New cover artwork revealed in interview with designer.
Last month Ian Fleming Publications announced new editions of three continuation novels, releasing interim, rather generic artwork. Yesterday, on the IFP website, they revealed the final artwork in a short interview with the cover designer, David Eldridge.
Other than the title and author fonts, there doesn’t appear to be much attempt at uniformity in the designs for Colonel Sun, James Bond: The Authorised Biography or Zero Minus Ten by Kingsley Amis, John Pearson and Raymond Benson respectively. Probably the best of the three designs in for Zero Minus Ten; the design for Colonel Sun doesn’t really fit the novel for me, although I suppose the red bullseye of the target represents the sun.
While I don’t dislike the artwork for the authorised biography, a couple of things leapt out at me as soon as I saw it.
The first is the gun. It is a Walther PP, not a PPK as used by 007. The curve at the front of the slide is a clear giveaway as it is longer on the PP and, if you look closely on the side you can read “Modell PP Cal 7,65mm”. The Walther PPK is a smaller variant designed for undercover police work and therefore easy to conceal.
The second is the bowtie – it’s pre-tied. I simply can’t imagine James Bond ever wearing a pre-tied bowtie in a million years – he may as well wear a black knitted silk clip on tie to go with it.
And, since I’m being picky, a couple of other things.
To my uneducated eye that watch looks like a Rolex Explorer II, a model released in 1971. While Ian Fleming never specified the model worn by Bond, really it should be an original Explorer similar to that worn by Ian Fleming, or like the early films, a Submariner.
Finally, bottom left is a Zippo lighter. While Bond was issued one by the FBI in Live and Let Die, his lighter of choice was a battered Ronson.
While I can understand it is easy for an artist who isn’t completely immersed by the world of 007 to make these kinds of error, there is a whole Bond community who can help with these things. It’s a shame that IFP doesn’t take advantage of that and run it past someone who can give solid feedback.
Anyway, the books are due for publication on James Bond Day, 5th October.
Pre-order
September 8th, 2023 at 08:21
But Pearson did mention Bond bought a Zippo while in New York dealing with the Japanese cipher clerk
September 16th, 2023 at 20:05
I don’t remember that, thanks!