Member Reviews

'Jimmy's Bastard's, Volume 1' by Garth Ennis with art by Russ Braun is the kind of over the top thing that Garth Ennis puts out.

An MI6 super spy who is known as a womanizer gets a new partner and a new group of enemies. Apparently all his womanizing has left a group of his progeny around and they want revenge. One way they do this is by unleashing a weird chemical that forces just about everyone to change sexes.

It's gratuitous, which is fine if it's going somewhere, but this was just dumb. I found the whole thing a waste of time. The art was fine. I just didn't like this.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from 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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This one just wasn't for me. I thought it was a clever idea for a James Bond-type spoof... Sort of a slap in the face dose of real world consequences to the "love 'em and leave 'em" Bond. Chickens coming home to roost and all that. Unfortunately I found the lowbrow sophomoric humor more tasteless than funny and once that was established I never really got into the story at all.

I'm sure there's an audience out there for Jimmy's Bastards, it just doesn't happen to include me.

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me with a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Jimmy’s Bastards is a James Bond parody, which is always fun. Jimmy Regent has a lot of sex, and has sired a lot of children, all of whom he has ignored. Now they’re out to get him. The fact that they all seem to be about his age is a fact to insignificant to dwell upon.

Meanwhile, the government has heard something about gender fluid and, while nobody knows that the means, the spymasters would like Jimmy to figure out if it’s a threat. He’s assigned to work with a female agent who doesn’t want to bed him, is mildly disgusted by him, and actually has a brain. Jimmy takes it all in stride, even when gender fluid turns out to be something that turns men into women and vice versa. Which at least gives people the opportunity to learn what it feels like when the private parts of the opposite gender are fiddled with.

There’s a bit of social conscience buried in the parody. Jimmy likes to complain about political correctness while his new partner likes to complain about Jimmy’s cavalier attitude toward the women he obsessively beds. It’s Jimmy’s refusal to deal with the consequences of being a sexual rogue that eventually drives the plot.

But mostly the plot mixes action with craziness and a good bit of humor. I don’t know if the fairly thin storyline can last for another volume without collapsing, but in this volume at least, the story generates a lot of laughs.

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Based just the premise, I dont know that I would have bothered with this title. Taking a James Bond-esque character and having his own Bastard children set out for vengeance isn't a draw for me. But add in Garth Ennis and I'm there!

The tone here reminds me of his anti-superhero title, The Boys. This one takes a similar hypervio,ent satirical twist on the d as hi g super spy tale and spins it on its head. Funny, darkly irreverent and at times offensive this is Enniis at his best. Not for the aesily offended by a great title. I look forward to more in this crazy series.

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This James Bond parody is definitely not going to appeal to everyone; some of it I found genuinely amusing, and some I thought was probably trying to be deliberately offensive and provocative, but you could certainly never accuse it of being boring. The twist of the villains' origin is excellently original, and certainly helps give it something a bit more than your standard spy-thriller. The illustrations are great, particularly when you realise that the twist is made all the more apparent by them.

Overall this is at times very funny, at others utterly ludicrous (and not necessarily in a good way), and in danger of being as offensive as some of the ideas it is parodying, but it certainly won't leave you bored at any point.

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Imagine if there were repercussions from all the Bond girls James has slept with over the years. Now those repercussions have all grown up and are going after the father who spread his seed everywhere without a second thought. Seems like something Ennis would definitely come up with. Some of it is funny, while other parts feel like Ennis going out of his way to offend. The children as villains seemed somewhat underdeveloped. We'll see where this heads in volume 2.

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Ever have a kid in one of your classes that tried so hard to be cool but failed miserably? Usually by making really stupid fart jokes or sex jokes all the time? If so, then you will find a lot of familiar territory in Jimmy's Bastards. It's a one note: macho crass. As much sex, violence, and manly jokes as you can possible stomach, all the while being told that you must not be a 'cool' person if you don't find them funny (let's not mention the repetition making things even staler). And I have to hand it to Ennis, he's managed to create a whole man-child meme in one book: instead of the women in this book being populated only by nuns and whores, his story is so macho-enthused that the women only fall into the categories of mannish or bimbo. #comicgate should make this their bible.

