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James Bond #7
Released by: Dynamite Entertainment
Released on: June 23rd, 2016.
Written by: Warren Ellis
Illustrated by: Jason Masters
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This seventh issue of Dynamite Entertainment's James Bond series, once again written by Warren Ellis and illustrated by Jason Masters, starts off a new storyline - Eidolon. When it begins, a man is tied to a chair. He's nervous, he's making excuses about some errors he made, errors that relate to someone's finances. That someone is Mr. Hawkwood and he's not happy that this man 'exposed the work.' After talking briefly about his past, his facial scars that make him stand out, his business working in the shadows as a spy, Hawkwood kills the man in the chair, telling him 'No one was supposed to know about Eidolon.'
At Whitehall in London a man named Stephen Mackmain visits an Undersecretary Of State named John. They talk about the differences that exist these days between MI5 (domestic security) and MI6 (foreign intelligence) and why, or why not, the MI6 agents should be running around England armed to the teeth. One MI6 agent in particular stands out - Bond.
When we catch up with him he's in Los Angeles to meet Felix Leiter, a C.I.A. agent. They know why Bond is here, to get an MI6 agent from the Turkish consulate. MI6 believes her cover has been blown and they want to get her back to the UK. Felix has been trailing Bond, so he says, to make sure that the operation is kept quiet - he hands him his gear and sends him on his way.
Bond finds the agent, Cadance Birdwhistle, on her lunch break. He tells her he's with the 00 section and she pays attention. Under some protest he gets her in the car just in time - it looks like the Turks have sent a kill team after her and Bond does what he does best - he takes care of the situation. He does wonder, however, why the Turks are using C.I.A. issue Glocks…and what was Birdwhistle working on that got these Turks so upset in the first place?
All the elements are in place for a solid Bond story - a sinister shadowy bad guy up to some sort of financial nefariousness, foreign agents out to kill, a pretty woman in need of Bond's help and plenty of hard-hitting action (the violence in this series continues to be intense). Ellis knows what he's doing, he writes the character well and even throws in a little bit of social commentary here and there when Bond must dispose of his gun. It's clever, it's witty, it's funny and it's suspenseful - what's not to like?
Jason Masters' artwork has improved nicely since this series started. Detail is strong and the sense of movement employed in the action scenes is nice and fluid. Guy Majors does a nice job coloring things too, their collective work has a nice flow to it. Human characters look realistic enough while the backgrounds and vehicles are well designed. The opening pages with Hawkwood have a nice, shadowy, noirish feel to them that's impressive. Story arc number two is off to a great start!
