'James Bond: The Body' by Ales Kot is a graphic novel about James Bond and various parts of his body. At least, I think that was the idea.

Each volume focuses on a different body part. In the first, Bond goes after an unknown assassin and winds up with some broken ribs and time off, but he's not convinced the assassination attempt was a lone incident. In other stories, he infiltrates a group of white supremacists and interrogates a scientist about a viral agent she helped create.

I liked the stories here. They are all a bit different in approach and the stories they tell and I like that they were linked. The art for each issue is by a different artists and is kind of inconsistent because some is better than others.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Diamond Book Distributors, Dynamite Entertainment, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I have been enjoying these updated Bond Graphic Novels and this one did not disappoint. Each story in this collection are centered around a different part of the body. The first story was my favorite. The artwork is good and fits the story. Enjoy this fresh take on Bond

The Body is another excellent installment to the James Bonds comic world. As usual the art is beautiful and the plot thrilling. I always enjoy these new tales of Bond!

A good modern take on Bond. I would have liked it a little more if the story arc across the issues was a little clearer (and the character designs/artwork was a little more consistent).

The six stories in The Body revolve around different parts of the body: the mind, the heart, the lungs, and so forth. Some of the stories connect to each other in other ways. They’re all written by Ales Kot, so it isn’t surprising that they’re all worth reading.

In the first issue, James Bond explains the details of a fight to the doctor who is patching him up. In the second issue, Bond interrogates a brilliant scientist who has apparently developed a bioweapon and has apparently given it to terrorists. Next he pretends to be an arms dealer in a steam room with a bunch of Brexit nationalists.

Fourth is a surprising story, the best in the volume, about Bond’s encounter with a woman who keeps him alive after he’s been shot by an assassin, a story that gives Bond, the ultimate control freak, a lesson in maintaining control. Issue five is an introspective chase scene. Felix Leiter shows up in the last story and adds context to some of the earlier ones.

Kot continues the Dynamite tradition of returning Bond to his roots, imagining him as Ian Fleming created him. Kot is always dark but dark works well for Bond. I liked issue four the best simply because it was surprising, but the rest of the volume gets inside Bond’s head and offers some intriguing thoughts about the thoughts that a licensed-to-kill spy might have.

Depending on the particular issue, James Bond looks like Arnold Schwarzenegger or Kevin Spacey or someone else entirely. I’m in favor of the someone else.

I would give the volume 4 1/2 stars if I could.

Aleš Kot provides a different slant on James Bond. He opens with Bond in the doctor's office, being examined and repaired after a mission where he saved a woman from an assassination. He interrogates a rouge scientist, disrupts arm sales, and domestic terrorism trying to be performed on EU officials and London. Then over a drink with Leiter, they discuss the interconnection of the seemly random cases and what they can do about it. The story line is solid, but the changing faces of James Bond was off-putting. But a nice addition to the Bond comic line.

The first issue in the collection is really strong, with Bond explaining to a doctor how he got his various injuries, but the rest of them never really come together to form a strong arc.

Congratulations Ales Kot. You've managed to make James Bond boring. Six loosely connected solo stories, most of them consisting of sitting around talking and Kot isn't enough of a wordsmith to make that interesting. But even the issues that feature more action like when Bond is chasing after a guy with a bomb aren't interesting due to the obtuse narration. This just doesn't feel like Bond. In fact, if Bond's name was stripped out of this, you'd just think this was another generic spy thriller written by Ales Kot. There's a different artist on each issue with varying degrees of skill.

