In a previous review I expressed a bafflement
at the existence of a comic book adaptation for Game of Thrones as the franchise already had two perfectly good
adaptations in the novels and the show since it was an adaptation of a
storyline from season three which was back when the show still had competent
writing and directions. It made me ponder as to why such adaptations exist, and
what real benefit they had given their competition. But in my harsh takedown I
overlooked something: Original stories using existing characters. Which brings
us to today's topic: Ian Fleming’s James
Bond as presented by Dynamite.
James Bond is a character that needs no
introduction. MI6 master spy, likes his martinis dry and his wit drier. He was
practically a superhero already, he just lacked the comic based adventures and
that’s what this is, a James Bond
extended universe story.
The great thing about the James Bond character
is that he has had 7 different actors portray him and his continuity is, shall
we say, less than concrete so barring an appearance from Blofeld or Jaws, you
could introduce as many new characters as you want and audiences will just roll
with it.
Issue six of this run of James Bond feels very
much like a James Bond movie somewhere in its second act. James has gone a bit
rogue tracking down a villain known simply as Mr.Big, MI6 is being curmudgeonly
about the whole thing, and there’s a mysterious woman aiding bond. Bond has a
formula and this comic does not deviate from it, but sometimes you follow a
formula because the formula works.
Ian
Fleming’s James Bond has crisp clean artwork from
Brent Peeples, and clear blocking which makes the action easy to follow. Bond
is suitably handsome, somewhere in between a Brosnan and a Dalton, and Mr. Big
lives up to his name. Writers Vita Alaya and Danny Lore write a convincing
enough Bond story with enough charm and intrigue to keep the reader invested.
Bond also gets slapped with a whole shark courtesy of Mr. Big and that’s
something you just won’t get in any Eon produced Bond Flick.
On it’s own Ian Fleming’s James Bond #6 is good, but I have a hard time
recommending it unless you’ve read the other 5 issues preceding it. If you
can’t wait until No Time To Die later
this year, this may tide you over.
-Parker Enix-Ross