Operator 1,001 (at one point referencing his toy line origins by disguising himself as the American Crusader), Black Venus and Operator 5 manage to free the captive heroes, stop a nuclear launch, and at least temporarily thwart the plans of Hexagon and Dr. Evil. The American secret agency is folded into a new international intelligence organization (still not named) and Operator 1,001 gets the new codename Captain Action.
As an origin story for Captain Action, it’s okay. His personality is a bit bland, but workable, and we get to see his skills in action.
While most of the other heroes are what TV Tropes calls “Advertised Extras” who get maybe a page or two and are then relegated to crowd scenes, all these potential protagonists make the story feel crowded. Captain Action doesn’t even get his codename or distinctive costume until the last two pages!
Hexagon’s plans to destabilize society by sowing distrust of government, authority in general, and costumed heroes could have used more breathing space that this miniseries just didn’t have room for.
The collected edition has a look at an early script, a bunch of very nice alternative covers, and a character design sheet.
While this series is okay for what it is, the primary appeal is to the collector’s market.
September 11, 2024
A new spy and an old one teamup in the cold war era spy thriller. Dynamite slips in some of their characters of the era like the Green Hornet and The Spider. It’s decent but I enjoy their Golden Age stuff more.
June 27, 2014
More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/
Codename: Action Volume 1 is a sweet throwback to 1960s spy movies, giving us an American James Bond from a character whose origins were Ideal Toy Company’s answer in 1966 (Captain Action) to the popularity of Hasbro’s GI Joe. Although the action figure was only sold for two years, it has remained popular with collectors and now we have an origins graphic novel. And it should not be confused with Action Man.Agent 1001 is sent out into the field on his first mission. Partnering him is the respected and revered Agent 5. Together, they will work together to foil a plot to replace world leaders and start world war III. Exotic locations, beautiful women, gadgets, and dastardly villains are all clean fun in this story.
The wording and dialogue are very tongue in cheek fun: “Unhand me!” or “Can you truly believe that you could even comprehend a mind that put a plan such as this into operation? Already my doppelgangers are installed in the capitals of every world power, and that is just the beginning!”. So yes, this is over the top fun stuff – nothing of the negative over seriousness of many modern super heroes.
Along with the ride are several pulp heroes – though they figure very little in the story at all. I found them to be a curious inclusion (perhaps riding on the wave of the pulp hero popularity right now?) since Captain Action is very 1960s, not 1940s. It felt a bit anachronistic and the only reason they are there is because they were captured in order to be doppelgangered (is that a word?). Captain Action is very much a macho, quipping, do-gooder of the late 1960s and not the conflicted and dark heroes of the pulp age.
There is also a French team of beautiful female spies, including the leader Black Venus. She ended up looking a bit too much like Catwoman (my 11 year old walked by while I was reading and asked if she could read the Catwoman comic next). Again, that comparison to the modern Catwoman kept pulling me out of the era in which this takes place.
The plot is nothing new – but does give us Dr. Evil, arch nemesis (and also an action figure) of Captain Action. The 5 issues here collect the background story of how Captain Action started as a skilled marine and then transformed through action. As such, it is a complete story arc.
If you are looking for a Bond adventure, featuring evil villains, trick cars, and flippant heroes, this is definitely a title you will want to read. As well, fans of the 1960s action figure (which must be gaining popularity because there is even a high end Lady Action doll being made by Tonner Doll Company in 2014) will also enjoy this title. For me, anachronistic nature and somewhat well tread plot did leave me a bit underwhelmed and a 3 star review.
Reviewed from an ARC.
August 1, 2014
I like Dynamite's masked heroes series and am also fond of author Chris Roberson. This new title is a bit different in that it brings some of the old masked heroes together and places them in a newly created spy team set in the sixties at the height of the cold war. All the members are present in this volume but a few of them only show up in team shots. The focus here is especially on Captain Action's first mission under the agent name on 1001 along with Agent 5; they get together with Black Velvet, Green Lantern & Kato, American Crusader and The Spider. We get to know the most Captain Action, Agent 5 and Black Velvet. To me most of these guys were knew; I've been reading only Green Lantern/Kato and The Spider previously from this group. This is a serious story with a huge dose of James Bond-like action and gadgets. In fact, the organization that puts them together is very MI6-ish, with even a lady "M" character and a "Q" character. The story features doppelgangers (clones), alien invaders and the villain "Dr. Evil making the plot have a very real sixties comic feel to it, but the intrigue, espionage and Cold War politics are realistic and the two aspects balance each other out for an entertaining and intense action/adventure suitable for teens and older. I've come to the point where I trust that Dynamite + Masked Heroes is going to be one heck of a read.
