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Collected
editions of the James Bond comic strip (English
language versions)
Drawn by John McLusky, Yaroslav Horak, Neville Colvin & Harry North |
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During the 1960s it was
possible to purchase complete James Bond stories (for private use only) directly 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. Pictured below is the folder for DIAMONDS ARE
FOREVER. |
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The James Bond comic
strip had debuted in the Daily Express on July 7, 1958, and continued
in the single strip format six days each week until Saturday 10, 1962. The
strip went into worldwide syndication in 1960 and made its US debut on
April 11, 1960, in the Indianapolis News which printed DIAMONDS ARE
FOREVER; followed by FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE and DR. NO. The strip was not
particularly popular as the character of James Bond had yet to make a
significant impact in the USA. The DR. NO strip ended prematurely after
just three weeks with no explanation given in the newspaper. A very small
number of other US newspapers published just DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER as the story
was more appropriate for an America audience, with many locations that would be familiar to readers.
The James Bond comic strip went into wider syndication across the USA and
Canada from June 1, 1964 to coincide with the American release of the
second James Bond film From
Russia With Love (1963). The John McLusky illustrated version of the story was
therefore the first comic strip chosen for US and Canadian syndication.
This was followed by DR. NO, MOONRAKER and DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER. The final
story to by syndicated in the USA/Canada was ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET
SERVICE in 1965/66, although fewer newspapers opted to run the lengthy
adaptation. These were the only five stories printed in North America, all
of which were either slightly censored in some parts, or had strips
omitted. As the stories also appeared out of order, the introductory
strips were frequently omitted if they contained narrative relating to an
earlier adventure. The syndicated versions of stories are all therefore
slightly different to what originally appeared in the Daily Express
in the UK. |
The James
Bond Annual 1968 |
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ABOVE: (left) The
James Bond Annual 1968 was published in the UK by World
Distributors. The hardcover annual was firmly aimed at the
children’s market and was filled with stories, pictures and
information about the Sean Connery films. The 1968 annual also
reprinted the 1958 Daily Express comic strip version of
LIVE AND LET DIE drawn by John McLusky. This marked the first time
that the James Bond comic strip had been presented in full as a
continuous story, although slightly reformatted to remove the
title caption from each strip, and the panels cropped horizontally
so four strips could be printed on each page. (top right) Strip
#179 as it originally appeared in the Daily Express in 1959
and (bottom right) the 1968 annual version which also removed the
identifying strip number. |
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The first James Bond
comic to be collected in one publication was LIVE AND LET DIE which
appeared in the 1968 James Bond annual published in the UK by World Distributors. The strips were slightly reformatted to remove title captions,
and panels cropped so they would fit four to a page. Although LIVE AND LET DIE
was split into two sections in the annual, the strip was complete and had
only minor changes to some panels, and the removal of the identifying
strip number in order that the presentation appeared as one complete
narrative. |
Cartoonist
Showcase 1968 & 1970/71 |
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Some US newspapers had chosen
to run FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE just in their Sunday editions, and as was the
tradition a full weeks’ worth of strips would appear on one page, although
frequently reformatted to omit redundant panels without any narrative
content. The title caption would also be removed and the original artwork
extended to cover up the gap. This would be done differently depending on
how the strip was being printed to fit the space available on a specific
newspaper page. In March 1968 the specialist publication Cartoonist Showcase
featured the first US appearance of GOLDFINGER, which reformatted the
original strips which were presented as two per page, but split into three
rows, which resulted in every other strip having its title block removed
and the artwork extended to fill the gap. The story was published across
four issues in May, July, September and November 1968. The Daily
Express supplied John McLusky's original artwork to Cartoonist
Showcase which meant the print quality was excellent. The title panel
was changed and opening two strips featuring Honey Rider were omitted as
would be the case with most syndicated versions of GOLDFINGER. The whole story was
presented alongside comic strip adaptations of
Modesty Blaise, Secret Agent X9 and Tarzan which were
similarly reformatted. The James
Bond strip did not appear on the cover of any of the four issues. The
84-page paperback publication was limited to just 500 copies of each issue. Cartoonist
Showcase then published OCTOPUSSY starting with Issue #9 in May 1970,
although the second instalment did not appear until December
1970. The concluding part of the story then appeared in Issue #11
published in February 1971. This time the strips were unedited and identical to the
Daily Express version down to the inclusion of the original
identifying strip number. The publication of OCTOPUSSY in Cartoonist
Showcase was this first time Yaroslav Horak's art had been seen in the
USA. Cartoonist
Showcase ceased publication in 1972 after just 12 issues. |
The
Menomonee Falls Gazette 1971-78 |
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The Menomonee Falls Gazette was
a weekly tabloid publication available at
newsstands, but the bulk of sales came from worldwide subscription.
