Uber #18 - Avatar Press

UBER No. 18, September 2014

Despite being something of a stand-alone story and featuring none of the comic’s regular cast of characters, Issue Eighteen of “Uber” is a tremendously atmospheric read which ungrudgingly captures all the suspense and apprehension of American’s development of the atomic bomb during the last days of World War Two. In addition it also manages to convey to its slowly declining audience of 6,684 followers just how incredibly manipulative and dangerous Germany’s latest “Enhanced Human Spy” can be, with the petite blond-haired assassin effortlessly posing as George Kistiakowsky, Morris Jeppson, William Parsons and General Groves in order to bring the Manhatten Project to its knees.

Indeed as solo outings go, Kieron Gillen’s script depicting the subterfuge of the 'chameleon-like' Nazi operative is as enthralling an experience as any war-time obsessed bibliophile could want. Especially when the agent secrets herself on board the Enola Gay and manages to replace “certain key components” of the plane's perilous cargo in order to ensure the highly classified mission’s failure; “We should never have done it on board… We wouldn’t have dropped an atomic bomb straight into enemy hands…”

Quite possibly this narrative’s greatest strength however, is just how easily the British author avoids worrying about providing the comic’s fans with any explanation as to just how the nameless woman manages to fool those around her into believing she’s someone else and how callously calculating he makes the enemy infiltrator appear. In fact the super-powered mole’s guile and cunning, particularly when used to dispose of her ‘disguises’ via an explosives accident in the woods or faked suicide whilst having a bath, arguably makes the cold-blooded killer strangely somewhat appealing. Certainly to the point where her self-sacrifice at the heart of B Reactor’s “Critical meltdown” and desire “to be someone who lived” actually makes for a rather heart-saddening scene.

Daniel Gete’s artwork for this twenty-two page periodical is also noteworthy for adding to the saboteur’s unemotional attitude towards her work. The Spaniard’s spy quite clearly bears the facial features of notable German actress “Marlene” Dietrich with her high pencilled arching eyebrows, and the quality of his drawings, especially the panels showing the bomber’s bomb bay opening up over an unsuspecting Japan, shows why Gillen so warmly praises his contribution to the story’s telling in the comic’s afterword.

The regular cover art of "UBER" No. 18 by Daniel Gete