John McLusky

John McLusky was the original artist of the 'James Bond' newspaper strip, that appeared in the London Daily Express from July 1958. McLusky was an artist for Bomber Command during World War II, and then worked as a freelance illustrator for clients like DC Thomson.

In 1957, The Daily Express had approached Ian Fleming, writer of the famous 'Bond' books, to publish a serial strip based on his world-famous secret agent. McLusky was asked to do the artwork, and he worked his way through thirteen James Bond thrillers until 1966, mostly adapted by Henry Gammidge. Later, Yaroslav Horak took over the series. In 1982 McLusky teamed up with writer Jim Lawrence to illustrate four original 'James Bond' comic strips.

While working on 'James Bond', McLusky additionally drew 'The Beast of Loch Craggon' for Eagle in 1962-64, and upon his departure from the Bond strip, he drew among others 'Secret Agent 13' in Fleetway's June. He made illustrations for the educational magazine Look and Learn and he was a contributor to TV Comic for 15 years. In this magazine, he drew comics versions of 'Orlando', 'Laurel & Hardy' and 'The Pink Panther'. In the late 1960s and early 1970s McLusky worked on the Thames TV series 'Hattytown'.