Customer Reviews

James Bond: Omnibus Volume 001: Based on the novels that inspired the movies (James Bond Graphic Novels)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

James Bond Omnibus Volume 001
Who said that Bond at 50 was outdated, and out of style?
Titan Books, in a brilliant repackaging of the Mclusky illustrated comic strips from the 1950's and 1960's, captures an era when Bond was cool, and `shaken not stirred' was even cooler. Titan, in previous Bond editions, has reprinted the non-canonical Bond books in a larger, format to acclaim, yet this book seems more user friendly.
It's not that the art is different, or the writing is better/worse, just that a large format book is great for collectors and conossieurs. This soft bound square format book is easy on the hands, easy on the eyes (the art is fantastic), and as far as price goes, easy on the pocket at $16.95us. The strips are well reproduced and typically sized for the modern market (as opposed to the Valiant sized Sundays from the golden age of comic strips). This is a book for reading...and rereading.
Included in the book are "Casino Royale", "Live and Let Die", "Moonraker", "Diamonds Are Forever", "From Russia With Love", "Dr No", "Goldfinger", "From a View To A Kill", " For your Eyes Only", and "Thunderball". Sir Roger Moore, KBE, provides the introduction.
Bond, as originally imagined by Ian Fleming, lives one more time in Volume 001. Be on the alert, Smersh, just might grab this book from your trembling grip!
I can hardly wait for volume two, and another best selling effort from Titan.
Tim Lasiuta

Being a newspaper strip fanatic, I already bought these issues when they came out in the large format, and bought them again in this omnibus collection. Titan's price for these old collections is more reasonable than the Dark Horse reissues of vintage comics. I am eagerly awaiting for volume 002.

Titan, please issue omnibus collections of the Modesty Blaise strips also like this. I would buy them in an instant!

Fans of Ian Fleming's novels will enjoy these comic-strip renditions, which make even disappointing titles like "Diamonds Are Forever" enjoyable. The period detail in McLusky's drawings is remarkable, though there are problems with point of view ("Live and Let Die" actually alternates between first- and third-person p.o.v.) until the writers sensibly settled upon third-person narration in "Dr. No," the sixth in the series. The only real disappointment is "Thunderball," the exposition of which is even more ambitious and laborious than that of "From Russia with Love." Evidently the "Daily Express" was forced to cut this last one short, and the narrative completely disintegrates after the 57th installment. Obviously violence and nudity were toned down for newspaper publication, but short stories like "Risico," "From a View to a Kill," and "For Your Eyes Only" actually benefit from serialization. Looking forward to volume 002.

Bond without all the fancy gadget's, and all the better for it.
A thoroughly enjoyable read with excellently drawn compatible black & white artwork.
The comic strips presented here were originally shown in The Daily Express between 1958 - 1962.
Introduction by Roger Moore.
Stories include:~
1/Casino Royale.
2/Live And Let Die.
3/Moonraker.
4/Diamonds Are Forever.
5/From Russia With Love.
6/Dr No.
7/Goldfinger.
8/Risico.
9/From A View To A Kill.
10/For Your Eyes Only.
11/Thunderball.
Volume 002 coming soon!

This is a fabulous Omnibook of the vintage comic strips. I'm still giving it 5 stars; however, having Roger Moore write the introduction would have both Ian Fleming and James Bond writhing. The Bond movies Moore made were jokes and never carried a plot from the Fleming books, in addition, Moore played Bond, tongue-in-cheek (he admitted doing so) and as a cartoon character. In his introduction, Moore refers to Bond as "Jimmy Bond" which James would never have allowed himself to be called. On top of it all, Moore is a gun hater, Fleming wasn't and Bond isn't.

Aside from Moore's insipid introduction, the book is a must have for Bond fans!

I had read the original Ian Fleming 007 stories years ago, actually more than once. I have some of the graphic art adaptations, but bought this one as it is an excellent collection. It seems to follow all the stories as I remember them with the exception of Thunderball. I will have to reread that as the story seemed truncated. I also prefer the tales told in the third person and in a couple stories Bond himself does the narration. Since these stories were told one strip at a time there is a need for plot reminders. A bit tiring, but understandable. Still a fun late night read.

These comics are a real treat for fans of the Bond novels, as they are faithful adaptations of the books. My only disappointment is with the "Thunderball" comic. The narrative was severely truncated, leaving out the plot with Domino and Bond's investigation in the Bahamas. I don't know if this came from the source material, or from editing by Titan Books (if anyone could shed some light on this, that would be great). Anyway, just a minor blemish in an otherwise very satisfying reading experience.

Being someone who collects comics and has a character specific collection, I have always wanted a large Bond comic book. This couldn't have been done better. GREAT QUALITY, the stories are adapted STRICTLY FROM THE NOVELS, so the portrayal of Bond is more serious (more Timothy Dalton/Daniel Craig than Roger Moore).

BUY THIS IF YOU ARE A BOND FAN.

If you are a comic book collector, buy this! A wonderful piece of nostalgia that is perfectly packaged. BE AWARE THAT THIS VOLUME & THE VOLUMES TO FOLLOW ARE ALBUM-SIZED and not the usual size of a comic book or trade paperback!

WOW TITAN... great job!

Will buy Volume 2.

I love Bond and I love comics! I always expected these strips to be cheesey sixties-era spy craze comics, overdone and probably bearing little resemblance to the books. Well, they came before the films for one (and it's interesting to spot some places where the filmmakers took visual cues from these strips). In fact, they are respectfully faithful to the Fleming novels, often using Fleming's own dialogue. The best of them is actually in Vol. 2, On Her Majesty's Secret Service. Many of the serials in this volume are too rushed, and by OHMSS they were giving more time to tell the story. However, they are great recaps of the novels, and it's always fun to have visuals. The only disappointment is Thunderball, which was abridged about 1/3 into the story do to a licensing dispute.

If you enjoy reading golden age comics and love James Bond this is the book for you.