The essence of James Bond in recent years has retraced to the idea of the reluctant hero who does what he does because that is what he is good at. The recent Bond films have focus on balancing that with large set pieces that serve a bigger story whether it be the condemnation of M or a love lost. In “James Bond: The Body” [Ales Kot/Dynamite/152pgs], the story told in 5 separate progressions shows the physical toll and the quiet moments that could bring such a man back from the brink. The beginning is simply a tale of what caused 3 broken ribs and the simply fact that painkillers simply deaden the pain. In order to understand it, Bond lives by it. Another story which motivates the ideal that Bond is fallible rests when he is doing an interrogation of a female operative/scientist who may or may not be assisting a chemical attack in Britain. The idea becomes “what is good?” He can try to torture her to find out what he wants but instead takes a more civil approach with a truth serum personification but ultimately resorts to water boarding. The result tests his resolve and in many ways strains the idea of what he is trying to accomplish. The continuing story then goes by a basis of sociology as Bond poses as an arms dealer to infiltrate a business circle of Neo Nazis. A brawl ensues. A similar context occurs in another story where a local policeman seems too trigger happy with a taser before Bond can properly identify himself when he is beating someone else up. The true integral intention of “The Body” reflects in two smaller stories when Bond is saved and defends a cottage in a forest against an adversary with a female host who is both strong and suicidal. It is the most peace he has found in a while and that speaks to something bigger in terms of his psychological make up. This also reflects in the final story with his hanging out in a pub with longtime American co-operative Felix Leiter over a beer as a mark is taken out quietly via poison in the back bathroom as they drink a pint. It is these quiet moments that help give this iteration of a well known character a little more breath. In one image in the graphic novel, Bond dives with a bomb that needs to exploded underwater in the Thames and as he disappears, the muddy element of his soul becomes clear.

B-

By Tim Wassberg

From the publisher: As Bond undergoes a post-mission medical examination, he relays the story of his previous mission to the examiner. Each cut, bruise, and broken bone connected to a specific event of the mission. A connection is made between two people with different purposes: one to save lives, the other to take them.

PART TWO - THE BRAIN James Bond leads the interrogation of a scientist who allowed a lethal virus to be stolen. But when the investigation takes a surprising turn, Bond begins to question whether he is enough.

PART THREE - THE GUT One sauna. Twenty Neo-Nazis. One Bond. James Bond. This weapons deal won't go according to plan.

PART FOUR - THE HEART On the run from a lethal antagonist, weaponless and wounded deep in the Highlands, Bond finds solace with a woman who exchanged her job as a doctor and a life in the city for a cottage and solitary life of a writer.

Can Bond find a quiet peace unlike he has known before or will his life choices catch up with him? AND MORE..

James Bond: The Body by Ales Kot is the latest in Dynamite Entertainment's all-new James Bond mini-series/collected editions. They have all been good, and a couple of them I would even consider great. They have done a fine job of updating Bond to our current times, but keeping the spirit of Ian Fleming's original books. With The Body, Kot adds to this legacy with a fresh take on who Bond is. In this case, the story starts with Bond coming in for a routine physical/medical treatment after his latest adventures. The doctor observes his many scars and suggests that each tells its own tale.

Kot goes about telling his story in an episodic manner. Each chapter shows Bond on a different mission, yet by the end, they all pull together to show one cohesive plot that needed to be stopped. I thought this was a nice change from the more traditional longer story arc, as each chapter tells a complete story. This approach forces Kot to tell a tighter story, which results in very little, if any, filler. It also allows him to use different tones, ranging from violent anger to quiet contemplation. This presents us with a well-rounded James Bond, and I've always appreciated a deeper approach to the character. We see Bond a whole person, with both strengths and flaws, and Kot does a terrific job of balancing both. Additionally, each issue is drawn by a different artist, which further differentiates that each chapter is its own piece of a much larger story.

Overall, I found James Bond: The Body by Ales Kot to be an entertaining and fun Bond story that felt like one of Fleming's, which is a high standard. It is self-contained, so prior knowledge of previous series is not necessary, but a familiarity with the character adds to the level of enjoy. I will make one observation, though. The story was advertised as presenting a stories that coincided with Bond's scars; however, to my knowledge, that idea was only addressed at the very beginning and used as a springboard for the reader into the story as a whole. That doesn't change my thoughts on the book, but it could be misleading.

I received a preview copy of this book from Dynamite Entertainment and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

For Queen and Country

I like Bond. Gritty spy thriller Ian Fleming Bond. Early movie Bond. Even sometimes maybe later movie Bond when it was all gadgets and parkour. But it seems to me, especially lately, that some of the most interesting Bond is to be found in graphic novels. And this one is especially interesting, if untraditional.

Bond has always been a bit tormented and repressed, but this is full blown angsty existential crisis Bond; he's still apparently calm and in control, but he's also now been shaken, if not stirred. The amazing thing to me is not that we've gone in this direction, but that in this novel the approach is handled so well.

