 Mata Hari #1 (2018) $3.99 Quantity
VERY FINE/NEAR MINT
(W) Emma Beeby (A/CA) Ariela Kristantina Dancer. Courtesan. Spy. Executed by a French firing squad in 1917. 100 years on from her death, questions are still raised about her conviction. Now, the lesser-known, often tragic story of the woman who claimed she was born a princess, and died a figure of public hatred with no one to claim her body, is told by breakout talent writer Emma Beeby (Judge Dredd), artist Ariela Kristantina (Insexts), and colorist Pat Masioni drawing on biographies and released MI5 files. In this first part of a five-issue miniseries, we meet Mata Hari in prison at the end of her life as she writes her memoir-part romantic tale of a Javanese princess who performed 'sacred' nude dances for Europe's elite, and part real-life saga of a disgraced wife and mother, who had everything she loved taken from her. But, as she sits trial for treason and espionage, we hear another tale: one of a flamboyant Dutch woman who became 'the most dangerous spy France has ever captured'-a double agent who whored herself for secrets, lived a life of scandal, and loved only money. Leading us to ask... who was the real Mata Hari? Date Available: 02/21/2018
BONUS REVIEW by Kevin Healy
 Emma Beeby and Ariela Kristantina give the story of Mata Hari a deep dive. This will be a five issue series to flesh out one possible past for someone considered to be a spy, a dupe, a harlot, a naive victim, a traitor, and a hero all at once. Kristantina's art has a clean classical style in the flashbacks, a bit more urgency as her case is brought to trial, and some degree of finality since we do have the ending already written by history. Not what I was expecting, but not bad. Worth a read for fans of spy craft, liberated women, and tragic stories that end with regret on multiple fronts. I give it 7 out of 10 Grahams VERY FINE/NEAR MINT
(W) Emma Beeby (A/CA) Ariela Kristantina Dancer. Courtesan. Spy. Executed by a French firing squad in 1917. 100 years on from her death, questions are still raised about her conviction. Now, the lesser-known, often tragic story of the woman who claimed she was born a princess, and died a figure of public hatred with no one to claim her body, is told by breakout talent writer Emma Beeby (Judge Dredd), artist Ariela Kristantina (Insexts), and colorist Pat Masioni drawing on biographies and released MI5 files. In this first part of a five-issue miniseries, we meet Mata Hari in prison at the end of her life as she writes her memoir-part romantic tale of a Javanese princess who performed 'sacred' nude dances for Europe's elite, and part real-life saga of a disgraced wife and mother, who had everything she loved taken from her. But, as she sits trial for treason and espionage, we hear another tale: one of a flamboyant Dutch woman who became 'the most dangerous spy France has ever captured'-a double agent who whored herself for secrets, lived a life of scandal, and loved only money. Leading us to ask... who was the real Mata Hari? Date Available: 02/21/2018
BONUS REVIEW by Kevin Healy
Emma Beeby and Ariela Kristantina give the story of Mata Hari a deep dive. This will be a five issue series to flesh out one possible past for someone considered to be a spy, a dupe, a harlot, a naive victim, a traitor, and a hero all at once. Kristantina's art has a clean classical style in the flashbacks, a bit more urgency as her case is brought to trial, and some degree of finality since we do have the ending already written by history. Not what I was expecting, but not bad. Worth a read for fans of spy craft, liberated women, and tragic stories that end with regret on multiple fronts. I give it 7 out of 10 Grahams |
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