Dynamite Entertainment Presents... JAMES BOND 007

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John P. Drake
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Favorite Bond Movie: Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, The Living Daylights, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies.
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Dynamite Entertainment Presents... JAMES BOND 007

Post by John P. Drake »

Dynamite Entertainment, a comic book publishing company, acquired the license from Ian Fleming Publications to release comic books and graphic novels based on Ian Fleming's James Bond 007 back in 2014, promising a revival of the series in the comics world after going absent for two decades, save for the graphic novel adaptation of the first Young Bond novel, Silverfin back in 2007, which doesn't truly count as a Bond experience. The last time a Bond comic book was published was an adaptation of GoldenEye in 1996 by Topps Comics, which didn't make it past the first issue out of three planned chapters. Fleming's secret agent was featured in comics since 1962, having been published by various companies including DC Comics, Marvel, Eclipse, Dark Horse, and last but not least, Dynamite Entertainment.

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Making a debut as a continuation from the Fleming timeline, albeit with an updated setting, the first entry in the series saw the publication of its first issue in November 2015, with a story arc written by Warren Ellis, and the interior art was illustrated by Jason Masters (Batman Incorporated), entitled VARGR, which according to Ellis is an Old Norse word meaning "variously wolf, evildoer or destroyer." Of course, the first issue was sold over 30'000 copies and the issues continued to be published until April 2016, with a full collected edition of all issues in hardback format coming out in June later that year. Ellis and Masters returned for one more entry the same month, which oversaw villains that attempt to resurrect SPECTRE after they went defunct in the aftermath of the You Only Live Twice novel, pitting Bond against a former war hero veteran gone rogue, entitled Eidolon, which lasted publication until December 2016, along with a collected hardcover coming out in March 2017. The main James Bond series was taken over by novelist Benjamin Percy and artist Rapha Lobosco for one story arc that sees a tonal drift from the previous violent and gory work for Ellis into an adventure inspired by the Roger Moore era films, titled Black Box, running from January to June 2017. A collected edition hardback is set to be published in November later that year.

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One-off separate six-issue miniseries as well as one-shots and spin-offs were also published, like two entries by Andy Diggle & Luca Casalanguida, whose work saw the most praise Bond comics under Dynamite's tenure has ever gotten, starting with Hammerhead and continuing with Kill Chain (which is still an ongoing miniseries), both consisting of six issues for each. Their incarnation of James Bond is more akin to Brosnan's portrayal of the character in the actor's latter two films, still set in the same universe/timeline as Ellis' established chronicles. So far, there are two one-shots in archives but Dynamite, one being Service by Kieron Gillen and Antonio Fuso, published in May 2017, and the other being Solstice by Ibrahim Moustafa (who's both writing and illustrating it), set to come out in late November.

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Spin-offs include characters starring other than Bond himself, like Felix Leiter in the conveniently-titled Felix Leiter six-issue miniseries, whose character was expanded and re-established by writer James Robinson (famous for his own series Grand Passion also published by Dynamite) and reinvigorated with appearance by artist Aaron Campbell. The comic book sees Felix Leiter teaming up with Tiger Tanaka to hunt down a terrorist cult organization that is attacking Japan with a deadly weapon. It was published between January to June 2017. A one-shot spin-off showcasing the character of Moneypenny (inspired by Naomie Harris' incarnation) in action, entitled Moneypenny was published in August. Another one-shot of the kind, centered on M, will be coming out in February 2018.

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Felix and Tanaka embarking on a mission to stop North Korean terrorists

Currently, Dynamite Entertainment has a very faithful adaptation of Fleming's first novel, Casino Royale, planned for graphic novel release, scripted by Van Jensen and illustrated by Dennis Calero. The release date is rather ambiguous. Another six-issue miniseries entitled The Body is set to debut in January 2018, written by Ales Kot, and illustrated by Luca Casalanguida (whose work on Hammerhead and Kill Chain is widely acclaimed). Comic books in a timeline set before the chronology of Fleming's novels during the years 1941-1945 is also planned, separate from the contemporary comic books, said to be making a debut in Spring 2018 which is currently advertised under the working title James Bond Origins: The War Years, narrating Bond's rise to ranks in the Royal Navy as well as the beginning of his career in espionage.

The list includes so far:
  • VARGR (2015)
  • Eidolon (2016)
  • Hammerhead (2016)
  • Black Box (2017)
  • Felix Leiter (2017)
  • Service (2017)
  • Kill Chain (2017)
  • Moneypenny (2017)
  • Solstice (2017)
  • The Body (2018)
  • M (2018)
In the pipeline:
  • Casino Royale (TBD)
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*-This color indicates that the title is a spin-off starring a character other than James Bond himself.
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Capt. Sir Dominic Flandry
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Favorite Bond Movie: Moonraker
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Re: Dynamite Entertainment Presents... JAMES BOND 007

Post by Capt. Sir Dominic Flandry »

Looks interesting. How come the Bond does not look like Craig?
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John P. Drake
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Posts: 1658
Joined: Sun Mar 03, 2013 1:42 pm
Favorite Bond Movie: Dr. No, From Russia With Love, Goldfinger, Thunderball, The Spy Who Loved Me, Moonraker, For Your Eyes Only, The Living Daylights, GoldenEye, Tomorrow Never Dies.
Location: Somewhere, strangling Barbara Broccoli.

Re: Dynamite Entertainment Presents... JAMES BOND 007

Post by John P. Drake »

Dynamite’s Bond is quite traditional. Their deal for the license isn’t with Eon, but rather Ian Fleming Publications.

I recommend them all. Especially Hammerhead, Solstice and Kill Chain.
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