Enjoying popularity in the 1960's through the Daily Express and Daily Star newspapers, comics are the often ignored aspect to the Bond franchise in today's era of $100m budget films.

Following the recent resurgence in comic books and the spate of movie franchises breathing life into the pages, it is not surprising that the spy image will be returning to the format again.

US comic house CrossGen have just announced a new stand-alone adventure series scheduled to launch with issue #1 in January 2004.

Although not officially linked with Bond or using any of the stories, characters or trademarks movie goers have all come to know, "Kiss Kiss Bang Bang" creates a new spy we will all love to hate.

Right: A bevy of familiar looking beauties surround Charles Basildon (below), the latest MI6 agent to take on the world.

Surrounded by the political, cultural and sexual revolutions of London in the swinging '60s, three MI6 agents fight for the safety of the globe - and scheme to claim the UK's #1 espionage job. In a twist similar to the 1967 spoof Bond film "Casino Royale", the main character's name is simply a moniker for a series of agents who have fought villains over the years.

The new monthly title shines the spotlight on the world's top agent, Sir Charles Basildon of Her Majesty's Secret Service. While no one within the international espionage community knows what Basildon actually looks like, the mere mention of his name is enough to terrify spymasters from Moscow to Beijing. In truth, Basildon is merely an identity cooked up by MI6 and passed on from one agent to the next. But times are changing, and that's where the series takes a wicked zigzag.

As the story opens, not only is the next Basildon-in-training a "Yank"...but she's also a woman. Can Stephanie Shelley, a thoroughly modern American, live up to the role of the legendary British super spy? And can she bear to learn the ropes from the current Sir Charles - the most lethal, infuriating, and unrepentantly sexist Basildon ever?

"Over-the-top in its humor and action, KISS KISS BANG BANG asks 'what would a spy like James Bond be like in the real world?'" writer Tony Bedard stated. "If you actually met him, some might see Basildon as a smooth operator. Then again, you might think he's an amoral adrenaline junkie and a sociopathic sexual predator. Whichever you decide, he's a loose cannon who frequently holds the fate of the Free World in his butt-slapping hands."

"We're going for all-out excitement, exotic locales and expectant character interaction - while also exploring the sexual politics of the age," penciler Mike Perkins revealed. "As a life-long espionage fan, this is the perfect chance to draw everything from groovy fashion and exotic locales to retro-future gadgets and sexy agents of the crown. Everything you want to put into a book like this - and everything that people want to see - will be there...and then we'll add that extra bit, just to confound your expectations and put your knickers in a twist."

Right: American Stephanie Shelley is the next in line to take over the Basildon identity.

MI6 Briefing

Title: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang
Publisher: CrossGen
Released: Issue #1 January 2004
Writer: Tony Bedard
Penciler: Mike Perkins
Colorist: Laura Villari
Inker: Andrew Hennessy