James Bond as a serial killer?

Your thoughts on the subject, please.

James Bond as a serial killer?

Discuss, with special referencve to TMWTGG film and NSF Gardner serial killer novel.

Is James Bond a bit of a sicko?

Is he a mass killer?

Discuss.

Here are my views on the subject:

I think in some ways James Bond is a serial killer - an interersting piece in the Independent magazine accused him of such way back in October 2008 and the germ of this idea/topic has rather stuck with me ever since. It has the potential to make a very interesting write-up. There is a thuggish element to James Bond the hitman - see TMWTGG novel, FYEO ss, TLD. Then there's the cold-blooded two slayings to earn the Double-O licence to kill in the line of duty status from which Bond becomes the secret agent we all know and love. There is also the element of his not killing in cold blood mentioned in FRWL and TSWLM novels - so its a rather confused picture. Add to this the opening chapter of GF and the death of the Mexican capungo (basically, Bond never liked killing, but he did it professionally and it was a rather inevitable part of his job as a govt. paid trouleshooter) and you've got the guts of a rather fascinating topic. James Bond meets the serial killer novel genre/bandwagon in John Gardner's Never Send Flowers is perhaps not so off-beat as many assumed. In FYEO and TLD ss we see Bond refer to planned assassinations, ratgher interestingly as murder - considering that's how he became a double-O agent - through state-sponsored murder. There's a lot going on beneath the surface with Bond's character in this area and perhaps the newly appointed William Boyd will explore this "unchartered territory" in his new James Bond novel in 2013.

Food for thought there...

I can't speak to the continuation novels, but the Bond I know is most definitely not a serial killer. Quite the opposite, actually. He's very defensive about even possessing a license to kill, and it rather disgusts him, to tell the truth. There are times I wish Fleming's Bond was less namby-pamby and more hard-hearted. Then again, I don't have to pull any triggers.