Posted in: Comics | Tagged: casino royale, Comics, Denis Calero, dynamite, embargoed, entertainment, james bond, Van Jansen

Denis Calero Replaces Matt Southworth On Van Jansen's Adaptation Of Casino Royale, The Original James Bond Novel

Writer Van Jansen (The Flash/Green Lantern) and artist Dennis Calero (X-Factor) have been selected as the creative team to bring the very first James Bond novel, Casino Royale, to the pages of comics for the first time in the series' history.

Which is a little odd, as it was originally announced as being drawn by Matt Southworth, with him drawing the book, last year, intended to be published in November 2016.

Looks like whatever happened went down in September.

But the Amazon listing still includes him.

Ian Fleming's literary debut of British Secret Service agent 007 is stylishly adapted to the sequential art medium by Van Jensen and Matt Southworth in the official James Bond: Casino Royale graphic novel. Sent to a French casino in Royale-les-Eaux, Bond aims to eliminate the threat of the deadly Le Chiffre by bankrupting the ruthless SMERSH operative at the baccarat table. However, when the luck of the draw favors his enemy, 007 becomes the target of assassins and torturers in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse.

Which has changed in the new press release copy, but still set for release in October as a 160-page graphic novel.

Ian Fleming's literary debut of British Secret Service agent 007 is stylishly adapted to the sequential art medium by Van Jensen and Dennis Calero in the official James Bond: Casino Royale graphic novel. Sent to a French casino in Royale-les-Eaux, Bond aims to eliminate the threat of the deadly Le Chiffre by bankrupting the ruthless SMERSH operative at the baccarat table. However, when the luck of the draw favors his enemy, 007 becomes the target of assassins and torturers in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse.

Van Jansen says,

There's a very obvious reason why I wanted to tackle the adaptation of Casino Royale: because it's James damned Bond! Also, when I cracked open Ian Fleming's first 007 novel (I had read it years before), it immediately appealed to me as a great creative challenge. Fleming's prose is powered by his descriptive punch, an eye for detail that captures the post World War II time period in full color, from decadent meals to the intricacies of baccarat to the sinister machinations of Le Chiffre. It's a heady book, diving deep into the character of Bond. Adapting it into comic book form meant creating some fun new approaches to storytelling, to recast a familiar tale as something that hasn't been seen before. Also, it's James damned Bond!

In 2014, Dynamite Entertainment made headlines across the comics industry and beyond with the news that the New Jersey publisher had secured the license from Ian Fleming Publications Ltd to produce the first James Bond comics in 20 years. The first series, written by Transmetropolitan writer Warren Ellis, launched the following year to widespread critical acclaim, and was a breakout success in the comics specialty market. Subsequent James Bond story lines include Andy Diggle and Luca Casalanguida's Hammerhead and Kill Chain, James Robinson and Aaron Campbell's Felix Leiter, Benjamin Percy and Rapha Lobosco's Black Box, and Kieron Gillen and Antonio Fuso's Service Special.

James Bond: Casino Royale will be resolicited in the July 2017 Previews catalog and slated for release in October.

Additional context from Rich Johnston.

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