ABOVE: FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE - Writer Henry Gammidge skilfully condensed the complicated plotlines of Ian Fleming's fifth 007 adventure over 16 weeks in early 1960, allowing John McLusky to focus on the shadowy Istanbul sequences with some superbly atmospheric panels.
BELOW: DR. NO - Once again using the lettering design from the Jonathan Cape first edition dust jacket, McLusky launches the reader straight into the story in strip #584 from May 1960. Both FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE and GOLDFINGER start with strips showing Bond saying farewell to the heroine of the previous adventure, thereby maintaining a continuity between the stories. These panels  were often omitted from syndicated versions of the story allowing newspaper editors to run standalone adventures.
BOTTOM: GOLDFINGER was the longest adaptation to date, running for 26 weeks in 1960-61. The added length allowed John McLusky to flesh out some of the sequences that would otherwise have been confined to a single strip in earlier stories.

COLLECTED WORKS: John McLusky's James Bond comic strips have been syndicated in various newspapers throughout the world usually appearing in their original one-strip format. During the 1960s it was possible to purchase complete stories (for private use only) from the Daily Express in the form of ‘repro pulls', which featured the strips printed four-up on a china based art paper directly from the Express’ original ‘hot metal’ blocks; accordingly, the first generation reproduction was superb.

LIVE AND LET DIE was reprinted in the 1967 James Bond annual with the title blocks removed. In 1981 the American James Bond Fan Club published THE ILLUSTRATED JAMES BOND, 007 which included the complete versions of DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER, FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE and DR NO. In 1987 Titan Books began reprinting the James Bond Daily Express comic strips in collected format beginning with stories illustrated by Yaroslav Horak. The first series ended in 1990 with the publication of CASINO ROYALE (with an introduction by Anthony Hern) which also included LIVE AND LET DIE. Titan began republishing the comic strips in collected editions starting in 2004 and all 13 stories illustrated by John McLusky are still available in four volumes.

The ‘Repro Pulls’ were supplied in their own illustrated folder.

James Bond Annual (1967)

THE ILLUSTRATED
JAMES BOND, 007 (1981)

Titan Books: CASINO ROYALE (1990) [includes LIVE AND LET DIE]; CASINO ROYALE (2005) [includes LIVE AND LET DIE and MOONRAKER]; DR. NO (2005) [includes DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER and FROM RUSSIA WITH LOVE]; GOLDFINGER (2005) [includes FROM A VIEW TO A KILL, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, RISICO and THUNDERBALL];  ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (2004) [includes YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE]