Thunderball!

I write these Bond reviews with the expectation that everyone has seen all the movies, if not read the all the books. So, tread as carefully as it seems prudent. 

Thunderball begins the high-voltage Bond adventures and the is the first of what is dubbed the "Blofeld Trilogy". The plot is pretty well known as the movie does a first-rate job of translating it pretty completely. This one began life as a movie script and shows it. More on that below. This first SPECTRE story is a cracking good super-spy adventure.

Bond's encounter with a SPECTRE agent at the Shrublands where he's been sent for a health cure is more realistic than in the movie which depends much too much on coincidence to put Bond at the core of the events too soon. I like that going to the Carribean is M's idea and not Bond's. Fleming gets off a few neat jabs at health spas, it's almost like he has a grudge. 

The novel depends less on coincidence than the inevitable movie will and so seems more naturalistic. There's some, but not so much as to break all credulity which the movie does, but at a tempo which doesn't allow for reflection until it's all over. Felix Leiter is back, pressed back into government service due to the international threat. In the novel we are given histories of both Blofeld and Largo as the SPECTRE organization is detailed. And as is typical in the novels, Bond suffers a lot more from his wounds, they leave mark. 

Thunderball is a movie which should be so much better than it is. It has all the elements, but somehow, someway the thing always shakes apart a bit when I watch it. The first problem is that already Connery is getting a bit paunchy to sell the role, something a little bit evident in Goldfinger. The glimmer of a virile energy he projected on the screen in the first two Bond movies is missing a bit. That said, the plot rumbles around a bodacious scheme by SPECTRE.

The movie begins with blazing coincidence when James Bond, the arch-enemy of SPECTRE just so happens to be healing up at the same facility at which the schemers are hiding their fake pilot who will infiltrate NATO defenses and make off with an atomic-laden plane. Bond gets onto the scheme before it really gets going and that makes for some weird connections to what is happening, an almost too personal relationship which undermines the professional nature of his work. It's an action-movie thing, but not a Bond thing, if you follow my meaning.

We do get to go to the Caribbean again, which is good, but this trip unlike that in the first movie lacks novelty and the helpers are less interesting. Paula (Martine Beswick) is Bond's aide and like most of them gets killed off, but not in any particularly memorable fashion. The guy playing Felix Leiter (Rik Van Nutter) this time looks like a member of the Beach Boys and not a spy. It all feels lightweight somehow. Bond finds the villains almost immediately, but his superiors never seem to send him any real help to fend off the threat to world order until the very finale. Domino (Claudine Auger) is beautiful to look at, but seems to lack the snap of earlier dames in the series. More interesting is Fiona Volpe (Luciana Paluzzi) but she gets killed off too soon.

The final battle underwater was more enjoyable for me this time. In the past I've found it a bit too difficult to decipher, but somehow it worked for me as I watched it. The battle aboard the yacht is still a low-point for the series, the weird fast-action outside the windows is like something from an old silent comedy and almost completely undermines the rough and tumble of the fight. All in all, this one has all of the moving parts, but they just don't hang as well as they ought.

Thunderball is adapted again in 1983 as Never Say Never Again and featured a somewhat older Sean Connery return to the role he'd originated two decades before. This came about because of a complicated haggle over the rights to film the movie which led to litigation. This was because Thunderball began as a film script and then when Ian Fleming decided to just make it a novel without consulting his co-authors, and didn't give credit to the guys he'd been working with. They won and got the chance to make their own version of the movie. Despite a great cast including Barbara Carrera and Kim Basinger, this one just muddles along. 

James Bond Returns in The Spy Who Love Me. 

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Sarge Steel - File 108!

Sarge Steel #8 is dated March-April 1966. Pat Masull [sic] is listed as the creator, and clearly this is Pat Masulli's name mispelled which is stunning given he's the Executive Editor of Charlton at this time. Joe Gill is again scripting and Jon D'Agostino supplies the letters. Bill Montes and Ernie Bache return for the art chores. The cover for this issue is by Rocke Mastroserio.

