QUANTUM OF COMICS

The release of No Time To Die will mark five years since James Bond was last seen on screen, but for fans of a different visual medium, the last five years have been a glorious time to follow Bond’s adventures. Dynamite Entertainment, formed in 2005 to publish comic books licensed from other media, launched an ongoing series as SPeCTRe hit theatres, and under the guidance of Warren Ellis and others, it has flourished ever since, opening up the world of Bond to the unlimited potential of the comic book world...

- Alan Boon

The Dynamite book was by no means Bond’s first foray into comics, of course, with a daily comic strip predating the first movie by four years. The adventure series, which began in the Daily Express in 1958, was adapted by Anthony Hern and drawn by John McLusky. Ian Fleming was initially reluctant to allow the strip, fearing it wouldn’t match the quality of his books, but Hern had previously adapted two of Fleming’s novels for serialization in the paper, and was entrusted with scripting a strip based on Casino Royale. The serial proved extremely popular, and McLusky would stay on the strip until 1966, with the majority of novels adapted for comics by Henry Gammidge (although Dr No was written by Peter O’Donnell, three years before he created female special agent Modesty Blaise). With Czech émigrée Yaroslav Horak taking over art duties, the strip continued to adapt Fleming’s novels until 1968, when permission was granted for Jim Lawrence to craft his own, original tales for the series. This continued until the Express abruptly cancelled James Bond in 1977, although the pair continued to work on the strip for overseas markets, and it was eventually picked up by The Daily Star in the UK once more. James Bond ended its run in 1984 – the strips were later collected by Titan Books, in several printings – but by this time, however, there were other Bond adventures available to comic book fans…