When you recollect of James Bond , there ’s two unlike facets that come to mind : the charming , bounteous gentleman - spy , and the brutally effective man of action . Reconciling those two sides of 007 are crucial to any great Bond level — but for writer Andy Diggle , they ’re particularly important for his forthcoming comic miniseries Hammerhead .
spin out ofWarren Ellis ’ excellent Dynamite Comics series , Hammerhead understand Bond face a moral dilemma of his own when he goes on the Richard Morris Hunt for Kraken , an anti - capitalist effect who ’s commence plans for Britain ’s nuclear armory . But when Bond learns of a far more nefarious threat closer to dwelling house , can he trust the country he ’s sworn loyalty to ? Can he be the orca they require him to be , in an geological era when the line of merchandise between ally and opposition are blurrier than ever ?
https://gizmodo.com/how-warren-ellis-brought-the-james-bond-of-ian-flemings-1740613198
We spoke to Diggle about his approach to writing Bond , and what work the fibre so compelling over 60 class since he first appeared , and you may read the whole consultation below — alongside some ignorant pages from the first government issue of Hammerhead , making their debut here on io9 .
io9 : How did you get involved with writing this series ?
Andy Diggle : Nick Barrucci at Dynamite had initially border on me back in 2014 . I was blandish , but had too much go on at the time . Fortunately he was well-chosen to wait ‘ til my schedule cleared up a little , and I ’m grateful that he did . I ’m having a blast !
Is there a particular version of Bond that has a special place in your center ?
Diggle : It has to be Connery , does n’t it ? Inimitable personal magnetism . And while it can be helpful to see — or more significantly , get wind — an actor in your mind when you ’re writing , you do n’t desire that to make it to the finished comic page . The comedian has to be its own affair . And of course of instruction we ’re drawing inspiration more from Ian Fleming ’s original character than from the various concealment incarnations .
Tell us a footling routine about the apparatus for Hammerhead .
Diggle : It begin with attachment assign to hunt down “ Kraken , ” a radical anti - capitalist who has targeted the defense declarer substitute Britain ’s aging Trident nukes . Needless to say , thing get a small more complicated . The wider story is about Britain ’s piazza in the post - insensate War , post - Brexit world . Are we still a orbicular power ? Do we even need nuclear weapons ? Is 007 a force for positive change , or a guardian of vested interests ?
Hammerhead is the name of a high - technical school weapons system Britain is selling to friend with less - than - stellar human rights record . The question is , do the end excuse the means ? The Cold War made that form of moral valuation much uncomplicated — the Soviet Union and SMERSH were the foe . Nowadays , Bond has to navigate a moral snarl where even ally spy on each other .
How did you come near admit Warren Ellis ’ version of Bond and make it into your own for Hammerhead ?
Diggle : The fiber is bigger than any one author , and I ’m not hear to mime anyone ’s style . This is my Bond . come off , professional , ironic . A man who does n’t particularly enjoy the dirty work , but order his life on the logical argument because it because he think in the dandy good . Of of course , it is n’t always easy to see which means the great secure lies , and I think Bond is middling fatalistic about that . You play the hand you ’re dealt .
Were there any particular elements from Fleming ’s work that you wanted to draw upon for Hammerhead , or any challenges you desire to tackle in take Bond to life ?
Diggle : Fleming ’s Bond is a man of the world , educated at elite psychiatric hospital like Eton and Fettes , and unashamedly enjoys the finer things in life . It ’s tricky , because I ’m not sure how well a 100 % book - close adaptation would mould in monthly comics . Ian Lancaster Fleming might devote a whole section to key a meal , or a biz of cards or golf game , but that would n’t work so well in a 22 - page comic . It ’s a optic spiritualist , stories told in monthly chapter , so readers have reason to expect a certain amount of bang for their Pearl Buck . My job is to run into the right counterpoise between keeping the story cracking along while still reserve Bond to be bond certificate , giving him room to breathe .
We ’ve chosen not to give him an upcountry soliloquy , so we ’re not privy to his moral and philosophic musings the way we are in the novels . So you have to imply what ’s get on in Bond ’s brain through action and gesture and facial face alone – brought to lifetime in Luca Casalanguida ’s wonderfully expressive artwork – and have the readers fill in the blanks themselves . That ’s one of comics swell assets , by the agency – that participatory human relationship with the reader .
So to answer your question , one of the thing I ’d like to save from the novel is a glimpse of Bond ’s moral center . That part of him that feels outrage at the murder of innocents , and drives him to adventure his biography to punish those creditworthy . He is n’t just following orders . It ’s almost too easy to focus on Bond as a cold - hearted grampus but lose wad of the fact that he on a regular basis puts his animation on the demarcation for the greater good . So is he a hero or an assassin ? The answer , of course , is both .
What do you think it is about this special version of the character reference that makes him stand out from past interpretations ?
Diggle : I think that ’s for other people to judge . I ’m not trying to make him different just for the rice beer of being different . I ’m just compose the James Bond that feels right to me .
What ’s that cognitive process of working with Luca Casalanguida been like ?
Diggle : I ’m very well-chosen to be working with Luca . I first became aware of his work last year when he send me some marvellously noir Batman sample pages . I was impressed , and jump at the prospect to bring him on board for Bond . He has a very fluid , European style which I cogitate is a great fit for the role , and I bonk the shadowy , chiaroscuro find ; laborious opprobrious ink . It feels like a comic book , in the best path .
As a author who ’s now adding news report to the wider Bond cosmos , what do you think it is about the character that makes him so likable today , all these years after he first appeared ?
Diggle : There ’s always been a large measurement of masculine indirect request - fulfilment to the character , and I cerebrate you have to squeeze that without being regressive . Like all true ikon , Bond is reinvented for each new generation , while still remaining dead on target to the Congress of Racial Equality of the original character . It ’s about striking a balance .
To an extent he can be an even more compelling role in the present day than he was during the Cold War . We know in a puzzling , tight - paced existence of shifting allegiances and moral via media ; it can finger overwhelming . But James Bond hack through all that with clear - eyed decisiveness . He knows the stakes , he knows what he has to do , and he knows what ’s getting in his way . There ’s an unashamed pleasure in sit back and watch him do his thing . I ’m having a plenty of fun counterpoint Bond the well - spoken gentleman with Bond the ruthless human being of action . I think that contrast lies at the center of his appealingness .
James Bond 007 : Hammerhead # 1 tally shelves this October .
ComicsJames Bond
Daily Newsletter
Get the best technical school , science , and civilization news in your inbox daily .
News from the future , delivered to your present tense .
You May Also Like