This volume collects the first six issues of the Bond "Body" arc. They are thematically joined in that each issue flirts with a different aspect of the body - brain, heart, nerves, etc. (MILD SPOILER). The actual stories seem to be standalones. Until the end, that is, when they all interconnect and lead the reader to a satisfying, if dark, conclusion.

I don't know where you stand, but I'm generally left unimpressed by talky, deep comics. Especially action or fantasy comics. They can be single minded, heavy handed, and awkwardly written. And boring. Not so here. The volume does start out a bit slowly and the reader does wonder if this is going to be some repetitive angst-fest or an anti-authoritarian wallow. But by approaching Bond from different angles we get different versions of his doubts and fears and we get different sorts of monologues and dialogues and different ways of thinking about who Bond is and what he represents. This skipping around and the overall thoughtfulness of the approach actually keep the reader interested and invested.

The upshot for me was that this was a real, satisfying, and engaging surprise, and a refreshing new look at Bond, James Bond. A nice find.

(Please note that I received a free advance will-self-destruct-in-x-days Adobe Digital copy of this book without a review requirement, or any influence regarding review content should I choose to post a review. Apart from that I have no connection at all to either the author or the publisher of this book.)

The name’s Bland. James Bland. At least it is when Ales Kot is writing him!

Bond fights an assassin. Then a terrorist. Then some Nazi arms dealers. He chills out with some lady in the mountains. He fights another bad guy. And that’s James Bond: The Body. Still awake? Me too - barely.

This anthology is sooooo unimaginative - Bond by-the-numbers. It was kinda shocking to see Bond waterboarding someone (does Ales Kot even like Bond? Why is he writing this comic - Kot seems very anti-authoritarian to me) but otherwise the stories here were instantly forgettable.

Dull writing, very weak characterisation all round and the art is nothing special. Ales Kot is Borefinger – he’s the man, the man with the snoozy touch!

James Bond: The Body by Aleš Kot (illustrated by Luca Casalanguida, Rapha Lobosco, Valentina Pinto, Tom Napolitano and Eoin Marron) finds secret agent 007 recounting how he got each cut and bruise on his last mission. This graphic novel collects the six issues which make up The Body story-line.

Issue #1: The Body – James Bond tells the story of his previous mission to a medical examiner. Each bruise and bump has a connection and a purpose – either to kill or to save a life.

Issue #2: The Brain – In this issue Bond interrogates a scientist who let a terrorist organization steal a lethal virus.

Issue #3: The Gut– To find the virus, Bond has to infiltrate a group of Neo-Nazis who intend on selling the weapon.

Issue #4: The Heart – Bond finds himself without weapons, and wounded, in the Highlands. A woman who chose a solitary life helps him heal and Bond finds that he likes the peaceful place.

Issue #5: The Lungs – The story now comes together in a terror attack – maybe!

Issue #6: The Burial – James Bond meets his old friend and CIA counterpart Felix Leiter in a pub where the secret agent must face the consequences of his actions.

I started reading this graphic novel thinking this would be another secret agent on a mission story but instead I got an excellent James Bond arc. James Bond: The Body by Aleš Kot (illustrated by Luca Casalanguida, Rapha Lobosco, Valentina Pinto, Tom Napolitano and Eoin Marron) is something different and deeper than the previous graphic novels.

The story is clear and concise, there is no outrageous plot to take over the world, and there are no beautiful women to save (or kill when they eventually backstab Bond). This story is grounded and fresh, the comics work together to bring a cohesive story to life.

The writer shows how Bond struggles with the decisions he makes and the actions he takes. He knows he will pay for bad decisions his superiors make, yet he executes his mission faithfully.

Bond also sees another side of life, one that doesn’t have people who want to kill you behind every corner, and that tranquility might actually work for him at some point. The audience certainly gets the feeling that Bond is tired, mentally and physically broken from the world he lives in.

This arc is a change of pace for the series, and goes in its own direction. The art in this graphic novel is a mixed bag, the story is really good but the backdrops seem to be boring (a sauna, house, pub) which is exactly the time for the artist to shine.

