JAMES BOND 007: GOLDFINGER
Publisher: Titan Books [2004]
Written By: Henry Gammidge, from the novels by Ian Fleming.
Art By: John McLusky.
Originally Published: Serialised in the Daily and Sunday Express from 30/10/1960-10/2/1962.
Buy From: http://www.amazon.co.uk/James-Bond-007-Goldfinger-Graphic/dp/1840239085/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277507668&sr=1-1
Review by STUART WEBB:
The end of the 1950's saw Ian Fleming reach his creative peak with James Bond, the unexpected critical success of From Russia With Love had reignited his passion for the character and launched a strong string of now iconic novels. This, the third chronological (but published fourth) collection of Daily Express newspaper strips follows on from the strong showing of the Dr. No adaptation with a confident take on what would become perhaps the most famous Bond adventure, plus three of the stories from the For Your Eyes Only Collection. However, outside factors would see the final story in the collection badly shortened, and the series go on extended sabbatical for two years, ironically just before Bond was to transfer to cinema screens and successfully become not just a well regarded pot boiler character, but one of the great fictional icons of the 20th century.
Goldfinger is extremely faithful to the plot of the book, following Auric's plan to rob Fort Knox from a card game in Miami to a blow out in an airplane with the sense of style and fun that stops the major flaw- Bond is basically redundant and just goes around having the plot explained to him- from becoming as big a problem as it should.
There are some glitches unique to this version however. The fate of Jill Masterton, covered in gold paint, is only described in the book but is such an arresting visual image the makers of the film version rightly included it on-screen. Here however we just get told she was killed with no ceremony. Whilst showing it in black and white would have been difficult the description at least should have been left in. Especially as a blatant bit of padding from the book, Bond having dinner with Goldfinger at his house after the golf match which only serves to have him meet Oddjob, is reproduced in excessive detail.
There is also the problem that, after capturing Bond and failing to make him talk with a buzz-saw aimed at the groin, Goldfinger has no reason not to kill him but instead gives this mysterious man a minor job that could have been performed by anyone. The film gets around this neatly by simply having Bond as Goldfinger's prisoner and hostage (though it does show up the uselessness of Bond's role in the plot even more), but here, as in the book, the otherwise smart and resourceful villain is just asking to lose.
It's not all doom and gloom however. The tension as Bond is left with no idea if his message warning of the attack on Fort Knox has been found builds marvellously and indeed better than in the film where he brings Pussy Galore onside before operation Grand Slam can go into effect. The journey through a deserted town on crashed cars and “dead” bodies is effectively creepy as well.
One change for the better is also made in the character of Pussy Galore. In the novel she's a lesbian who, with all the other potential shags for Bond dead (and in the case of Tilly possibly a lesbian as well), Fleming suddenly has her renounce her sexuality and throw herself in Bond's arms because he's that awesome. Fleming's writing usually isn't anywhere as near as homophobic as some critics make out (unsurprisingly for someone good friends with Noel Coward), especially by the standards of the time, but this twisting of a character to fit the usual formula of his books is one of the most embarrassing things he ever wrote.
Thankfully, with all except one reference to Tilly's interest in Pussy removed, the conservative nature of the Daily Express actually helps to make her a stronger female character. Her motivation for betraying Goldfinger is still vague but at least she's not simply submerged by Bond's rampant masculinity. With this simple change the slight sour taste left by the end of the book is removed, creating a strong climax to one of the very best of the Gammidge written strips.
Despite now being regarded as...well crap, the 1954 American TV version of Casino Royale was successful enough for CBS to approach Fleming about a regular Bond TV show. This eventually came to nothing, but three of the plots he came up for the proposed show would be turned into short stories and form the bulk of For Your Eyes Only. With the other two stories in the collection attempts by Fleming to break his usual style and not particularly plot heavy it's unsurprisingly the Express decided (at least initially) to only adapt the three designed with an action/adventure show in mind.
