Ian Fleming Publications and Dynamite will be bringing a standalone James Bond Origin story to the November/December issue of Playboy.
The special six-page story from James Bond Origin, which recently debuted at Dynamite, has been produced by the creative team of writer Jeff Parker (Future Quest, Thunderbolts, Batman ’66), artist Bob Q (The Green Hornet), colourist Jordie Bellaire, and letterer Simon Bowland for Playboy.
Like the comic, the story deals with orphaned teenage James and his adventures during World War Two in Scotland.
The exclusive six-page story is set in March 1941, and chronicles Bond’s exploits during World War Two.
The short Bond story harks back to the days when James Bond creator Ian Fleming’s short stories ran in Playboy. The magazine first published the Bond short story, “The Hildebrand Rarity,” in March 1960, a tale published a month later in Fleming’s For Your Eyes Only short story collection.
The magazine also printed the series run of On Her Majesty’s Secret Service for US audiences in its April, May and June 1963 issues, ahead of the opening of the first James Bond film, Dr. No.
James Bond Origin, described by Dynamite as the definitive account of James Bond’s exploits during World War Two, opened in March 1941, with 17-year-old James Bond a restless student in Scotland, an orphan, eager to strike out and make his mark on the world.
But a visit by an old family friend coincides with The Clydebank Blitz, the most devastating German attack on Scotland during the War. James fights through hell to survive, coming out the other side determined to make a difference. He’ll find his calling in a new British government service, secret in nature…
James Bond’s adventures have been adapted for television, radio, comics, video games and film.
” I liked the prospect of having to present James Bond without any of the trappings we associate with, figuring out who the character really is,” said Parker of the origins of the project, speaking to SyFy.com earlier this year.
“James at this point is a young man in school with a lot of potential and nothing much to hold him to one place,” he continued, “his parents died in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps a few years earlier. A family friend who is a high ranking Naval officer brings him and other students to the Naval Shipyards to encourage them to enter his branch of service upon graduation.
“It becomes more influential than he could have imagined because this is when the Nazis blitz Clydebank and suddenly the war isn’t something James just reads about and listens to on the radio. Here, he finds his direction. He wants to fight.
Beyond the comic, sources indicate Ian Fleming, who based his creation on a number of individuals he met whilst working for Britain’s Naval Intelligence Division during World War Two, didn’t give Bond any family background until the penultimate novel, You Only Live Twice, which includes a fictional obituary, purportedly from The Times. The book was the first to be written after the release of Dr. No and Sean Connery’s depiction of Bond affected Fleming’s interpretation of the character, to give Bond both a sense of humour and Scottish antecedents that were not present in the previous stories.
Bond is described as the son of a Scottish father, Andrew Bond, of Glencoe, and a Swiss mother, Monique Delacroix, of the Canton de Vaud. The young James Bond spends much of his early life abroad, becoming multilingual in German and French because of his father’s work as a Vickers armaments company representative. When his parents are killed in a mountain climbing accident in the Aiguilles Rouges near Chamonix, 11-year-old James is orphaned and goes to live with his aunt, Miss Charmian Bond, in the village of Pett Bottom, where he completes his early education.
Later, he briefly attends Eton College at “12 or thereabouts”, but is removed after two halves because of girl trouble with a maid. After being sent down from Eton, Bond was sent to Fettes College in Scotland, his father’s school.
In 1941, Bond joined the Navy and became a lieutenant in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserves, which is where James Bond Origin is set.
“I’m being allowed to figure out how he walks that line between being a Special Operations Executive agent and serving in the Royal Navy like so many others did,” says Parker. “Because he reached the rank of Commander by the time he left the service. I’m having a particularly good time imagining the rapid course of training he was given, it’s all a protean form of what we’ll know later as MI6 and the Double-0 agents.”
• James Bond Origin #2 is on sale now from Dynamite, available in all good comic shops and digital platforms | Read Jeff Parker’s writer’s commentary on #1 here on Bleeding Cool
• James Bond: The Official Site: www.007.com
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James Bond Origin #2 – On Sale Now
After barely surviving the Clydebank Blitz, James is determined to enter the Royal Marines, despite being two years too young. He’ll need to rely on a family friend to help him through, where he’ll begin training alongside the best and brightest that the United Kingdom has to offer. But his military training becomes dangerous, when it’s discovered there’s a German mole in their midst.
James Bond Origin #3
On Sale: 14th November 2018
Aboard a Royal Navy submarine, Lieutenant James Bond and crew encounter deadly German warships and bombers! Can the British crew keep their nerve and evade…or will they sink into a watery grave?
James Bond Origin #4
On Sale: 12th December 2018
Forced to surface in enemy waters, a damaged Royal Navy submarine docks at a mysterious island for repairs. Lieutenant James Bond leads a hunting expedition across the island. But while hunting beasts, he discovers a far more dangerous prey…
• More about James Bond Origin on the Dynamite official site here
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
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