X-9: Secret Agent Corrigan Volume 6 Hardcover – August 18, 2015

Astonishing. What an amazing story. Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson reinvigorate the daily action comic serial with their work on X-9, Agent Corrigan from the late sixties to the end of the seventies, and then, after handling the grueling grind of producing such a strip for over a decade, move on to such work as the comic version of "The Empire Strikes Back." Instead of closing shop on X-9, the feature is handed over to George Evans, one of the greats of sequential art, whose work for EC is immortalized in the "Aces High" collection. Interestingly, Evans had ghosted for Williamson on a few occasions during the 70's, and whenever he took over, I found myself longing for Williamson's return. As a result, I didn't have the highest expectations for this collection. I couldn't be more wrong: Evans immediately made this strip his own, and his production is absolutely engrossing, the work of a master. He makes Corrigan his own story, and the result is a powerful example of the evolution of a character to highlight the strengths of a visual and dramatic storyteller. Very strong characters are featured in all of the storylines and his black and white illustrations are consistently inventive and dynamic. Let's hope that IDW continues in this series! The work of George Evans is an inspiration for his medium. At this stage of his career and with the lack of wide distribution of this strip, it would have been so easy for him to phone this one in. The opposite happened: Mr. Evans is clearly giving it his all, and the results are inspiring.

I have given this book 5 stars for the fine adventure cartooning of George Evans and his stories. If not for the fact that IDW's books of Rip Kirby 1959-1962 comic strips has a page count of 300 pages. 295 pages of 3 daily strips per page. The price is $49.95. I almost gave this edition 3 stars because it is short of 20-30 pages of strips.This X-9 Secret Agent Corrigan has only 272 pages of George Evans strips is the same price of $49.95. So why not feature either more interviews and other art by George Evans to bring the page count up to match the IDW Rip Kirby books?I know the material is out there. If IDW are going to sell a book at lesser page count. Then the price should be lower by $10.00.Or give us the full page and story count as your Rip Kirby and Terry and the Pirates books that we are used to paying the full amount for.This book of George Evans work deserves to be 300 pages in length and it well could've been and SHOULD have been.We as fellow cartoonists who knew George Evans (The man and his work in person ) was one of the best storytellers and REAL illustrators in comic books and comic strips. I want to see X-9 vols, 2, 3, 4 and 5. Just don't sell your customer base and the Evans X-9 daily strips short.That would be bad business. Make this series something that Mister EVANS grandson Roger very proud. He's a cartoonist too. Ask him to write about his Grandpa.

With George Evans picking up the ball on X-9 the art work is still wonderfully done and the stories are still intriguing. Can't wait to continue with my collection. Having this collection of books with their art work is a good example to use as an inspiration for my own attempt at art work.

Received as advertised.

smooth transaction. splendid

With very little fanfare the American Comics Library has brought out this sequel to the excellent Five Volume set of the much adored run of Archie Goodwin and Al Williamson.In 1980 the strip was offered to George Evans , a life time comic illustrator who had helped Al Williamson on occasions Ghost Illustrate some of the previous run. Evans would pick up the baton and write and illustrate the strip for sixteen additional years until his retirement in 1996. It was then decided to cancel the strip rather then look for a successor.George Evans started in comic books in 1947 working for the publisher Fiction House. When working for DC he frequently turned down chances to work on superhero comics believing it not to be a good fit for his realistic style.His most famous comic work was in the 1950's working for EC Comics. His work on their Aces High Comic is brilliant and reflects his life long love of airplanes. In the 60's he spent a decade ghosting for George Wunder's Terry & The Pirates.Since this work was done at both the twilight of George's career and the death of daily Adventure Comic Strips it has been seen by very few and ran in a only select few newspapers.Both George Evans and this last hurrah for Secret Agent Phil Corrigan deserve a much wider audience and appreciation.As of right now there has been no announcement of a follow-up offering. I suspect like the similar John Prentice volumes of Rip Kirby as long as they sell enough another will follow. Sadly some of these experiments do not have as much such success like the Dick Moore run on Gasoline Alley. So it is important for comic strip fans to support this volume now.This comic strip started in 1934 as follow up to the success of Dick Tracy. The inaugural creators selected for this project are Flash Gordon artist Alex Raymond and the father of Hard Boiled Detective Fiction , Dashiell Hammett. IDW has just released that volume this past May and you can read my overly kind review for it also on Amazon. Beautiful art , but poor writing.This collection features two and a half years of large daily strips reproduced in crisp black and white on heavy stock paper. Three strips to the page on large landscape size.The strips in this collection are a blend of action, adventure spy stories with two outright Science Fiction tales throw in to my surprise and delight. Most of the storylines run a compact fifteen or so weeks. I know most of the Comic Syndicates at the time much preferred this.While decades earlier Phil Corrigan was married off. His wife Wilda was rarely used in the Goodwin/ Williamson era and now is gone entirely. She seems to be entirely written out of the strip and Corrigan has numerous female companions. Anna Kreemar is the Chief's niece introduced in George Evans's second storyline. She is beautiful but spoiled. They have a love/hate relationship. Anna appears in about half of the storylines collected here and is the only other re-occuring character besides the now nameless Chief who dishes out his assignments. Phil Corrigan started his career working for the U.S. Government but in the 60's and 70's it became an unknown organization. Now it is the 80's and George Evans decides it is OK for Corrigan's employers to be the government again.The adventures criss cross the globe and George Evans likes to use made up countries with obvious real world analogs rather then offend anyone.In Evan's very first story we get a story about a man who holds an entire town hostage with the claim he can set fire to all the water in the town. Especially chilling is the tale about a group of young cult like members in Hawaii and the deadly weapon they invent called the Nothing Bomb.The two Science Fiction stories mentioned earlier involve a young boy who discovers an alien in a rural town in first story. And then a story about a artificial life called the Emperor taking over Phil's agency and gaining control over the agents.In all the stories are very diverse and entertaining. The story about an avant garde troupe of entertainers and Anna's desire to sing brings lots of humour to the mix.Highly Recommended.

Let's hope that IDW releases more from this series. George Evans defied expectations and made this strip his own. In fact, more than that, he crafted a daring, inventive strip from within the confines of the rather conservative venue of the American daily newspaper strip. (And towards the end of a venerated career, at that!) In fact, towards the end of this collection, there is a storyline that is powerfully reminiscent of the groundbreaking Argentinian strip "The Eternaut" -- this is daily comic creation at its best.