A chance of a lifetime.
Creative Staff:
Story: Jeff Parker
Art: Bob Q
Letterer: Simon Bowland
What They Say:
“Rocket Sea” continues…Forced to surface in enemy waters, a damaged Royal Navy submarine docks at a mysterious island for repairs. Lieutenant James Bond leads a hunting expedition across the island. But while hunting beasts, he discovers a far more dangerous prey…
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The James Bond: Origin miniseries took what felt like a bit of an odd turn the last time around by putting Bond on a submarine. Well, that part wasn’t odd so much as it had very little to do with Bond for the most part, reducing him to a background player at best for most of it. Jeff Parker used that as setup for the events here so that it wasn’t something that felt rushed, which has worked well when read with what came before and knowing what’s coming next. That’s also made exciting thanks to Bob Q’s artwork as we get to see some good stuff once again with the submarines but also something more expansive as the trip takes an unexpected turn.
The main issue early on is that German destroyer on the surface that’s still after them combined with the damage that the British submarine has taken. The sequence takes up almost half the book but it works exceptionally well with Bond narrating part of it in how the captain orchestrates a way for them to survive. The engaging part is that Bond understands that the captain talking about what he’s doing and why is both partially to calm their nerves and reassure them but also to educate them since he intends to survive and they’ll end up either sticking with this boat or ending up on another one. Sometimes the less questions asked the better if you can circumvent them before they get asked. It plays well and seeing how the men handle the situation until the all clear hits works wonderfully.
Where the book really gets me, however, is when the sub makes for a small island nearby with a cove to do some repairs. There’s fun in seeing the guys heading out into the island to hunt up some fresh food as we get the “northern boys” who know how to handle this stuff and there’s an easy camaraderie that comes from that. But when they discover a German bomber parked on the island and its crew relaxing and keeping contact with their base, we see how the sailors move to take them out – but also capture the right ones in order to set up their own trap. It’s a good reversal of fortune if it works but it’s an area where Bond’s strategic approach comes into focus as he figures out how to really take advantage of what they’ve got there whereas most of the others just want to kill them and move on.
In Summary:
With a longer arc now playing out compared to the more traditional montage-style opening issues that set Bond on his path, we’re getting a good handle on the outside of the box thinking that Bond employs while also understanding how others, like the sub captain, operates to ensure a smooth working crew. I really like the quiet time on the ship while they wait out the destroyer but I also enjoyed the island adventure that’s getting underway. Parker captures the mood of it all well and I’m loving how Bob Q brings it all together, shifting so easily from the sub to the cove and then into the woods with the men undertaking a dangerous mission. Good stuff all around.
Grade: A-
Age Rating: 15+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: December 12th, 2018
MSRP: $3.99
