A Good Deal More Ruthless: Discussing ‘James Bond: 007’ With Writer Garth Ennis

The start of the new year will bring with it a new James Bond comic book series written by The Boys co-creator Garth Ennis. Ennis is one of the few top-tier UK comics writers to have never written about the MI6 agent, but that changes with January’s James Bond: 007. In his story, titled “Your Cold, Cold Heart,” Ennis deals with a compound that can kill an enemy without inflicting any visible damage. In a Comicon.com exclusive, Ennis discusses the difference between the movie Bond and the 007 of the comics as well as why being British may give him a special perspective when writing the character.

Tom Smithyman: With your history and stature in the industry, was it inevitable that you would eventually write a James Bond story? And what made you want to tackle the character?

Garth Ennis: I only developed any real interest in Bond quite recently, when editor Joe Rybandt asked me to take another look. The Bond of the novels, as quite nicely updated by Warren Ellis in the comics, is a very different cat to the Bond of the movies. He’s darker and nastier, able to do appalling things at the drop of a hat, and therefore suits my tastes quite well.

Smithyman: It sounds like you want to bring Bond back to his roots in the Ian Fleming novels. How will your Bond be different than the Sean Connery or Daniel Craig versions?

Ennis: He’ll be a good deal more ruthless. Some of the things I’ve got him doing, in fact, are the kinds of things the movie Bond would have done to him — but which the novel/comic Bond has no compunction about doing to others.

Worth noting that I don’t really see one Bond actor as necessarily being superior to another, I can see the different aspects each chose to concentrate on. We are, after all, not talking about the most realistic character in the world here.

Smithyman: As a UK native, do you think you bring a special perspective on the character?

Ennis: Possibly. Sometimes we can be a little more cynical, I suppose that helps. And there’s maybe a familiarity with the history of the British establishment – whose killing machine, of course, James Bond very much is.

I do stick Bond in a very British situation at the start of issue #2, perhaps the hardest challenge he’s ever had to face. Deeply unpleasant and humiliating, actually, only my sick and twisted mind could have come up with it.

Smithyman: That sounds like fun. It’s said that a hero is defined by his villain. What kind of villain are you creating for this story, and how do they differ from past Bond baddies?

Ennis: I tried to stay clear of one-eyed blokes with cats and shark pools; I find most Bond villains a bit daft. Each actor’s attempts to make the latest villain different just seems to me to make them more like the rest. So the villain is very much of the real world, and as such is perhaps unreachable.

Rapha Lobosco is returning to the franchise as the artist for this story? How do his illustrations bring your words to life?

Ennis: He’s my kind of artist – great storyteller, nice sense of character.

Smithyman: You’ve had the opportunity to see many of your comic creations, including The Boys and Preacher, come to life on the screen. Could you imagine “Your Cold, Cold Heart” being adapted into a big budget Bond movie? If so, who would play you version of 007?

Ennis: I think Michael Fassbender. If you think back to the guy he played in Inglorious Bastards and extrapolate, I reckon he’d be an excellent Bond.

Smithyman: Last question – Shaken or stirred?

Ennis: I don’t drink martinis, so I’m the wrong person to ask. However, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that James is quite often a bourbon man, so I suppose we have that in common.

Smithyman: I’m developing a taste for bourbon myself – and now I’m even more motivated. Thanks for taking the time to talk Bond, James Bond.