The scale of the darkness is obvious.
Creative Staff:
Story: Greg Pak
Art: Robert Carey
Colors: Roshan Kurichiyanil
Letterer: Ariana Maher
What They Say:
“Goldfinger” continues. Infiltration. A mad love. Someone goes unhinged. From GREG PAK (Agents Of Atlas, Star Wars) and ROBERT CAREY (Aliens: Resistance).
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As much as I love James Bond and the stories that can be told, the weight of the series is one that definitely has a hard time working with as it gets further along. While there is a split between the two stories told so far, Greg Pak has made it a largely continuous piece with connections and we’re now almost twelve issues into it and it’s really feeling the drag. Which is unfortunate because it is pretty engaging when you remember all the pieces. Robert Carey continues to put together a solid looking book as I like the way he approaches the angle and view we get for the characters and the world, giving it something that really is striking at times.
With all that has gone on, especially with Bond and his great escaping from the care/recovery that they were under, they’re now putting their plan in motion to deal with Goldfinger. With Aria serving as Agent K once again, her call to all Oru members that Goldfinger has in his employ makes it clear that she does mean business and will take them out if they don’t leave right this moment. That doesn’t go well for this near Goldfinger but the few that do attempt to end their connection meet a swift fate thanks to the remote control side. But it does serve to produce chaos within the ranks that gives Bond and his group a chance to make some inroads while Goldfinger deals with his own problems, such a case of one of those he’s employed that has stolen gold from him. Disturbing doesn’t even begin to cover how he exacts his revenge.
That we end up on Olympiatech island is no surprise as this is where a great deal of the shenangans are really coming from in the end. An island separate enough and full of wealth and power that can exercise control all over the world. It’s amusing watching as Bond and his group deal with the guy that called them in as he despises what has become of the place but he’s long complicit himself in a lot of dark things here. But when he shows them just how far the wealthy have gone in their deeds here with so many dead, it sets Bond on a path to really ending Goldfinger – especially when they all realize that the authorities knew of this for some time and never did anything. There’s only so much one can abide but the complicity in all of this is going to really test how far Bond will go along with the service.
In Summary:
Though some of the book is a little disjointed in a few ways for me, owing to the fact that this is the eleventh part in the story being read over the past year, the buildup is going well and it feels like we’re at the cusp of getting things really dealt with. I like what Pak is doing here overall but it also feels like we’ve overstayed this story too long at this point and that’s beginning to be a point of frustration. I like how Aria handles herself with the part of the plan she’s working with here and I definitely like the realization they all have at the end. That combined with some great looking artwork helps to smooth over the other pieces, though I’ll again say that this storyline as a whole will read better in an omnibus when all is said and done.
Grade: B+
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Dynamite Entertainment
Release Date: September 18th, 2019
MSRP: $3.99
