The James Bond Omnibus: v. 004 by Ian Fleming, Jim Lawrence and Yaroslav Horak
Bond is back! We all know that Skyfall, the latest Bond movie is coming to UK cinema screens on October the 26th, 2012 but the classic James Bond comic strip has also returned.
The fourth James Bond comic book omnibus gathers some of the original comic strips that appeared in The Daily Mail throughout the late 1950’s and early 1960’s. These include Trouble Spot, Isle of Condor’s, The League of Vampires, Die With My Boots On, The Girl Machine, Beware of Butterflies, The Nevsky Nude, The Phoenix Project and The Black Ruby Caper. Created by the James Bond master Ian Fleming, movie writer (including Buck Rogers) James Lawrence and Yaroslav Horak (creator of the comic strip Mike Steel).
Due to the fact that these are the original comic strips and are roughly 60 years old, with a modern set of eyes they are a little dated, cheesy, incredibly sexist and immensely good fun! From vampire cults to man-eating birds and super sexy lady assassins, this collection has everything you could ever want from James Bond. It might not appeal to people who are only drawn to the currently grittier and darker version of Bond but these original strips really are brilliant. I can’t deny that I was surprised by the number of naked ladies and the constant frilly sheer night dresses but that’s probably my own ignorance shining through…it was the sixties after all!
This collection is perfect for serious Bond fans or anyone looking for some unusual and quirky reading. I can see it being a great gift for (prepare for the C word!) Christmas and can already think of a handful of people in my life that would love these stories, which is always a great sign!
I’ll leave you with one of my favourite, incredibly sexist Bond lines:
“It’s a harsh world Folley…Can’t blame a woman for wanting to survive…she’s no man to look after her!’
Buy The James Bond Omnibus v004