Fear Face

Publisher: Daily Express
Released: 18th January 1971 to
20th April 1971
Serial: #1520 to #1596
Artist: Yaroslav Horak
Writer: Jim Lawrence

Data Stream
Villains: Ferenc Kress, Sir William Magnus, Ivor Lambert
Bond Girls: Briony Thorne
Allies: Inspector Craig, M, Bill Tanner, Miss Moneypenny, Derek, Fred Palmer
Locations: London, UK
 


Above: Bond resorts to Lady Luck to determine whether he should trust his former lover Briony Thorne.

Capsule Synopsis
When 0013 arrives back from her stint in China, and MI6 believes the Communists have turned her, she can only put her trust in one man – James Bond. Together, framed agent Briony Thorne and 007 must uncover a conspiracy within a mining company to clear her name. Sir William Magnus has made lucrative ore strikes, and suspicion is raised when his office is broken into by a mysterious man who cracks the safe and then proceeds to blow himself up. Despite being her lover and a good judge of character, Bond resorts to deciding Briony’s fate on the toss of a coin.


Above: The opening panel of "Fear Face "


Above: "Telefactoring" allows Lambert to remotely control his robots, in this case against Magnus.
 

Source To Strip
Writer Jim Lawrence introduces a new 00 agent in this adventure in the (curvaceous) shape of Briony Thorne. Lawrence gives her a backstory with Bond, but her fate is never made quite clear. It can be assumed that she is reinstated to the 00 section at the end of the strip due to her foreign posting, but another female 00 agent would become Bond's regular sidekick in later adventures - Suzy Kew.

The story takes place completely in the UK, with Bond acting as detective and utilising few of his 00 skills. The rather low-key villain Kress is only revealed in the final confrontation in the story, which could have easily been expanded to a SPECTRE style plot.

Despite Lawrence's attempts to thrust Bond into sci-fi mode, artist Yaroslav Horak manages to keep 007's feet on the ground with realistic settings and believable depictions of the technology.

Autonomous robots that break in to facilities and then self-destruct were central to the plot of the planned (but never made) third Timothy Dalton film.

Best Line
Bond: "Heads! So fate's telling me to trust you - and like a fool, I'll do as she says."

Trivia
The title “Fear Face” derives from the faceless robots created by co-conspirator Lambert, who uses the automatons to carry out his dirty work.

MI6 Rating
Story
Artwork
Overall

 

Available Now!

Publisher: Titan Books
Released: 21st April 2006
Titles Included: "The Golden Ghost", "Fear Face", "Double Jeopardy", "Star Fire"

"The Golden Ghost" by Titan Books

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