Alpha Vol 3. The List. Mythic (Writer), Y. Jigounov (Art), Jerome Saincantin (Translation). Cinebook Ltd (2010)

Fast paced and very enjoyable spy thriller. A high-ranking secret police officer flees the collapse of East Germany with a list of US citizens who had covert dealings with the communist regime. When he offers the list to the CIA in exchange for relocation to the US and safety for his family, the list attracts the attention of a number of competing groups. An Israeli team as well as one of the people named on the list are desperate to get the information and the CIA team, headed by Alpha have a considerable struggle on their hands. The action is superbly paced, the reveals are clever and sharp, the resolution has bite.
To a large extent plot and action dominate over character in the story, not exclusively as the cast are given enough definition to make the action engaging. The plot is very well structured, the action makes sense and the pace is cleverly managed. The cast and their various contexts are introduced in a effective and compressed fashion that sets them up for the turns of the story very well. They never feel like they are plot bound, they are responding to events and trying to get ahead of them with credible vigour.
The art has to carry a great deal of the story and does so beautifully. The panels are nicely designed to vary the pace and to put a lot of information on the page in an unfussy and effective way. The human cast are strongly individual, their body language and expressions pick up the nuances of the story. A first rate story and a great comic.

Alpha Vol 1. The Exchange. P. Renard & Y. Jigounov. Cinebook Ltd (2008)

An enjoyable and twisty spy story. The plot for this story is reasonably straightforward, there are large illegal currency exchanges taking place where Russian roubles are exchanged for US dollars. There are a lot of different groups with an interest in these transactions besides those directly involved in the transfers. One of the transfers goes violently wrong and the money goes missing, this brings pressure on all the groups to locate it and escalating violence. As the introductory story this has a great deal of exposition in it as the various groups explain who they are and how they fit into the unfolding events. This acts as a bit of a drag on the story as you really need to know how everyone is to make sense of the action,when the action takes place is well done and fluid.

The central female character, Assia Donkova, is well thought out and a strong presence in the book. She is centrally involved in the mechanics of the plot, she has been deceived as to the true meaning of her actions by her husband. She is the only member of the cast not to have a secret agenda and instead of making her foolish or naive, it makes her straightforward and likable. All the rest of the cast have a much clearer knowledge of the real intent behind the money exchanges and have plans for the money. They are all either gangsters or spys, they all have violence and deceit in common. While the plot mechanics are a bit clumsy, the reveals are not smoothly managed or timed, there is enough momentum created to forgive this and to go with the flow. There has been enough done in this volume to create interest in how it will play out further. The art is crisp and detailed, the cast are clearly differentiated and the page layouts are variable and dynamic, they are a very strong element in the book. The cover art is not remotely reflective of the interior art.