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MI6 looks back at the issues of comic book
"James Bond, Agent 007" published in Sweden
by Semic Press in 1985...
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Semic James Bond Comic
Books - 1985
6th June 2009
Whilst the James Bond comic strip series was
first published in UK newspaper The Daily Express from
7th July 1958, fans in Sweden had to wait seven years until the
first translated versions of the strips landed on their shores.
Rather than finding a national newspaper to run the daily strips,
Swedish publisher Semic collated the stories in to a comic book
titled "James Bond, Agent 007", releasing issues periodically
through the years. Due to the switch from long narrow strips
of 3 or 4 cells to a portrait
comic book,
Semic
reformatted the original artwork by John McLusky and Yaroslav
Horak - sometimes crudely adding artwork where needed, and sometimes
removing redundant cells due to the shift away from the daily
serialization. Semic continued to use the original strip material
up until 1981, when it started to introduce original adventures
for the Swedish readership. As the newspaper strip came to an
end in 1985, Semic increasingly relied on their new stories,
and this spelled the beginning of the end due to their varying
quality. After merging with fellow ailing comic "The Saint",
the comic book ceased publication in Sweden in 1996.
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Kodnamn: Romeo
(Codename: Romeo)
Data Stream
Issue: #1 (1985 series)
Released: 2nd January 1985
Format: 17cm x 26 cm
Pages: 52
Publisher: Semic Press AB
Cover Price:
7:25 SEK
Featured Story
"Codename: Romero" was the thirteenth
original James Bond story produced by Semic. Running over
26 pages,
it
was drawn by Josep Gual and written by Sverre Årnes.
Characters included President Gawun, Gerhard, Bernadette,
Mary Moneypenny, Byrnes, M, Walter Junghans, Smetz, CIA-chief
John Coleman, Martin Kleineman and Eberhardt.
Non-Bond Additional Stories
Dödstoppen (Jeff Cobb)
Miscellaneous
Readers letters on the subject of 007, one page
pin-up photo of Roger Moore as James Bond in "A View To A
Kill" (1985).
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Operation Ragnarök
(Operation Doomsday- Snake Goddess)
Data Stream
Issue: #2 (1985 series)
Released: 12th February 1985
Format: 17cm x 26 cm
Pages: 52
Publisher: Semic Press AB
Cover Price:
7.25 SEK
Featured Story
Original story "Snake Goddess" by Jim Lawrence, artwork
by Yaroslav Horak. Reprinted from the comic strips in Series 5 from
strip #822 to strip #893. This adventure was not syndicated in a UK newspaper.
Non-Bond Additional Stories
Maktspel (Jeff Cobb)
Miscellaneous
Nine-page special feature on the recent Bond
films "A View To A Kill", "Octopussy" and "Never Say
Never Again" by Bill Larsten, Tovio Lepp and Mattias
Björklund. One page
pin-up photo of Roger Moore as James Bond in "A View
To A Kill" (1985).
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Den Gröna Döden (The
Green Death)
Data Stream
Issue: #3 (1985 series)
Released: 2nd April 1985
Format: 17cm x 26 cm
Pages: 52
Publisher: Semic Press AB
Cover Price: 7.25 SEK
Featured Story
"The Green Death" was the fourteenth original James Bond story
produced by Semic. Running over 24 pages, it was drawn by Sarompas
and written by Jack Sutter. Characters included M, Mary Moneypenny,
Q, Felix Leiter, Agent Peabody and Dominique.
Non-Bond Additional Stories
Döden Går Till Sjöss (Jeff Cobb)
Miscellaneous
Readers letters on the subject of 007, one page
pin-up photo of Roger Moore as James Bond and Mary Stavin
as Kimberly Jones in "A
View To A Kill" (1985).
