Ahead of San Diego Comic-Con 2015, Dynamite has announced that writer Warren Ellis and artist Jason Masters will be the creative team on a new James Bond ongoing series this November. Having acquired the James Bond license last year — it was one of Dynamite's SDCC announcements for 2014 — the publisher will launch the series, titled James Bond 007, starting this November.

It's been over twenty years since the last James Bond comics were released, with previous runs variously retelling the novels, the films, or just giving up entirely and forcing 007 to fight dinosaurs. It's also been almost exactly 57 years since the first James Bond strips were published, on July 7 1958.

James Bond 007 will tell new stories with the character in a monthly format, as Ellis chooses to focus his take on the darker, crueler character seen in Ian Fleming's novels. The first six-issue story will be called "VARGR," and sees Bond head back to London to take on the workload of a fallen 00 Agent — only to be drawn into a sinister plot that sends him across Europe.

Dom Reardon 
Dom Reardon 
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Ellis is a particularly inspired choice to writer James Bond, having a background both in nasty comic protagonists and as a spy novelist himself. He's written in the past of the appeal of the character, calling him, "England’s blunt instrument of international assault — the spiteful, vicious bastard of a faded empire that still wants the world to do as it’s bloody well told." In the same blog post, Ellis stressed the importance of updating the character to reflect the times.

Masters is best known for his work over at DC, where he's worked on several of the Bat-Titles. He also shared this 'secret' a week of so ago, which perhaps reveals what kind of approach he'll be taking on Bond. Covers will come from Dom Reardon.

The comics will be published in partnership with Ian Fleming Publications Ltd, owned by the Fleming family. Issue #1 is scheduled for November.

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