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James Bond comic strips
The Complete James Bond – Dr No: The Classic Comic Strip Collection 1958-60
International super spy James Bond travels the world, encountering danger and intrigue at every turn, and knowing that each step he takes could be his last. Follow his adventures in these six newly restored 1960s comic strips: Casino Royale, Live and Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds are Forever, From Russia with Love and Dr. No.
- GenresComics
254 pages, Hardcover
First published November 8, 2016
2 people are currently reading
33 people want to read
About the author
Jim Lawrence
93 books4 followersAka Hunter Adams, Victor Appleton II
Jim Lawrence has written fiction extensively for both children and adults in a variety of media: books, magazine articles, film and radio scripts, and comic strips, including "decision" strips. He estimates that he has written some sixty books of fiction, many of them under pen names for series like Tom Swift Jr. and Nancy Drew. His radio credits include weekly scripts for Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, The Green Hornet, and Sky King. He has written for, and in some cases created and illustrated, the comic strips Dallas, Joe Palooka, Captain Easy, Friday Foster, and Buck Rogers. To date, he has authored two works of interactive fiction: Seastalker and Moonmist.
Jim Lawrence has written fiction extensively for both children and adults in a variety of media: books, magazine articles, film and radio scripts, and comic strips, including "decision" strips. He estimates that he has written some sixty books of fiction, many of them under pen names for series like Tom Swift Jr. and Nancy Drew. His radio credits include weekly scripts for Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, The Green Hornet, and Sky King. He has written for, and in some cases created and illustrated, the comic strips Dallas, Joe Palooka, Captain Easy, Friday Foster, and Buck Rogers. To date, he has authored two works of interactive fiction: Seastalker and Moonmist.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 6, 2023
My rating here is relevant to the comic strips within this compilation, not necessarily the compilation itself. If I were just rating the compilation, I'd give it five stars due to putting all of these important strips into one big, flashy, high-quality package as they were originally written and illustrated (to my knowledge).
The actual comic strips themselves are fairly inconsistent in quality. These comics for the most part suffer from the limitations of three-panel-at-a-time newspaper formatting, and while they're conveniently compiled here, I can't imagine how difficult it would have been to keep up with them during their original print run. Casino Royale and Live and Let Die suffer from this the most, with overly simplistic writing and apathetic characterization spoiling what are otherwise interesting scenarios. Starting with Moonraker and continuing throughout the book, however, the strips are longer and therefore the writers are given much more time to flesh out the scenarios in greater detail. These later few comics are greatly improved writing-wise, and while they're still not exactly great they're much more narratively investing as a result. There are still a few flaws, like the Bond girls being fairly flat characters, but that's something the film franchise often struggled with as well, so if you're a 007 fan you're likely already familiar with that. So, if you're not exactly enthused with the first couple of comics, I'd say power through because there is a notable increase in quality, that, while still flawed, becomes enjoyable if somewhat vapid 007 experiences.
This extends to the artwork as well. John McLusky's art direction and design are often striking. His characters are illustrated with easily definable characteristics and detailed linework. His use of contrast is exceptional and gives Bond's adventures a distinctive noir-ish feel. He uses speed lines to make action sequences more dynamic, his framing of different panels is often attractive despite the limitations of the newspaper format, and he retails a style that is distinctly his throughout. The problem is, like the writing, McLusky's artwork is also inconsistent between strips. Casino Royale is easily the best showcase of his artwork, with all of the aforementioned strengths used most effectively and most prominently. However, it seems at some point he must've gotten tired of drawing these strips, as the artwork for Diamonds are Forever, From Russia with Love, and Dr. No rely too much on darkness and obscured detail in ways that feel more like artistic crutches than intentional design decisions. They still look decent, broadly, but they're not as impressive as before.
The Complete James Bond – Dr No: The Classic Comic Strip Collection 1958-60 is an awesome collection for 007 fans. If you're a fanboy like me, this book is a joy to read regardless of the quality of the comic strips due to their historical value. However, evaluating the actual quality of the comics, it's more of a mixed bag. While the writing does improve, it never goes above decent. While the artwork is frequently great, it gets lazier over time. I'd still recommend it to 007 fans for the historical value, but general audiences should look elsewhere.
The actual comic strips themselves are fairly inconsistent in quality. These comics for the most part suffer from the limitations of three-panel-at-a-time newspaper formatting, and while they're conveniently compiled here, I can't imagine how difficult it would have been to keep up with them during their original print run. Casino Royale and Live and Let Die suffer from this the most, with overly simplistic writing and apathetic characterization spoiling what are otherwise interesting scenarios. Starting with Moonraker and continuing throughout the book, however, the strips are longer and therefore the writers are given much more time to flesh out the scenarios in greater detail. These later few comics are greatly improved writing-wise, and while they're still not exactly great they're much more narratively investing as a result. There are still a few flaws, like the Bond girls being fairly flat characters, but that's something the film franchise often struggled with as well, so if you're a 007 fan you're likely already familiar with that. So, if you're not exactly enthused with the first couple of comics, I'd say power through because there is a notable increase in quality, that, while still flawed, becomes enjoyable if somewhat vapid 007 experiences.
This extends to the artwork as well. John McLusky's art direction and design are often striking. His characters are illustrated with easily definable characteristics and detailed linework. His use of contrast is exceptional and gives Bond's adventures a distinctive noir-ish feel. He uses speed lines to make action sequences more dynamic, his framing of different panels is often attractive despite the limitations of the newspaper format, and he retails a style that is distinctly his throughout. The problem is, like the writing, McLusky's artwork is also inconsistent between strips. Casino Royale is easily the best showcase of his artwork, with all of the aforementioned strengths used most effectively and most prominently. However, it seems at some point he must've gotten tired of drawing these strips, as the artwork for Diamonds are Forever, From Russia with Love, and Dr. No rely too much on darkness and obscured detail in ways that feel more like artistic crutches than intentional design decisions. They still look decent, broadly, but they're not as impressive as before.
The Complete James Bond – Dr No: The Classic Comic Strip Collection 1958-60 is an awesome collection for 007 fans. If you're a fanboy like me, this book is a joy to read regardless of the quality of the comic strips due to their historical value. However, evaluating the actual quality of the comics, it's more of a mixed bag. While the writing does improve, it never goes above decent. While the artwork is frequently great, it gets lazier over time. I'd still recommend it to 007 fans for the historical value, but general audiences should look elsewhere.
April 5, 2020
The comic strip format doesn't serve this theme very well. A lot of the thrill and tension of the movies and the films is lost because of the need to advance the story on each line, in each of the three boxes. I could imagine a full format would allow the artists and the writers to build up a much thicker atmosphere.
September 15, 2024
"The Complete Ian Fleming's James Bond Dr No, the Classic Comic Strip Collection 1958-60" by Anthony Hearn, Henry Gammidge and Peter O'Donnell presents Ian Fleming's first 6 James Bond novels in graphic format. Well done, 5 stars.
August 3, 2018
These early James Bond adaptions from those original Fleming novels are just so tasty sweet goodness.
So true to original stories, so nice feel in the art. Much better than movies.
So true to original stories, so nice feel in the art. Much better than movies.
December 26, 2018
I didn’t even know this comic strip existed until a couple of months ago. It was fun to read even if it is a little dated.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews