Most of you are probably aware that James Bond was created by Ian Fleming, the writer of the original books. But although Fleming’s novels were ‘fun’, they never really took off as one might imagine. That is, until artist John McLusky began working with Fleming between 1958-1966, illustrating 12 James Bond books for a hugely popular comic strip, released 6 years before the first film, 1962’s Dr. No, starring Sean Connery as 007. And now the Academy Museum has just accepted 12 of these original drawings, all of which have a combined valued of AED 183k.
Looking at the comic strip below, you can see it was copied frame for frame just as in the film, Dr. No.
John McLusky illustrated some of the the most legendary Bond stories such as:
Casino Royale
Live and Let Die
Moonraker
Diamonds Are Forever
From Russia, with Love
Dr. No
Goldfinger
From a View to a Kill
For Your Eyes Only
Thunderball
On Her Majesty’s Secret Service
You Only Live Twice
McLusky’s drawings were the first image the world ever saw of Bond, and his drawings were so reminiscent of Sean Connery that, apparently, that’s why they suggested Connery for the film.
During the production of Dr. No, budgets were limited, so director Terence Young used the comic strips as a storyboard, as is evident from the shot for shot imitation used in the film.
Although many of the drawings are still owned by the John McLusky foundation which is currently run by his son, unless you have over AED 100k to shell out, you’ll have to pay a visit to the Academy Museum in Los Angeles to see them in person.
