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The Man With The Golden Gun
| Publisher: |
Daily Express |
| Released: |
10th January 1966 to
10th September 1966 |
| Serial: |
#1 to #209 (Series Three) |
| Artist: |
Yaroslav Horak |
| Writers: |
Ian Fleming, Jim Lawrence |
Data Stream
| Villains: |
Francisco Scaramanga, Sam Binion, Leroy Gengerella,
Ruby Rotkopf, Hal Garfinkel, Louie Paradise, Mr Hendriks,
Colonel Boris |
| Bond Girls: |
Mary Goodnight, Chitra 'Taj' Mahal |
| Allies: |
Felix Leiter, Philip Margesson, M, Tanner, Miss Moneypenny,
May, Major Townsend, Commander Ross |
| Locations: |
Vladivostok, Russia; London, UK; Kingston, Jamaica. |
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Above: After his failed assassination
attempt on M, Bond is sent to The Park to recuperate from
his Russian brainwashing.
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Capsule Synopsis
Brainwashed, Bond becomes a lethal weapon aimed at his boss, M,
who has problems of his own: a killer whose artistry is matched
only by his sadism, using pistols of gold to assassinate British
agents. When Bond's mission to kill M fails, he has only one shot
at redemption, a suicide mission against the deadliest assassin
of them all: Francisco Scaramanga - The Man With The Golden Gun.
Above: The opening panel of "The
Man With The Golden Gun" |
Above: Mary Goodnight proves a useful
ally as well as eye candy. |
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Source To Strip
When Ian Fleming died in 1964, he left behind an unfinished
novel, "The Man With The Golden Gun". Considerably
weaker than his previous stories, writer Jim Lawrence worked
on the plot to create a tighter storyline for the comic
strip. Dialogue from Fleming's novel is faithfully reused
in the strip, and Horak's sweeping panels keep the story
moving without stalling for detailed prose.
Philip Margesson is added to the plot, previously an SIS
agent and friend of Bond's, who has been crippled by Jamaican
sharpshooter Scaramanga. M deliberately sends Bond to "The
Park" to recuperate following his brainwashing and
failed assassination attempt, in the knowledge that 007
will learn of Margesson's ordeal and want revenge.
The specter of the old Communist enemy is also added by
Lawrence with the inclusion of 'Taj' Mahal, a Soviet agent
working undercover at the nursing home. Mary Goodnight provides
the "damsel in distress" moment for the finale,
where Bond and Leiter shoot it out with Scaramanga and his
goons on his miniature railway. Tying Goodnight to the railroad
may be a tad cliché, but it helps keep the tension
building right up until the final shot.
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Best Line
James Bond: "You made me jump"
Francisco Scaramanga: "Sometimes I make 'em dance - and then
shoot their feet off!"
Trivia
"The Man With The Golden Gun" was the last Ian Fleming
novel to be used, and the newspaper serialization became the second
longest in 007 strip history - running for nine months.
MI6 Rating
Related Articles
Newspaper Strips Index
Comics Coverage
All Comics Articles
Images courtesy Titan Books and Amazon Associates.
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