No more secrets.
Creative Staff:
Story: Benjamin Percy
Art: Rapha Lobosco
Colors: Chris O’Halloran
Letterer: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
In the action-packed finale of the Black Box story arc, James Bond descends into the secret headquarters of Saga Genji — deep below the Fukushima nuclear reactor — where he finds himself lost in a labyrinth of dark tunnels and political deceptions. He must overcome both his cyber terrorist adversaries and American and British allies to destroy the black box of vulnerable data that threatens to upend the world.
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The Black Box miniseries draws to a close with this issue and I find myself already willing and waiting for another miniseries by this time. While I’m still of mind that the six-issue arcs don’t always serve the Bond formula well as it could be a bit shorter, and I’m ever hopeful for some one-shots to explore other areas, Percy and Lobosco put together a great series with O’Halloran and Bowland from start to finish. There are elements that feel inspired by some of the past theatrical works but it doesn’t replicate things, instead tweaking and nudging into the modern world at hand more than anything else. And it doesn’t hurt that I really like Lobosco’s take on Bond and what he gives us of Selah from start to finish is certainly appealing.
A lot of what makes up this final installment is naturally all about the action and it works pretty well as Lobosco gives us a really great two-page spread early on from a sideways view (where’s my Contra-style Bond game?!) as he makes his way into Fukushima where Genji is currently holed up in his secret lair. Running this with talk of how digital attacks work and how those that orchestrate them know how to cover their tracks is decent but it could have been wordless and I think it might have been more effective for the scene. The rematch with No Name is a no surprise moment but it works as it’s something that allows for Bond to deal with something completely unexpected and then to ensure that this particular problem is dealt with once and for all, which always a satisfying feeling.
The final confrontation with Genji brings Selah back into the picture as he has to have someone to gloat to about how he’s going to shake up the world with his information dispersal plan. The things he wants to reveal feels surprisingly low level when you get down to it and Bond’s arrival turns to an exploration of Genji’s lineage as to why he’s intent on going through with a lot of this. It makes sense in some ways, and I like the use of Fukushima as his base of operations, but the ending does fall a little flat here as it more often than not does when it comes to the more cerebral opponents that Bond faces off against. What really makes the ending run fun – beyond the traditional nookie time we get here – is seeing how the CIA gets involved in trying to acquire it and how Bond ensure that it solves all of the problems he’s facing. Good clean fun.
In Summary:
The Black Box storyline had some really neat elements to it over the course of the run and I definitely liked how it’s working the modern world into things, an area that in some cases the Bond property can struggle with and lose its identity in. The finale ties things up nice and clean as one would expect from this franchise and I imagine this will make for a very engaging read as a single collection down the line. Percy got the voice of the characters very well while Lobosco’s layouts and character designs as well as the flow of the action made each issue a wonderful visual experience. One of the better arcs since the Dynamite launch got underway and it has me hopeful this team will get another shot at a storyline.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: August 2nd, 2017
MSRP: $3.99
