Review Detail

His name is Bond. James Bond. Only he's not yet double oh seven, shaken-martini drinker and Q-gadget wrecker. As this story begins, James is just a boy, just starting at Eton, just finding his way -- and he really isn't all that good at anything yet. He's not the fastest, strongest or smartest -- and he's not sure where he fits in.

What he does have, however, is courage, and what this graphic novel version of the first Young Bond book shows, is that courage is perhaps the true source of all James Bond's many talents.

The story is interesting enough, and fairly worthy of a Bond tale -- evil scientist scheming to produce master race sort of thing. What I found interesting, however, is the same thing I like about all this sort of parallel literature (think Wide Sargasso Sea, or Mr. Darcy Takes a Wife, or Wicked, is the deeper exploration of a character, the granting of a life that breaks the confines of the original.

And James Bond has always been a bit of a rule-breaker, so in his case, this seems particularly apt. This is a fun, light read -- and while I like graphic novels, I think I might seek out the original. I sometimes wanted a few more words.