Story: Jimmy is a top Mi6 agent - the best in the business. He makes killing easy and spends most of his time nailing women. Unfortunately, after a lifetime of doing so, he seems to have amassed an army of children who have an axe to grind with 'daddy'. Enter mannish agent McEwen, ready to assist Jimmy but not fall for his wiles. Together, they will have to foil the plot of the bastards while also saving London from becoming gender fluid. Because as the book notes, you'd be totally distracted and having sex all the time if you suddenly gained genitalia from the opposite gender, right?

I'll be honest, this felt more like a joke than an actual read. If you like uberviolence for the sake of violence, people making constant references to male or female genitalia or sex, and endless jokes about Jimmy being paired with a black woman so he can make 'token' comments, this is your nirvana. For everyone else with half a brain and less interest in the alt FAR right, perhaps find a better written piece. Ennis has pretty much written a piece justifying the alt right turning the world into the future of the movie Idiocracy.

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If you love the tv series Archer, chances are you will love this. An off-colour spoof of the Bond-genre, but the humour is not cheap, even though it makes lots of puns. It is violent at times, but it didnt really bother me. And like any good comic book, it reflects on some of the issues of the day (mansplaining, feminism, equality, gender fluidity...). A fun and entertaining read.

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Jimmy Regent is a member of MI^ in the James Bond mold, only more over the top. He is a sure shot, a quick shot, and a shagger of the top water. And that last is what may bring about his downfall when an unknown group targets him for a very strange revenge. Plus there is the distraction of "gender fluid" spread across England that is very distracting. Plenty of action, plenty of suspense, not to mention a bit of nudity that fits the story line. The plot is over the top in a fun way and the cliffhanger ending leaves the reader impatient for more.

Thanks Netgalley for the opportunity to read this.

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I was supplied with an ARC of this novel from netgalley.com for a honest review.

Well jesus-riding-a-pogo-stick.. that is a weird take on James Bond mythos.

First lets talk about what is completely awesome about this story. It is offensive (in a good way), ribald, crazy, and exceptionally well drawn. The writing is comedic and dirty but still very smart. Typical of Ennis’s books, of which I am a huge fan. Specifically It reminds me a lot of the style of “The Boys.” Gratuitous sex and violence.

What I found to be not so hot was stories pacing. It didn’t seem to get anywhere till the very last part of the book. The rest of it was some lead up and a lot of dick jokes, Eh I really think Garth Ennis could have done better in that department.

All in all I would recommend this series to readers after they have read some of Ennis’s better work: Preacher and The Boys specifically. He really shines in those and the characters are spectacularly put together. Also this has to be said, you really should not read this book if you are not an adult and even then it’s iffy. I felt like I needed a shower to wash some mental grime off from reading some of his other stories, and this story is not an exception. However for this series there is more story to be written maybe it will get pulled together in one glorious climax (he he). We shall see where it goes.

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Sorry, I can't download without Kindle. My apologies.

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Jimmy's Bastards by Garth Ennis is the kind of tongue in cheek, warped vision of cultural icons that Ennis is a master at perverting. Its funny, violent and with just a touch of social consciousness that will make you smirk at every James Bond movie you ever watched.

Jimmy Regent is Britain's super-spy. Even though modern times may have cast a sardonic eye upon Jimmy's misogynistic ways, Jimmy was immune to the critique. He had a license to kill and charm that no woman seemed able to resist. But with a new partner, who seemed bent on resisting Jimmy, there seemed to be a change in the air.

With London under attack, Jimmy must save the day. But what he finds at the root of the intrigue is his own irresponsibility, come home to roost.

There are two words that make up all the reason you need to read this comic. Garth. Ennis. If the popularity of the comic and then TV show; Preacher, have not hooked you yet then obviously you cannot recognize genius when it stares back at you. Garth Ennis is the Abyss, stare into it and let him stare back.

Jimmy's Bastards is for every guy out there whose girl was dumb enough to love Bond. See! See! See what a pathetic ass he really is! Not that this ever helped. But here Jimmy Regent is, getting his comeuppance! Because really, British Super spies do not use condoms!

