With the news this week that Netflix has purchased comic book company Millarworld (publisher of Kick-Ass, Wanted, Jupiter’s Legacy and more) and with Kingsman: The Golden Circle coming out in about a month, it seems a good time to have a post about The Secret Service, on which the Kingsman: The Secret Service movie is based. If you are familiar with Mark Millar’s work at all, whether in the comics or on the big screen, you know the potential levels of violence and general craziness to expect. But in most cases the plot is interesting and engaging, and the stories are well-written. The Secret Service is one of those cases. 

The short run (six issue) series, written by Mark Millar with art by Dave Gibbons, premiered in 2012. It’s a spy story set in the same universe as the Kick-Ass comics and follows a man recruiting his nephew into the Bond-like secret service. You see much of the training that the nephew goes through while the uncle is dealing with other matters. Of course, there’s an evil genius who wants to take over the world and, in true Millar style, it involves a lot of violence and death. A lot of this probably sounds familiar if you’ve seen the movie Kingsman: The Secret Service and the plot is similar. But the movie took things in a different direction, so you’ll get something new by picking up the comics.

The Secret Service feels very “real world”, but the quirks of the characters and plot definitely let you know that the usual rules don’t exactly apply. If you enjoy the storytelling style of Millar (which, let’s face it, has recently become more predictable) with some great art (for the uninitiated, Gibbons is the artist behind Watchmen), then give this a go. After all, it’s only six issues. But the amount of action packed into those pages will take you on an intense, crazy and ultimately fun ride.