It was the only newspaper to print the James Bond comic strip in the USA in
the Seventies, and ran six complete James Bond stories between 1971 and
1978. The 1971 story Fear Face came to abrupt end after just four
instalments when publication ceased after 232 issues.
Read the full story of the
James Bond Comic Strip in The Menomonee Falls Gazette |
The James
Bond Comic Strip Softcover editions 1981-1990 |
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Although the James Bond
comic strip had not proved particularly popular when originally
syndicated in the USA in the 1960s, by 1981 there was renewed interest
with the emergence of James Bond fan clubs on both sides of the Atlantic.
In February 1981 the American James Bond 007 Fan Club published
The Illustrated JAMES BOND, 007 - a softcover collection of three
complete unedited stories of the Daily Express comic strip.
Although the three stories included in the collection had been syndicated
in US newspapers in the mid-1960s they were always edited in some form,
with some strips omitted or censored. This anthology therefore represents the
first time they were seen in a complete unedited format, and was a very
important publication allowing the majority of fans to see the strip for
the first time. Although never originally intended to be seen in a
complete format, the strips work perfectly when collected sequentially,
serving as a very authentic pictorial representation of Ian Fleming's
original stories. The book was also available in the UK via the James Bond
British Fan Club, and imported by specialist comic shops in London. On
Monday February 2, 1981 Express Newspapers Group resurrected the James Bond comic strip
with Doomcrack illustrated by Harry North,
but this time in their tabloid newspaper the Daily Star. Many
younger fans were unaware of John McLusky's contribution to the world of
James Bond and renewed interest in his artwork led him to return to
illustrate the strip for four more stories
printed in the Daily Star from August 20, 1981 to July 15, 1983
before the series was discontinued. One final story, The Scent of
Danger written by Jim Lawrence and illustrated by John McLusky, was
syndicated outside the UK and later collected in different anthologies
published by Titan Books. |
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ABOVE: (left) 007
MAGAZINE Issue #10 featuring the the first publication of Graham
Rye's groundbreaking article ‘The Illustrated James Bond’ which
included the history of the Daily Express James Bond comic
strip, and for the first time a complete listing of all published
stories with details of the writer and artist. (right) John
McLusky speaking about his time illustrating the comic strip at
the 1982 James Bond British Fan Club Convention held at the
Wembley Conference Centre. |
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In April 1982 Graham
Rye's groundbreaking article ‘The Illustrated James Bond’ was published in
issue #10 of 007 MAGAZINE, giving readers a fascinating insight into the
background and history of the Daily Express comic strip. Rye's
unprecedented access to the Daily Express archives opened up a new
chapter in the history of the James Bond comic strip, and artist John
McLusky then gave a fascinating talk about his time working on the strip
to 200 fans at The James
Bond British Fan Club Convention held at the Wembley Conference centre
on the weekend of 24th/25th April, 1982. |
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THE ILLUSTRATED JAMES BOND, 007
(February 1981) Published by the
James Bond 007 Fan Club (USA)
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE
DR. NO
Cover art by Tom Sciacca & Rich Buckler |
JAMES BOND BY IAN FLEMING
(June 1987) Published by Titan Books
THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
& THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN
Cover art by David McKean |
JAMES BOND BY IAN FLEMING
(March 1988) Published by Titan Books
OCTOPUSSY
& THE HILDEBRAND RARITY
Cover art by David McKean |
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*The original 1989
Titan Books edition of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME did not include strip #721.
