Agent Gates and the Secret Adventures of Devonton Abbey: A Parody of Downton Abbey
There are plenty of ways to go with a takeoff on Downton Abbey. The way this graphic novel does it is a crime—well, crimes, espionage, and the future of the empire. In this version of “Devonton Abbey,” manservant Gates is an agent for the Secret Intelligence Service, with his high-powered contact a surprising member of the household. It is up to them, and a few others upstairs and downstairs, to thwart the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand when he visits. All the while, there are all sorts of amusing twists on the original: Lady Sybil—here Lady Cynthia—is a crusader who insists on fair-trade tea but pouts because the maid hasn’t shortened her trousers. Thanks to a complicated entail to the will, the estate can stay in the family’s hands as long as the pet dog has a pup. And the plain sister, Lady Ethel, is told what everybody on the show has been thinking, “Nobody cares what you think, Ethel.” The art neatly catches the personalities of the TV characters but adds its own clever twists. A nonpareil parody. --Ilene Cooper