Dynamite's Bond comics and graphic novels

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  • Posts: 1,165
    Gettler wrote: »
    Mine shipped out today. Supposed to arrive tomorrow. Let and Let Die is going to be the only graphic novel Ill enjoy compared to these recent entries. At least, I'm pretty sure.
    Is yours being shipped from Amazon UK may I ask? Fingers crossed it will arrive for you tomorrow.
  • Posts: 314
    TR007 wrote: »
    Gettler wrote: »
    Mine shipped out today. Supposed to arrive tomorrow. Let and Let Die is going to be the only graphic novel Ill enjoy compared to these recent entries. At least, I'm pretty sure.
    Is yours being shipped from Amazon UK may I ask? Fingers crossed it will arrive for you tomorrow.

    Amazon US, actually. I'll keep you posted.
  • Posts: 314
    And it arrived!
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,049
    Gettler wrote: »
    And it arrived!

    Let us know how it is please!
  • Posts: 5,772
    From the Diamond Comics site :
    STL148904?type=1

    James Bond # 4

    Agent 007 is a loner, by nature. But finally, he accepts that he needs help. But will trusting someone else help his mission...or lead to the deaths of innocents?

    By VITA AYALA (Morbius, Gamora), DANNY LORE (Queen Of Bad Dreams) and ERICA D'URSO (Captain Marvel).
    In Shops: Mar 04, 2020
  • Posts: 1,165
    Gettler wrote: »
    And it arrived!

    Fantastic! How is it?

    It's strange that Dynamite haven't updated the release date or started shipping in the UK. Very strange behaviour from them. Between LALD and CR they don't seem too pushed when promoting these titles.
  • Posts: 314
    TR007 wrote: »
    Gettler wrote: »
    And it arrived!

    Fantastic! How is it?

    It's strange that Dynamite haven't updated the release date or started shipping in the UK. Very strange behaviour from them. Between LALD and CR they don't seem too pushed when promoting these titles.

    Quite good actually. Though, I prefer CR's art style, but this isn't bad.
  • Posts: 7,653
    Live and Let Die has been pre-ordered but is not even acknowledged as being forthcoming from my comic delivery person.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,447
    I'm sitting on torrid sands for this one.
    Bookdepository.co.uk says it's 11 more days until publication and then another two or three until my copy is shipped.
  • Okay, my LCS (Local Comics Store) has announced that the LALD GN will be on the stands next Wednesday, 1/1/20. Nice way to start off the year!
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,447
    My order is on its way, reports Bookdepository.co.uk. Means I'll have it in a few days' time.
  • 00Heaven00Heaven Home
    Posts: 573
    Gerard wrote: »
    From the Diamond Comics site :
    STL148904?type=1

    James Bond # 4

    Agent 007 is a loner, by nature. But finally, he accepts that he needs help. But will trusting someone else help his mission...or lead to the deaths of innocents?

    By VITA AYALA (Morbius, Gamora), DANNY LORE (Queen Of Bad Dreams) and ERICA D'URSO (Captain Marvel).
    In Shops: Mar 04, 2020

    I'll try to reserve my judgement but I'm not sure I like the sound of that.

    Is history repeating? I really hope not. The first issue was, to be blunt, trash.
  • The art looks really good!
  • Posts: 1,165
    Any word of a UK release date for this yet?
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,447
    The mailman has just delivered my copy of LALD. I bought it via bookdepository.co.uk and had it shipped to Belgium. Am I the first here?
  • Posts: 12,506
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    The mailman has just delivered my copy of LALD. I bought it via bookdepository.co.uk and had it shipped to Belgium. Am I the first here?

    Us mailmen get everywhere DD! ;)
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,518
    Have my copy as well, bought it from a comic shop here in the city. Think they only had one copy!
    Haven't cracked into it yet but looking forward to it.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,518
    DarthDimi wrote: »
    The mailman has just delivered my copy of LALD. I bought it via bookdepository.co.uk and had it shipped to Belgium. Am I the first here?

    Had mine at noon PST (-8:00 GMT) yesterday (January 1st) ;)
  • I have mine now (thank you LCS) and am looking forward to reading it tonight.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    edited January 2020 Posts: 23,447
    Well, I just finished reading the Dynamite LALD adaptation. It consumed an unexpectedly large portion of the evening. I went through the LALD film score twice while reading!