First up is Risco, a simple story of Bond going to Corsica to kill a drug smuggler only to find out it's actually MI6's informant who's the real villain. Faithfully transcribed into the middle of the For Your Eyes Only film it's incredibly slight but enlivened by the character of Colombo, a likeable rouge smuggler Bond falls into a easy alliance with despite them technically being on different sides. It's easy to see the genesis of Bond's crime boss father in law in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in the character.
From A View To A Kill finds Bond in France, not to fight Grace Jones for crimes against fashion, but to investigate the murder of a dispatch rider that, if unsolved, could see MI6 losing responsibility for duties in France to NATO and SHARPE. Bond works out the Russians have a secret bunker in the forest by the rode, and plays the role of the next rider to smoke them out. This story neatly balances Fleming's knowledge of how the real world intelligence community works with the deeply surreal and potentially silly notion of a secret base in a hill with a periscope hidden in a daisy.
For Your Eyes Only, which pretty much made it intact into the film of the same name, adds more background to the character of M as he sends Bond on a personal revenge mission after an ex-Nazi who's killed the Havelocks, two friend's of his, in a land takeover bid. The opening scenes of M's reluctance to use Bond for personal reasons and Bond subtly supporting his boss and encouraging him to see it as the law of the jungle are the most interesting part of the story. However, the main action of Bond sneaking into America from Canada for his illegal operation and helping the Havelock's daughter extract her own revenge with a crossbow is still well executed, albeit less engaging than two people simply talking was in the opening.
Written By: Henry Gammidge, from the novels by Ian Fleming.
Art By: John McLusky.
Originally Published: Serialised in the Daily and Sunday Express from 30/10/1960-10/2/1962.
Buy From: http://www.amazon.co.uk/James-Bond-007-Goldfinger-Graphic/dp/1840239085/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1277507668&sr=1-1
Review by STUART WEBB:
The end of the 1950's saw Ian Fleming reach his creative peak with James Bond, the unexpected critical success of From Russia With Love had reignited his passion for the character and launched a strong string of now iconic novels. This, the third chronological (but published fourth) collection of Daily Express newspaper strips follows on from the strong showing of the Dr. No adaptation with a confident take on what would become perhaps the most famous Bond adventure, plus three of the stories from the For Your Eyes Only Collection. However, outside factors would see the final story in the collection badly shortened, and the series go on extended sabbatical for two years, ironically just before Bond was to transfer to cinema screens and successfully become not just a well regarded pot boiler character, but one of the great fictional icons of the 20th century.
Goldfinger is extremely faithful to the plot of the book, following Auric's plan to rob Fort Knox from a card game in Miami to a blow out in an airplane with the sense of style and fun that stops the major flaw- Bond is basically redundant and just goes around having the plot explained to him- from becoming as big a problem as it should.
There are some glitches unique to this version however. The fate of Jill Masterton, covered in gold paint, is only described in the book but is such an arresting visual image the makers of the film version rightly included it on-screen. Here however we just get told she was killed with no ceremony. Whilst showing it in black and white would have been difficult the description at least should have been left in. Especially as a blatant bit of padding from the book, Bond having dinner with Goldfinger at his house after the golf match which only serves to have him meet Oddjob, is reproduced in excessive detail.
There is also the problem that, after capturing Bond and failing to make him talk with a buzz-saw aimed at the groin, Goldfinger has no reason not to kill him but instead gives this mysterious man a minor job that could have been performed by anyone. The film gets around this neatly by simply having Bond as Goldfinger's prisoner and hostage (though it does show up the uselessness of Bond's role in the plot even more), but here, as in the book, the otherwise smart and resourceful villain is just asking to lose.
It's not all doom and gloom however. The tension as Bond is left with no idea if his message warning of the attack on Fort Knox has been found builds marvellously and indeed better than in the film where he brings Pussy Galore onside before operation Grand Slam can go into effect. The journey through a deserted town on crashed cars and “dead” bodies is effectively creepy as well.
