James Bond: VARGR Brought to You by the Dynamite Duo of Masters and Ellis

The later part of 2015 is a bountiful time to be a fan of James Bond. Anthony Horowitz's tense, spectacle-filled novel TRIGGER MORTIS was released last month, and the new film SPECTRE reaches American cinemas November 6th. To think, that would be enough to make most years a memorable one for Bondophiles, but for the first time in twenty-years the world's favorite secret agent is available in sequential artistic art! Let's all thank Dynamite Entertainment for rescuing 007 from comic oblivion!

You may realize from the opening paragraph that I'm shaken, stirred, and downright passionate about James Bond. So, I could go off in multiple directions about the franchise, yet I want to stick to the "four-color" world. Twenty years is a long time to be without a Bond comic. Fully, eight films have been released since the never-completed adaptation of GOLDENEYE was begun by the defunct comic publishing arm of TOPPS. Let me put that into perspective, 1/3 of the 24 films in the longest running series in film history have come out since the last comic book! Seems like a missed opportunity, doesn't it?

To be fair, James Bond has had a stilted publishing history in comics form. Mostly good, though, I would say. The very best material is easily the Daily Express comic strips that adapted the Ian Fleming source material as well as a creating a number of original stories. These strips featured stunning artwork by John McLusky or Jaroslav Horak that mingled beautifully with words from writers like Henry Gammidge and Jim Lawrence. Another favorite was Mike Grell's PERMISSION TO DIE by Dark Horse Comics. This was a visceral take on Bond with globetrotting, insane locations, pretty women, and an evil mastermind. These particular pieces rate so highly in my mind because the story and visuals work in concert to tell an engrossing story true to the source material.

Whether it's Ian Fleming's novels or the film series, James Bond has an iconic style, look, and feel that fans not only expect, they demand. Acclaimed writer Warren Ellis and artist Jason Masters are tasked with bringing Bond back to modern store shelves. Do they succeed? Surely. Thus far, VARGR is worthy of its place in the Bond canon, but the comic isn't perfection either. First, this is a small part of a greater story, so it's almost unfair to judge it by the debut issue alone. You wouldn't fashion a final analysis of GOLDFINGER or SKYFALL in the first twenty minutes, but that's the difficult task I'm faced with here.

The key piece in any comic book is the artwork, and Jason Masters puts forth lush, engaging visuals with rich detail and brilliant design sense. The story opens with a "pre-title" sequence as James Bond tracks down the man who recently killed 008. Masters portrays a grand chase through streets, alleys, and concluding in a brutal construction yard fight. Through it all, Bond's face is mostly hidden from view with clever usage of scene, light, or weapons. This is an important sequence, as it follows the film tradition of allowing the new Bond a bit of screen time before their big facial reveal. Masters' rendition of James Bond is very fitting to Fleming's own description, and recalls a bit of the character's look in those Daily Express strips. He's got the requisite scar, comma of hair, and comes off coldly ruthless. The opening is a fitting introduction to the "new" Bond, still I would have preferred a larger scale sequence to launch the story. To be fair, the lack of grandeur is a bone to pick with the writing, not the artwork.

Masters' prowess is on display the rest of the way as he affords style and stuffiness to the requisite scenes with Bond at MI6 headquarters. We meet supporting regulars Moneypenny, M, Tanner, and the incomparable Q. The character designs are all pretty interesting and fitting to their roles. Each looks nothing much like previous film incarnations but that makes perfect sense as Dynamite probably wants to steer clear of likeness fees. The action never quite picks up again, although we are introduced to the villain of the piece, and Bond gets moving on his mission. Each of these elements is rendered with equally adept style as the previous elements.

The script for VARGR is off to a good start. Again, it's hard to fairly judge Warren Ellis based on a single part of the six-issue story. Ellis's setup is interesting enough, he's got a firm handle on the voices of the characters we all know and love, plus the bad guy seems utterly evil. I have to reiterate my disappointment at the opening sequence. After the opening there are only the MI6 moments, reveals about the drugs that will drive the plot, and the first major obstacle Bond will face on his mission. Considering there's no other action in this comic, I feel Ellis could have penned something with more spectacle. That minor criticism aside, Ellis shows off a love and knowledge for the material, which tells me the best is yet to come. He's a master storyteller, and I know that I'm in good hands for future issues.

The coloring by Guy Major pulls out every last detail of Jason Masters' linework. His palette is realistic in tone and blends shadows well. The color choices are classic and never gaudy. Major's coloring lends an almost timeless quality to the pages. The color choices and gradient effects give a classic tone even though we see the modern MI6 building, contemporary garbage cans, and other elements that set it firmly in today. Great coloring can hide poor pencils, and bad coloring can destroy great lines, but when a tandem like Masters and Majors mesh, the results are magic.

In Norse mythology, the name VARGR means wolf. I assume that's a hint as to where Mr. Ellis is going, but I can't be sure. As cool as that tidbit is, it's a pretty lame title for a James Bond, well, anything. It's a similar mistake to the somewhat pedestrian opening, this is James Bond, you need to go bigger. I get that Warren Ellis has mixed literary elements in his story, but his chief structure veers more to the film side, thus his storytelling should too. Thankfully, Ellis clearly has a handle on the characters and structure, and that's the most important aspect of all. Still, I'm hoping he goes even bigger as the story progresses! In any event, I'm anxious to see the rest of this series, and hopefully more new 007 product from Dynamite. Come on guys, I want a Dr. No origin story!