All subsequent editions have included a version of the
strip, which now has slightly different digitally created text to that originally
printed in the Daily Express on May 7, 1968. |
JAMES BOND BY IAN FLEMING
(June 1989) Published by Titan Books
THE SPY WHO LOVED ME*
Cover art by Kyle Baker |
JAMES BOND BY IAN FLEMING
(July 1990) Published by Titan Books
CASINO ROYALE
&
LIVE AND LET DIE
Cover art by
Paul Johnson |
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In 1987 UK publisher Titan Books released two of Yaroslav Horak's James Bond
comic strips which were seen for the first time with English language text
since their appearance in the Daily Express. Syndicated versions of
the James Bond comic strips were invariably translated into another
language, and usually had the artwork cropped or reformatted depending on
the printed medium they were appearing in. Few of these versions did
justice to Horak's superb artwork, and even the original Daily Express
presentation could not reproduce in newsprint what the artist had captured
in pencil and ink. The first Titan softcover edition collected THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS
and THE MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN (although this appears as the first story
to maintain the original continuity), and was published in June 1987 to
coincide with the release of Timothy Dalton's debut as James Bond in
The Living Daylights. The first anthology included an introduction by
007 MAGAZINE Editor & Publisher Graham Rye. In March 1988 a second
volume collecting OCTOPUSSY and THE HILDEBRAND RARITY hit the bookshelves,
followed by THE SPY WHO LOVED ME in June 1989. Although unedited THE SPY
WHO LOVED ME was missing strip #721 which was absent from the Daily
Express archive at the time. The cover was painted by American
cartoonist and comic book writer Kyle Baker, with Bond looking
suspiciously like Arnold Schwarzenegger! The first two anthologies had
covers painted by English illustrator David McKean, with his version of
007 looking more like Sean Connery. A fourth volume was published in July 1990 and featured a cover
painted by Paul Johnson. This edition went right back to the start of the
James Bond comic strip and collected CASINO ROYALE and LIVE AND LET DIE.
The first James Bond comic strip was making its debut in a complete
format, whereas LIVE AND LET DIE had been reprinted in the 1968 James Bond
annual, although the panels were slightly reformatted to remove the title
captions from each strip. The 1990
Titan Books version of LIVE AND LET DIE is unedited and complete,
although also has the title captions removed. The first four editions from
Titan Books
represented the best reproduction of the James Bond comic strips until the
later larger format hardback anthologies were released in 2015-17. The first series of
Titan softcover
editions had a full colour covers which looked more far more attractive as
a point-of-sale than the stark black-and-white illustrations used on the next series. Many foreign language
reprints of the James Bond comic strips published in the 1970s/80s had also used coloured versions of
the artwork, or resorted to illustrated representations of Sean
Connery on the cover. |
Titan Books
James Bond Comic Strip Softcover editions 2004-2010 |
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THE MAN WITH
THE GOLDEN GUN
(February 2004)
& THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS |
OCTOPUSSY
(May 2004)
& THE HILDEBRAND RARITY |
ON HER MAJESTY'S
SECRET SERVICE
(August 2004)
& YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE |
GOLDFINGER*
(November 2004)
&
RISICO
FROM A VIEW TO A KILL
FOR YOUR EYES ONLY
THUNDERBALL* |
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CASINO ROYALE
(February 2005)
&
LIVE AND LET DIE
MOONRAKER |
DR. NO
(May 2005)
&
DIAMONDS ARE FOREVER
FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE |
THE SPY WHO LOVED ME
(August 2005)
& The Harpies |
COLONEL SUN
(December 2005)
& River of Death |
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THE GOLDEN GHOST
(April 2006)
& Fear Face
Double Jeopardy
Starfire |
TROUBLE SPOT
(September 2006)
& Isle of Condors
The League of Vampires
Die With My Boots On |
THE PHOENIX PROJECT
(February 2007)
& The Black Ruby Caper
Till Death Us Do Part
The Torch-Time Affair |
DEATH WING
(July 2007)
& Sea Dragon
When The Wizard Awakes |
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SHARK BAIT
(January 2008)
& The Xanadu Connection
Doomcrack (Harry North) |
THE PARADISE PLOT
(June 2008)
& Deathmask |
POLESTAR
(November 2008)
& Flittermouse
The Scent of Danger
Snake Goddess
Double Eagle |
THE GIRL MACHINE
(July 2009)
& Beware of Butterflies
The Nevsky Nude |
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Titan Books reissued THE
