James Bond: Her Majesty's Secret Service

Rating:
Summary: A fantastic volume - not one, but two Bond novels
Review: I was very excited to hear that Titan was set to deliver even more editions of the James Bond strips that appeared in the pages of The Daily Express in the 1960s and even more pleased to hear that two of my favorite Fleming books - 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' and 'You Only Live Twice' were set to appear in the same edition.
Some years ago, back in the 1980s I had picked up a previous edition of 'Octopussy' that Titan had put together and promptly devoured the book and for years later had wished and wanted to see the rest of the series. Here at last some two decades later I am getting my chance - and am extremely happy about it.
Not only do we get the comic-strip adaptation of the above two books in this one edition, but we also get an introduction by Bond actor George Lazenby (who played the character in the 1969 movie) as well as a discussion of the Fleming books (from 'Doctor No' to 'For Your Eyes Only') and before the beginning of both novels a brief discussion on the background behind the comic-strips and even mention of where the strip deviates from the book which it is adapting.
A word of warning must go out to those who only know the secret agents exploits through the popular series of EON Productions movies. These strips are based on the Fleming novels which are very different from the 007 movies (at least since 1971 onwards). In fact one of the novels adapted here - 'On Her Majesty's Secret Service' may be the Fleming novel most faithfully adapted for the movie screens.
Titan Books deserve a great deal of credit for publishing these editions and this one will undoubtedly (and justifiably) become a proud addition to the bookshelves of every self respecting fan of the novels of Ian Fleming and in particular of his most famous creation - James Bond.