File #108 "Case of the Terrible Talon" begins with Part I "The Talon Takes Sarge Steel". After a symbolic splash showing Sarge shooting at a mechanical talon, the story opens on a West German street where Professor Froelig is kidnapped. In Dusseldorf two men discuss the crime and attribute it to The Talon, a criminal mastermind terrorizing Germany. That evening a group of West German businessmen and other important types gather to plan a response and agree that they need Sarge Steel to take on the Talon. A waiter overhears this decision. We cut to Sarge as he heads out to take on this assignment and Bessie gives him a big kiss before he goes. In the taxi on the way to the airport he is met by a U.S. agent who tells him he's on his own. In the air on the way to West Germany Sarge finds a mysterious talon symbol in the bottom of his coffee cup, an ominous sign indeed. After landing he is met by Herr Wolffhundt who takes him to a cafe where the waitress pulls a gun and other men show up using a stun gun to knock out Steel and kidnap Wolffhundt. They leave a message on Steel's chest saying "Leave Germany or Die!". Sarge recovers and gets a car but as he leaves a beautiful redhead climbs into the passenger seat and presents herself as a West German agent. At that point a helicopter appears overhead.

"Tank Trouble" is a one-page text story about two WWII veterans, one American and one German who meet at an agricultural show and realize they know one another. They led men into battle during the war against one another and after the German leader had the advantage a clever tactic by the American resulted in a defeat forcing the German officer to flee Nazi German or be killed. He made contact with American forces and surrendered.

Part II is titled "The Faceless Man" and begins with Sarge's car being picked up by a giant electric magnet suspended from a helicopter. The car and Sarge and the German agent Gerta are taken to the Talon's headquarters in the mountains of East Germany. There Sarge meets the masked Talon and is shown the scale of Talon's operation. After attacking an armored agent though Sarge is again hit with the stun gun. He awakes strapped into a high-tech device dubbed the "Hypno Chair" which is used to gather information from him and defeat his free will. Sarge seems to succumb but when he is released he attacks Talon and knocks out his savage dog with his steel fist. He uses a device called the "Wailing Wallet" which emits tear gas to help him free Gerta and the pair take their unconscious Talon out of the headquarters as his men follow. Sarge then takes one of his shoes and throws it, and since that shoe is actually a delayed time bomb it explodes and allows them to escape in Sarge's Mercedes-Benz. That car is rigged with cannons on the front which they use to escape the Talon's compound.

Part III is titled "Trial of a Terrorist" and begins with Sarge and Gerta in the Mercedes under fire from Talon's men. Sarge uses rear canons to stop pursuit. The helicopter appears overhead and begins firing radar-controlled rockets at Sarge's car, but then a Messerschmitt Rocket Fighter appears disabling the helicopter and allowing Gerta and Sarge and the prisoner to escape. They drive through the East German border and deliver Talon to stand trial. As the trial begins the Talon, still masked, faces witnesses. Then word comes that his forces are coming to free him and a counter attack is ordered. A man wearing a rocketpack is stopped by Sarge and then a great metal claw snags him and pulls him into the air but Sarge is able to use his own weapon to disable the helicopter that has captured him. Taking the rocketpack Sarge flies clear as the helicopter crashes. Then in a sudden turn of events, Sarge suggests they let Talon go free but spread the story that he betrayed his own men making him forever a fugitive from his own people. Talon is sent packing as Sarge taunts the now helpless terrorist.

"Blue Four Top Secret" is a three-page feature drawn by Rocke Mastroserio in which the gimmicks and devices featured in the main Sarge Steel story are described in further detail. Shown and described are the "Wail Wallet", "The Shoe", "The Stun Gun", "The Hypno Chair", and a full-page on the Talon-copter the enemy agents used.

This is issue is fully devoted to the high-tech environment of the Bond-like super-spy world. Gone utterly is the noir atmosphere of previous issues. This is reinforced as again the first-person narration is absent. Sarge is here completely dependent on gimmicks and gadgets to fight the enemy who likewise use a host of machines to wage battle. The helicopter is very like the helicopter in You Only Live Twice though even more high-tech. The hypno chair scene reminded me of Goldfinger and the Mercedes-Benz was just another version of Bond's Astin-Martin. Clearly the attempt is made, as is evident on the cover to play the super-spy angle to the hilt. It's a fun issue, but not quite as emotionally compelling as earlier installments of the series.

This is the last issue of the series to be titled "Sarge Steel" but that's not the end of Sarge yet.

More Sarge Steel to come.

This is a Revised Classic Charlton Post!  

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For Your Eyes Only!

I write these Bond reviews with the expectation that everyone has seen all the movies, if not read the all the books. So, tread as carefully as it seems prudent. 

