Undressed to Kill

When reading Robert Rodi’s Codename: Knockout, it’s entirely forgiven were one initially reminded of Archer, FX Network’s long-running animated series, which also puts a comedic slant on the covert espionage genre. Both properties star highly-talented, reluctant special agents being molded by their respective parent figures. There are also similarities with respect to how Sterling Archer and Angela St. Grace handle their agent responsibilities with, well, total irresponsibility, yet still end up on top. If double-entendres like that are up your alley, you’re in for a ride.

Initial parallels aside, the comparison between the two series’ titular leads ends within a few issues. A similarly snarky sexpot minus the sadism, Angela St. Grace has the distinction of being highly capable as an agent, but compassionate as well, in some cases even seeking to understand the motives of her target after undertaking a mission. An example of this can be seen in the series’ earlier issues, where Angela and her team are sent on a mission to recover the daughters of a deposed military leader. She even dotes on a stuffed owl, the only memento from her father, long-presumed dead. Later in the initial story arc, Angela considers joining rival unit, E.V.I.L., counter to G.O.O.D., the organization which currently employs Angela and headed by her mother, Celeste St. Grace. Did I happen to mention that Angela is also a woman of color?

Considering today’s push for more representation within the medium, Codename: Knockout, published in 2001 and lasting only 24 issues, may have been a bit before its time. Angela St. Grace is a dark-skinned, bi-racial female, written in a way as to not pander to one aspect of her ethnic lineage over the other. This product of a Swiss finishing school would rather leave behind the “family firm” entirely, jamming out to the sounds of Rick James or En Vogue. In this world however, things often take a turn for the dirty, which is just how Angela likes it. It’s clear early in the read that this is a title befitting of DC Comics' Vertigo imprint; there will be nudity aplenty. With lots of situations catering to our heroine’s more “delicate” skillsets, discretion is certainly advised. On the topic of discretion, Angela is often accompanied on missions by her gay BFF, Italian-born Arrigo “Go-Go” Fiasco, who is all too keen to inform the audience that if they’re looking for discretion they’d best look elsewhere. Go-Go is a top-notch field agent as well, seemingly without much effort. Whether he’s taunting his captors in the middle of an interrogation, or fending off (while flirting with) ninja assassins, wearing nothing but the remnants of the shower they’d interrupted, Fiasco is anything but. The character is also known to regularly break the 4th wall, notable to fans of Marvel Comics' Deadpool. Go-Go often does this to flesh out the backstories of the ensemble cast in the form of a flashback.

“G.O.O.D. and E.V.I.L. aren’t all that different. Haven’t you learned anything? Bottom line, they’re both about regulating human affairs; it’s just that one wants to do it through authoritarianism, the other, through revolutionary subversion.” -Angela

Within the series, there are deliberate attempts to bring to the forefront, the concept of dichotomy. After meeting a figure from her past, Angela changes her name to “Angela Devlin” with the visual pun serving as a reminder that we are in a world built around nuance; nothing is quite as absolute as it initially appears. Interesting to note also, is the character’s blonde hair, a direct contrast to her dark skin. Angela’s indecision between joining one faction over another, comes from the thought process that they were largely similar organizations with differing ideologies. Regardless of some of the deeper themes visited upon in its narrative, this is still a comedic series. Often “blue” in tone, we’re treated to scenes like the main character gaining information from a captive by way of a “highly volatile tantric technique,” something so effective (and pleasurable) that Go-Go wants to learn it to use on himself. In another hazardous encounter, Angela diffuses the situation with the use of a secret trigger word that causes its victim to have an immediate and painful erection, until Angela says the counter-word of course.

Visually speaking, the artwork compliments the series well; with this much skin on display, anything less would be insulting. Artists like Phil Jimenez and Ed Benes fill in the graphic elements of Robert Rodi’s narrative while the series also features work from fan-favorite artists/husband-and-wife duo, Amanda Conner and Jimmy Palmiotti. Notwithstanding issue #14, the covers are often just as fun as the contents within. However, in a rather odd decision, one character became considerably darker as the series progressed, initially suggesting eastern-European lineage, only to end up more melaniferous than our heroine by the final issue. Black is beautiful, but so is consistency.

Being published alongside industry favorites like Transmetropolitan, Lucifer, and Y: The Last Man, this was a title that was easily under the radar of most fans. During the early 2000s, R-rated mainstream titles, while not as plentiful as now, created content that still fuels the imaginations of Hollywood to this day. Every few years since ’07, we hear that baby steps are being made towards putting Y on the screen. Lucifer is in its third season on Fox, while not much is known of Angela St. Grace and her adventures fighting against E.V.I.L. With any luck, this would be changing soon, as the arrival of Marvel Studios’ Black Panther seems to have sparked a new interest in properties starring people of color.

Although the series didn’t bring much to the genre other than its inclusive cast, Codename: Knockout is worth a read, though to date only the first six issues have been collected into trade paperback format. Derivative in nature, the series has plenty of the expected chase scenes, exotic backdrops, and enough fisticuffs to go around. Let’s not forget the sex. A title indeed worthy of its publisher, in the words of Go-Go Fiasco, “Aren’t secret agents supposed to get laid?”