Titan Books have confirmed plans to publish the final two volumes of classic James Bond comic strip adventures in 2009 and 2010...

Final 007 Strips
24th January 2009

Fans of the comic-strip James Bond adventures will be thrilled to learn that the final two compendiums from Titan Books are on the way. Once released, Titan will have published all 52 of the classic stories since their original syndication in newspapers from 1958 to 1983, including seven adventures not released in the UK.

The penultimate title and sixteenth in the Titan Books collection will be "The Girl Machine", due for release on 30th June 2009 in the UK and USA. Previously skipped over in earlier releases, "The Girl Machine" will include the titular adventure as well as "Beware Of Butterflies" and "The Nevsky Nude".

All three stories were drawn by Yaroslav Horak and written by Jim Lawrence and were first published in the Daily Express between 1973 and 1974 and have not been seen since their original syndication.

The volume will also contains a brand new introduction by one of the Bond cast and a host of exclusive feature material.
Pre-Order "The Girl Machine" (Amazon UK)
Pre Order "The Girl Machine" (Amazon USA)

 

The final and seventeenth collection from Titan will take its title from 1976 strip adventure "Nightbird". Rounding out the series, the volume will also include "Hot-Shot" and "Ape of Diamonds". The reason these stories were skipped over earlier in the series is often rumoured to be connected to rights issues, but this is incorrect. The real reason the strips were passed over in 2007 will become apparent when the volume is released in early 2010. All three adventures were written by Jim Lawrence and drawn by Yaroslav Horak (*and Neville Colvin).
Pre-Order "Nightbird" (Amazon UK)
Pre Order "Nightbird" (Amazon USA)


Above: The opening panel of "Ape Of Diamonds"

Despite being unpublished since its original run in the Daily Express in 1977/1978, MI6 has coverage of "Ape of Diamonds" - also the final 007 adventure syndicated by that newspaper and the end of Series 3. Although it is one of the series weakest stories, it has a unique contribution from artist Neville Colvin who created additional artwork to conclude the story in a fuller manner.

About The Strips
Four years before Sean Connery would bring 007 to the silver screen with "Dr No", Daily Express readers in the UK got their first sight of James Bond in 1958 with the syndicated comic strip series of "Casino Royale". The Daily Star concluded Bond's UK newspaper run with "Polestar", and by 1983, 45 adventures had been syndicated in British newspapers, with an additional 7 adventures published abroad. An amazing 6,500+ strips had been produced over the 25 year period.

Special Features
  MI6 looks back at the 25 year history of the 007's UK newspaper comic strip adventures, which began with "Casino Royale" in 1958
History of 007's Newspaper Strips
  A complete checklist of all 53 James Bond newspaper comic strip adventures published between 1958 and 1983.
Newspaper Strip Checklist

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