James Bond Featured Reviews 

“James Bond” #1

By | December 5th, 2019
Posted in Reviews | % Comments

“James Bond” #1 is a slow-paced start with hints of what the series could be. Beware spoilers ahead!

Cover by Jim Cheung

Written by Vita Ayala and Danny Lore
Illustrated by Eric Gapstur
Colored by Roshan Kurichiyanil and Rebecca Nalty
Lettered by Ariana Maher

New series, new team, new missions! VITA AYALA (Morbius, Age Of X-Man), DANNY LORE (Queen Of Bad Dreams) and ERIC GAPSTUR (James Bond 007) present a fresh take on the world’s greatest secret agent. When a priceless piece of art is found to be fake, investigations lead down a rabbit hole of international crime and corruption. But what the hell does James Bond know about the world of art forgery? Featuring a cover by superstar JIM CHEUNG (Justice League, Young Avengers), that will be revealed as an interlocking image over the first three issues!
Age Rating: 15+

What a week for James Bond! Along with the first trailer for No Time To Die, the 25th Bond film, was the release of “James Bond” #1 spearheaded by writers Vita Ayala and Danny Lore, joined by Eric Gapstur, Roshan Kurichiyanil, Rebecca Nalty and Ariana Maher. How does this new #1 hold up to its cinematic counterpart? Let’s find out.

The opening sequence of the issue is an all-around great three pages that hits all of the trademark Bond notes. Ayala and Lore’s script has bond seducing someone important’s spouse, goons chase him and it ends with him adjusting his cufflink looking away from an explosion. Gapstur, Kurichiyanil and Nalty also bring it on the page layout. The two pages spread showcasing Bond’s escape and chase with an incredible sense of momentum and clarity of motion. While these opening three pages are incredibly strong, its the strongest and one of the only moments of the titular character in all of “James Bond” #1. Ayala and Lore scratch the Bond itch early because the rest of “James Bond” #1 is decidedly not that.

The rest of “James Bond” #1 follows Brandy Keys and her partner Resse’s investigation into a forged Rothko. Brandy and Resse’s investigation seems like a strange detour in this book and takes a minute to gain direction but Ayala and Lore are doing some heavy lifting with regard to setting up the case and these characters that we understand will be Bond’s eventual companions on this caper. This investigation is interesting enough, however, it does, unfortunately, grind the momentum of those first few pages to a halt. The first few pages may have served as a prologue to the rest of the story but the energy and tone of that opening does not really return until the final pages.

Taken on its own investigation by Brandy and Reese is an mystery that has a slow burn and is painted by decent character moments. Ayala and Lore give readers a good sense of who Reese and Brandy are as insurance investigators and they get their moments to display their competency. One such scene of them working as a team with two different approaches is Brandy directly talking to someone in charge, Reese is more subversive in getting access to their suspect’s phone number and drinking establishment. Again the investigation does important things for the characters and plot, it feels somewhat long and unengaging. Part of this may be it being tonally unexpected from a spy book. Reese and Brandy read more in line with police procedural than a spy book.

The art team does take a solid amount of risks in storytelling in “James Bond” #1 to spice up the investigation. Gapstur’s page layout as Reese goes over how he would have stolen the art is very playful in having Reese interact with the panels and this decision is supported by Ariana Maher’s lettering that continues the conversation within that hypothetical visualization. A drawback of this is a confusion of whether Reese was involved in the theft and whether he was recollecting something that happened, or was he talking us through a flash-forward, which was unclear in the initial read. Playful is a word I would use to describe a majority of the artwork in “James Bond” #1. Gapstur’s thin lines, quirky facial expressions, and interactive page layouts send more of the tone of a comedy than a spy book. Roshan Kurichiyanil and Rebecca Nalty’s colors don’t do much to distract from this with a mostly warm tone throughout the book that does cool the closer to Bond our main characters get. This tonal shift may be more intentional but still highlight the subversion of the majority of this book. The art team does sell the action incredibly well once Bond reenters the story. Kurichiyanil and Nalty drown the page in a red that evokes a sense of danger and Gapstur’s linework becomes heavier and the momentum from the opening scene returns.

Overall, “James Bond” #1 operates in the subversion of expectations of what a “James Bond” comic would be which is an incredibly bold choice for a #1 issue and would work depending on how much of that you knew going into it. Ayala and Lore give just enough to pique readers’ interest in how Brandy and Reese get mixed in with the world’s most famous secret agent. While this concept is built well, it gets lost in the promise of the first sequence and the expectations of “James Bond” #1.

Final Verdict: 7.0 – “James Bond” #1 is a subversive start to a new Bond series that starts strong, does some slow-paced heavy work and promises to pick it back up


Kenneth Laster

Kenneth is a cartoonist, critic, and cryptid somewhere in the crumbling empire of the United States. Hit him up on twitter @disasterlaster to see dumb jokes and artwork.

EMAIL | ARTICLES