From A View To A Kill
Publisher: |
Daily Express |
Released: |
25th June 1961 to
9th September 1961 |
Serial: |
#922 to #987 |
Artist: |
John McLusky |
Writer: |
Ian Fleming, Henry Gammidge |
Data Stream
Villains: |
Russian spies reporting to GRU |
Bond Girls: |
Mary Ann Russell (Number 765) |
Allies: |
Wing Commander Rattray, Colonel A. Schreiber |
Locations: |
St Germain, France; Paris, France; |
|
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Above: James Bond tries to save face
for the British Secret Service as SHAPE pour scorn on their
security.
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Capsule Synopsis
A motorcycle dispatch rider on course to the British Secret Service
HQ in Fourqueux, France, is shot and killed and his documents
containing Joint Intelligence stolen. Bond goes to investigate,
and near the crash site he discovers and underground base of Russian
agents. Dressing up as a dispatch rider, he shoots his Russian
trailer and takes his place. As he exposes the whole operation,
his life is saved by Mary Ann who turns up at the end with men
from the St. Germain station.
Above: The opening panel of "From
A View To A Kill"
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Above: The motorcycle action sequences
are the highlight of the strip. |
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Source To Strip
McLusky and Gammidge continue their down-to-earth style
of James Bond adventures when tackling their second Ian
Fleming short story - "From A View To A Kill"
(the "For Your Eyes Only" short story collection
was not translated to strip form in chronological order).
As with "Risico", Fleming's short stories provide
the perfect format for a short strip adventure, allowing
Gammidge to convey a lot of Fleming's original prose without
getting too bogged down. Due to the old fashioned espionage
aspect of the story, a lot of the plot is told by Bond thinking
to himself.
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John McLusky provides excellent artwork for both the dialogue
and action scenes, continuing from his consistency of "Risico".
Unfortunately, a lot of the complex detail used in the forest
scenes has been lost in transfers over the years.
Best Line
Mary Ann: "Taking these spies on all by yourself! It's showing
off..."
Bond: "Listen, they're killers. A British despatch rider's
been shot in cold blood. They're getting top intelligence gen.
SHAPE security can't cope and they're after M's blood - blaming
him!"
Trivia
In panel #963, SHAPE is stated as being an acronym for "Supreme
Headquarters Allied Forces Europe" - SHAFE?
MI6 Rating
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Available Now!
Publisher: Titan Books
Released: 25th February 2005
Titles Included: "Goldfinger", "Risico",
"From A View To A Kill", "For Your Eyes Only",
"Thunderball"
"Goldfinger" by Titan
Books
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Images courtesy Titan Books and Amazon Associates.