Wednesday 3 August 2016

James Bond #7 - Dynamite Entertainment

JAMES BOND No. 7, June 2016
Perplexingly publicised by “Dynamite Entertainment” as the first instalment of a story about a ghost cell “of SPECTRE loyalists acting as sleepers until the time is right for a SPECTRE reformation and resurgence”, Warren Ellis’ narrative for Issue Seven of “James Bond” doesn’t actually provide even the slightest hint of Ian Fleming’s “fictional global criminal syndicate and terrorist organisation”. But instead focuses upon what initially appears to be a fairly straightforward extraction by the titular character of a compromised British “agent from the Diplomatic Wing of MI6 from her post in the Turkish Consulate here in Los Angeles.”

Fortunately for this title’s 14,046 readers however, the Essex-born author soon impregnates his twenty-two page storyline with plenty of pulse-pounding action by having the well-dressed secret serviceman clash with a Milli Istihbarat Teskilati kill team. A somewhat “fraught” situation which quickly results in “the OO Section” operative speedily throwing his hire car into reverse, and splattering enemy operatives’ brains all over the place with some well-timed shots from his “girl’s popgun of choice.”

Quite delightfully, the Sideways Award-winner (for Alternate History) also finds the space within “Eidolon” to incorporate a potentially poignant cameo by Bond’s CIA ally and friend, Felix Leiter. Matching Fleming’s original description of the man from his 1953 novel “Casino Royale”, the inclusion of this “thin, tall… former member of the U.S. Marine Corps… [with] a mop of straw-coloured hair…” should certainly have pleased Bond aficionados everywhere, especially as the American agent openly discusses losing his arm and leg to a shark (as depicted within the 1954 novel “Live And Let Die”). Furthermore those bibliophiles familiar with James’ previous comic book adventure “Vargr” must doubtless have smiled as the former Royal Naval Reserve Commander realises his colleague's limbs have both been replaced with Slaven Kurjak prosthetics; “… I hear that maybe I might have problems with the repair warranty in the future. Thanks, buddy.”

All of this action and intrigue is competently drawn by Jason Masters, whose knack of implying sound effects through the use of imagery has never been better illustrated than when he pencils the disfigured Mister Hawkwood pulling a victim’s head backwards to the point where the neck horrifyingly snaps and the throat bloodily tears open.
Writer: Warren Ellis, Artist: Jason Masters, and Colors: Guy Major

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