One change for the better is also made in the character of Pussy Galore. In the novel she's a lesbian who, with all the other potential shags for Bond dead (and in the case of Tilly possibly a lesbian as well), Fleming suddenly has her renounce her sexuality and throw herself in Bond's arms because he's that awesome. Fleming's writing usually isn't anywhere as near as homophobic as some critics make out (unsurprisingly for someone good friends with Noel Coward), especially by the standards of the time, but this twisting of a character to fit the usual formula of his books is one of the most embarrassing things he ever wrote.
Thankfully, with all except one reference to Tilly's interest in Pussy removed, the conservative nature of the Daily Express actually helps to make her a stronger female character. Her motivation for betraying Goldfinger is still vague but at least she's not simply submerged by Bond's rampant masculinity. With this simple change the slight sour taste left by the end of the book is removed, creating a strong climax to one of the very best of the Gammidge written strips.
Despite now being regarded as...well crap, the 1954 American TV version of Casino Royale was successful enough for CBS to approach Fleming about a regular Bond TV show. This eventually came to nothing, but three of the plots he came up for the proposed show would be turned into short stories and form the bulk of For Your Eyes Only. With the other two stories in the collection attempts by Fleming to break his usual style and not particularly plot heavy it's unsurprisingly the Express decided (at least initially) to only adapt the three designed with an action/adventure show in mind.
First up is Risco, a simple story of Bond going to Corsica to kill a drug smuggler only to find out it's actually MI6's informant who's the real villain. Faithfully transcribed into the middle of the For Your Eyes Only film it's incredibly slight but enlivened by the character of Colombo, a likeable rouge smuggler Bond falls into a easy alliance with despite them technically being on different sides. It's easy to see the genesis of Bond's crime boss father in law in On Her Majesty's Secret Service in the character.
From A View To A Kill finds Bond in France, not to fight Grace Jones for crimes against fashion, but to investigate the murder of a dispatch rider that, if unsolved, could see MI6 losing responsibility for duties in France to NATO and SHARPE. Bond works out the Russians have a secret bunker in the forest by the rode, and plays the role of the next rider to smoke them out. This story neatly balances Fleming's knowledge of how the real world intelligence community works with the deeply surreal and potentially silly notion of a secret base in a hill with a periscope hidden in a daisy.
For Your Eyes Only, which pretty much made it intact into the film of the same name, adds more background to the character of M as he sends Bond on a personal revenge mission after an ex-Nazi who's killed the Havelocks, two friend's of his, in a land takeover bid. The opening scenes of M's reluctance to use Bond for personal reasons and Bond subtly supporting his boss and encouraging him to see it as the law of the jungle are the most interesting part of the story. However, the main action of Bond sneaking into America from Canada for his illegal operation and helping the Havelock's daughter extract her own revenge with a crossbow is still well executed, albeit less engaging than two people simply talking was in the opening.
The final strip in the collection is effectively a short story as well, despite being based on a novel and originally being intended to be of more appropriate length. The genesis of Thunderball and the legal issues around it are lengthy to the point you could write a book about it. Which indeed someone has (which, appropriately became the subject of legal action itself). Basically Fleming wrote it based on a film script he wrote with producer Kevin McClory that would ultimately see the later fight tooth and claw for the rights to Blofeld, SPECTRE and, in a last throw of the dice, the entire character of Bond himself. The whole malarkey would go on for decades until McClory died, and it almost seems as if the book is cursed as the comic version would fall foul of its own, separate problems.
Thunderball starts off reasonably faithfully to the book, showing Bond forced into a stay at a health farm and his run in with Count Lippe whilst Blofeld and SPECTRE are introduced as they plan the theft of two nuclear warheads. |
However, concurrent with this, Fleming wrote The Living Daylights short story for the Sunday Times. This outraged Express editor Lord Beaverbrook (great name) who considered Bond to be the preserve of his newspaper alone. As a result he cancelled the strip in protest, causing a good 200 pages of the book to be told in half a dozen panels, going from Bond's arrival in Jamaica to the end via one panel only on the epic undersea battle. It's a mess, and could well have meant an inglorious end to the comic.
However, tempers soon soothed, and two years later in 1964 the strip would resume, with the hiatus actually helping to a certain extent, with Thunderball they'd caught up with the books and an adaptation of the next novel, the controversial The Spy Who Loved Me, would likely not have been allowed whilst Fleming was alive.
