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The James Bond comic strip - original publication dates
The complete checklist of all strips first published in Express newspapers, and those syndicated outside the UK

The checklist below was originally printed in 007 MAGAZINE Issue #10 April 1982, and included details of all stories published to that date. A revised edition appeared in 007 MAGAZINE Issue #17 March 1988, and subsequently (with errors) in all volumes of the collected James Bond comic strips published by Titan Books between 1987 and 2017. The details below represent the most accurate and complete list ever compiled, and includes information and footnotes not featured in any previous publications.

The novels and selected short stories by Ian Fleming and Kingsley Amis (under the pseudonym Robert Markham) were published in the Daily Express from 1958-1970, with American writer James Lawrence given permission by the Fleming estate to originate new stories which began in October 1968 with The Harpies, and continued until the comic strip ended in 1984.

James Bond by Ian Fleming - drawing by John McLusky, Yaroslav Horak and Harry North

The James Bond comic strip was originally published in the Daily Express six days a week; although there were some public holidays in England and Wales where newspapers were not printed, but the Scottish edition was still published. There was also one instance of the Daily Express not being printed in Scotland due to a public holiday, but the newspaper was still published in England and Wales. The individual strips included a serial number to identify the day on which the strip should appear, and additional strips were designated by the suffix ‘A’. Some of these ‘A-strips’ were later included in some syndicated versions of the story, and in the collected versions published by Titan Books. Industrial strike action in 1968 during the publication of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME in the Daily Express resulted in the creation of another ‘A-strip’ to recap the story once it resumed after a three-week break. Once again, this was printed in some syndicated versions of the story outside the UK. This interruption to the publication (and other printing issues) resulted in THE SPY WHO LOVED ME breaking with the 10-year tradition of new stories starting on a Monday and ending on a Saturday.

Any other factors affecting the publication dates or anomalies in the original appearance of the James Bond comic strip are detailed in the footnotes relating to that story.

Story Writer Artist Original publication dates Serial No.
(Series 1) Published in the Daily Express
Casino Royale IF/AH JM 07/07/1958 – 13/12/1958 1-138
Live And Let Die IF/HG JM 15/12/1958 – 28/03/1959 139-225
Moonraker IF/HG JM 30/03/1959 – 08/08/1959 226-339
Diamonds Are Forever IF/HG JM 10/08/1959 – 30/01/1960 340-487
From Russia, With Love IF/HG JM 01/02/1960 – 21/05/1960 488-583 1
Dr. No IF/PO JM 23/05/1960 – 01/10/1960 584-697
Goldfinger IF/HG JM 03/10/1960 – 01/04/1961 698-849 2
Risico IF/HG JM 03/04/1961 – 24/06/1961 850-921
From A View To A Kill IF/HG JM 26/06/1961 – 09/09/1961 922-987
For Your Eyes Only IF/HG JM 11/09/1961 – 09/12/1961 988-1065
Thunderball IF/HG JM 11/12/1961 – 10/02/1962 1066–1117 3
(Series 2) Published in the Daily Express
On Her Majesty's Secret Service IF/HG JM 29/06/1964 – 17/05/1965 1-274 4
You Only Live Twice IF/HG JM 18/05/1965 – 08/01/1966 275-475
(Series 3) Published in the Daily Express
The Man With The Golden Gun IF/JL YH 10/01/1966 – 10/09/1966 1-209
The Living Daylights IF/JL YH 12/09/1966 – 12/11/1966 210-263
Octopussy IF/JL YH 14/11/1966 – 27/05/1967 264-428 5
The Hildebrand Rarity IF/JL YH 29/05/1967 – 16/12/1967 429-602
The Spy Who Loved Me IF/JL YH 18/12/1967 – 03/10/1968 603-815 6
The Harpies JL YH 04/10/1968 – 23/06/1969 816-1037 7
River of Death JL YH 24/06/1969 – 29/11/1969 1038–1174
Colonel Sun KA/JL YH 01/12/1969 – 20/08/1970 1175–1393 8
The Golden Ghost JL YH 21/08/1970 – 16/01/1971 1394–1519 9
Fear Face JL YH 18/01/1971 – 20/04/1971 1520–1596
Double Jeopardy JL YH 21/04/1971 – 28/08/1971 1597–1708
Starfire JL YH 30/08/1971 – 24/12/1971 1709–1809 10
Trouble Spot JL YH 28/12/1971 – 10/06/1972 1810–1951
Isle of Condors JL YH 12/06/1972 – 24/10/1972 1952–2065 11
The League of Vampires JL YH 25/10/1972 – 28/02/1973 2066–2172
Die With My Boots On JL YH 01/03/1973 – 08/06/1973 2173–2256
The Girl Machine JL YH 09/06/1973 – 03/12/1973 2257–2407 12
Beware of Butterflies JL YH 04/12/1973 – 11/05/1974 2408–2541 13
The Nevsky Nude JL YH 13/05/1974 – 21/09/1974 2542–2655
The Phoenix Project JL YH 23/09/1974 – 18/02/1975 2656–2780
The Black Ruby Caper JL YH 19/02/1975 – 05/07/1975 2781–2897
Till Death Do Us Part JL YH 07/07/1975 – 14/10/1975 2898-2983
The Torch-Time Affair JL YH 15/10/1975 – 15/01/1976 2984-3060
Hot Shot JL YH 16/01/1976 – 01/06/1976 3061-3178
Nightbird JL YH 02/06/1976 – 04/11/1976 3179-3312
Ape of Diamonds JL YH 05/11/1976 – 22/01/1977 3313-3377 14
(Series 4) Published in the Sunday Express in a three-strip format
When The Wizard Awakes JL YH 30/01/1977 – 29/05/1977 1-54
 
