James Bond Casino Royale by Ian Fleming, Van Jensen, and Denis Calero

Published by Dynamite Entertainment on April 24, 2018

Casino Royale is my favorite of the Ian Fleming Bond novels. It is, at least, the one that stands out in my memory, primarily for the scenes of Bond first losing and then winning at baccarat. It’s also my favorite Daniel Craig Bond movie, in part because it bears some resemblance to the novel, particularly when Bond’s delicate parts are being pummeled in the torture scene.

Casino Royale is notable as the first of Fleming’s Bond novels. It also features the first appearance of M, of Felix Leiter, and of SMERSH. As Fleming fans know, the movie Bond and the Fleming Bond are quite different. The movie Bond generally appreciates Bond girls (and in recent movies, generally accepts them as equals); Fleming’s Bond finds seduction and disentanglement (the before and after of sex) unacceptably boring. The movie Bond is portrayed as sophisticated; the Fleming Bond is more of a tough guy who happens to be a good card player. The movie Bond is sassy when Le Chiffre whacks him in the balls; Fleming’s Bond more realistically passes out.

The Fleming Bond is also philosophical in sort of a fatalistic way. Queen and country is all well and good, and it’s nice to have the respect and admiration that comes with being a double-0, but getting your manhood beaten is enough to make anyone rethink the spy game. Playing a hero and killing villains doesn’t have the same appeal when the tables are turned. And perhaps it’s wrong to kill villains, because they provide a contrast that enables the virtuous to feel, well, virtuous.

Both Bonds are cold in a masculine way, but Fleming’s Bond is acutely aware of his harsh qualities and is disturbed when they are endangered by warmth. In Casino Royale, at least, the idea of caring about a woman is positively disturbing — almost as disturbing as the fear that he won’t be able to have sex with one after the beating he endured. He wants to use Vesper to test the functionality of his equipment after being tortured, but is unsettled when he realizes that she has crept under his skin. Of course, trust does not come easily to Bond, and in Bond’s world women can never really be trusted. Or perhaps Bond cannot trust himself to judge them properly.

This graphic adaptation is faithful to Fleming’s novel. It keeps the best stuff and doesn’t sacrifice intellect for action. It would be a good introduction to the book for people who don’t want to take the time to read it. While the adaptation preserves some of Fleming’s best prose, much of the text is replaced by art, which is exactly what should happen in a graphic novel. Although the graphic novel is a condensation, all the critical scenes are present, and the most important scenes (the developing tension in the casino as Bond faces off against Le Chiffre, the torture scene, Bond’s philosophical discourse, Bond’s interaction with Vesper) are played out in enough panels to give them their full weight. Most of the art is straightforward, but some panels are enhanced by diagrams and sketches that provide insight into Bond’s thoughts. The art captures a reliable sense of the novel’s mood, accented by some surprising choices of coloring. I enjoyed revisiting Casino Royale in this graphic version of Fleming’s first and best Bond novel.

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