The James Bond comic will feature art by Jason Masters
Following the official announcement back in October that Dynamite Entertainment had secured the rights to publish James Bond comic books, little news about the endeavor has been announced, until now. Dynamite has revealed today that fan-favorite author Warren Ellis (Moon Knight, Transmetropolitan) will be writing the James Bond 007 ongoing comic book series, the first in over two decades. James Bond 007 will feature art by Jason Masters (Batman Incorporated, Nightwing) and is scheduled for release in November, conveniently at the same time as the premiere of the 24th James Bond film Spectre.
“Ian Fleming’s James Bond is an icon, and it’s a delight to tell visual narratives with the original, brutal, damaged Bond of the books,” says Warren Ellis.
The first six-issue story arc in the James Bond 007 comic book series will be entitled “VARGR.” James Bond returns to London after a mission of vengeance in Helsinki, to take up the workload of a fallen 00 Section agent… but something evil is moving through the back streets of the city, and sinister plans are being laid for Bond in Berlin.
“Warren Ellis is one of the most brilliant writers of the 21st century, not just in comics but across all media,” says Nick Barrucci, CEO and Publisher of Dynamite Entertainment. “When we approached him for the launch, we hoped he could make time in his very busy schedule, and we are fortunate and thankful that he was able to. We met with Warren and everyone at IFPL, and Warren’s passion for the novels showed. He really is the perfect writer for Bond, and I can’t express how excited we are that he is tackling the ongoing series. This will be James Bond unlike anything you’ve ever seen before, true to Ian Fleming’s source material yet bursting all preconceptions of what a Bond story should be.”
Senior Editor Joseph Rybandt says, “I’ve long been a fan of Warren, going back to his earliest works (for instance, Lazarus Churchyard when it was first published), and pairing his creative mind with the iconic James Bond will make it the most talked about and exciting comic of 2015.”
“We have the extraordinary opportunity to create the very best James Bond stories that you’ve never read, and we have one of the most extraordinary contemporary adventure writers in the world to launch with,” says Editor Mike Lake. “After more than 40 years in the business, this is the best project I’ve ever had a hand in, and am very proud to have helped bring it about.”
“I’ve wanted to draw something Warren Ellis wrote since I first read his work on The Authority,” says artist Jason Masters. “Each of his carefully composed pages is filled with wonderful ideas that make you wish you were smarter. More ingenious than Warren’s writing might be Dynamite’s decision to have him write James Bond. James Bond by Warren Ellis! I’d buy that sight unseen if I wasn’t lucky enough to be the guy drawing it.”
James Bond 007 won’t be the only series Dynamite publishes based on the Ian Fleming character as they will be adapting all fourteen of Ian Fleming’s novels into the medium along with a series exploring the early years of Bond’s career.
