James Bond by Garth Ennis and Rapha Lobosco

[Hypo]

GARTH ENNIS TO WRITE JAMES BOND

Dynamite announces the ultimate team-up with MI6’s super spy and one of the greatest comics writers of 007's native United Kingdom, Garth Ennis. The new series starts this coming January, with the intention to shake and stir the character in a thrilling tale for fans.

The year 2023 has marked the incredible 70th anniversary of Ian Fleming's historic character. 2024 will kick off Dynamite's 10th year publishing comics starring James Bond. With over 20 graphic novels worth of stories on the shelves, Dynamite targeted the perfect creative partner to celebrate these milestones in classy, brutal and typical Bond style. No name fit more than one of the most celebrated and influential writers from the British Isles and a longtime Dynamite partner — Garth Ennis (The Boys, Preacher).

"When I took a look at the Bond of the Fleming novels, as opposed to the larger-than-life figure from the movies, I saw a great deal more potential — a much darker character in a more interesting world," said writer Garth Ennis.

This new story titled "Your Cold, Cold Heart" finds Bond dealing with a truly disturbing silent killer. A relic of the Cold War, the deadly compound Stalvoda — roughly meaning "steel water" in Russian — is thought to have achieved the impossible – the holy grail of arms manufacturers: is it possible to kill an enemy without inflicting any visible damage and leaving no trace whatsoever? Right as the weapon is perfected, though, it escapes the lab. MI6 naturally assigns their top operative to the hunt.

In addition to appearances from fan-favorites such as M, Q, Moneypenny, and Felix Leiter, Ennis is also introducing readers to new character Archie Tryon. Now an eccentric, old veteran who enjoys strolls into the sea, the man brought the earlier formula out of the Soviet Union in the first place. Bond will go to him and get more than he bargained for, perhaps seeing a glimpse of his own future, and the first clues to unravelling a conspiracy that traces back deep into the heart of MI6.

Ennis is joined for the series by artist Rapha Lobosco, who has previously taken on 007 with Benjamin Percy's Black Box and an issue of Aleš Kot's The Body. With other credits including Dynamite's two crossovers with Tim Seeley's Hack/Slash, Lobosco is the perfect match here with a great sense of character and storytelling.

The series will also feature stunning covers by the Eisner Award-winning Dave Johnson, known for his contributions to 100 Bullets, Detective Comics, Deadpool, Punisher, and more.

[Hypo]

James Bond #1 Art by Rapha Lobosco

[matt levin]

I haven't much cared about earlier Bond comics; perhaps this one--

[Hypo]

James Bond: 007 #1 Preview
Writer: Garth Ennis
Artist: Rapha Lobosco

[Hypestyle]

is this taking place during the "original" fleming era of the 50s - 60s?

[matt levin]

Somehow Bond just doesn't work for me in comics: I've read the novels, long ago, and, likewise, have seen the movies-- but the comics just lack the relentless forward progress the other media seem to give me.

[ChrisIII]

is this taking place during the "original" fleming era of the 50s - 60s?

Looks like it's the same basic timeline of the Dynamite comics-which are a bit more "R-Rated" than the movies, and include details such as Bond's face scar and Leiter's arm but otherwise are modern day.

However, There are the CASINO ROYALE and LIVE AND LET DIE novel adaptations which are period pieces though, and JAMES BOND ORIGIN takes place during World War II so it's kind of met to be a prequel of sorts to the Fleming material.

In tone the current comics I think they're a bit similar to the John Gardner novels, in the sense they try to kind of mix the tone of the novels and the movies.

[Pete26]

I haven't read any Bond comics other than the 60's/70's versions.This looks interesting and I like Garth Ennis's writing.

[ChrisIII]

^

Funny thing is years before Star Wars did a similar thing (Although to the film itself) the comic adaptation of DR.NO had their own version of "Bond shot first" with Dent and Bond shooting at the same time, with Bond only wounding him, instead of Dent already wasting his ammunition on the pillow dummy and Bond shooting the unarmed Dent several times with the classic "That's a smith and wesson, and you've had your six" line.

[Pete26]

^

Funny thing is years before Star Wars did a similar thing (Although to the film itself) the comic adaptation of DR.NO had their own version of "Bond shot first" with Dent and Bond shooting at the same time, with Bond only wounding him, instead of Dent already wasting his ammunition on the pillow dummy and Bond shooting the unarmed Dent several times with the classic "That's a smith and wesson, and you've had your six" line.

I have this edition at home and need to reread it. I always wonder about that line "you had your six" . In the film Dent has a colt 1911, which has at least 7 rounds. The scriptwriters incorrectly called the weapon a Smith and Wesson, when in reality it was not a revolver at all.

[godisawesome]

I have this edition at home and need to reread it. I always wonder about that line "you had your six" . In the film Dent has a colt 1911, which has at least 7 rounds. The scriptwriters incorrectly called the weapon a Smith and Wesson, when in reality it was not a revolver at all.

It's mostly just an example of the earliest film's armorer being more concerned with getting working props than in accuracy to anything - Connery isn't even using his PPK in that scene, but instead an FN Model 1910 because it was what they could find a prop suppressor for, and the scene where he gets his PPK features the wrong Beretta, since the one he hands in actually has the same caliber of bullet and reliability as the PPK.

[ChrisIII]

One thing I like about the comics is that they better address the physical toll of Bond's adventures-something the movies have done on occasion, or at least tried to-Bond spending a bit of Casino Royale's final act recovering from Le Chiffre's torture, Bond being out of shape/shaky after being shot and nearly drowning; even the Brosnans to a lesser extent with the shoulder injury in TWINE and Bond's torture in Die Another Day (although in both occasions Bond recovered pretty quickly, or it wasn't a huge problem for the rest of the film).