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Döden På Tahiti (Death
In Tahiti)
Data Stream
Issue: #4 (1985 series)
Released: 21st May 1985
Format: 17cm x 26 cm
Pages: 52
Publisher: Semic Press AB
Cover Price: 7.30 SEK
Featured Story
"Death In Tahiti" was the fifteenth original James
Bond story produced by Semic. Running over 24 pages, it was drawn by
Sarompas
and
written by Sverre Årnes. Characters included M, Eileen, Mary
Moneypenny, Francois Duchesne, Jean, Madamoiselle Montague, Le Couteau,
Jim Camden and Sir Peter Brillstone
Non-Bond Additional Stories
Fel Offer (Jeff Cobb)
Miscellaneous
Readers letters on the subject of 007, one page
pin-up photo of Roger Moore as James Bond, Grace Jones
as May Day and Tanya Roberts as Stacey Sutton in "A
View To A Kill" (1985).
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Spionen Från Öst (The
Living Daylights)
Data Stream
Issue: #5 (1985 series)
Released: 9th July 1985
Format: 17cm x 26 cm
Pages: 52
Publisher: Semic Press AB
Cover Price: 7.30 SEK
Featured Story
"The Living Daylights" by Ian Fleming, adaptation by Jim Lawrence,
artwork by Yaroslav Horak. Reprinted from the comic strips published by the
Daily Express from 12th September 1966 (strip #210) to 12th November 1966 (strip
#263)
Non-Bond Additional Stories
Rufflaren (Jeff Cobb)
Miscellaneous
Readers letters on the subject of 007, one page
pin-up photo of Roger Moore as James Bond. |
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Bruden Från Balkan (The
Bride From Balkan)
Data Stream
Issue: #6 (1985 series)
Released: 27th August 1985
Format: 17cm x 26 cm
Pages: 52
Publisher: Semic Press AB
Cover Price: 7.30 SEK
Featured Story
"Death In Tahiti" was the sixteenth original James Bond story
produced by Semic. Running over 24 pages, it was drawn by Josep Gual
and written by Bill Harrington. Characters included M, Mary Moneypenny,
Felix Artaud, Tania Cherkasski, Honey Bunch and Ambassadör Thomas.
Non-Bond Additional Stories
Den Givmilde Miljonären (Jeff Cobb)
Miscellaneous
Readers letters on the subject of 007, one page
pin-up photo of Roger Moore as James Bond.
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Kinesiskt Pussel
(Chinese Puzzle)
Data Stream
Issue: #7 (1985 series)
Released: 15th October 1985
Format: 17cm x 26 cm
Pages: 52
Publisher: Semic Press AB
Cover Price: 7.30 SEK
Featured Story
"Death In Tahiti" was the seventeenth original James Bond story
produced by Semic. Running over 24 pages, it was drawn by Sarompas
and written by Bill Harrington. Characters included M, Tsu-Chai, Yasmin
Faed, Dr Irun Saviz and Kayo.
Non-Bond Additional Stories
Dubbelagenten (Fixarna)
Miscellaneous
Readers letters on the subject of 007, one page
pin-up photo of Grace Jones as May Day, one page
pin-up photo of Roger Moore [James Bond] and Christopher
Walken [Max Zorin] in "A View To A Kill" (1985).
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Operation Dubbelörnen (Operation
Double Eagle - Double Eagle)
Data Stream
Issue: #8 (1985 series)
Released: 3rd December 1985
Format: 17cm x 26 cm
Pages: 52
Publisher: Semic Press AB
Cover Price: 7.30 SEK
Featured Story
Original story "Double Eagle" by Jim Lawrence, artwork by
Yaroslav Horak. Reprinted from the comic strips in Series 5 from strip
#894 to strip #965. This adventure was not syndicated in a UK newspaper.
Non-Bond Additional Stories
Operation Kidnapping (Fixarna)
Miscellaneous
Readers letters on the subject of 007, one page
photo of the car stunt from "The Man With The Golden Gun"
(1974), one page
pin-up photo of Grace Jones [May Day] and Christopher
Walken [Max Zorin] in "A View To A Kill" (1985).
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