In JAMES BOND: HIMEROS #1, available from Dynamite Comics on October 13th, 2021, 007 takes on a mission ripped from the headlines when he’s tasked with bringing in the right-hand woman of a sex trafficker killed in prison.
The Details
- Written By: Rodney Barnes
- Art By: Antonio Fuso
- Colors By: Adriano Augusto
- Letters By: Social Myth Studios
- Cover Art By: Francesco Francavilla (cover A)
- Cover Price: $3.99
- Release Date: October 13, 2021
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Was It Good?
This is a pretty good start to a new James Bond adventure with a touch of the real world thrown in for good measure. Dynamite hit a home run earlier this year with their James Bond: Agent of Spectre series, so Barnes has a high bar to meet taking over writing duties for the world’s greatest super spy. So far, Himeros is giving Agent of Spectre some healthy competition.
Skip on down to the next section if you want more details about the goings-on.
Taking the “ripped from the deadlines” can be a dicey proposition. If you play it too close, you risk making the story feel dated. Make it too far off, and the parallels won’t stick. Here, Barnes plays it just right by taking a page out of the Jeffrey Epstein arrest scandal, complete with a fictional version of Ghislaine Maxwell as Bond’s charge. Barnes fills in enough details to make for a compelling story with all the details to understand what’s at stake, and despite the depth of information to absorb, it reads quickly and you get a handle on who’s who easily.
The story works, even without the foreknowledge of real-world parallels. The art by new (to us) artist Fuso ranges from serviceable to very good.
Overall, the character designs are excellent, the panel composition is good, and both the coloring and lettering are outstanding. I especially like Fuso’s use of more chaotic panel arrangements and shapes during the action scenes to convey a feeling of action and chaos.
Where Fuso’s art is slightly off is in Bond’s face and the anatomy of the characters during the action scenes. Regarding Bond’s face, he sometimes looks hardened and gritty and he sometimes looks like a young college student. There’s a lack of consistency that throws you off. Regarding the action scenes, it was difficult to tell what was happening sometimes due to the way characters’ bodies were positioned. It felt like people and things were moving in random directions, and it simply didn’t flow intuitively. Otherwise, this is a great-looking first issue.
What’s It About?
[SPOILERS AHEAD – Click here if you just want the score without spoilers]
Anton Banes is an international weapons dealer and all-around bad man. Banes hires an elite assassin, Kino, to kill Richard Wilhelm in prison. Wilhelm was arrested for underaged sex tracking to his private islands, frequented by the world’s rich, famous, and powerful. The two men have overlapping clients and exposing one client list would do irreparable damage to the other’s. Kino succeeds but Wilhelms’s right-hand woman, Sarah Richmond, is on the run, and so, Banes has a new target.
MI-6 tasks Bond with finding Richmond and bringing her back to London to turn over her secrets before Banes, Kino, or any other powerful individual who wants their secrets protected can get to her first. When Bond gets to Richmond’s current location, the assassination attempts are already in full swing, and it’s a fight to the death to earn Richmond’s trust and get out alive.
Final Thoughts
JAMES BOND: HIMEROS #1 is a strong start for 007 with a setup ripped from today’s headlines. The writing is excellent, the art is solid, and despite the real-world parallels, this is a high-stakes spy adventure that should appeal to any Bond fan.
Score: 8.5/10
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