For Your Eyes Only is the first Bond short story collection and it's pretty uneven. In "From a View to a Kill" Bond investigates the assassination of a motorcycle dispatch-rider and the theft of his top-secret documents. Pretty standard stuff, though the enemy plot seems a bit overly super-spyish. In "For Your Eyes Only" Bond avenges the murder of a friend of his boss alongside the murdered man's daughter. This one is pretty solid. In "Quantum of Solace" Bond is told a story of a failed marriage with a few twists and turns, but alas this one comes up a bit dry. In "Risico" Bond investigates a drug-smuggling operation run by the Russians and takes steps to stop it. Pretty basic. "The Hildebrand Rarity" deals with a rare fish and the obnoxious man who is seeking it. This one has a real grotesque quality to it, and as a result is pretty memorable.

These are short stories and as such can only offer an inspiration for movie adaptations. When the filmmakers ran out of novels they turned to the short stories for titles and sometimes that's about all. 

A View to a Kill was adapted in 1985 and stars Roger Moore as Bond. The movie is probably most notable for its cast. Tanya Roberts was a vivacious Bond Girl in this one. Patrick MacNee gets some big screen time in a Bond movie, the second member of The Avengers to land a role in the franchise that inspired the outstanding TV show. Grace Jones was unleashed upon the world yet again, fresh from her memorable role in Conan the Destroyer. The great Christopher Walken was the villain in this one, and darn good at that. He chewed the scenery with glee and giggled all the way to his death. The Bond series was in the doldrums when this one landed. I remember seeing it and for some reason a whole reel was dropped. When the movie was over only me and one other couple asked for a refund. I don't think anyone else noticed, or perhaps they just didn't care. 

 

For Your Eyes Only from 1981 of course has only one story and features Roger Moore as well. But it was one stitched together from two of the stories in the collection -- "Risico" and or "For Your Eyes Only" -- along with various bits and bobs from other Bond yarns. But the question with this kind of operation is always, is the whole greater than the sum of its parts. It's by and large a seamless whole, but also a somewhat unexciting one. The previous movie was Moonraker, a hard one to recover from, but to its credit this movie does return to the more spy-laden tropes of its 1960's predecessors. Though like so many of Moore's movies, without the sense of urgency and threat which marked early Bond films with Connery. (To be fair, Connery himself fell victim to this in Diamonds are Forever, so it's not necessarily the actor.) Carole Bouquet is a splendid addition to the Bond-Girl cast, and one who can take care of herself. Lynn Holly-Johnson is too young to be a true Bond-Girl, as having sex with her is out of the question given the fact she's presented as a precocious teen. Perhaps the strongest performance was turned in by Topol as the head of a smuggling ring. 

Quantum of Solace lends its name to the second Daniel Craig outing as Bond in 2008. Craig had revitalized the role in his first outing. This one was less impressive, but it's not the fault of anyone in it. It's a sturdy case with Olga Kurylenko offering a heartfelt performance that rose above that of just a Bond Girl. I much enjoyed Gemma Atterton in this one as well. With this one it was clear the creators were insisting on a more coherent continuity for the revived Bond. This is hurt an underwhelming finale. There's a lot of explosions and that's about it. 

"The Hildebrand Rarity" supplies some key characters for Timothy Dalton's debut as James Bond in 1989's Licence to Kill. Bond is tracking down drug smugglers in his first outing as Bond. There was a smart attempt to inject some more reality into the proceedings. Bond had gotten dull because there was little sense of real danger. The show had become too familiar and a bit bloodless. In this one Dalton's Bond was hurt and had to sweat quite a bit to win the day against Robert Davi, the drug kingpin. Talisa Soto is exotic, and Carey Lowell is exceedingly pretty, but somehow the spark was missing in the Bond Girl corner this time. Anthony Zerbe is a fave of mine and he's delightful as the doomed henchman who actually has the yacht that ties the movie to its source material. 

James Bond Returns in Thunderball. 

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Sarge Steel - File 107!

Sarge Steel #7 is dated January 1966. Once again Pat Masulli's creator credit is shown. The script is by reliable Joe Gill with lettering again by Jon D'Agostino. The big news here is that Dick Giordano returns for an issue on the artwork. The cover by Giordano is a version of the splash page with the figures of the two masterminds of P.O.W. included.

