Her Name is Savage
In the current climate of comic books, fans have become quite accustomed to the highly skilled, bad ass female agent or spy. One need only see Black Widow, Black Canary, or my personal favorite, Agent Melinda May of S.H.I.E.L.D. to know they exist. It has also been firmly established that they are easily the equals of their male counterparts. Now, we can add another female character to that pantheon of kick ass and ask questions later powerful women. Her Name is Savage.
Writers Katie Batchelor and Shane Riches, along with artist Jesus Antonio Hernandez Portaveritas (any artist with four names has to be cool) brings to the reader their fresh take of an established world. What does THAT mean, you may ask? I will answer. Back in 1968, fabled comic book artist Gil Kane along with writer Archie Goodwin put out a 40 page precursor to the graphic novel. It was called, His Name is Savage. It was their take on the James Bond style Spy genre and it was the only one published.
Following in Gil Kane’s footsteps
Fast forward to the present and a young publishing company named PaperMovies. They published Steven Grant’s reboot of Kane’s work. Once His Name was Savage was released, Katie though it would be great if this same type character was explored but as a female lead. Thus HER name is Savage was conceived. Filled with enough high energy combat and spy like espionage to more than hold her own with her male counterparts. She is ruthless, highly skilled, and always seemingly two steps ahead of her adversaries. And when you’re going up against some of the most well connected crime lords, assassins and hired muscle, you will need it. Nothing like dancing with the Ukrainian Mafia to get your blood..or theirs, pumping. But Savage is after the head of it all, Miriam Naude. But it just so happens that Naude is out for her too. Funny how that thing works.
“Tech Assistance
Of course, every super spy needs someone to coordinate surveillance, handle the tech, and be their eyes and sometime medic when needed. For Savage, that is Cassidy. Her job is to try to make sure that Savage doesn’t end up dead. It’s a 24 hour proposition. Especially when your charge seems he’ll bent on the kill or be killed proposition. But Cassidy signed up for it. In fact, she wants to be more involved. The silence she gets from Savage usually answers that question.
Bringing the Pain all Book Long
The action in Her Name is Savage is pretty much the non-stop, guns blazing, grey matter splattering kind of thing you might expect in an action movie. Artist Jesus Antonio Hernandez Portaveritas takes care of that in style. As the story goes, the reader learns a couple of things. Savage is really not much for authority, except where it benefits her. She will work outside the box as far as legal goes to achieve her ends. But she also has her soft spots (surprisingly enough) where dogs and children are involved. This doesn’t make her any less bad ass…just human.
As for the rest, I’ll leave it for you to read. Just be ready for a nonstop action journey where headshots are a way of life (Think The Departed) and justice (in a form) waits for everyone eventually. If you like that kind of party, then Her Name is Savage could be the invitation you are looking for. Check it out where all great comics are sold and let us know what you think, here at Geek Vibes Nation.
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Senior Writer at GeekVibesNation – I am a 60 something child of the 70’s who admits to being a Star Trek/Star Wars/Comic Book junkie who once dove headfirst over a cliff (Ok, it was a small hill) to try to rescue his Fantastic Four comic from a watery grave. I am married to a lovely woman who is as crazy as I am and the proud parent of a 21-year-old young man with autism. My wife and son are my real heroes.
