Between 2004 and 2008, the scriptwriter and League of Gentlemen actor Mark Gatiss produced his Lucifer Box trilogy. Mark Thomas’s art for Black Butterfly adroitly Chopping’s style, right down to the “wood” backdrop common to all his Bond covers. The dustjacket explicitly references the late Richard Chopping’s  his jacket for The Spy Who Loved Me (1962) courtesy of designer Ben Willsher.

There’s also a nice use of a fly. Flies were a recurring motif in Chopping’s artwork and this one may also be a nod to his secondary career as a writer.

[Extract: James Lovegrove, “The Black Butterfly” The Financial Times, June, 2007.]

Mark Gatiss:

“I have some (fake) James Bond hardback first editions with a cover designed by Richard Chopping. Genuine first editions would cost about £50,000 but these are from an American company that does perfect facsimiles.”

[Extract: Isabel Albiston, “The World of Mark Gatiss, actor and writer” The Daily Telegraph, June, 2010.]

Incidental Intelligence

Mark is an English actor, comedian, screenwriter and novelist. He is known as a member of the comedy team The League of Gentlemen and has both written for and acted in the TV series Doctor Who and Sherlock.