Goldfinger
| Publisher: |
Daily Express |
| Released: |
3rd October 1960 to
1st April 1961 |
| Serial: |
#698 to #849 |
| Artist: |
John McLusky |
| Writer: |
Ian Fleming, Henry Gammidge |
Data Stream
| Villains: |
Auric Goldfinger, Oddjob, Mr Jed Midnight, Mr Billy
Ring, Mr Helmut Springer, Mr Solo, Mr Jack Strap. |
| Bond Girls: |
Pussy Galore, Tilly Soames (Masterson), Jill Masterson |
| Allies: |
Felix Leiter, Colonel Smithers, Mr Du Pont, Alfred,
Hawker, M |
| Locations: |
Miami, USA; New York, USA; London, England; Reculver,
England; Le Touquet, France; Geneva, Switzerland; Fort
Knox, Kentucky, USA |
|
|
Above: James Bond follows Goldfinger
in his Aston Martin DB III, and encounters Tilly Masterson
along the way.
|
Capsule Synopsis
Modern-day King Midas, Auric Goldfinger, plans on ruining the
economies of the Free World and using his own vast hoard of gold
to control the planet. Bond must use all his rugged charms and
brutal skills to stop Goldfinger before he brings western civilisation
to its knees!
Above: The opening panel of "Goldfinger"
(syndicated version) |
Above: Staying true to Fleming's novel,
Oddjob gets blown out of the plane in the climax of the story. |
|
Source To Strip
Henry Gammidge's adaptation of Ian Fleming's novel is by
in large faithful to the original material, with only a
couple of small alterations. The most notable change is
the omission of Jill Masterson's death from the strip. After
fleeing to New York with Bond, Jill dies of skin asphyxiation
in the original story after Goldfinger catches up with her.
In the strip version, Bond only learns from Tilly that she
was "killed" by Goldfinger.
Unlike the 1964 film which addressed a lot of the weaker
plot points (irradiating Fort Knox rather than robbing it),
the strip stays faithful to the novel.
|
Goldfinger was the longest serialisation to date, and Gammidge
used this slower pace to flesh out a lot of scenes which would
otherwise have been skipped over or abridged in earlier adventures.
McLusky's art shows further refinement over his earlier work,
and Goldfinger includes some exciting perspectives and action
sequences which are far more gripping than those in previous strips.
Best Line
Goldfinger: "In Chicago, Mr Bond, they have a saying: once
is happenstance, twice is coincidence, the third time is enemy
action. Miami, Sandwich and now Geneva..."
Alternative Versions
The British version of "Goldfinger" was censored to
remove Oddjob's knife in strip #829, whereas some syndicated versions
keep it in place.
Above: Censored English version |
|
Above: Original artwork (German
language) |
|
Some versions of the story then feature a different strip #830
to change the pace of the fight. In one version, Bond does not
get beaten by Oddjob (the knife is present again) and simply realises
that Leiter is on his way via the use of thought bubbles. In an
alternative version, Bond is knocked to the ground by Oddjob's
"death stroke" and only survives because Oddjob has
to board the departing train.
Above: English language version
of strip #830
Above: German language version of
strip #830
|
The original British newspaper run saw a slightly extended opening
sequence over the syndicated version. The Daily Express version
used an extra two strips (#698 & #699) for James Bond to say
goodbye to Honeychile Rider in Miami airport as her flight to
Jamaica departs, and Bond's flight to New York being delayed until
the following morning. To allow the syndicated version of the
strips to be published out of order (without reference to the
previous strip adventure "Dr. No"), the syndicated strip
jumps straight in at #700 with Bond meeting Du Pont.
"Goldfinger" was the first adventure to feature "a"
strips. When a Bank Holiday in England prevented publication of
a strip in the Daily Express, an extra strip was used in Scottish
newspapers which ran on the Monday. These were noted by the suffix
"a" and were often recaps of the story so far. Goldfinger
features two "a" strips: #773a where Bond tells Tilly
to act like his girlfriend upon being caught, and #819a where
the story is recapped as Bond gives instructions to Tilly.
Trivia
Mr Du Pont previously featured in "Casino Royale", as
he observed the Baccarat game in which James Bond defeated Le
Chiffre.
MI6 Rating
 |
|
Available Now!
Publisher: Titan Books
Released: 25th February 2005
Titles Included: "Goldfinger", "Risico",
"From A View To A Kill", "For Your Eyes Only",
"Thunderball"
"Goldfinger" by Titan
Books
|
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