Saturday, November 26, 2016

A SILENT ARMAGEDDON (1993)

In 1993 Dark Horse released A Silent Armageddon written by Simon Jowett with art by John M. Burns. The story finds Bond protecting a crippled 13-year-old girl while battling Erik Klebb of Cerberus (a new SPECTRE-like organization). Bond drives the Aston Martin Volente and romances Prof. Jessica Penrose. Locations included Oxford, New York City, and Hong Kong.



A Silent Armageddon was scheduled to appear in 4 parts. But only issues 1 and 2 were ever released. An urban legend claims the final issues were cancelled because they featured the son of Ernst Stavro Blofeld, but this is not true. Although fully scripted, the artist slipped so far behind deadline on issue #3 that the publishers refused to solicit either issue until #4 was also complete. The artist never delivered the art for that final issue, hence, the series was never completed.

In the canceled issues, Bond would have defeated Cerberus in a VR world where his crippled 13-year-old charge would metamorphoses into a typical “Bond Girl.”

3 comments:

  1. The paradox of John M. Burns: his art is so beautiful that he never finishes it. At least that's his track record with spy titles. He stopped drawing the MODESTY BLAISE strip after just 2 1/2 stories. I don't think it's ever been officially stated why he was fired (he claims not to know), but subsequent events leads me to wonder if he might have found it tough to maintain the schedule. He was too slow for Dark Horse on "A Silent Armageddon" and then apparently too slow for Marvel on SABLE & FORTUNE. Unlike "A Silent Armageddon," that series was actually finished... but by a different artist and wrapped up quickly in fewer issues that had been initially announced. It's such a shame none of these publishers gave Burns the lead time he seems to have needed and waited for him to finish before soliciting, because his artwork is truly stunning. "A Silent Armageddon" is one of the best looking Bond comics!

    It is a dream of mine that current rights holders Dynamite would commission Burns to draw that final issue (assuming the rumors are true about the third one being finished despite never being published) and finally release the whole thing in graphic novel form. That would be amazing, and the story deserves it. Burns' ART deserves it!

    They could also include Jowett's follow-up, the 2-part "Shattered Helix" (with David Lloyd art). It was kind of odd that that comic made references to things that had happened in the "Silent Armageddon" issues that never saw print.

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Tanner. Great info. I would be awesome if Dynamite could complete this.

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  2. Dark Horse produced a promotional poster featuring the artwork from issue 1. I wish it had been #2 (which I prefer), but I'm not aware of any such material produced for that one.

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