Posted in: Comics | Tagged: Comics, dynamite, entertainment, james bond, jason masters, warren ellis

No Mister Bond I Expect You To Fry – Review Of James Bond #4

Published Sun, 31 Jan 2016 10:00:01 -0600

I've gotten to take an advanced look at this weeks new release of James Bond #4 from Dynamite Entertainment and a I realized a few things. The latest issue from Warren Ellis and Jason Masters picks up in Berlin as one of Kurjak's men makes contact with Bond pretending to be an agent from the Berlin office… which has been wiped out as of last issue. The man, Masters, convinces Bond to go back to Kurjak's building but Bond isn't fooled. He calls an update then goes with Masters. We get a better idea of how screwed up Masters is and then we are treated to Kurjak's master plan before we end with Bond seemingly about to die.

This is classic Bond here. Odd, strong henchman, brutal fight, lots of bodies and a maniacal mastermind leaving Bond in a deathtrap after explaining his whole deal. The one thing that is missing and has been missing from this whole series is the 'Bond Girl'. Often times the Bond Girl is though of as just eye candy for the movie… but in reality she plays a similar role to the companions in Doctor Who. Bond explains to them what he is doing as a surrogate for the viewers / readers. There is a 3 page sequence at the end of the book when Bond is cleverly trying to find a way out of the deathtrap… there are no words here at all… and where I like Jason Masters art, it's hard to tell exactly what Bond is doing. This is something a Bond Girl would have helped by asking what he's doing and Bond would explain to her and us.

That aside, I think the series is telling a good James Bond story, but as I said in a previous review, it's a story that may be better suited for reading in one sitting rather than a month by month tale.

Cover art by Dom Reardon. For more on James Bond #4, click here.

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