The Go-Between

Kelly Green #1

by Stan Drake (Illustrator), Leonard Starr (Writer)

Book by Stan Drake, Leonard Starr

Genres: Comics, Sequential Art, Graphic Novels

52 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1980

Reviews

[Gary Butler · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is less than 80 pages which is the cut off line for a book to be entered onto my all time book list. I do not really consider this to be a book at all. This is a only 52 pages, which gets it a written review instead of a video review. This is graphic novel centers on Kelly Green; a widowed police officers wife and her quest to find those responsible for her husbands death. She is assisted by ex-felons that her husband had arrested and been fair to. The book is book very gritty and could be considered cutting edge for its time, but seem mild for today's standards. There is partial nudity and some explicit dialog. There are also depictions of go go girls and a gay cross dresser. The story could be an episode of Law and Order SVU and the "graphic" content is online with NYPD Blue; unnecessary but fun to see how they can slip in reasons for it occur. Over all a very fun read. 5 out of 5.

[Bernard Convert · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stan Drake le dessinateur et Leonard Starr le scénariste sont deux géants du comic strip photo-réaliste, l'un avec the Heart of Juliet Jones, l'autre avec Mary Perkins on Stage, deux chefs d'oeuvre AMHA. Kelly Green est une commande de l'éditeur européen Dargaud. Il me semble que les deux artistes américains, qui sont des virtuoses du comic strip (les dailies et sundays de Starr, notamment, étaient des modèles du genre), ne sont pas complètement à l'aise avec le découpage imposé par l'album de 48 pages à la franco-belge et la pré-publication en magazine (Pilote puis Charlie mensuel). Hormis ce défaut c'est un solide polar en BD, qui fleure bon son époque (le début des années 80).

[Rex Hurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in French. A young widow quests to discover and punish the man who caused her husband's death. Two highly acclaimed newspaper comic-strip artists of an earlier generation--Stan Drake (who originated The Heart of Juliet Jones and continued Blondie) and Leonard Starr (who originated On Stage and continued Annie)--pooled their talents in a less "restricted" project. While the plot has some contrivances, it is a fun little noir-ish tale. The art is very detailed in a realistic style.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 4 out of 5]

First published French in Pilote (mag) then as an album
->this edition is translated despite the American writer!

3.5 rounded up.

The art is splendid in composition, detail, and intensity. Drake has a way of putting a grin on your face at unlikely moments- presumably when he sees a good opportunity for a funny face or body language. Page 35 panel 4 is an incredible example of getting a giggle out of a very serious action without compromising the intensity of the scene.

The story has all kinds of action and suspense that has you "constantly working the case" and turning back pages for clues which I love BUT I can't forgive implausibility of details that could easily be avoided by creating more appropriate "giveaways" and making certain motives better match the intensity of the crimes.

There are spelling errors and a blank balloon but that's not a big deal in translation. The color isn't bad but it sure isn't good either which I also excuse because of the limitations of the era in which it was printed. Usually I would rather duo-tone but the story demands color for reasons I don't have time to reflect on in order to put the feeling(s) into words. Her breasts are too big for a key scene's credibility and even if that weren't the case I think she would have looked more attractive with them scaled down. The aesthetic directive for Kelly obviously demanded sexiness but the body was too "loud" for the character filling it out.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

A more than passable comic action strip, but somehow the freedom that the creators enjoyed became a kind of restraint. Since Starr and Drake could show Kelly in the nude, the story often bends in order to allow this. So Kelly is forever changing clothes, or being caught unawares by someone walking in on her, etc. Sometimes these work within the flow of the story, and sometimes it just seems like Kelly has a compulsive need to get naked.

But the story is solid, beside the occasional "lets get naked" bump, and of course Stan Drake's artwork is (duh) by Stan freakin' Drake, so it's very accomplished material. That said, much of Drake's work is horribly undermined by the colorist, who places flat planes of color where there should be detail, and often uses color as a gaudy heightening effect in areas best left alone.

The colorist is not credited in this volume, and it scares me to think that they still might be out there, lurking, just waiting to color again. Is anyone safe?!?

[The_Mad_Swede · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in French, The Go-between is the first album in comics artist Stan Drake and writer Leonard Starr's series about the capable Kelly Drake, published in the early '80s.

As such, this album provides an origin and sets the tone. Policeman Dan Green, Kelly's husband, is killed in a raid, and Kelly ends up hating both the criminals who killed him and the corrupted police who set him up. Supported by a gang of reformed criminals, who think they owe it to her dead husband, and Dan's partner Angie, who has similar motivations, Kelly is nevertheless drawn into a job as a go-between, i.e. someone who delivers money and packages in e.g. blackmailing cases. It is a dangerous jobs, and obviously things do not go according to plan, as such things never do in these types of stories.

All in all, Drake and Starr have crafted a solid crime story, and I am highly likely to try to pick up the remaining three albums released in English. If I can track them down, that is.

[Winston Blakely · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kelly Green is a go- between who becomes a private eye. Its hard boiled graphic action and excellent
storytelling from an artist I had the pleasure to work with at my short tenure at Valiant Comics.

This reads like a movie on paper, with plenty of rich characterizations and twist and turns.

[Dominick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. Drake and Starr, two big stars of the photo-realist school of newspaper strips, produced a few volumes of this very slightly risqué series about a cop's widow and her hard-boiled(ish) adventures. This volume deals with the death of her husband and her revenge, moderately decently but without anything particularly special about it.