Diamonds Are Forever, Wordless and It Happened To Me

Sean Connery’s starring role as James Bond in the Diamonds Are Forever film is credited with saving the James Bond movie franchise.

After starring in five James Bond films, Connery called it quits and moved on.

The producers of the Bond films were forced to look for a replacement for Connery.

They chose Australian actor/model George Lazenby.  It was a bad decision.

While On Her Majesty's Secret Service was not a bad movie it was obvious from the start that Lazenby was no Connery.

He did not return for the next film.

The producers were in a panic and persuaded Connery to return one more time as James Bond by offering him a huge amount of cash.

Connery accepted and starred In Diamonds Are forever.

James Bond’s author: Ian Fleming, when he wrote Diamonds Are Forever constructed the book unlike any previous Bond stories.

The story (often referred to as Fleming's Hollywoodization of Bond) was witty, unconventional, touched upon then taboo subjects and took Bond fans by surprise.

Editor Oliver Buckton presents The Many Facets Of Diamonds Are Forever, published by Lexington Books/Rowman & Littlefield.

In the book several James Bond scholars and new critics analyze the book and film breaking them down into its unique facets.

Readers learn the who, what, why, where and when of the creation of one the most intriguing and unique James Bond novels ever written.

The book delves deeply as to how the book came about and Fleming's decision to create such an unconventional Bond novel.

Wonderfully Wordless, by William Patrick Martin, lists the 500 most recommended graphic novels and picture books.

In the listings are books for all ages groups that tells stories with little or no words, all accompanied by black and white photos of each cover.

The books are broken down by genres and each description is short, precise and concise.

Wonderfully Wordless is an excellent resource book for parents, teachers, librarians and anyone interested in good solid reads with little or no text.

Graphic storytelling has been around since cave dwellers told their illustrated exploits on cave wall.  The Egyptians used hieroglyphics and other ancient civilizations had their own unique visual story telling techniques.

Through the centuries words and pictures have told tales of adventure to romance.  The printing press brought readers comic strips, comic books and other printed examples of story telling.

In It Happened To Me: Comics, Graphic Novels and Manga, author Randall Bonser offers the ultimate teen guide to the history, origins and evolution of each form of art and tale telling.

Accompanied by art, the book methodically examines in full detail the story of visual story telling and delves into its influence on societies all around the world. 

Readers learn how each is created, the tools used, how diversity is represented and offers recommendations as to what series of tales to read and study.

It’s a ‘how-to’ and ‘all about’ collection of the history, techniques used and the impact generated on society of each art form.

I recommend the book for anyone new to comics, graphic novels and Manga.