There’s a set of four “James Bond” comic strip artworks for the Daily Express by John McLusky in the current Propstore Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction. Bidding is already at £1000, with the auction opening later today, Saturday 16th November.
The art is just part of a wider auction with a huge amount of James Bond memorabilia on offer, including three pages from the For Your Eyes Only Marvel Super Special #19, drawn by Howard Chaykin and Vince Colleta.
Starting in 1958, four years before Sean Connery would bring 007 to the silver screen with Dr No, the Daily Express newspaper published daily serialised James Bond comic strips, starting with an adaptation of “Casino Royale”.
The four strips on offer are numbers 78 to 81 consecutively and feature hand-drawn artwork by McLusky, who is credited with changing Bond’s appearance to be more rugged and masculine.
The “James Bond” strip continued until 1983, by then running in the Daily Star, Bond’s UK newspaper run concluding with “Polestar”. 45 adventures were syndicated in British newspapers, with an additional seven adventures published abroad – some 6500 plus strips produced by a variety of artists over the 25 year period.
Titan Books have collected the entire run, “Casino Royale” included in the 2016 release, The Complete James Bond: Dr No – The Classic Comic Strip Collection 1958-60.
Bidding for this lot will end on Saturday, November 16th 2024, with bids already at £1000 and counting. The auction will begin at 3.00pm GMT and lots are sold sequentially via live auctioneer.
• Check out the artwork here in the Propstore Entertainment Memorabilia Live Auction catalogue | You can also bid on this lot via The-Saleroom (additional charges apply)
UPDATE, Sunday 17th November: The final hammer price was £2000
Details: The artwork is rendered mostly in black ink and there are also areas of corrective fluid, pencil marks, and sections adhered to the board from another page. The panels have some minor wear, including discolouration and staining. Dimensions: 14 cm x 42.5 cm (5.5″ x 16.75″)
• The Complete James Bond: Dr No – The Classic Comic Strip Collection 1958-60 (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
Collects together the comic strips: Casino Royale, Live And Let Die, Moonraker, Diamonds Are Forever, From Russia With Love and Dr No.
• The Complete James Bond: Goldfinger – The Classic Comic Strip Collection 1960-66 (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
James Bond returns to action in six thrilling adventures, starting with 007’s encounter with the titular Auric Goldfinger, the man with the Midas touch. Also included are Risico, From A View To A Kill, For Your Eyes Only, The Man With The Golden Gun, and The Living Daylights.
• James Bond: Spectre: The Complete Comic Strip Collection (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
Featuring Thunderball, On Her Majesty’s Secret Service, You Only Live Twice and The Spy Who Loved Me.
• The Complete James Bond: Octopussy – The Classic Comic Strip Collection 1966-69 (AmazonUK Affiliate Link)
Featuring the iconic Octopussy and The Hildebrand Rarity, based on the short stories by Ian Fleming, which are presented alongside The Harpies and River of Death, two unique adventures created by Jim Lawrence.
• The MI6 Homepage James Bond Strip Checklist
Further Intelligence
• The official website of 007 MAGAZINE, the world’s premier printed publication relating to the James Bond phenomenon since 1979
- About the Author
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The founder of downthetubes, which he established in 1998. John works as a comics and magazine editor, writer, and on promotional work for the Lakes International Comic Art Festival. He is currently editor of Star Trek Explorer, published by Titan – his third tour of duty on the title originally titled Star Trek Magazine.
Working in British comics publishing since the 1980s, his credits include editor of titles such as Doctor Who Magazine, Babylon 5 Magazine, and more. He also edited the comics anthology STRIP Magazine and edited several audio comics for ROK Comics. He has also edited several comic collections, including volumes of “Charley’s War” and “Dan Dare”.
He’s the writer of “Pilgrim: Secrets and Lies” for B7 Comics; “Crucible”, a creator-owned project with 2000AD artist Smuzz; and “Death Duty” and “Skow Dogs” with Dave Hailwood.
Categories: Auctions, British Comics, British Comics - Newspaper Strips, Comics, downthetubes Comics News, downthetubes News
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I was always impressed how illustrators of newspaper strip cartoons got so much info into three smallish panels 🙂