Part I of File #107 "The Day They Killed Sarge Steel" begins with that splash image. But the story begins in London where Peter Potter top British secret agent is attacked in his sports car by a grenade and killed. The scene shifts to Moscow where top Sovie agent Gorgie Fyankov is shot down while escorting a prisoner. The scene shifts again to a list held by a beautiful blonde woman named Roja who is holding a list called "POW Top Secret List of Elimination" with all the names on it crossed off save for Nicole Planchet of France and Sarge Steel of the U.S.A. She and her partner Eric Rinn run P.O.W. (Prosecutors Of the World) an organization of killers with the goal to blackmail the powers of the world and show their power by killing all the top espionage operatives. The scene shifts again to a helicopter pad where Bessie witnesses her boss Sarge Steel being gunned down. The news gets out Sarge was shot to death and pictures confirming that are taken and circulated. News also comes that Nicole Planchet has died mysteriously from a poison perfume. A man climbs the building holding Sarge's body to confirm his death, attempting to use the same gas that killed Planchet but Sarge jumps up and punches him in the gut causing him to inhale the deadly fumes. It's revealed that Sarge has been faking his death to give him free rein to chase down the P.O.W. killers.

"The Gift of Two Deaths" is a one-page text piece about a man named Koshinsky who dies but who has his body preserved untouched for three days by his wife since she believes he carries a family habit of reviving from his first death. This gift was given to the family as a reward by an old woman for saving a peasant child from drowning. The story makes a sensation in the media and after the three days the man revives.

Part II is titled "Live Bait in the Shark Tank!" and opens with Sarge getting a ride on a C.I.A. reconnaissance jet which is to take him to the Wetterhorn Valley. Sarge parachutes from a great height, lands safely and is immediately set upon by a Doberman Pincher who turns out to be a "paradog" belonging to Nicole Planchet who also faked her death to get at P.O.W. The trio jump the electrified fence and and use gas to get close to the headquarters. But they are caught and brought before Roja and Rinn where Sarge makes some insulting comments to Roja who is attracted to him. When she tries to scratch him, he uses that moment to throw her into Rinn and he and Planchet escape.

Part III is titled "The Murder School" and begins with Sarge and Nicole confronting a rifleman but Sarge stops him by using his steel fist to plug the barrel causing a backfire. Then the pair encounter several killers with knives and guns and fend them off. Sarge leaps through a window to the outside creating a distraction while Nicole plants an explosive. With only seconds to spare the pair leap off the cliff below the headquarters into the sea and a great explosion destroys the P.O.W. facility. After they get back to land Nicole gives Sarge a kiss to thank him on behalf of the whole human race. The last two scenes show Sarge in Washington DC and confronting his secretary Bessie who is quite upset to learn he has been alive all this time.

"Sport of Judo" is written and drawn by Frank McLaughlin and these three pages narrated by Sarge show how to use Judo, Karate, Hapkido, and Aikido techniques to battle multiple attackers.

This is a pretty good issue. One big change though is that Sarge's distinctive first-person narration is not used in this issue. That might be because of the ruse that he was supposed to be dead, but whatever the cause it really altered the tone of the story. The villains were a bit of a disappointment, as they were set up pretty well but there wasn't enough space to really devote to their demise. They seemed to get beat rather easily. But that's a minor criticism. They also didn't use the classic "The Case Of..." format for the title; that bugs the compulsive side of my character a wee bit.

More Sarge Steel to come.

 This is a Revised Classic Charlton Post! 

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Goldfinger!

I write these Bond reviews with the expectation that everyone has seen all the movies, if not read the all the books. So, tread as carefully as it seems prudent. 

Goldfinger is a great movie, but only a so-so novel. The movie and the novel though both offer up a great villain, the titular "Goldfinger", but both alas share the terrible ending which requires hundreds if not thousands of people to pretend to die. It's somewhat ludicrous that this could be accomplished and seems frankly to be a writer trying to get out of a hole. The novel also has the peculiar lesbian myth that men like Bond can turn such women. It's pretty ludicrous.

In the novel Bond has just wrapped up taking down a heroin smuggling outfit and is headed home for America when a rich American who sat next to Bond at the Casino Royale asks him to help him to discover how a fellow Brit is cheating him at Canasta. With a few days on his hand and being offered a good paycheck for light work, Bond takes up the case.  He encounters Auric Goldfinger for the first time and ruins his scheme. It is of note that the infamous golden girl of the movie does exist, but we only hear about it second hand from her sister Tilly Masterson. Bond finds himself looking to scotch the schemes of Goldfinger and we meet the gruesome Oddjob, a terrifying Koran martial arts master. As in the movie there is a plot to rob the mint at Fort Knox and there is a woman named Pussy Galore. Tilly and Pussy supply the sexual tension in this novel. It's a wild ending for certain, if implausible. 