    The adapters certainly honour Fleming. Most of the book is replete with narration and dialogue, almost to the point where they interfere with the visual aspect of a graphic novel. At the risk of sounding blasphemous, I might even go so far as to say that the book could easily have discarded much of the textual content in favour of a faster pace. At times it felt like I was reading an Alan Moore book: densely packed with prose, bleeding text over almost every single panel at the expense of the art underneath it.

    Speaking of which, the book is beautifully drawn, even though there were times when I wished someone like Jason Masters or Sean Phillips could have gotten involved. I got distracted by a few unfortunate drawings of Bond resembling a bit of a high-school doofus rather than the sexy spy we know and love so much. Overall though, the book looks fabulous.

    This adaption, if nothing else, pays deference to Fleming's legacy by staying truly faithful to the source novel. I'm sure some parts could have been thrown out without any serious loss of quality, but the fact that entire pages were spent on Bond's training sessions in Jamaica and descriptions of the Everglades only demonstrates how determined the artists were to re-tell Fleming's entire story rather than select only the more action-driven moments to distil a more sensational but narratively incomplete experience. The book even courts controversy by showing Bond's smoking habits, by using the (less offensive) N-word and by stripping Solitaire down to her bare essentials--literally. But then, we sort of want Bond to cross a few of those suffocating lines which in recent years have been taking huge bites out of artists' freedom of expression. Dynamite's LALD commands my respect for choosing Fleming over the widest possible readership, for giving the easily offended the finger.

    Indeed, I wonder; will this book do well? I doubt it and that pains me, for I want the entire Fleming collection to receive this faithful treatment; it's a Bond fan's wettest dream come true. But truth be told, this is not the sort of comic book one rushes through as fast as the eyes can scan the pictures. It's heavy-duty reading, given the medium, and most people but the most loyal of Fleming's fans will lose focus and interest fast, or so I fear. Yes, some discipline is required to finish the book in one take. Also, parts of this book are perhaps not safe for work as the popular phrase goes, and that, too, might hurt its commercial appeal.

    But is it worth it to us, Bond fans, then? Let's say that I grew fond of it fast. The images mostly agree with how I'd always envisioned things in my mind. It's a tightly packed classic Bond adventure, the closest thing to a "true" LALD adaptation we're likely to ever get. Having read the novel many times now, I can honestly say that this adaptation feels "right". I can easily recommend the book, but with the following caveat: if you want a fast-paced thriller with dynamic panel sequences and vibrant splash pages, this is not it. This is not the high-octane version of LALD; this is, quite simply, LALD all over again, except in a different medium. Take it or leave it, the choice is up to you.

    But I'm a fan and I want MR, fast.
  • NickTwentyTwoNickTwentyTwo Vancouver, BC, Canada
    Posts: 7,518
    Great review! Glad for the Jason Masters mention, love his art and his work on Bond. His influences on the look of the character are spot on IMO.
    Interested to see what you mean specifically with the controversial bits... have the book here with me, just need to crack into it.
  • edited January 2020 Posts: 3,564
    I'm taking my time with LALD, a couple of chapters at a sitting. I've just finished with the Robber at Ouroboros. @DarthDimi's review is spot on. The racial aspects of the book are soft-pedaled but still there. I do wish the art could be a bit more "spectacular" during some of the action sequences -- but overall this is indeed a Bond adaptation for the Fleming aficionado. I'll be happy to see MR when it's ready...but I don't expect it anytime soon. Look at it this way: page-wise, LALD would have run to about 8 single issues if it were adapted in standard comic book format. Taking a little extra time to ensure the highest quality possible, I don't realistically expect to see the next novel in the series until October (or perhaps even Christmas) of 2020.
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,447
    I'm taking my time with LALD, a couple of chapters at a sitting. I've just finished with the Robber at Ouroboros. @DarthDimi's review is spot on. The racial aspects of the book are soft-pedaled but still there. I do wish the art could be a bit more "spectacular" during some of the action sequences -- but overall this is indeed a Bond adaptation for the Fleming aficionado. I'll be happy to see MR when it's ready...but I don't expect it anytime soon. Look at it this way: page-wise, LALD would have run to about 8 single issues if it were adapted in standard comic book format. Taking a little extra time to ensure the highest quality possible, I don't realistically expect to see the next novel in the series until October (or perhaps even Christmas) of 2020.