An unusual James Bond story. Starting with a debriefing at the doctor's, who tells James that he has several broken ribs.

The different chapters seem unconnected until you get to the conclusion.

This is more bloody that a James Bond film but probably also more real.

This is such an interesting take on the classic spy. The gritty story and artwork works well throughout.

This was a very boring read and I found myself wishing I was over it. The only scene that was my favorite was when he killed all of the Nazi's. The art work was badly done as well, a lot of the time I couldn't tell the tone of the story due to the characters having no emotion on their face. Not sure if the stories connect fully because it seemed kind of all over the place.

This is really good. A series done in a style similar to Kot's Zero, with each issue featuring artwork by a different artist, and an episodic nature tied to a different part of Bond's body--heart, lungs, etc.--as he takes part in a mission or recovers from one. The various stories don't seem to have any connection to each other until the final chapter, featuring Felix Leiter, suggests that they all relate to a single conspiracy, which Kot explains in an interview in the extras, he might come back and follow up on in another series. Here's hoping he gets the chance. This is one of, if not the best Bond series that Dynamite has put out to date. Strong recommendation.

The Body is Book 7 in the James Bond series comprising four stories.
The first story opens with Bond’s doctor giving him a medical exam. He asks Bond how he sustained his injuries. Told in four separate issues, Bond goes on to explain what happened during his missions including an assassination attempt, a deadly virus, and his encounter with Neo-Nazi gangs.
Gorgeous artwork which complemented the story well.
I received my ARC from NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors in exchange for an honest review.

Uneven and ultimately disappointing. The separate chapters, with different but similarly styled artists, lead to a somewhat satisfying conclusion, but the parts don’t hold up well and the art is weak throughout. On top of it all, Bond tends to get uncharacteristically verbose.

I suppose it's natural that a writer as sceptical of state power as Ales Kot keeps being drawn to writing secret agents; they're what that power looks like when the lights are off and the need to put on a nice front is removed. But whereas his own creations such as Zero can really dig into that, it leaves him in a more awkward position when he's playing with someone else's toy such as Agent Coulson or, here, the exemplar of the species. And perhaps that tension is why he's created a somewhat fractured story, six one-issue looks at Bond with a vague thematic link, but which show very different sides of him. The variety, verging at times on a sense of disjointedness, is emphasised by using different artists, some of whom handle the gig much better than others. The first chapter, 'The Body', has Casalanguida, one of the stand-out Dynamite Bond artists, who captures the appopriate air of elegant menace; this is the traditional, heroic Bond, preventing an assassination in spectacular style (though the explosions and helicopters remain off-panel, the comic instead showing us the prelude and the aftermath, the important stuff often overwhelmed by pyrotechnics). But that's followed by 'The Brain', essentially an interrogation scene, which means a lot of repeated panels of Bond in the same pose. Some artists can carry that off; Antonio Fuso just makes Bond look wet, a bit confused - almost Daniel Craig-esque - and as if a stock picture has been repeated with comic intent. Not that the story is otherwise funny, as Bond sits getting harangued about the horrors of Britain's past (Kot's occasional tendency to regurgitate his research undigested is in full effect here) by a scientist accused of giving terrorists access to bioweapons. The third issue, drawn by Rapha Lobosco, looks almost like Goran Parlov; it ends with a fabulous, knowingly homoerotic money shot as Bond goes undercover in a neo-Nazi sauna. This feels to some extent like the synthesis of the first issue's trad heroic Bond and the second's foolish catspaw, but if you attain that harmony halfway through the collection, where do you go next? Well, it turns out the short stories may be more linked than they first appeared, and the second half feels much more consistent, both in tone and in the quality of the art - though there's still a massive and appropriate variation between Eoin Marron's low-key vignette The Heart and Hayden Sherman's tense, intricately designed work on The Lungs. And then it's back to Casalanguida again as Bond and Leiter go for a drink and the main action is again resolved offscreen. Not without its flaws, but still definitely the most interesting Bond I've seen in any medium since Tomorrow Never Dies. I'm just disappointed that, given both Kot and the Bond franchise have a bit of form for on-the-nose names, he didn't manage to include a Bond girl called Patriarchy Kristeva or something.

(Netgalley ARC)