Goldfinger is often tagged as the gold standard of Bond movies, but for my tastes it falls short in many respects, though still quite diverting in many ways and so comes in as my fourth favorite Bond film. The notion of Bond taking on someone other than SPECTRE is fine and dandy, but the lack of that secret organization's shadow on this story hurts the motivations for me personally. If Goldfinger (portrayed by portly Gert Frobe) had been working for them all along and making monkeys out of the Chinese who seem to be his benefactors, then I'd have liked this one more.

The high points in this are the girls. Both Masterson girls end tragically in this tale, but both go out in memorable fashions. Jill (Shirley Eaton) gets painted gold and has become an icon for the Bond films and Tilly (Tania Mallet) out for revenge gets knocked in the noggin by Oddjob's deadly hat. But the star of the show is the insanely named Pussy Galore played by Honor Blackman, the first woman in the Bond series who can occupy the screen with Connery on equal footing.

The flaw in this one is the finale which is downright stupid. Somehow, we are to think that Bond after converting Pussy to his side with his awesome maleness uses her to undermine Goldfinger's scheme by having hundreds and hundreds of soldiers and others fall down (rather unconvincingly) as the supposed deadly gas passes through them. They all then stay still as legions of Red Chinese soldiers motor into Fort Knox. Then they all jump up and knock down the bad guys when the atomic bomb shows up. The battle between Bond and Oddjob is a classic but the tag ending with Goldfinger while perhaps fitting undercuts the potency of end.

This is the one in which a gleam gets in the eye of the producers, and they start to treat Bond with more humor than is really necessary. It's not readily noticeable in this installment, but the trend will continue until the whole shebang becomes open farce in the post-Connery years. Goldfinger has some dandy scenes, but its overall impact is diminished mightily by its impossible ending. But I do always like to see scenes of Kentucky in a movie of this scale.

James Bond Returns in For Your Eyes Only.

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Sarge Steel - File 106!

Sarge Steel #6 is dated November 1965. It features a cover Bill Montes and Rocke Mastroserio. This is the first issue of Sarge Steel to have the sub-title "Special Agent". The issue is written by Joe Gill and the art is again by the team of Bill Montes and Ernie Bache.

Case #106 "Case of the King's Assassin" begins with an round of introductions to key characters. Specifically mentioned are King Abhim Fal-Rif a fabulously rich Arab who is the target of kidnappers. Also mentioned is Bibi Cane a blonde American actress. Finally, is Shiek Zara-Faid trained by both Moscow and Peking and the enemy of Abhim, the man who wants him dead. The story begins in the city where a beautiful woman named Renshaw appears and entices Sarge who summarily dumps his date to meet this new beauty who takes him outside to encounter Hassim a rich oil merchant who wants to retain Sarge to protect King Abhim. Immediately a car appears, and bullets fly but Hassim's car is bulletproof and when the attacking car gets in range Hassim uses some unseen device to blow up the attackers. Despite Sarge telling Hassim twice he has been asked by the U.S. government to watch out for King Abhim Hassim still insists on hiring him. Sarge goes to the airport and is soon set upon by more attackers who he dispatches quickly. He then meets Bibi Cane waiting for Abhim because she thinks he is cute. They head out to Abhim's plane and introductions are made. Abhim seems quite taken by Bibi. Sarge knows that agents are waiting to kidnap Abhim, so he has the King disguise himself with a beret and sunglasses and with Bibi on his arm he walks right past the thugs waiting for him. But Sarge is not so lucky.

"New Old Ideas In Warfare" talks about the development of projectile weapons from the earliest rocks thrown from a cliff to the sling to the modern cluster bomb.

"Chase West" is the title of the second part of the Sarge Steel story and Sarge finds himself battling thugs sent to kidnap King Abhim. He gets past them and joins up with Abhim and Bibi in his Jaguar and the trio drive away. Later at Sarge's apartment they two get very familiar while Sarge watches the two. A shadow appears at the window following a mysterious phone call from Hassim who seems under duress. Sarge uses his steel fist to dispatch the gunman and takes to the roof where a sniper lurks, but Sarge uses a detached TV antennae to knock the killer from the roof. When he returns to his apartment he finds Bibi and Abhim gone as well as his sports car. He alerts the police and a manhunt begins.

