By Jarred A. Luján — Here we are...back at it again this week with James Bond #3! This Dynamite title has been a pretty damn good book through two issues, and with the cliffhanger that ended #2, I am EXTREMELY ready to get into #3.

So, SPOILER, the last time we saw Bond and Keys (the heroes of this comic) they were stuck between a rock and a hard place…a hard place being a closed-off office they were stealing a painting from, with the metaphorical rock being the very large and scary guard in the doorway. Artists Erica D’Urso and Marco Renna take over for Erica Gapstur in this issue, and they really get to go hard in this story with some fun and exciting action pages. A fist fight between Keys, Bond, and Large Scary Guard is super fun, and the whole sequence continues throughout the page. This whole sequence felt very…well, very Bond. The repertoire, the fight, the pursuit, all of it felt like a classic 007 story in the best possible way. The other thing I really enjoyed about this sequence was how completely grueling it felt to me as a reader. This isn’t an easy fight. No, this is something where Keys and Bond are clearly in it for their lives, and this raises the stakes for two characters we’ve become invested in throughout the course of this story.

Writers Lore and Ayala really dive into Keys’ background in this issue, too. We don’t get the full story, not yet anyway, but it’s far more than we’ve gotten in previous issues and it feels rewarding. Keys has been such a great part of their run so far, so I’m glad to see that she seems to continue getting focus here. The thing about Keys is that she’s a brilliant contrast to Bond, in more ways than you think. Lore and Ayala have designed this dynamic to be that way. In my last review, I made it a point to mention that Lore and Ayala have created a great dynamic and it was something I was hoping to see continue, and it does here. As a matter of fact, we see them become worlds apart in a big way we likely weren’t expecting. Lore and Ayala, through Keys, are really hitting at the core of who Bond is and what he does.

There isn’t much more I can see about colorist Roshan Kurichiyanil  at this point except he is absolutely knocking it out every issue. Kurichiyanil’s work on the artworks in the background particularly stands out to me, but I’m also a fan of the way he uses his color work to accent the action sequences on these pages.

Furthermore, it should go without mentioning that Ariana Maher is something else altogether. The radio communication between the team as they wind up in different areas isn’t just easy to read and fluid, but it remains consistent in how information comes across. Maher’s ability to properly utilize dialogue boxes in a readable way continues to hold it down on these pages.

Finally, for the second issue straight, I need to give a big shout out to Keys’ amazing suit. An icon we didn’t deserve, but the one we needed.

Overall: This new James Bond comic maintains its place as one of my favorite books from month to month. If you haven’t grabbed this yet, you are denying yourself an excellent piece of the James Bond content web. 9.0/10

James Bond #3
Writers: Vita Ayala & Danny Lore
Artist: Erica D’Urso and Marco Renna
Colorist: Roshan Kurichiyanil
Letterer: Ariana Maher
Publisher: Dynamite
Price: $3.99
Solicit Text: The first arc concludes, from VITA AYALA (Morbius), DANNY LORE (Queen of Bad Dreams) and ERIC GAPSTUR (The Flash). Bond is in over his head. What started as a "punishment" assignment has expanded into a world of international crime that Bond can't wrap his mind around. Will 007 accept that the mission is too big for one spy, and seek assistance...or will pride be his downfall?

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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.