'James Bond: Casino Royale' by Ian Fleming with adaptation by Van Jensen and art by Dennis Calero is an adaptation of the first James Bond book.

We meet James Bond at the gambling tables in Royale-les-Eaux. In some backstory, we find out that he is out to bankrupt a shady man named Le Chiffre. Helping him out is a woman agent named Vesper Lynn and a CIA agent named Felix Leiter. Hiding in the shadoes is the spy group SMERSH.

If you are only familiar with Bond from the movies, this is a different character. It's also a book that was written in the middle of the last century, so there is lots of sexist behavior on behalf of our hero. The adaptation is pretty solid, and feels like lots of the dialogue is verbatim from the novel. The art is decent too. I enjoyed reading this.

I received a review copy of this graphic novel from Dynamite Entertainment, Diamond Book Distributors, and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you for allowing me to review this graphic novel.

I obtained a copy of this ebook via Netgalley for my true and honest opinion.

Ian Fleming’s literary debut featuring British Secret Service agent 007 – Casino Royale but in a Graphic Novel format! I am definitely a fan. The illustration was lovely and would recommend for all James Bond fan.


3 stars

James Bond: Casino Royale gives the graphic novel treatment to the classic Ian Fleming book. For fans of the books and films, this book allows a reader to go back to the beginnings of James Bond.

What's not to like? A classic James Bond action story with all the things you want in a book: romance, action, villains vs. gorgeous ladies man/super spy with cool gadgets. I love the James Bond movies and books, and will look forward to rediscovering them!

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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This is almost more of an illustrated novel laid out in comic book format. Jensen has kept most of Fleming's words, using them to provide narration and dialogue. Fleming's Bond is a harsher, colder Bond than we are used to from the movies. He can pretty much, straight up be a dick at times. And the treatment of women in the book, well Vesper Lynn (She's the only woman) is not great. The book also moves at a slower pace than one may be used to from the movies. That being said, there's still excitement to be had in the book and we get to see another side of the Bond mythos.

Unlike other recent Dynamite James Bond titles, this is a graphic novelization of Ian Fleming's Casino Royale so there are limits in regard to devices, cast of characters and attitudes. Overall, the writers and artists did a decent job of setting the mood for a 1950's spy thriller. The major issue I have is that this is my least favorite James Bond tale, but the story is there and the mood is there so the port can be considered a success.

A pretty well done adaptation of a classic. I like the drawing style but the story is definitely slow paced. It stays true to the source material, though, so I can't complain too much about it's slowness.

Excellent adaptation. Faithful to the source material but told with enough verve for it to feel fresh.

Excellent graphic novel adaptation of Ian Fleming's first James Bond book. Follows the original storyline fairly closely.

Bond is excellent graphic novel fodder. it's all about action, after all. Well, action and charm. I wasn't overly impressed with this effort. It's a bit too focused on text. The images aren't allowed to carry the story, the key to a good graphic novel

This is the most boring graphic novel I have ever read. An adaption of the book Casino Royale, this stays true to the time period that t was written in. While the old fashion setting is not a problem, the art that is meant to give an older look is. The art is less sharp and doesn't give much detail. To counteract this, something is written pretty much in every panel that is telling what is going on.
For example, a desk with a hair and powder on the handle. Instead of detailed art that shows us what Bond sees, there is a picture of a desk with the words written on it. In fact, most of the content on the panels is exposition and not dialog (or at least until page 65 when I decided to stop reading).
Graphic novels are a show media and this adaption was caught up in a yell instead of show mentality. This gets a huge thumbs down from me.

This one reminded me more of the James Bond novels than the James Bond movies. A slower burn without obscene amounts of explosions. I enjoyed the way Bond’s assessing mind was portrayed with its own font and styling.

Gorgeous artwork. I can't say that enough, truly. It's pretty darn impressive when you really don't even need to read the dialogue in order to follow the story. Very impressive. Though I will say that you should read that dialogue if you're new to the story, or a vet of it. It is there for a reason after all, just stating a fact about how gorgeous the artwork is.

This graphic novel is very well done. It is another way to enjoy James Bond and a younger crew might just be introduced to his wonderful adventures. Great idea and well done!

This is awful. No, wait. THIS. IS. AWFUL. In the first few pages alone you have grammatical errors in the exposition. You have S against F against Station P, so the whole thing sounds like a battle within a bottle of high-SPF sun cream. Worse, if that were possible, you have sentences like "He could feel his eyes filling their sockets" – I mean, seriously, what the fluck?! Get as close to the original Fleming as you wish – and for one, I don't think the sub-Terminator overlaid data is anywhere close to getting the spirit of the books – but this is just shite on a stick. One star for the subdued palette in the artwork, but that's not attractive – the well-known scene where he checks a hair in his draw has Bond kneeling thoroughly exposed, practically nose to furniture, as if he is Mr Magoo, and he points to the talc-laden handle as if we're all retards. The script, however, seems to have come from that band of monkeys and their typewriters. Next up, monkeys learn Tipp-Ex, and delete this crud. If I read a worse book this year I'll be both ashamed and surprised. Come back Peter Sellers, all is forgiven.

I’ve been hesitant to try any more Bond graphic novels, as except for the one on Leiter they’ve all been so bad I didn’t come close to finishing them. But I figured since this story was already written it couldn’t be screwed up too badly. In fact it wasn’t screwed up at all, bringing back good memories of reading it for the first time, but not the movies, thankfully.
What’s most impressive is how condensed the text is while still telling the story. There’s a famous line that’s kept in, with Bond driving the car “with almost sensual pleasure.” I must be the only guy who doesn’t get that, but it’s cool to see it in there. It’s more surprising that also included is the long talk on good and evil toward the end. There’s even little factoids running through his brain—and on the page—right out of Sherlock.
“You ought to be tortured every day.” I love Mathis.
A thought I’ve had before: I wonder if any editor ever told Fleming to “cut all the stuff with the girl” at the end.
The illustrations are in an artsy 60s style. The text is in italics, making it difficult to read, but in the end it’s worth it.
3.5 pushed up to 4/5

Really nice adaptation of the novel (which I still haven't read, though now feel like I have). Moody artwork and a stripped-down narrative. If the company (Dynamite Entertainment) can follow through like this with the whole series, we've got a lot of treats headed our way.

I enjoyed an earlier comic of James Bond: Felix Leiter, and jumped on this one. If you have a choice, pick up the first and rent Casino Royale, instead. The artwork and text are disjointed. Oddly short chapters (scenes really, but feels jarring in this format), and dark, blurry artwork are at the heart of this one. The forward, active feeling of a spy novel is missing.