MY NEW IMAGE COMIC: “CODENAME BABOUSHKA”
Right now I’m on stage, announcing my next book from Image Comics:
CODENAME BABOUSHKA, with art by the redoubtable Shari Chankhamma and lettering by Simon Bowland.
CODENAME BABOUSHKA is an action-packed modern pulp spy thriller in the style of classic British high-stakes espionage adventures like MODESTY BLAISE and JAMES BOND.
Contessa Annika Malikova is the last of a noble Russian line. Three years ago, Annika fled to the USA with family friend Gyorgy Gyorgyov, claiming political asylum. Rarely seen in public, she settled in New York and quickly became an enigmatic figure of the Manhattan social set.
But the Contessa has a dark secret. In fact, she’s the legendary crime lord codenamed “Baboushka”! After her organisation was betrayed and destroyed by a cabal of rival mafiya, she escaped to America and laid low…
…Until Mr Clay, head of the shadowy EON (Extrajudicial Operations Network), discovers her true identity. Threatened with deportation back to Moscow — and the certain death that awaits her there — Baboushka is forced to work for EON, taking on dirty jobs so classified even the CIA can’t sanction them.
CODENAME BABOUSHKA’s first mission, The Conclave of Death, begins in October.
Each issue will feature two covers; a regular ‘silhouette’ cover by Shari Chankhamma, and an ‘art cover’ by an all-star line-up of female artists, including Tula Lotay, Annie Wu, Leila del Duca (shown here), Kate Leth, and more.
We’re also commissioning ‘backmatter essays’ discussing female heroes and other subjects, by authors and critics like Danielle Henderson, Maya Rodale, Katy Rex, and more.
We’ll publish the book in ‘missions’; each will be part of Baboushka’s ongoing adventures, but stand alone as a story. Think of it like a new Bond movie every so often… except the sexy Russian femme fatale is the star.
CODENAME BABOUSHKA: THE CONCLAVE OF DEATH #1 is now available for pre-order at all good comic stores.
You might think she’s a hero. That would be a mistake.