New Eurospy Poster Book

Remember that awesome exhibition of Eurospy posters in Hatfield, England last year? (It also happened again last month in London, an event I was sadly remiss in reporting on. I hope some London readers were able to make it anyway.) Well, if you weren't local, and like me you longed to attend but couldn't, now you're in luck: you can now peruse the entire collection in your own home! The exhibition catalog from the Kiss Kiss Kill Kill event is now available to order directly from the Kiss Kiss Kill Kill Archive. According to the site (which is quite excellent, by the way, and definitely bears a visit if you still haven't checked it out), "the book is a large format A4 all colour art book on 100g paper stock with over 100 stunning newly restored posters. All artwork from the exhibition is featured as well as an introductory essay by the curator Richard Rhys Davies." Richard runs the website as well as the collection itself, and you'd be hard pressed to find anyone in the world with a broader knowledge of Cold War-era European spy movies. I have no doubt that his essay, however brief it might be, will be every bit as worthwhile as the beautiful art itself.

As for that art, I've often said that Eurospy posters are even better than the movies themselves. The filmmakers may have been bound by tight budgets and sometimes less than stellar performers and effects, but not the poster artists! On paper, every one of these 007 knock-offs is the Bond movie it desperately wants to be! Exciting action, beautiful women, stylish fashions, fast cars, big explosions, phallic weaponry... it's all there in vivid color, equal to any of the masterpieces Robert McGinnis or Frank McCarthy created to advertise James Bond.  Of course, I should note that not all of the movies represented in this book are the Bond knock-off variety that we typically picture when we think "Eurospy."  While many of them do aspire to Bondage, Richard has also tracked down posters for obscure masterpieces in their own right from both sides of the Iron Curtain, and the catalog will no doubt introduce even the most seasoned Eurospy afficionado to titles he or she has never heard of.  Personally, I can't wait to get my hands on a copy!

The Kiss Kiss Kill Kill Exhibition Catalog is available directly from the KKKK website for £24.99 (€29.99 / $39.99) with free postage via Paypal payment. It's also available at www.pinkcatshop.com, where you can pay with your credit card.