James Bond: Shark Bait [Paperback]

Ian Fleming (Author), Jim Lawrence (Author), Alan J. Porter (Author), Yaroslav Horak (Illustrator), Harry North (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 12, 2008

The legend continues! Stand by for more adventures with the world’s greatest secret agent, as some of his most thrilling missions are collected for the first time ever!

Shark Bait, a story never before published in the UK, sees 007 facing off against a new nemesis... and a sea of hungry sharks! When a routine recon mission is interupted by an underwater attack by the gorgeous Katya Orlova, a Russian spy with a vendetta against MI-6, Bond is left with only one choice: kill or be killed!

This new, never-before-collected edition also includes Doomcrack and another, never-before-seen in the UK story, The Xanadu Connection! Plus a new introduction by Bond girl Caroline Bliss (Miss Moneypenny) and a feature on James Bond in US comics!

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A cracking graphic novel." - SFX Magazine"

About the Author

James Lawrence began his writing career scripting training films for the US Armed Forces, and moved on to write features including Buck Rogers and Joe Palooka. He has written more 007 stories than any other Bond author.

Yaroslav Horak created the outback adventure strip Mike Steel for the Sydney Morning Herald.

Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Titan Books (February 12, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1845765915
• ISBN-13: 978-1845765910
• Product Dimensions: 8.7 x 0.5 x 11.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,381,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Making waves again, it's Bond...James Bond, March 28, 2008

By 

Stephen Leather "midcoast 007" (Camden, ME USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: James Bond: Shark Bait (Paperback)

Shark Bait is one of the more interesting titles in the Titan series.
James Lawrence thankfully keeps the science fiction elements mostly out the stories presented here, save for the Doomcrack weapon, and the tunneling machine in the Xanadu Connection. The action scenes are some of the best I have seen Yaroslov Horak draw since The Man With The Golden Gun adaptation.

The underwater scenes of Shark Bait stand out the most, with James Bond fighting for his life against KGB frogmen and a killer shark off the coast of Australia to recover a Nato supercomputer.

Doomcrack has very intersteing artwork but is let down by a weak story and a poor ending, with SPECTRE once again escaping capture, I feel the SPECTRE stories should have been ended with Blofled's death in You Only Live Twice.

This book is excellent way for any Bond fan, or movie goer to pass the time til Quantom Of Solace opens in November.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Shark Bait...First Rate!, March 21, 2008

By 

Tim Lasiuta "Comic Fan 42" (Red Deer, Alberta) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: James Bond: Shark Bait (Paperback)

Bond: Shark Bait

In North America, we have been cheated.

Sure, we have had the benefit of the Bond films, and a wide distribution of Bond Jr novels, but we did not have the opportunity to see 'The Xanadu Connection', 'Shark Bait', and 'Doomcrack' in print on our newspaper comic pages. Now, through Titan Books, we have been gifted a read'm all in one sitting edition.

The beauty of this collection is many fold. Artwise, Yaroslave Horak, and Harry North draw two strikingly different versions of Bond. Horaks' art is reminsicent of Carmine Infantino and John Floyd, with angular bodies and features. Extensive brushwork is evident on the reproduced panels. Currently, few artists use that style, but English artist Jag echoes Horak in almost every panel. Harry North draws with a smoother style, yet captures more of the photo references to Roger Moore. North American readers will recognize Tom Sutton and Pablo Marcos influence in the panels. One advantage of this large format book is the fact that the strips are not shrunk, and in high contrast black and white.

Story wise, the three adventures take Bond into new territory guided by Jim Lawrence. "Xanadu Connection"takes Bond behind German lines to extract MI-6 operator, Heidi Franz. Her intelligence reveals the existence of 'Marco Polo', a MI-6 informer. Megalomaniac, Kubla Khan, and Bond come crashing together in a battle of political wills. "Shark Bait" is an interesting almost formula adventure that puts Bond and Katya Orvola onto romance inbetween dodging sharks. The last tale, 'Doomcrack' is more vintage Bond, with hijacking taking a central role in the adventure.

Look for this volume at your local comic store or shop online at www.titanbooks.com. Bond will never die!

5.0 out of 5 stars Shark Bait, December 26, 2009

By 

Rondal C. James "Rondal C James" (Akron, Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: James Bond: Shark Bait (Paperback)

I enjoy all Bond stories, and compare them to stories written by Ian Fleming. Shark Bait I give an A+ as a Bond story.

Since Fleming is the original creator of Bond any other writer of a Bond story falls short.