I'm not the type of person who's going to go out and buy the wristwatches or anything, but I'd like to think I'm a pretty big fan of the James Bond movies, and the one scene I like more than anything else in the entire 24-film franchise is the cold open to Casino Royale. The brutality of that black-and-white fight scene and the way that Bond becomes 007 gets me every time. Which, I imagine, is why I was so thrilled by the cold open to Warren Ellis and Jason MastersJames Bond #1, which has a similar bit of savagery that, in their case, is all business.

And in case you missed it? James Bond just broke a cinderblock on a dude's back by throwing it at him.

 

James Bond #1, Dynamite Entertainment
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It's a classic style Bond opening, and this single hard-hitting fight scene takes up a full ten pages of the issue. It's a very clever set up, free of dialogue, sound effects, or even a clear shot at Bond's face until the very end, when the reason for the brutality of this particular mission becomes readily apparent. It's extremely well-constructed, and it's even punctuated with a twist on the gun-barrel sequence that's opened every Bond movie since 1962, instantly providing a visual connection to the legacy that they're playing with:

 

James Bond #1, Dynamite Entertainment
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It's exactly the kind of thing that I've wanted to see from a Bond comic since it was announced, largely because it's exactly the kind of thing I want to see from a Bond movie: Stylish visuals, action-packed set pieces, and dudes getting cinderblocks broken over their backs.

And for real? I would pay good money to see Roger Moore do that. Good money.

 

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