The Secret Agent

by John K. Snyder III, Joseph Conrad

The startling story of an anarchist's desolation which leads to his attempt to dynamite the Greenwich Observatory is presented in comic book form.

Genres: Comics

Paperback

First published January 1, 1990

About the author

John K Snyder III is an Eisner Award nominated illustrator and writer, with decades of experience in the comics industry. He has worked for numerous publishers including DC Comics, Marvel Comics, and Dark Horse Comics, on iconic titles ranging from Suicide Squad to Grendel. Snyder is also the creator of the groundbreaking Fashion In Action, an acclaimed adventure series first published by Eclipse Comics.

Reviews

[Cheryl]

I'll guess I'll read the original on Project Gutenberg. This turns out to be the edition my library has... in Juvenile fiction!
.....
Ok done. Well. I picked up some of the themes I think, but gosh that was a difficult read. I couldn't tell the characters apart, the layout was so chaotic I never knew which portion of which panel followed any other, in fact using the word 'panel' is wrong because there wasn't any delineation, the words seemed straight out of Conrad (iow, not Juvenile)... I did pick up that the book is the first (?) espionage thriller so it's *very* far away from any of my interests... I don't think I will read the original after all.

Apologies to my friend who recommends it.

Marked DNF because I think, if I struggled, I could make out a few more details... but I didn't.
And I only recommend it to ppl who have already read and 'enjoyed' the original.

[Rex Hurst · Rating 4 out of 5]

Originally published in 1907, the story centers on Adolph Veloc, a leading member of an anarchist cell (the modern equivalent of this would be Antifa) and a paid agent provocateur of a foreign power. A rather indolent man, whose cover identity is selling pornographic items and other bric-a-brac out of a small shop, he is ordered to bomb a public building to stir the populace against the anarchist. Veloc is your typical anti-heroic Conrad protagonist forced into circumstances well beyond his ability to cope with.

There are no heroes in this novel. The police and other authority figures are mostly concerned with their own personal advancement and stab each other in the back with regularity, while the anarchists are even worse. Petty leeches, who complain about the system, but are unable to take care of themselves and live off of women that they dupe. They are seen as ineffectual big talkers who are incapable of anything except fraud and self-indulgence. Which is pretty accurate for your standard “activist”. I think Solzhenitsyn wrote it best when he said "activist" is just a synonym for “big mouthed loafer”.

The art is good, somewhat different, but meant to express emotions as much as action. I would characterize it as a sort of cubist art deco.

[Paolo Aguas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Generally speaking the story itself is a classic and will always get a high grade from me, so this review will be more on the artwork of this graphic novel adaptation and with that I have to say that it is really good. The artwork for this graphic novel is very cubic and Tim Burton like and at times reminds me of the artwork of the film the Cabinet of Dr. Caligari. From words to design this adaptation did an incredible job and anyone who enjoys the art of graphic novels will definitely enjoy this one.

[Paul Barnes · Rating 1 out of 5]

[Berkley First Publishing] (February 1991). SB. 1/1. “Classics Illustrated” Number 19. 48 Pages. Purchased from Christopher P. Wood.

John K. Snyder’s (1961-) artwork is appalling.

The book is very tightly bound - the lack of margins makes it difficult to view inner page areas.

The text is underwhelming. Where rendered black on red, it’s also tough to read.

For unknown reasons, brief (and variant) biographies of Conrad are included to the front and rear.

Poor in all respects.

[Zahirah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Seriously heavy. Not sure I will read the actual novel. But nice artwork.

[David · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm giving Snyder credit that this is the best he could do with the adaptation given his constraints.

[StrictlySequential ArtNarrative · Rating 1 out of 5]

I so often did not understand what was happening or who was who that I really absorbed nothing of the novel.

The art irritated me as well!

[Mike MacDee · Rating 3 out of 5]

The novel text and sequential art conspire to provide a rather disorienting reading experience: the art style and page layouts get so abstract and highly stylized that it's just not terribly easy to follow along. With a bit of perseverence (and several re-reads of previous pages) you'll get the gist of the story, and the art is still really nice on its own. I feel like reading the novel first would be a better idea in this case, since you aren't juggling dry prose and art that seems to go all over the place.

Despite everything, this one stood out in my memory as far back as elementary school, so it must've been worth it.