Review: Atomic Blonde- The Coldest City

Quick Summary

Pros: The central narrative is full of suspense and constantly keeps the reader guessing. The main character is well-written and adds excitement through most of her actions. The art matches the tone of the story.

Cons: There is a noticeable lull near the end of the story. Unnecessary complexity makes the story harder to follow and somewhat breaks immersion at times. The art contributes to the story’s complexity.

Overall: This is an entertaining spy thriller with more positives than negatives. It features a narrative that is equal parts exciting action and suspenseful mystery, all headlined by a great lead character. However, a few small problems bring the book down a bit and leave it as simply good instead of great. Readers looking for a book about a compelling female spy should give this volume a read.

Story

Atomic Blonde: The Coldest City, by Antony Johnston, is a decent spy comic with a fair share of suspenseful moments and satisfying twists. The main narrative follows an intricate conspiracy with assassins, undercover operatives, and the looming fear of double agents. All of this is then combined with a great lead character and enough detail to make the story feel as if it actually happened. Unfortunately, a brief lull in the story and some unnecessary complexity hamper the book and keep it from its full potential. Overall though, this is still a solid comic about spies in Berlin.

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The Coldest City’s biggest positives are derived from the story’s position as a satisfying spy thriller. The entire book is centered around a potential conspiracy that either involves a double agent for the KGB or a secret organization of assassins. Various clues constantly shift the reader’s perception between one and then the other, while saving the real answer for the book’s final pages. These twists and turns keep the reader in suspense and keep the book entertaining throughout.

While the book’s plot adds additional suspense, the actions of the book’s protagonist adds additional excitement. Her triumph over the French agent, her actions across the border, and her ultimate victory over every other character make her a tremendously compelling lead. Her role throughout the book is very well written and easily makes her the most compelling character in this story.

The only portion of the book that isn’t exciting is a short section near the very end. After Lorraine finishes her story, she and her compatriots simply hypothesize about potential conspiracies for a while, a scene that ends up being pretty boring. The rest of the book finds a way to blend exposition into the narrative in order to keep things moving, yet this portion of the book brings things to a screeching halt. It does not have a huge impact on the book’s overall quality but is a significant dip in an otherwise well paced narrative.

The story’s biggest negative is the way in which it treads the line between being authentic and being overly complex. Johnston’s heavy use of spy jargon and authentic terminology make the book feel more thoroughly rooted in reality. The untranslated use of multiple languages helps this as well, giving the reader a significant sense of immersion.

However, at the same time, the complexity brought along by this authenticity makes the story harder to follow. I had to constantly reference the internet while reading this book in order to understand aspects of the story, such as what agency specific characters belong to or what the German and French sections of dialogue are saying. Plus, throwing in codenames and titles makes the detailed cast of characters hard to remember, making the story harder to follow. All of this, in an unfortunate bout of self-destruction, effectively breaks the immersion that the authenticity creates. Additional context clues would have gone a long way in making this book more accessible.

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Art

The artwork in Atomic Blonde: The Coldest City, done by Sam Hart, is a solid complement to the book’s aesthetic. The minimalist style takes away all warmth and comfort from the setting, allowing the city to live up to its title. This mood is further developed by the book’s black and white color scheme. All of this creates a tone where the duplicitous actions of spies and traitors can thrive.

However, the artwork also enhances the confusion already present within the story. The lack of detail makes characters, especially male ones, look incredibly similar. This takes away from some of the book’s more interesting twists, since there is a chance that readers will not recognize who exactly is on the next page. I found myself frequently flipping back to earlier chapters in order to reference what specific characters look like. Though the minimalist approach to art suits the mood, it would be nice if characters were a little more detailed.

Continuity

Atomic Blonde: The Coldest City is the first volume published in this series. However, a prequel novel, The Coldest Winter, was published afterward.

Atomic Blonde: The Coldest City is also the graphic novel upon which the film Atomic Blonde is based