Dynamite Entertainment 2015
Written by Warren Ellis
Illustrated by Jason Masters
Coloured by Guy Major
Lettered by Simon Bowland
Eidolon have M and Moneypenny, in a remote safehouse, with no hope of backup, no aid on the way, and no sign of James Bond. Fear and paranoia and the collapse of governmental structure are in sight. Britain is going back to the Dark Ages and SPECTRE, finally, have won.
This is like the novels for me it’s got great character build-up and remains a constant stream of action and story that keeps the interest levels high. Warren has this storytelling down to a science as he’s able to make a simple meeting turn into that moment of betrayal and action that you know is coming but is still a surprise. His ability to do this continual characterisation and story development that you might not see coming are among the reasons we will constantly gravitate towards whatever he writes.
I like seeing how Warren has crafted this issue going backwards leading up to the point where they are in the room at gunpoint. This was supposed to be a meeting of professionals and not the hitmen kind. That it turned into something like it is remains high on my list of reasons to enjoy this. More so now that we see how all the players we’ve been introduced to here are in action.
Oh and yeah James and Ms. Sharma well that didn’t take long now did it. While I believe they “kept it professional” the implication is much better than actually seeing it. Leaving more room for the storytelling while keeping his ladies man status and reputation alive and well. This isn’t the movies we don’t need those scenes spelled out of us.
Speaking of I do like the interiors here. The use of page layouts with their angles, perspective and even backgrounds the work Jason and Guy do here is fantastic. They’ve got that whole action story stuff down pat and the body's, proportions and sense of movement, of these characters look, feel and act like they should. I like the violence isn’t bloody but more contained, gore isn’t necessary in my opinion, and a natural part of things so not feeling gratuitous.
This is so much more like a continuing story that keeps going with aspects where majority of the bad guys are caught but not all. So there’s this whole theme that keeps permeating the missions whether they are front and center or merely background noise. It makes it seem more realistic and natural that things aren’t always tied up with a nice bow on it and instead they have to remain vigilant for what’s still to come.
This is very much a story and character driven series and it doesn’t have to rely on the fancy gadgetry or stunts to be successful. It’s old fashioned compelling storytelling at it’s finest folks.