Cover Image: James Bond: Kill Chain HC

James Bond: Kill Chain HC

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A decent but unmemorable comic set in the James Bond universe, following the usual spy-fi ins and outs as you would expect. Considering what the media offers in terms of options to explore, I was a bit disappointed to find what could have been a Connery-era Bond story with added blood. Hit and miss for me.

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'James Bond: Kill Chain' by Andy Diggle with art by Luca Casalanguida is a new James Bond graphic novel and it's a cracking good yarn.

A spy operation goes bad and James Bond is ordered to pick up the pieces. The clue on a dead hitman leads to a possible tie with white supremacists. What Bond finds is more insidious and leads to the surprise arrival of an enemy that Bond thought dead. Now he finds himself being set up for crimes and in the crosshairs of Felix Leiter.

I really liked this story. The pace is pretty breathtaking, as is the art. I've read a few of these and felt like they lacked, but this one is a surefire hit.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Dynamite Entertainment, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

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I’ve enjoyed these new Bond adventures in the comics medium. The art can be not as strong as I’d like, but Andy Diggle offers a good adventure.

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Andy Diggle presents a tight thriller in the Bond tradition. I don’t know if Fleming ever read comics (I kind of doubt it) but I think he may have appreciated the way his protagonist successfully infiltrates this new storytelling medium! Bottom line: it was a fun and suspenseful read.

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The writing and art in this book were both very well done, but I had trouble enjoying this book. The story just did not draw me in and keep me hooked.

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Bond is up against Smersh in this graphic novel. Diggle did a surprisingly good job in updating the old Soviet organization to a 21st Century threat. The art wasn't as crisp as I would have liked, but it's a solid book.

Received via NetGalley.

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Kill Chain is another good effort by Andy Diggle. It isn’t the best of his Bond series, but it’s smart and fun.

Car chases, boat chases, exploding cellphones, sex with beautiful spies, a little torture and a lot of mayhem. Just another day for 007. Which is why I always wanted my own 00 number. A license to kill would come in handy, but an unlimited supply of fast cars and beautiful women would be even better.

In this case, the beautiful spy works for SMERSH, although she was pretending to work for MI6. Bond thinks he killed her after he bedded her, but things are not always as they appear. The CIA thinks Bond killed the CIA agent who was doing business with the spy, but a sniper beat Bond to it. Even M can’t quite figure out who is pulling the strings.

Pretty soon Bond is chasing gun runners with an able assist from Felix Leiter, not to mention yet another beautiful Bond girl, who works for French intelligence. Oui oui. The gun runners are part of a Nazi-revivalist terrorist operation — or so it appears. But there’s also a plot to pit the CIA against MI6 that might turn Leiter and Bond into enemies.

The plot is a bit over the top — it’s more of a 007 movie plot than a Fleming novel plot — but Bond’s characterization is consistent with Fleming: tough, aloof, even antisocial, but intensely loyal to the British flag. Don’t threaten to cut off his trigger finger — it makes him mad. And anyway, the movies are fun, so if this story had Bond jumping into the landing gear of a plane that’s taking off, well, I’m okay with that. Heck, if I had a 00 license, I'd do it. No, really, I would. Honest.

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I would consider myself to be a casual fan of Bond, James Bond. I can't name every movie, pretty sure I haven't even seen them all, but I do enjoy a good action/adventure/intrigue thriller. I liked this book. A lot (hence the 5-star rating). it made me think of a Sean Connery era Bond in a modern espionage scenario. Good stuff!

This is a collection of issues 1 - 6 of James Bond: Kill Chain.

There's some mild humor but nothing silly. A complex plot involving various international spy agencies, double agents, and Bond set up to be an international fall guy. A solid effort with good story and artwork. Recommended to all Bond fans and lovers of spy thrillers.

*** Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me the opportunity to review a free eBook of this title in exchange for an honest review.

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Ticks all the boxes in an extremely timely, stylish, and fast-paced way - the Bond 25 team would do well to take notes on how this extremely cinematic and tightly-plotted adventure hops around the world, giving you James Bond realness without muddying up the place with unnecessary motivations and side plots (ahem *SPECTRE* ahem). The dialogue is snappy and the art work is, for the most part, intriguing and well executed; there are a few pages in which the action is hard to follow, particularly a set piece with two planes in flight, but that percentage is very small. These Dynamite Comics are doing it right. A strong recommend.

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Dynamite knocked it out of the park with this Bond story. Smersh is back and trying to destroy NATO through a shadow war. Lots of twists and turns, double crosses, and all the intrigue you've come to expect from James Bond.

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The Dynamite series of graphic novels continue to be a fun romp in the James Bond world. The art is still amazing! This story was a little less enthralling than past entries (I had a little trouble remembering the ending before I wrote this review). But the story continues to complete you through the issues making you want to keep reading. I am really enjoying this comic line!

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From the publisher: When a counterespionage operation in Rotterdam goes catastrophically wrong, James Bond finds himself in the crosshairs of a plot to smash NATO. Someone is assassinating allied agents, and 007 is the next target in the kill chain. Having kept the peace for decades, the old alliance is collapsing, pitting MI6 against its former ally - the CIA!