"$1,000,000,000 Ransom" is the title of the third installment and the story begins with a plane over the stolen Jaguar with Bibi and Abhim inside. Sarge gets cleaned up and heads out to intercept the duo after reports come in as to their location and he arrives just in time as the plane begins to dive and a gunman shoots at the escaping sports car. It wrecks but Bibi and Abhim seem unhurt as Sarge gets them to cover. He then pretends to be shot and the plane leaves. But as the trio try to leave the area they are stopped at a roadblock by Zara's men. Just as Zara prepares to shoot Sarge a jet appears and sets up a smoke screen which Sarge uses to dispatch Zara's men and kill Zara. With the police on the way, the situation in hand Bibi and Abhim ask how they can get married without all the pomp and circumstance a King demands. Sarge shows them the road to Tiajuana and as the story closes he heads to the White House where he is to make a full report as a special agent.

"What Is Karate?" is a three-page piece by Frank McLaughlin and features new Charlton hero Judomaster giving basic information about Karate techniques, gear, and a very detailed presentation of various hand positions.

I adore the cover of this issue, but I have to confess it's one of the weaker issues to date. The romance between Abhim and Bibi is fun and funny but lacks enough time to develop to be really believable. Again there are no real twists in this story and the storytelling by Montes & Bache is really deficient in the story's climax. It's frankly impossible to tell what's going on without the captions which seem at odds with the artwork. As a special agent, Sarge is more in the Bond school and maybe they were trying to add some humor. It doesn't work all that well I think.

More Sarge Steel to come.

 This is a Revised Classic Charlton Post! 

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Doctor No!

I write these Bond reviews with the expectation that everyone has seen all the movies, if not read the all the books. So, tread as carefully as it seems prudent. 

Dr. No is the Bond novel I'm most familiar with, having read it several times. I really like this adventure and enjoyed it a great deal this time, especially in the context of the other stories. Quarrel who alas meets his maker is a great helper for Bond, but his demise has much more weight knowing that he helped Bond in the earlier case against Mr. Big in the earlier novel Live and Let Die. 

One character who gets famously realized on the big screen is Ursula Andress in the star-making role of "Honey Ryder". In the novel her full name is "Honeychild Ryder", and the young lady is rather younger than the statuesque and robustly adult Andress. Honeychild is nearly a feral being, raised by a deceased native who took her on when her parents were killed. Honeychild is a creature of natural beauty who lives in nature, among animals in a den-like home. She is first seen by Bond from behind and is completely naked, and fully comfortable in that capacity. Fleming even refers to this ferocious young woman as a female Tarzan at one point. She even has a distinctive broken nose which reminded me of Tarzan's tell-tale scar, evidence of a deadly struggle in the character's past.

But what really suggestive to me that Fleming was doing an homage of the classic ERB hero is how Honeychild escapes the death-dealing clutches of Dr. No at the end of the novel. Spoilers for those who haven't read the book, since nothing like this happens in the movie. Honeychild escapes her doom by simply knowing nature and trusting in the creatures who are part of it. She is strapped down by the insidious Dr. No so that crabs can lustily nibble at her helpless body, but Honeychild is more familiar with the crabs, and so simply remains motionless as they crawl over her and away. She is never really all that much in danger because of her special understanding of the world hidden from the overly civilized Dr. No. It's interesting to note that Bond himself survived an earlier threat by centipede, though for him it was a supreme test of will and not merely being one with nature.

It's easy enough to see Dr. No as a variation on Sax Rohmer's Fu Manchu, that's obvious. But Honeychild as a version of Tarzan is a slightly bit more obscured. Though clearly the designers of the cover to the first edition picked up on it rightly enough. So, what you have in this wonderful little pulp feast is James Bond battling Fu Manchu alongside the progeny of Tarzan. It's a right good yarn that.

My all-time favorite James Bond movie hands down is Dr. No. It's a great story well told with a rugged and virile Connery forging a role which had rarely been seen on the big screen. Bond in this movie is not a nice fellow, though often a charming one. He kills in cold blood, the killing of the henchman Professor Dent makes Bond different than other protagonists in movies, he's a killer through and through and his lack of any hesitation or remorse for his victim is stunning. Love the music in this one, the small bits of character, especially in regard to Quarrel, the cantankerous islander who helps Bond despite his superstitions. Felix Leiter never looked better as when he was portrayed by Jack Lord. 

