By Jarred A. Luján — James Bond #2 is out this Wednesday, and in case you don’t follow my every move on the internet, I actually wrote a GET HYPED article about this exact book back in August. It was easily one of my most anticipated series for 2020, and now I get to review it! The universe is a rewarding place...sometimes.

Anyway, one of the things that had me most excited about this run was the team-up of two of the most exciting writers in comics: Vita Ayala and Danny Lore. Both of them have managed to put out some sincerely heartfelt and intense comics in the last year or so, and having them on a book together about an established property like James Bond brought a real air of promise.

Safe to say that, two issues in, both have delivered on that promise. Plot-wise, the thing I find really enticing about this book is the character of Keyes. Keyes was really the central focus of the first issue, something that not many (including myself) expected. That approach really pays off as we get to see her and Bond interact in this issue. There’s a friction between Keyes and Bond, they each have a different goal, yet they also have a shared pathway to those goals. It makes their appearances on pages feel almost competitive, something that really brightens up the partnership dynamic. There’s still a lot we don’t know about Keyes, and that edge of mystery for a main protagonist is something that we can appreciate considering how long this franchise has been around.

Outside of characters, I think Ayala and Lore have done a pretty excellent job of crafting an actual mystery. The best spy thrillers are only as good as the mystery they unravel, and the writing team has created something layered, something we can only get in piecemeal, something we want to know the rest of. They’ve crafted a mystery that yields desire from its readers.

Eric Gapstur, who’s been doing the interior art on this book since before Ayala and Lore came on board, continues to impress. What I love about what he’s doing here is his utilization of negative space. At a couple points, he abandons panels, instead leaving characters on the page freely. When we have stretches of characters interacting, Gasptur uses these methods to provide a break in the rhythm, to give it an energy it wouldn’t have otherwise.

Lastly, colorist Roshan Kurichiyanil really does special things with his work in this book. So much of the last bit of this book is diversified lighting, and Rosh handles his business on it. That sounds small, I know, but the way that it adds depth and shadows as Bond moves really gives these pages some dimension.

Final note: Keyes’ suit at the party scene is really the hero here.

Overall: In James Bond #2, a talented creative team continues to deliver on this story’s big promise, using the character of Keyes to create an excellent tension of style and motivations with James Bond. 9.0/10

James Bond #2
Writers: Vita Ayala & Danny Lore
Artist: Eric Gapstur
Colorist: Roshan Kurichiyanil
Letterer: Hassan Otsmane-Elhaou‏
Publisher: Dynamite
Price: $3.99

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Jarred A. Luján makes comics, studies existential philosophy, and listens to hip-hop too loudly. For bad jokes and dog pictures, you can follow him on Twitter.