Legendary comic book writer Garth Ennis was recently announced as the writer for Dynamite Entertainment’s upcoming James Bond comic book series, pairing one of the industry’s leading creators with one of the most iconic figures of 20th-century popular culture, the irascible MI-6 super-spy known as 007 – and as expected, Ennis will bring an energetic flare to franchise, starting by addresing a small, but critical cliché familiar to long-time Bond fans.
Speaking with CBR, Ennis teased some of the details for his upcoming volume of James Bond: 007, including commenting on material included in the preview pages released so far. The writer’s inagural 007 arc, entitled “Your Cold, Cold Heart,” will center around a mysterious new weapon, one that subverts the familiar incendiary tendencies of Bond stories.
According to Dynamite’s solicitation for 007 #1 – written by Ennis, drawn by Ralph Lobosco – the series hinges on the reemergance of “Stalvoda,” a mysterious Soviet weapon. According to the writer, the genesis of the new, deadly device motivating Bond’s latest mission came down to offering a visually unique take on Bond’s familiar pyrotechnics.
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Details of Dynamite’s latest James Bond offering remain scarce, with bits of new info trickling out ahead of the first issue’s January 2024 ship date; writer Garth Ennis has promised his patented sensibilities as an artist will infuse the new 007. Speaking with CBR, he noted the simple origin behind the latest Bond superweapon, briefly shown in the preview pages for 007 #1. “I think I’d grown tired of seeing people in action movies running away from flaring orange and red explosions, and thought it might be interesting to try blue instead.” From the single image released so far, it seems the weapon could be an instantly iconic addition to the franchise.
A Soviet creation, which will “mysteriously reappear” to start the series, “Stalvoda” – or “Steel Water” – is introduced to James Bond and the readers at once, as he is shown video of a test in which two chimpanzees are flash-frozen by a cannister-like device, which engulfs the animals in a bright blue splash; rather than annihilate its victims in a blaze of fire, Stalvoda immediately deep freezes those caught in its blast radius. Readers of the preview pages are left having to wait for the series’ release to learn more about this new weapon, but speculation about its devastating possible implications should carry the fandom right up until the issue’s release.
“Steel Water” Will Be Bond’s Deadliest Threat In A Long Time
Superweapons are integral to many of the best Bond stories, and as a result, it seems natural that Garth Ennis would like to introduce a unique, immediately impactful device of his own to propel the plot of his 007 incarnation. At the same time, Ennis is known for deconstructing tropes, taking them apart and putting them back together in often bizarre, unexpected new forms.
Readers can anticipate that Stalvoda, or “Steel Water” will be one of the most dangerous entries on the list of superweapons Bond has chased down for MI-6, at least in recent years – and also expect Garth Ennis to do something unexpected, and likely game-changing from the James Bond franchise, with it.
James Bond: 007 #1 arrives in January 2024 from Dynamite.