Syndicated strips not published in UK newspapers
Sea Dragon JL YH 1977 55-192
Death Wing JL YH 1977-1978 193-354
The Xanadu Connection JL YH 1978 355-468
Shark Bait JL YH 1978-1979 469-636
 
(Series 5) Published in the Daily Star
Doomcrack JL HN 02/02/1981 – 19/08/1981 1-174 15
The Paradise Plot JL JM 20/08/1981 – 04/06/1982 175-378
Deathmask JL JM 07/06/1982 – 02/02/1983 379-552
Flittermouse JL JM 09/02/1983 – 20/05/1983 553-624
Polestar JL JM 23/05/1983 – 15/07/1983 625-673 16
 
Syndicated strips not published in UK newspapers
The Scent of Danger JL JM 1983 720-821
Snake Goddess JL YH 1983-1984 822-893
Double Eagle JL YH 1984 894-965
 
Reprints published in the Daily Express [then titled The Express]
The Living Daylights IF/JL YH 08/12/1997 – 07/02/1998 1-138 17
Casino Royale IF/AH JM 22/11/1999 – 29/04/2000 210-263 18
 
Reprint published in the Sunday Express in the single strip format
Casino Royale IF/AH JM 26/09/2021 - 12/05/2024 1-138
Live And Let Die IF/HG JM Started 19/05/2024 139-225 19
GLOSSARY    
Original story/adaptation by Comic strip adaptation by Key to Artists
IF: Ian Fleming AH: Anthony Hern JM: John McLusky
KA: Kingsley Amis (Robert Markham) HG: Henry Gammidge YH: Yaroslav Horak
JL: James Lawrence PO: Peter O'Donnell HN: Harry North

1

Strip #572 of FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE scheduled to be printed on Tuesday May 10, 1960 was omitted from the storyline for timing purposes. The comic strip had not appeared in the Daily Express on Good Friday April 15, 1960, but artist John McLusky had already completed numbered artwork for the story well ahead of publication. Strip #572 was therefore omitted in order that that FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE would still end on a Saturday. There is no loss of narrative as a result of the exclusion. This strip was also missing from the first appearance of the story in the USA, when printed in the Indianapolis News in 1961. Strip #572 was later reinstated into the wider US syndication in 1964, and is present in all subsequent collected versions of FROM RUSSIA, WITH LOVE. ^

2 Strip #773A of GOLDFINGER was only printed in the Daily Express in England and Wales on 02/01/1961. ^
3

Series aborted prematurely. Strips #1117-#1122 were completed by artist John McLusky but not published in the Daily Express. A new composite strip #1117 was created to conclude the story on 10/02/1962. Additional strips were created for the syndicated and collected versions of THUNDERBALL. Some syndicated foreign language versions of THUNDERBALL substituted new versions of strips #1117-#1122 with those originally drawn for the Daily Express; whilst others continued the hijacking scene as it was originally intended, and tacked on the six explanatory strips at the end (#1123-#1128). It is this version of THUNDERBALL that appears in the Titan Books anthology editions. Consequently there are two sets of strips labelled #1117-#1122, and therefore no definitive English language version of the story. ^

4

Strip #248A of ON HER MAJESTY'S SECRET SERVICE was only printed in the Scottish edition of the Daily Express on 16/04/1965. ^

