James Bond #1: Matters of the Art

This book is one hell of a ride. I’m dead serious when I say that at the end of this book, I was sitting in my chair with my mouth wide open. I can’t tell you the last time that’s happened. With this book, you think you’re reading one story, but it turns out to be a totally different story and not only is it a different story, it’s a hugely important story. Like mega-important. I think. Maybe. It could be.

That’s the beauty of the writing by co-authors Vita Ayala & Danny Lore. I’ll admit, I’m not familiar with either author, but after reading this, I’m going to check out some of there books. Sometimes with a writing team, one persons voice speaks louder than the other, and you can tell who did the majority of the heavy lifting and in those instances, it tends to be a little clunky. I’m happy to report that that is not the case here. In fact, I honestly can’t tell that there were two separate writers and that means that they’re doing an awesome job. The dialogue is seamless, and the storytelling is amazing. There are a couple times where the story gets a  bit confusing, but I can’t say much more than that without revealing spoilers. Rest easy, as those moments are brief, you quickly regain your “footing” and are able to follow and enjoy the story. A very exciting start to this series. It’s gonna be tough waiting the four weeks for the next issue.

You know how some times the cover of the comic is done by someone other than the interior art? Well, this issue has a spectacular cover by Jim Cheung. While I loved the cover, I know he didn’t do the interiors, and it almost made me scared to find out what the inside of the book looked like. I shouldn’t have been scared in the least because artist Eric Gapstur is one of my new favorites! This guy has got skills, y’all!! Just look at the storytelling in that preview page above-the whole book is like that!!!! There’s a few pages of non-action, and Gapstur makes them exciting. There’s also a character in the book that seems a bit on the untrustworthy side. Gapstur portrays him just shady enough so you never feel 100% comfortable with him, mostly be body language and facial expressions. That’s really impressive for an artist to be able to pull that off. I’m really looking forward to seeing more of his work. Time to Google him, kids. You’re gonna want to put this guy on your radar.