This one has it all, a super-spy luster as Bond races across the world to a remote and exotic location to save world peace when the vile Dr. No is "toppling" U.S. rockets. (It's the same plot used in the Jonny Quest debut episode too, so maybe that's why I love it so.) Dr. No as portrayed by Joeseph Wiseman is a great super-villain, a weirdo with credible but bizarre artificial hands. The Bond of his movie is vulnerable, and Honey Wilder as portrayed by Ursula Andress. She's beautiful for certain and set the standard for future Bond girls.

This one holds up. The subsequent Bond movies only ever struggle to achieve the delightful balance of danger and high romance and frolic this one establishes so effectively. This is my favorite Bond movie starring any of the fine actors who have portrayed the character. It's a product of a time and moment when such conceits were not ironic in the least, just exceedingly cool. They got it right the first time and they never bettered it. 

James Bond Returns in Goldfinger. 

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Sarge Steel - File 105!

Sarge Steel #5 is dated September 1965. No writer is credited on the splash page but no doubt it's Joe Gill. The art this time is by Bill Montes and Ernie Bache taking the reigns from Dick Giordano. Giordano does supply the cover for this issue though. The splash page shows Sarge in a headlock held by a giant Asian warrior with Ivan Chung holding a sword and ordering a beautiful woman to shoot Sarge while a tweedy professor type looks on.

Part I of File 105 "The Case of the Caged Brain" begins on the beaches of Miami where Sarge is taking a small vacation. He is approached by a stunning raven-haired beauty who turns out to be Li-Li also known as "The Black Lily" a Chinese intelligence agent. She tells Sarge that she is attempting to get away from Ivan Chung, an old enemy of Sarge's, and the pair drive off together in Sarge's car. But they are followed and a trap ends up with Sarge trading bullets with unknown assailants. After the gunplay, Li-Li tells Sarge the truth, that she is there to get him to come with her in order that a scientist working for Chung will finish a project. He claims that only if Sarge is present will he feel safe enough to complete the assignment. While kissing Li-Li Sarge feels the prick of a needle and soon is asleep. An American agent reports from his car while Sarge is driven away and taken aboard a plane. The plane is tracked to a Cuban air field and we find out that this was part of a plan to get Sarge in touch with the scientist, a Dr.Crayne. Sarge awakes on the plane, attacks his kidnappers but finds his neck in the grip of some mighty hands.

"Special Services 3X" is a one-page text piece that talks about psychological warfare and the branch of the government which uses it. Then a story about using toy mechanical snakes to trick superstitious Vietnamese soldiers is related as an example.

Part II of the Sarge Steel story is titled "Fatal Beauty" and begins with Sarge in the arms of Li-Li but under the eye of others, specifically a giant Asian warrior. Li-Li kisses Sarge only to trick him and taking his luger away. A long flight and eventually Sarge lands Northwest China and is taken to the headquarters of Ivan Chung where Dr.Crayne is working. Chung threatens both Sarge and Crayne as well as Li-Li and Sarge punches him. Then the giant warrior named Nhu gets involved and quickly gets Sarge in a barred cell. But Sarge uses his steel fist to break out and a battle begins.

Part III is titled "Pick a Way to Die" and begins with Sarge and Nhu battling hand to hand. Eventually Sarge is able to get his very strong and agile opponent angry using his steel fist and is at a last able to knock him out. Chung attacks but Sarge using his fist yet again breaks his sword. Li-Li aims Sarge's luger at him, but she can't bring herself to kill him and so Sarge knocks out Chung and the trio of Sarge, Crayne, and Li-Li run to an airplane. Li-Li covers Sarge's and Crayne's escape in the plane and we see her presumably dead on the airstrip as they fly away to safety. Sarge fights back tears though he won't admit it.

"Sport of Judo" is a three-page piece by Frank McLaughlin narrated and starring Sarge in which he talks about judo not as sport but as an effective self-defense approach and demonstrates techniques used to fend off a knife attack.

I find the artwork of Montes & Bache very appealing, but I have to confess the storytelling is weak in places. Without captions, I'd have a very hard time following the action in a few places. This story features some good characters, but there are few twists. This is the last issue of Sarge Steel to have the "Private Detective" sub-title on the cover.

More Sarge Steel to come.

This is a Revised Classic Charlton Post! 

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