May 23, 2014
Loved it, its the first book in it's series, with Captain Action [Agent 1001 at the beginning of the book] as the main character.
The story takes place sometime in the 50's and we have bad guys trying to start WWIII, which is crazy because WWII would not be too far behind. The bad guys are cloning world leaders to push towards war and at the same time are also cloning vigilantes, because you gotta crush home.
We see characters like Crusader and Hornet and it works because in this series, they play secondary characters that show how Captain Action starts off and comes to be, while at the same time the book shows us Captain Action's future arch-nemesis Dr. Thorpe [evil looking alien brain guy]. I say read, it was fun, it was cool because it's more James Bond cool, so it rocks.
Rating 5 out of 5
Read@Book
The story takes place sometime in the 50's and we have bad guys trying to start WWIII, which is crazy because WWII would not be too far behind. The bad guys are cloning world leaders to push towards war and at the same time are also cloning vigilantes, because you gotta crush home.
We see characters like Crusader and Hornet and it works because in this series, they play secondary characters that show how Captain Action starts off and comes to be, while at the same time the book shows us Captain Action's future arch-nemesis Dr. Thorpe [evil looking alien brain guy]. I say read, it was fun, it was cool because it's more James Bond cool, so it rocks.
Rating 5 out of 5
Read@Book
May 8, 2014
I really didn't love this.
I do like James Bond, especially Connery, and I say this because in order to truly appreciate the agency 1001 and 5 work for, you need to appreciate early Bond.
But it's not enough to keep me interested.
There was little character development (not even a favorite drink!) and little plot development. There was action action action and kick ass heroes in 5, 1001 and Black Venus but I need more.
The art, pencils and ink, were ok but nothing much stood out for me to comment on.
If you like action and intrigue, 60s spy movies and no development, this one is for you.
thank you NetGalley and Diamond/Dynamite for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review
I do like James Bond, especially Connery, and I say this because in order to truly appreciate the agency 1001 and 5 work for, you need to appreciate early Bond.
But it's not enough to keep me interested.
There was little character development (not even a favorite drink!) and little plot development. There was action action action and kick ass heroes in 5, 1001 and Black Venus but I need more.
The art, pencils and ink, were ok but nothing much stood out for me to comment on.
If you like action and intrigue, 60s spy movies and no development, this one is for you.
thank you NetGalley and Diamond/Dynamite for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review
May 26, 2014
3.5 Stars really.
First to admit that I've never been an Action Comics gal, so where this fits into the canon I'm not sure, but this was pure 'boy's own' stuff, right from the off.
Superb art from Lau (again) and a solid, coherent story from Roberson place this as a definite in anyone's 'to watch' list, especially if you're one of those who's put off by the complexity of New 52 and Marvel arcs.
Full review here: http://ifthesebookscouldtalk.com/2014...
This was supplied as an advanced review copy by NetGalley in return for a balanced review.
First to admit that I've never been an Action Comics gal, so where this fits into the canon I'm not sure, but this was pure 'boy's own' stuff, right from the off.
Superb art from Lau (again) and a solid, coherent story from Roberson place this as a definite in anyone's 'to watch' list, especially if you're one of those who's put off by the complexity of New 52 and Marvel arcs.
Full review here: http://ifthesebookscouldtalk.com/2014...
This was supplied as an advanced review copy by NetGalley in return for a balanced review.
May 10, 2014
Pulpy and adventurous, this is a throwback to classic heroes mixed with Bond-like super agents. In the vein of "Snakes on a a Plane," it's settled squarely within the genre while poking fun at it (and itself). I presume this tactic will be most loved by enthusiasts who recognize the occasional kitsch for what it is, and enjoy it all the more. Some characters are familiar, others new, and the superhero/secret agent crossover (with a few leather-clad French femmes thrown in) makes for a ton of action.
July 2, 2014
Set in an alternate world's 1960's Cold War, Agent 1001 and Operator 5 must uncover who is manipulating world leaders, creating instability and unrest. Featuring James Bond style devices mixed in with Flint style action spiced with super-heroes such as Green Hornet, Black Venus, and American Crusader, they succeed in blocking the launch of missiles to start an international war. But will they be able to stop an alien invasion? Tune in for the next exciting adventure of Captain Action!
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews