Spies are sexy.
They just are.
Whether it's Austin Powers or James Bond or Sydney Bristow, there is something seriously sexy about espionage. And Kevin Dart knows it.
Dart is one half of the Fleet Street Scandal, which he runs with co-founder Chris Turnham, where they aims to "create high quality printed material and art that would look great on the wall." And, seriously, their art is gorgeous.
Their latest project is called Seductive Espionage: The World of Yuki 7 which tells the tale of the swinging '60s spy girl, Yuki 7.
Yuki 7 is "intelligent" and "charming", and while the description Fleet Street Scandal give her is a bit nauseating ("Yuki romps through film after film, vanquishing villains while looking fabulous.") the artwork in this book is breathtaking.
Throughout Seductive Espionage, Yuki 7 jumps from film to film - the names of which range from Danger Is Female to To Catch A Temptress - over 72 pages filled with artwork from the 14 artists that helped create Yuki and her, erm, seductive world.
The names of the films cause me to do a feminist-eye roll, but I can't help but fall in love with Yuki and Fleet Street Scandal for making something that looks this cool, and is so rich with creativity. (Just look how fucking cool she looks! Look! At! Her!)
While I am glad that they're using a female spy, rather than a male one, Fleet Street do fall into the same, "If it's going to be a woman, she's going to have to be sexy!" trap. But when you're playing with espionage, making her a tarty seductress that also kicks ass is OK in my book. As long as they protray her as being as "intelligent" as she is "charming" that's fine by me. (How one can portray "intelligence" through still artwork is beyond me, but I suppose this is why I'm not an artist.)
Seductive Espionage is available for pre-order and has a first-edition run of 2,000 copies. Plus, and almost more importantly, there is also this incredibly cool trailer for the book and A Kiss From Tokyo.
"A Kiss From Tokyo" Theatrical trailer from Stephane coedel on Vimeo.
And just in case that wasn't enough for you, there's also a t-shirt.
Please, oh please, someone please send us one of these t-shirts in a medium?! kthxbai.
Lead image: screenshot from A Kiss From Tokyo trailer, image of book and t-shirt via NotCot.org