VARGR #6 released today

Dynamite's James Bond VARGR #6 is released today (delayed from its original April 6 release date). This is final installment in the first story arc by Warren Ellis and Jason Masters.

The secret of VARGR is revealed, and it means that Bond has to descend into a nightmare scenario - alone. Just his gun and his skills versus a murderous conspiracy to turn Britain into a testing zone for death drugs. Dynamite Entertainment proudly concludes the debut storyline to the first ongoing James Bond comic book in over 20 years!

You can purchase VARGR #6 at the Dynamite website. A hardcover collected edition of all six issues will be released on June 21 and can be pre-ordered now on Amazon.com (U.S.) and Amazon.co.uk (UK).

The next series arc will be called Eidolon and will launch June 15 in James Bond #7.

Peter Janson-Smith passes away at 93

Ian Fleming's literary agent, Peter Janson-Smith, has passed away at age 93. Peter was a force behind the original James Bond novels and, as the head of Glidrose, oversaw the continuation novels by John Gardner and Raymond Benson. Raymond Benson shared the news on Facebook with a tribute to his mentor and friend.

It is with great sadness that I share the news that Peter Janson-Smith has passed away. Peter, who hired me to write James Bond novels in the mid-90s, was a mentor, a teacher, a friend, and someone I called my "English dad." Peter had a long, distinguished career as a literary agent in England. He was Ian Fleming's agent as well as Eric Ambler's and many other great authors. He sold Anthony Burgess' "Clockwork Orange." He was the trustee for Winnie the Pooh. So many accomplishments, too many to name here. I will miss him terribly. Thank you, Peter, for everything you did for me, and for everything you did to better our world.

HEADS YOU DIE book jacket reveals new plot details

Here's a plot summery for Steve Cole's upcoming Young Bond novel, Heads You Die. This comes from the book jacket itself and offers more details than what's currently on Amazon.

James's Cuban holiday has become a nightmare mission to save one of the last remaining links to his past. If he is ever to see his friend again, he must steal the darkest secret of a man with 1,000 ways to kill. 

Pursued by corrupt cops and hired assassins, James's quest takes him from the sun-drenched streets of Havana to a mystery wreck deep in Caribbean water – and beyond to a deadly showdown. As a countdown to mass murder begins and killers close in, fates will be decided with the flip of a coin.

One wonders if this old friend James is protecting will be a character from the Higson novels? Also sound like we'll be getting some underwater action in this outing.

Heads You Die will be released in the UK on May 5, 2016 in paperback and as a limited edition hardcover. Steve recently signed 2000 copies of the hardcover (below).

While it has yet to be officially confirmed, it appears Heads You Die will be the first of TWO Steve Cole Young Bond novels to be released this year.

Will we get TWO Young Bond books this year?

Steve Cole has tweeted this pic of the limited hardcover edition of his second Young Bond novel, Heads You Die, which will be released May 5 in the UK along with a paperback edition. The limited hardcover will be signed and numbered and contain extra material. It can be pre-ordered at Amazon.co.uk.

But what I'm more interested in this morning is what the eagle-eyed folks at the CommanderBond.net Twitter (@CBn007) spotted in the author description below. Is it possible we'll get Steve's third Young Bond adventure later this year?

Steve's only comment, "Never mind that, I just can't believe how young I was when that picture was taken."

Thanks to CBn.

UPDATE: This also appears on the official Penguin website, so I'm thinking we can bank on seeing Young Bond 8 this year!