Jimmy's Bastards is fun, ridiculous and just more than a little bit of pure genius. Don't miss it!

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This is a spoof of James Bond, no doubts about that. But it, in my opinion, pulls inspiration from Joker in the Batman stories. Overall it was weird and wacky, but not in a good way. The dialogue seemed way over the top and rather unnecessary. Very of-putting.

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A great Bond spoof for the 21st century.as Jimmy was well aware of the 21st century foibles of being a sexy spy. I really liked how the story progressed over the four volumes and how the final two were full of action and drama. I really liked the introduction of his final enemies in this as it led to a surprise.

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Right from the first glimpse of the hero you see he’s totally meant to be Bond, though on the closeup he reminds me more of Bruce Campbell.
His rescue/assistant is named Olga Trolltunnel, and is even more eye candy—to put it nicely—that any actual Bond girl. His Q is over-the-top Cockney. And his M is definitely nothing like Bond’s boss. Of course he gets a hot new assistant, though she’s not impressed by him or his methods at all. Thankfully she’s got a sly wit and plenty of sarcasm.
Some of my fave moments include the hatchet to the head, which is so old-fashioned and unwieldy it wouldn’t have fit in Dr. No, but whatever works.
Wow, that’s a huge crowd of offspring; looks like they fill a stadium.
This Rupert acts remarkably similar to Ruprecht in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels.
The Cockblocker is a fantastic name for a supervillain, and if it also describes his power. . .
“That’s the young bugger who rogered my wife!” Surprised this sentence only occurs once.
There’s one of the bad guys who looks so much like him I was not surprised to hear him called Junior. The temper tantrum was something else.
“Radical solution.” Nice.
“Come and get it! See how you like. . . BAM!”
“Cunt-seeking missile.” Wow. Sheer poetry.
She’s the one who does the parachute trick, not him.
Always have a puppy on standby.
This started off slow and weak, but built up steam as it went along. Thankfully it got funny, and a bit philosophical. The story didn’t finish, though.
A few pages of covers gallery.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

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Well, you know it’s going to be pretty non-PC when the book is sub-titled “Trigger Warning”.

I should have known better than to try Garth Ennis.

I mean, the concept is kind of amusing.

It’s chock full of meta-narratives on social issues. One of those books you can’t tell if the off-color humor is being ironic or not. Is there a point trying to be made here? Is Jimmy satirizing himself? Or is he meta-satirizing his critics.

I don’t think I’m interested enough to figure it out.

If you like Ennis, this would probably be good.

<i>Thanks to NetGalley, Diamond Book Distributors, and AfterShock Comics for a copy in return for an honest review.</i>

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This was a really stupid graphic novel. The premise isn't half-bad-- what if a James Bond-type superspy ran up against a villainous army of his own creation-- literally, his bastard children from his endless womanizing. But the problem is that everything was turned up to a point of ridiculousness that it stopped being entertaining and just ended up being really annoying. I really didn't care for some of Ennis's more conventional offerings, like Preacher, so his B-list material really failed for me.

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Hmmm... Some of this tries for the bravura (although only the artwork gets close), while a lot seems happy to stick with the boring (the waffle about political correctness and privilege checking (I had to look it up, and still don't understand it) that the leads have). Filed under second-rate Bond spoof/Kingsman knock-offs.

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I did not enjoy this book as much as I had hoped. Satire is one of those things that can be very difficult to pull off very well. So is parody. I think if the series had just stuck with one or the other, they may have done better but they didn't and it just came across as borderline offensive with a jumbled storyline. There are many jokes about sex, a lot of language and violence. Those have never turned me away from a book before but with a weak storyline, this is one series I won't be following. The only redeeming thing is that there were a couple of moments that were actually funny.

I would like to thank the publisher, author, and Netgalley for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review.

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Garth Ennis does his Viz impression once more with an adult version of James Bond. It’s not very entertaining with some trite references to SJWs and a finale that realises the title is one long unfunny punch-line. Dull reading, mediocre art from Russ Braun.

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