James Bond Casino Royale by Ven Jensen

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From the Back Cover

Ian Fleming's literary debut of British Secret Service agent 007 is stylishly adapted to the sequential art medium by Van Jensen and Matt Southworth in the official James Bond: Casino Royale graphic novel. Sent to a French casino in Royale-les-Eaux, Bond aims to eliminate the threat of the deadly Le Chiffre by bankrupting the ruthless SMERSH operative at the baccarat table. However, when the luck of the draw favors his enemy, 007 becomes the target of assassins and torturers in a high-stakes game of cat-and-mouse.


James Bond Casino Royale by Ven Jensen

Bond's oldest secret, his one love lost in a graphic novel which stays true to Fleming's story. 

Much of the art is dark and sombre like the story which plays like a funeral. 


Discussing about a graphic novel on Casino Royale takes one back to the origins of Bond. The world got its first taste of Bond in Ian Fleming's Casino Royale in 1953, when this was the first Bond novel to be released, giving readers a look at the captivating world of the world of spies with government sanction and a license to kill. A world of opulence, elegance, danger, intrigue, high stakes and the nature of the cold war.


The book was soon picked up for a television series, Bond's first screen adaptation, comic strips in newspapers much before the series entered Hollywood immortality in 1962 with the big screen Dr. No. Over the next 60 years till 2021, Bond has been portrayed by seven actors on the big screen with increasingly bigger budgets and has moved from a B movie story to Hollywood mainstream. Starting from Sean Connery we have had Roger Moore, Timothy Dalton, George Lazenby, Pierce Brosnan and Daniel Craig. We can also add David Niven to the list who acted in a spoof called Casino Royale in 1967 but the movie was from a different production house.

After Daniel Craig's last movie in 2021, the studio is on a fresh casting spree to search for the next Bond and there are many actors who are being speculated for the world's most famous secret agent; sorry Cruise MI is great but still nowhere as iconic.



Casino Royale, the graphic novel by Ven Jensen stays true to the original Ian Fleming story from which it has been adapted. A reader has to understand that the book is from another generation and Fleming's handling of female characters is a far cry from current climate where feminism, inclusion and equality are an integral part of most if not all books. There is enough nostalgia in the scenes to appeal to fans.

The first thing that comes to mind when one thinks of this book is a Casino and there is more than enough to go around with baccarat being the central theme running in this book. The game is caught in all its glory and brings up the gritty challenge which has been best experienced in the full length novels. Here baccarat reaches new heights as Bond and Le Chifre clash on a battle royale for their very lives. The story could not have been caught better in a graphic episode. SMERSH and its dark code has also been flashed in this story with chilling effect. Death to spies could not have had a better vehicle.

We also have a morose and contemplative Bond who is seriously contemplating quitting the double zero & service.


The art here is at the highest quality showing the dark thoughts and also when the reversal happens. Bond's approach is caustic and the way his mind reels off strengths and weaknesses of antagonists and also their weapons, the caliber's, etc. showcasing his elite double zero status. The art also gives a feel of sophistication and some of Bond's ruminations are caught wonderfully on canvas.


The story moves at a brutal pace and the raw hardboiled style of Ian Fleming's books come forth in this book. It also helps that Jensen has ensured the Bond featured here does not carry a resemblance to any of the 7 who have showcased the spy on the big screen making it palatable for everybody without throwing in any personal favorites.


One has to read it to experience it.
5 stars and recommended for everyone even those who do not like Bond.



Please do not forget to post your comments. I am an equal opportunity person so would love to hear your love or your hate for the review or book in any order. Please write what you did not like or whether the book was an absolute disaster for you and why.


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