James Bond 007 #[2]

(March 1988)

Introduction (Table of Contents: 1)

foreword, introduction, preface, afterword / 4 pages (report information)

Script

Graham Rye; David Thorpe

Pencils

Yaroslav Horak

Inks

Yaroslav Horak

Letters

typeset

Indexer Notes

Description of how 2 Fleming short stories were transformed into more action-oriented comic-strip stories. Includes panels from the strips and a photo of Ian Fleming. Graham Rye is the president of the James Bond British Fan Club, which publishes 007 Magazine.

[1st Complete Checklist] (Table of Contents: 2)

text article / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Letters

typeset

Indexer Notes

First complete checklist of James Bond strips to have appeared in both the EXPRESS newspapers and syndicated in non-UK newspapers; covers 1958-1983.

Octopussy (Table of Contents: 3)

foreword, introduction, preface, afterword / 2 pages (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Yaroslav Horak

Inks

Yaroslav Horak

Letters

typeset

OCTOPUSSY (Table of Contents: 4)

James Bond 007 / comic story / 42 pages (report information)

Script

Ian Fleming (story); Jim Lawrence (adaptation additional material)

Pencils

Yaroslav Horak

Inks

Yaroslav Horak

Letters

Yaroslav Horak

Genre

spy

Characters

Franzl (mountain guide); Hannes Oberhauser (deceased); Trudi Oberhauser; May (Bond's house-keeper); James Bond; Major Dexter Smythe; Marco (maitre'd); M; Miss Moneypenny; Bill Tanner; Mary Goodnight; Yat Foo; Kim Foo; Herbert Plomer (tax auditor, murdered)

Synopsis

Bond investigates a 20-year-old murder of a mountain guide who had been like a father to him as a boy, and uncovers a gold-smuggling operation in Jamaica, run by a pair of Chinese brothers and an ex-Army intelligence major who has a passion for marine biology, and a pet octopus.

Reprints

• from THE DAILY EXPRESS (November 14, 1966-May 27, 1967)
• later reprinted in OCTOPUSSY (Titan, May 2004).

Indexer Notes

Story #16. Faithful adaptation of Ian Fleming's short story, which originally appeared as a 6-part serial in THE DAILY EXPRESS (October 1965) and in PLAYBOY before appearing in book form (Jonathan Cape, March 1966). In the tradition of THE SAINT tv series with Roger Moore, this adaptation adds substantial material to the original novel while remaining faithful to it, drastically improving the story in the process, and bringing it more in line with the sort of "espionage" type of story 007 fans were used to by this time. The story was faithfully incorporated (in a convoluted way) into the 1983 film OCTOPUSSY, making the movie a sequel to the short story rather than an adaptation.

The Hildebrand Rarity (Table of Contents: 5)

foreword, introduction, preface, afterword / 1 page (report information)

Script

?

Pencils

Yaroslav Horak

Inks

Yaroslav Horak

Letters

typeset

THE HILDEBRAND RARITY (Table of Contents: 6)

James Bond 007 / comic story / 44 pages (report information)

Script

Ian Fleming (story); Jim Lawrence (adaptation, additional material)

Pencils

Yaroslav Horak

Inks

Yaroslav Horak

Letters

Yaroslav Horak

Genre

spy

Characters

Admiral Raeburn; Milton Crest; Liz Krest; Miss Moneypenny; M; Nyla Larsen; Bill Tanner

Synopsis

Bond is sent to investigate the theft of a top-secret unmanned submarine. He meets the brutal industrialist Milton Crest, whose companies built the sub, and who keeps his wife in a grip of terror.

Reprints

• from THE DAILY EXPRESS (May 29, 1967-December 16, 1967)
• later reprinted in OCTOPUSSY (Titan, May 2004).

Indexer Notes

Story #17. Faithful adaptation of Ian Fleming's short story from the FOR YOUR EYES ONLY collection (1960), which started out as the 5 best plot outlines for a proposed 007 TV series that never materialized. Once again, this adaptation adds substantial material to the original short story while remaining faithful to it, drastically improving the story in the process, and bringing it more in line with the sort of "espionage" type of story 007 fans were used to by this time. Elements added here by Jim Lawrence later turned up in several of the 007 films, all uncredited! This includes Milton Crest's character in LICENSE TO KILL (1989) being closer to the version in the comic than the short story; the "salvage" operation plot that formed the basis of the film FOR YOUR EYES ONLY (1981); Bond being invited by the story's villain for a "cruise" in NEVER SAY NEVER AGAIN (1983); an industrialist being responsible for the theft of a vehicle his own companies built in the film MOONRAKER (1979); and a submarine launched from the front bowels of a tanker in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME (1977)!!!