    I'm glad you agree, @BeatlesSansEarmuffs.

    I'm also a bit here-and-there on the nudity. On the one hand, it's daring to leave it in. (Imagine parents buying this book because their 12-year old likes James Bond movies and loves comics, not knowing how so not meant for that crowd this book is, only to discover that more of the female body is at display here than in the Bond films). On the other hand, I'm not sure I always like how it's displayed. Keep reading and you will come across a particular example I'd love to talk about when more people here have read the book.

    But I really love this book, don't get me wrong. And I just can't wait for MR.
  • KronsteenKronsteen Stockholm
    Posts: 783
    The LALD adaption might be one of the best things happening in my Bond fandom for a bunch of years! This is precisely the kind of comic book I like, and I realise why I have such a hard time with the original comic series. Of course it's easier when you follow a Fleming story so closely, but because it doesn't have to, it tries nothing but to tell Flemings vision. It's more than enough. It just hightens Flemings words with the beautiful drawing from Kewber Baal. That's all that's needed.

    I really appreciate that Van Jensen had the guts to keep as much text in, for me that is why this book works so well for me. I'm not a fan of action comics and don't think Bond ever really should be action comics. We've got much time to follow Bond, his thinking and his way towards Mr. Big that we don't need more. Action set-pieces or a fast pace is unnecessary.

    This is what modern original material should try to emulate, but in a modern setting. Keep Bond, the characters and the mission in centre, let the story breathe and let us undertand the story moving forward. The slow pacing is one of the books most positive aspects, and lets me enjoy both the drawing and the text to it's maximum. Not one of the original comics every gave me that to the full extent, at least not on the level of this. Don't get me wrong, I like some of them (especially The Body which really tried to do something more character driven, and it worked). It's easier when sticking to Fleming, but to hide your story under fast-pacing and action is the lazy way to go. It can work, but rarely does, as the Bond comics have shown.

    To see Flemings vision adapted so thoroughly is a true delight, and I'd be so dissapointed is they didn't continue with Moonraker. This is truly a gem!
  • DarthDimiDarthDimi Behind you!Moderator
    Posts: 23,447
    Another fan. I'm so glad. :)
  • It's interesting to find that you enjoyed The Body, @Kronsteen -- as I recall, most of the folks here gave it pretty scathing responses. I think Bond is an especially difficult property to do in comic book form, and the mixed reviews that much of Dynamite's releases receive here only reinforce that view. Consider: a proper Bond story has at least a half-dozen elements that are required (Bond himself, including his lifestyle and his smoking/drinking/eating habits; the villain, including henchpersons and dastardly world-threatening plot; the romantic interest plus various other gorgeous beauties filling in the scenery; the world-trotting locations Bond inhabits, his gadgets & gizmos -- to say nothing of his supporting cast such as M, Q, Moneypenny, Leiter etc.)...now add a few gun battles, car chases, fist fights... and fit it all into 20 pages or so, the size of a standard monthly comic book. Can't be done, not in a satisfactory fashion, not in what some folks like to call a "floppy." You need something the size of a graphic novel to present a proper Bond story. That's why I like these Fleming adaptations so much... and that's why I suspect Dynamite is going to keep presenting these GNs for as long as they can. I suspect these novels are finding a marketplace beyond the monthly releases...bookstores and the like.

    @DarthDimi, I'd be surprised if any parents are buying these Fleming adaptations for their 12 year olds, not at $25 a pop. A $3 or $4 monthly comic, maybe. More likely the kids are just staring into their computer screens... I suspect that most 12 year olds aren't really all that interested in comic books these days -- 15 to 25 year olds are more than likely the presumed readership for modern comic books. Read a current issue of X-Men and I think you'll agree, the level of sophistication expected of mainstream comic book readership is way beyond the Bugs Bunny level!
  • MaxCasinoMaxCasino United States
    Posts: 4,049
    Has anyone read James Bond #2 yet? I know the first issue wasn’t warmly received.
  • QQ7QQ7 Croatia
    Posts: 371
    Can't wait to read LALD now when it's finally out.

    Reading CR while listening to CR film soundtrack has been such a enjoyment.
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