MAN WITH THE GOLDEN GUN paired with THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS in February
2004, followed three months later by OCTOPUSSY (which also contained THE
HILDEBRAND RARITY). The print quality of these larger editions (12 X 9 inches approx) was inferior to the first series and lost a lot of
the detail in the artwork. OCTOPUSSY featured an introduction by Maud
Adams who played the title character in the 1983 film. Other James Bond
film alumni including George Lazenby, Roger Moore, Richard Kiel and
Shirley
Eaton provided introductions for subsequent volumes. The series
continued with anthologies of all the Ian Fleming stories drawn by John McLusky starting with ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE (August 2004),
GOLDFINGER (November 2004), CASINO ROYALE (February 2005), and DR. NO (May
2005). The Horak illustrated stories resumed in August 2005 with THE SPY
WHO LOVED ME, which now included a recreation of the missing strip #721
but with incorrect lettering. The Harpies, the first original James
Bond story by Jim Lawrence, also made its debut in this anthology. Titan
Books continued to release anthologies at regular intervals and completed the
series in March 2010 with the release of Nightbird. Originally
announced for publication in July 2007, this final volume was held back
and now included the syndicated version of Ape of Diamonds
which includes strips drawn by Horak and a revised conclusion illustrated
by Neville Colvin (1918-1991). The Nightbird anthology also includes War Cloud, an
incomplete Jim Lawrence story which was to have followed
Shark Bait in 1979, but aborted and only discovered in the Daily
Express archives as the book was being prepared.
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NIGHTBIRD
(March 2010)
& Hot Shot
Ape of Diamonds
(Horak/Neville Colvin)
War Cloud [an incomplete unpublished Jim Lawrence story] |
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Several titles in this
series had different cover art when originally announced, and these are
still used by many online retailers. The covers pictured above are the
final published versions.
This series also
contained articles on various aspects of the world of James Bond by
various authors, although often riddled with errors. Other anomalies
included a sequence strips in River of Death (#1113-#1118) being
inserted too early into the narrative and then appearing again in the
correct order, and the omission of strip #1494 from The Golden Ghost.
These errors were corrected in the The James Bond Omnibus 003
reprint. |
Titan Books
James Bond Comic Strip Softcover Omnibus editions 2009-2014 |
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In September 2009 Titan
Books collected the James Bond comic strips from CASINO ROYALE to
THUNDERBALL drawn by John McLucky into a new omnibus edition. This was
followed in February 2011 by a second volume containing the final two John
McLusky strips and the five remaining Ian Fleming stories illustrated by
Yaroslav Horak. The four volumes that followed over the next two years
collected all those stories written by Jim Lawrence (including his
adaptation of COLONEL SUN in volume three), this time in the order of
their original publication. By the end of 2014 when volume six was
published, the complete series of James Bond comic strips were then
available in uniform editions, although the smaller page size (9.25 X 7.5
inches approx) and print quality did not always do the strips justice. The
final omnibus published in November 2014 collected the rarely seen Harry
North and John McLusky stories originally printed in the Daily Star,
and the final three stories illustrated by Horak only syndicated
outside the UK. |
Titan Books James Bond ˋThe Complete/Classic Comic Collection´
Hardcover editions 2015-2017 |
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To tie in with the
release of Spectre starring Daniel Craig in November 2015, Titan
Books published a collection of the four comic strips featuring the crime
organisation led by Ernst Stavro Blofeld (played in Spectre by Christoph Waltz). The
new hardback edition was much larger than earlier collections (12 X 11
inches approx) and the newly restored strips were finally shown off to their
best advantage on glossy paper. The second volume published in November
2016 collected the strips from CASINO ROYALE to DR. NO, originally
published in the Daily Express 1958-60 and all drawn by John
McLusky. The next volume collected the strips from 1960-66 with strips
drawn by John McLusky and Yaroslav Horak, with a fourth compilation
containing the final two Ian Fleming short stories, along with The
Harpies and River of Death written by Jim Lawrence, all
illustrated by Yaroslav Horak. |
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