James Bond (comic strip)

Starting in 1958 and continuing to 1983, James Bond, the fictional character created by author Ian Fleming appeared in a comic strip that consisted of 52 story arcs that were syndicated in British newspapers, 7 of which were initially published abroad.

Daily Express strips

Art by John McLusky

Other James Bond comic strips

In 1977 the "Daily Express" discontinued their series of Bond comic strips, although Horak and Lawrence went on to write and illustrate several other James Bond adventures for syndication abroad in Europe, for the "Sunday Express" (the Sunday edition of the "Daily Express"), and the "Daily Star". Additionally, John McLusky returned to team up with Jim Lawrence for five comic strips.

The 1983 strip "Polestar" was abruptly terminated by the "Daily Star" midway through its run and was not completed, although the complete story did appear in non-UK newspapers and was followed by several more complete serials before the James Bond comic strip officially came to an end.

Titan Books reprints

Since first publication in the "Daily Express", the comic strip adaptations have been reprinted several times. First by the James Bond 007 International Fan Club, in the early 1980s. Then annually, from 1987 to 1990, by the British Titan Books company in anthologies, beginning with "The Living Daylights" to tie-in with the release of the eponymous James Bond film.

First Titan Books series

*"The Living Daylights" (June 1987) — includes: "The Man with the Golden Gun" and "The Living Daylights"
*"Octopussy" (March 1988) — includes: "Octopussy" and "The Hildebrand Rarity"
*"The Spy Who Loved Me" (June 1989) — includes: "The Spy Who Loved Me"
*"Casino Royale" (July 1990) — includes "Casino Royale" and "Live and Let Die"

econd Titan Books series

Beginning in 2004, Titan reissued these anthologies in larger, revised editions, and also began reprinting stories that hadn't been featured in the earlier books. With a more frequent publishing schedule than the first series, to date fourteen books have been published, with the next collection appearing in November 2008, days before the release of the next 007 film. These volumes include new introductory chapters on the history of the strip and the Bond novels, and most of the books have also included special introductions written by Bond film actors, specifically Caroline Munro ("The Spy Who Loved Me"), George Lazenby ("OHMSS"), Shirley Eaton ("Goldfinger"), Eunice Gayson ("Dr. No"), Roger Moore ("Casino Royale"), Maud Adams ("Octopussy"), Britt Ekland ("Colonel Sun"), and Richard Kiel ("The Golden Ghost"). Titan's comic strip reprints were not initially published in the strips' original publication order; this changed as of the release of the "The Spy Who Loved Me" volume.

*"The Man with the Golden Gun" (February 2004) — "The Man with the Golden Gun" and "The Living Daylights"
*"Octopussy" (May 2004) — "Octopussy" and "The Hildebrand Rarity"
*"On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (August 2004) — "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" and "You Only Live Twice"
*"Goldfinger" (November 2004) — "Goldfinger", "Risico", "From a View to a Kill", "For Your Eyes Only", and "Thunderball"
*"Casino Royale" (February 2005) — "Casino Royale", "Live and Let Die", and "Moonraker"
*"Dr. No" (May 2005) — "Diamonds Are Forever", "From Russia with Love", and "Dr. No"
*"The Spy Who Loved Me" (August 2005) — "The Spy Who Loved Me" and "The Harpies"
*"Colonel Sun" (December 2005) — "River of Death" and "Colonel Sun"
*"The Golden Ghost" (April 2006) — "The Golden Ghost", "Fear Face", "Double Jeopardy", and "Starfire"
*"Trouble Spot" (September 2006) — "Trouble Spot", "Isle Of Condors", "The League Of Vampires", and "Die With My Boots On"
*"The Phoenix Project" (February 2007) — "The Phoenix Project", "The Black Ruby Caper", "Till Death Do Us Part", and "The Torch-Time Affair"
*"Death Wing" (July 2007) — "Death Wing", "Sea Dragon", and "When The Wizard Awakes"
*"Shark Bait" (January 2008) — "The Xanadu Connection", "Shark Bait", and "Doomcrack"
*"The Paradise Plot" (June 2008) — "The Paradise Plot" and "Deathmask"
*"Polestar" (scheduled for release: 4 November 2008) — "Flittermouse", "Polestar", "The Scent Of Danger", "Snake Goddess", and "Double Eagle"
*"The Girl Machine" (scheduled for release: 3 March 2009) — "The Girl Machine", "Beware of Butterflies", and "The Nevsky Nude"

"The Harpies", included in "The Spy Who Loved Me", is the first non-Fleming-based Bond comic strip to be reprinted as well as the first original story. "River of Death", in the "Colonel Sun" collection, is the second original story to be published ("Colonel Sun" itself being an adaptation of the first post-Fleming Bond novel). "The Golden Ghost" is the first collection comprising all-original stories.

The collection "The Phoenix Project" indicates that the July 2007 release was to have been "Nightbird", but this was not published as scheduled. As a result, the second Titan reprint series skipped over the stories "Hot-Shot", "Nightbird" and "Ape of Diamonds". [http://commanderbond.net/article/4045] . If published as currently scheduled following "The Girl Machine", the "Nightbird" collection will conclude the James Bond comic strip series. It contains the final three unpublished stories.

ee also

* James Bond comic books

External links

* [http://www.titanbooks.com/bookstore/app?service=external/Category&sp=SUniverse&sp=l44&sp=Suniverse&sp=0 Titan Books' James Bond Graphic Novels List]
* [http://home9.inet.tele.dk/oreskov/ Just Johnny's James Bond Comics Website]
* [http://youngbonddossier.com/Young_Bond/comichistory.html When Bond Battled Dinosaurs] - A Brief History of 007 Comics