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| 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.
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| Writer: Warren Ellis, Artist: Jason Masters, and Colors: Guy Major |
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