Dynamite Entertainment proudly presents the return of writer Andy Diggle (James Bond: Hammerhead, The Losers, Green Arrow: Year One) and artist Luca Casalanguida (James Bond: Hammerhead) as they plot the return of James Bond's oldest and deadliest foe: SMERSH!

James Bond: Kill Chain by Andy Diggle is another in the excellent run of original James Bond comics from Dynamite. Diggle follows up his previous effort, Hammerhead, with Kill Chain, which seems to be less of the “megalomaniac world-conquering villain” type story and more of a return to the spycraft Bond was known for in many of Ian Fleming’s novels.

Kill Chain focuses on James Bond’s quest to track down a rogue MI6 agent named Rika Van De Havik, who appears to be working with the CIA. However, when a CIA agent and Van De Havik are killed and Bond is framed, things go sideways. Bond discovers a plot to tear down NATO from the inside, and realizes it’s the work of his old enemies in SMERSH. An appearance by Felix Leiter, Bond’s sometimes ally in the CIA, adds both clarity and a new level of difficulty to his mission: stop SMERSH from destroying NATO.

I enjoy Diggle’s take on Bond. He hits all the usual Bond ingredients: some gadgets from Q division, a nice car, a beautiful femme fatale, a deadly foe, clever dialogue, and lots of action. Along with this, he writes a realistic James Bond, one who makes mistakes and is not an unstoppable super-spy. I like my James Bond more human than some of the movies portray him, and Diggle does a great job with that. I think that it can be tough to come up with new villians and situations for James Bond, due to the sheer number of stories about him, but Kill Chain seems like a fresh and timely conflict. It’s also nice to see Bond dealing with contemporary world issues, and Kill Chain does that, as do most of Dynamite’s Bond graphic novels. And while Diggle wraps of the Kill Chain storyline, he does lay some ground work for a potential sequel or sequels. It looks like SMERSH might be back to stay.

I highly recommend James Bond: Kill Chain by Andy Diggle. It is a fun, entertaining James Bond story that captures much of what makes James Bond so iconic. Diggle did a super job with Hammerhead and has continued his run with Kill Chain.

I received a preview copy of this book from Dynamite Entertainment and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Very typical Bond action, well drawn and written. Doesn't blow up any genres or stuff but I'd read more from Diggle et al.

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Andy Diggle continues writing James Bond in the vein of Ian Fleming. In this volume he brings back SMERSH as the villian with a dastardly scheme to set NATO against itself and let Russia reap the rewards. But they did not count on James Bond being the spanner in the works. Plenty of action, nice appearance of allies at crucial points, plus plenty of deadly scrapes for Bond to endure. Reads almost like a Fleming tale.

Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this volume.

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There can never be enough Bond in the world. A fantastic take on a timeless classic.

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It wasn't terrible, but I was hoping for more, I guess. This time, Diggle brings back the old-school spy theatrics as Bond battles a newly-resurgent SMERSH, which is attempting to bring down NATO and destabilize Europe and the West. It's such a big plot, but worked out in a series of rather small-scale scenes: car chases, gunfights, etc. It never really feels like there's a possibility it could all succeed. This time around, the artwork by Luca Casalanguida is a bit more rushed and blurry than it was in Diggle's Hammerhead. It's nice to have new Bond stories in these comics, but I'm still waiting for one that measures up with some of the big-screen adventures.

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This review is also posted in my blog :
https://onewordtoomuch.wordpress.com/2018/03/31/james-bond-kill-chain-james-bond-dynamite-comics-5/

Thank you to Dynamite Entertainment and Net Galley for a free copy of this book in trade for an honest review.

I don’t really like the story but I give it 4 stars for the illustration. It started with James Bond having a relationship with a female agent who apparently since the beginning is a double agent. There comes a bit of drama where Bond knows that the agent is a double agent and she ended up dead. Here’s where the plot get a bit of a twist because things are not as what they seems.

The story has a lot of action and the movement is very fluid and swift. What I like is that there’s not too much wordings, but focused on the detail of the illustration. It makes the graphic novel quite enjoyable and makes it a quick read.

The illustration is quite dramatic with solid black lines combine with water color effects for the background. The expressions on the characters are also quite detail, especially the hatred, the pain or when a character gets shot.

Recommend for those who like James Bond story in graphic novel style with lots of action and fluid movement.

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Quick paced, fast read filled with your typical James Bond stuff. Very enjoyable. Graphics were very good and the story line intense. I just wished the full 160 pages were the story and not art work, but still overall a good addition to any James Bond collection.

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Another strong James Bond comic - and perhaps the best so far. This almost makes you forget he's hardly getting the girl, instead it drags him through the international mire of badness caused by the return of Smersh. It's suitably grand of scope, without feeling like a selection of postcards from abroad; it feels a lot more jagged and less of the more routine A-to-B I felt a flaw with Mr Diggle's previous, Hammerhead; and it's suitably contemporary - and rather too plausible as a result. Four and a half stars.

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