By way of extras this collection includes an introduction by Shirley Eaton (of the non helpful “I was in the film but know nothing about this comic” variety); Bond in Books Part 4, covering Thunderball through Fleming's death; introductions to each strip pointing out differences to the prose and other things of interest and a recap of the publishing history of Bond in Russia. The most interesting inclusions however are from foreign versions of the strip, including Oddjob holding a knife in a fight that was removed from the Express version for being too violent and a slightly expanded ending to Thunderball. The quality of the strips themselves are frequently poor and washed out, not even being up to the standard of other strips of a similar age. Goldfinger also uses a slightly edited opening sequence. In 2009 these strips were included by Titan in their first James Bond Omnibus.
If For Your Eyes Only is viewed as the end of the collection and Thunderball as just an interesting curio this is a strong, varied collection that represents some of the best work of this creative team, and is well worth purchasing.
James Bond Will Return In On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
Fantastic Facts!:
Goldfinger is named for Ernő Goldfinger, an architect whose style Fleming hated. When the original started legal action over the use of his name Fleming famously suggested Goldprick as an alternative (note also Ernő isn't a million miles from Ernst, Blofeld's Christian name) . His first name of Auric is of course adapted from AU, the chemical symbol for gold.
Attending Goldfinger's meeting of American gangsters are the Spangled Mob from Diamonds Are Forever. Another crook, Mr. Solo, would have his name reused by Fleming during his brief association with The Man From Uncle TV series.
Of the other stories in For Your Eyes Only, The Hildebrand Variety would be adapted by the Express as they started to run out of Fleming material, with a greatly expanded plot to add an espionage angle. Quantum of Solace (which is just Bond chatting with someone about some gossip over an affair between two people) would however remain unused by the strip.
Thunderball would be the last strip published before Ian Fleming's death and the debut of the film Dr. No.
However, tempers soon soothed, and two years later in 1964 the strip would resume, with the hiatus actually helping to a certain extent, with Thunderball they'd caught up with the books and an adaptation of the next novel, the controversial The Spy Who Loved Me, would likely not have been allowed whilst Fleming was alive.
By way of extras this collection includes an introduction by Shirley Eaton (of the non helpful “I was in the film but know nothing about this comic” variety); Bond in Books Part 4, covering Thunderball through Fleming's death; introductions to each strip pointing out differences to the prose and other things of interest and a recap of the publishing history of Bond in Russia. The most interesting inclusions however are from foreign versions of the strip, including Oddjob holding a knife in a fight that was removed from the Express version for being too violent and a slightly expanded ending to Thunderball. The quality of the strips themselves are frequently poor and washed out, not even being up to the standard of other strips of a similar age. Goldfinger also uses a slightly edited opening sequence. In 2009 these strips were included by Titan in their first James Bond Omnibus.
If For Your Eyes Only is viewed as the end of the collection and Thunderball as just an interesting curio this is a strong, varied collection that represents some of the best work of this creative team, and is well worth purchasing.
James Bond Will Return In On Her Majesty's Secret Service.
Fantastic Facts!:
Goldfinger is named for Ernő Goldfinger, an architect whose style Fleming hated. When the original started legal action over the use of his name Fleming famously suggested Goldprick as an alternative (note also Ernő isn't a million miles from Ernst, Blofeld's Christian name) . His first name of Auric is of course adapted from AU, the chemical symbol for gold.
Attending Goldfinger's meeting of American gangsters are the Spangled Mob from Diamonds Are Forever. Another crook, Mr. Solo, would have his name reused by Fleming during his brief association with The Man From Uncle TV series.
Of the other stories in For Your Eyes Only, The Hildebrand Variety would be adapted by the Express as they started to run out of Fleming material, with a greatly expanded plot to add an espionage angle. Quantum of Solace (which is just Bond chatting with someone about some gossip over an affair between two people) would however remain unused by the strip.
Thunderball would be the last strip published before Ian Fleming's death and the debut of the film Dr. No.
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