5

Strip #299A of OCTOPUSSY was only printed in the Scottish edition of the Daily Express on 27/12/1966, and strip #373A only printed in the Scottish edition of the Daily Express on 24/03/1967. ^

6

Strip #608A of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME was only printed in the Scottish edition of the Daily Express on 26/12/1967. Strip #728 published was on 15/05/1967 printed again in error on 16/05/1967. The comic strip was not printed at all between 05/08/1968 and 10/09/1968 due to industrial strike action. A recap strip #796A was printed when the story resumed on 11/09/1968 and did appear in some overseas syndicated versions of THE SPY WHO LOVED ME. ^

7

Strip #970 of The Harpies was only printed in the Scottish edition of the Daily Express on Good Friday April 4, 1969. Unusually, instead of scheduling an additional unique ‘A-strip’ for Scotland, #970 was omitted from the narrative in the English/Welsh editions of the Express (although no essential story information was lost). This unusual move meant that this strip never appeared in the syndicated version of The Harpies as it was missing from the materials held by Knight Features who then handled the overseas distribution of James Bond comic strip. ^

8 The Daily Express was not printed from 10/06/1970 – 13/06/1970 due to industrial strike action. ^
9

There was another day of industrial action by the newsprint trade union Society of Graphical and Allied Trades (SOGAT), resulting in the Daily Express not being printed on Tuesday December 8, 1970. However, the comic strip continued with the correct sequential strip #1487 when the newspaper was published the next day. The following week, strip #1494 was missing from The Golden Ghost and possibly omitted as it adds nothing to the narrative as the story nears its conclusion. If strike action in December 1970 had not briefly interrupted the story, The Golden Ghost would have come to an end on Saturday January 16, 1971, so #1494 was probably removed in order that the traditional Saturday end-date could be maintained. Strip #1494 did not appear in syndicated versions of the story, and was also absent from the 2006 Titan Books anthology. The missing strip was evidently located and appears for the first time in the collected version of the story presented in The James Bond Omnibus 003 published by Titan Books in March 2012. ^

10

Strips #1745 & #1746 of Starfire were both printed in the Daily Express on 11/10/1971 - no newspapers were printed on 12/10/1971. Strip #1808A of Starfire was only printed in the Scottish edition of the Daily Express on 27/12/1971. ^

11

The Daily Express was not printed from 24/07/1972 – 27/07/1972 due to industrial strike action. Strips #2007 & #2009 of Isle of Condors were omitted from the Daily Express in error, but do appear in syndicated and collected versions of the story. ^

12

The Daily Express did not print any strip cartoons on 05/11/1973 due to industrial strike action in Fleet Street. ^

13

Strip #2537 of Beware of Butterflies was omitted from the Daily Express in error, but does appear in syndicated and collected versions of the story. ^

14

Ape of Diamonds was the final James Bond comic strip to be printed in the Daily Express before moving to the Sunday Express in a three-strip format. Artist Yaroslav Horak had actually completed an additional weeks-worth of six strips (#3378-#3383) that were never published in the Daily Express, but did appear in the syndicated and collected versions of the story. New Zealand born artist Neville Colvin (1918-1991) was brought in to draw a further 54 strips (#3384-#3437) to conclude the narrative for the syndicated version. Speech bubbles in strips #3375-#3377, at the point the story originally ended, were changed for the syndicated version in order to continue the narrative. Neville Colvin was not credited for his artwork on the James Bond comic strip until 2010, when the complete story was published by Titan Books in the UK as part of the Nightbird anthology.  ^

15

Strip #135 of Doomcrack was omitted from the original Daily Star presentation of the story, but does appear in collected versions of the story. ^

16

Polestar ended after just eight weeks in the Daily Star with no explanation or final concluding strip. John McLusky did complete the artwork for the story which included a further 46 strips (#674-719) that were later syndicated outside the UK. ^

17 Strip #223 was omitted from The Express reprint of THE LIVING DAYLIGHTS. ^
18 Strip #27 was omitted from The Express reprint of CASINO ROYALE. ^
19

For the first five weeks of the story (strips #139-#143) the title caption above the strip incorrectly stated CASINO ROYALE. This was corrected by the Sunday Express on June 23, 2024, although the copyright details remained unchanged and still showed the incorrect story until July 7, 2024. ^

JAMES BOND comic strip artist John McLusky, Yaroslav Horak and Harry North
John McLusky Yaroslav Horak Harry North

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