James Bond: Goldfinger (James Bond (Graphic Novels)) (Paperback)

by Ian Fleming (Author), Henry Gammidge (Author), John McCluskey (Illustrator)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Before Ian Fleming's secret agent 007 carved a lucrative niche in film, a daily comic strip ran in London's Daily Express beginning in 1958. Unlike the films, the comics stuck rather closely to the source novels, or as closely as the censors would allow. This fourth collection of the adapted novels includes Goldfinger, Thunderball and three of the five short stories from For Your Eyes Only and offers readers a glimpse into the tense world of Cold War-era espionage. Yet while Fleming's work is a rich foundation, the pacing of his stories is rendered choppy by the daily serialized format, and Gammidge's attempts at translating Fleming's taut suspense are flat. McLusky's art keeps the scripts' realistic tone and is well executed, yet it doesn't draw readers into the action; the effect resembles looking at still photographs of people in sharp late-1950s outfits with a bit of stiffly depicted violence thrown in for good measure. A curiosity for Fleming aficionados--there's an introduction by Shirley Eaton, who played Jill Masterson in Goldfinger, and several background essays--this collection probably won't interest others. (Jan.)
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Review
Brentwood Gazette 23 Feb 2005, reviews by Matt Adams: " ..a more ruthless, undiluted interpretation of 007, and is a must for Bond aficionados."

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Product Details

• Paperback: 128 pages
• Publisher: Titan Books (January 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1840239085
• ISBN-13: 978-1840239089
• Product Dimensions: 11.6 x 7.9 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #338,653 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Bond fans can't lose!, February 24, 2005

By	DARBY KERN (Green Bay, WI United States) - See all my reviews

In July of 1987 I was visiting Washington D.C. when I stumbled upon a copy of THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS comic strip, published by Titan Books. Being a Bond fan I snapped it up as quick as I could. The next day I went back and bought the OCTOPUSSY collection. I'd known that these strips existed but I had no idea that they had been collected in published form (other than THE ILLUSTRATED JAMES BOND, 007 released by The James Bond Fan Club). I found a copy of CASINO ROYALE on Ebay. Then, for over a decade, we had no new releases from Titan.

In the last year Titan has graciously resumed publishing these classic strips. My first purchase was the release of ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE. I will post a review there soon. Just yesterday I received GOLDFINGER- and I cannot be more pleased!

The adaptations by Henry Gammidge, with art by John McLusky are fantastic. I've read and reread these novels but some aspects of the story resonate so much better than Fleming's amazing novels.

McLusky had, by this time, really hit his stride with the strip, doing work that was light years ahead of when he began with CASINO ROYALE (which is still worth a peek!). His mastery of shadow and light comes through in some great atmospheric ways.

My introduction to the strips were through Yaroslav Horak's art, which has a distinct, Gil Kane-like style. When I first saw McLusky's work in CASINO ROYALE it seemed very basic in comparison. But now I actually prefer it- and I that's no slight on Horak!

GOLDFINGER also includes the adaptations of the short stories, FOR YOUR EYES ONLY, RISICO, FROM A VIEW TO A KILL and the abreviated THUNDERBALL. Along with THE ILLUSTRATED JAMES BOND, 007, I have every Fleming story adapted except MOONRAKER. The upcoming release of CASINO ROYALE is 96 pages compared to the previous 60 page release. maybe it will finally be included.

For my money, GOLDFINGER may be the most satisfying book in the lot. It is 128 pages of James Bond fun. The text articles are all welcome material as well. Well done Titan Books. Feel free to continue publishing the non-Fleming stories as well!