Vargr

For my birthday my friend Brad got me a copy of the newish James Bond graphic novel, Vargr, and it proved just as excellent as the mighty Hocking had led me to believe.

Every frame is made to count. There are numerous panels where there is no dialogue but plenty of story, and via them we can see exactly HOW Bond cleverly defeats a henchman or takes on a warehouse full of killers, or what have you (I hesitate to say more for fear of spoiling the excitement). Bond has time for a clever quip or aside, but he’s not hokey jokey. He’s quick on his feet, smart, and lethal, and just a delight to see in action. I should pause, as well, to praise the excellence of the dialogue, which just crackles with comments revealing of character without front loading a whole bunch of character exposition. It’s masterful, revealing much with minimal words.

I enjoyed the collection so much that the moment I finished, I actually went back through and read it again and took even more time over the art and re-savored the dialogue, noticing even more than I had the first time.

Two thumbs WAY up for this one. Looking forward to reading the next.