Review by Ian Keogh

Every time it seems there can’t be yet another twist to Jason McClane’s life there is, yet credibly so, and Cuba, Where It all Began, is the volume where Yves Sente surpasses series creator Jean Van Hamme. The sheer audacity of what he adds to the plot, what he sorts out, the complexity and the pace maintained throughout are stunning.

Reloaded Memory didn’t end well for McClane, but ended even worse for the USA as the Mayflower Group co-ordinated a successful coup ensuring their puppet became President. McClane was subjected to yet another memory wipe, and forced into the loyalty he’d been pretending to the Mayflower Group and their new head. He now serves as the US National Security Chief with his previous lives forgotten.

What Sente juggles here is astonishing, and it all comes together so smoothly in Cuba, where assorted factions want to acquire a Russian hacker, now rotting in jail. McClane’s involved, the Russians are involved, more than one element of the Mayflower Group is involved and in the meantime Carrington and Jones are under threat. Despite figuring out a way to incorporate all that smoothly in 46 pages, Sente also reveals more of McClane’s past.

The fantastic writing could be of little consequence if shabbily represented, but Iouri Jigounov is once again precise and dynamic. Called on to set scenes in three very different countries and the wilds of Canada besides, Jigounov switches from one to the other seamlessly while also ensuring every member of a large cast can be distinguished. Frighteningly, having grown up in Moscow he could be even better in Moscow – Spaso House.

Dense, twisting and superbly drawn, this is no mere sequel, but a masterwork in its own right.